MLB

Pity the prima donna who loses her voice.

Manny Ramirez is a prolific hitter. He’s also a perennial headache. In 17 big league seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder has justified his shenanigans in the clubhouse with his statistics on the field—which would be better news if his recent numbers didn’t raise the specter of a looming collapse.

Distinction means running ahead of your peers.

Decline, on the other hand, means fading back into the pack.

Troy Tulowitzki broke out in a big way in his 2007 rookie year, hitting .291 with 24 Home Runs and 99 Runs Batted In, while narrowly missing out on NL Rookie of the Year honors to Ryan Braun.

However in 2008 he took steps back, never being quite healthy and it showed in the statistics. He put up an ugly .263 average with only 8 home runs in 101 games, numbers that would scare away fantasy owners going into 2009.

Mike Lincoln is not a starting pitcher. Did you hear (er...read) me?

The closest Lincoln should come to starting a game is as a long reliever. He hasn't started a game since 2000.

He came up to the big leagues in 1999 with the Minnesota Twins. He started 15 games in '99 and had a 3-10 record with a 6.84 ERA.

The next year he started four games and was 0-3 with a 10.89 ERA. Those numbers are troubling, baseball fans. To send a man on the hill thinking you have to score 11 runs to win is not in anybody's playbook.

Pitching wins championships. It is a mantra subscribed to by many baseball enthusiasts, managers, and the like.

However, acquiring the pitching depth and talent to make it to October is easier said than done.

Every team is looking for an ace, a starting pitcher who can compile innings and strikeouts while maintaining a low WHIP and ERA and come through when the club needs a win.

Despite the demand for staff aces, there simply are not enough to go around.

There is no real glory in being a backup, but somebody has to do it.

Most backups are unappreciated—typically role players, hitters or pitchers on the team, backups are designed to do one job and one job only.

Some backups are expected to fill in at certain points, maybe at one point more than another.

They are widely unappreciated and often criticized when they don’t produce in the few opportunities they get.

When the Philadelphia Phillies sent Cliff Lee to Seattle in order to make room for Rory Halladay, I shook my head. I couldn't understand the concept of sending a No. 1 starter and picking up another one.

Lee was not ecstatic to realize the team he helped to the World Series had the door open for him with his hat in their hand.

So much for gratitude, eh?

He is currently with his third team in less than a year. The Phillies obviously rented him from Cleveland in the middle of last season.

If you find yourself in the Clearwater, Florida area on March 14, 2010, there will be a great event to take the family to at Bright House Field.

A group of former Major League Baseball players will be gathering for an Alumni Legends Game again this spring.

Last Spring a couple dozen former stars of the game came together at Bright House Field with the Military All-Stars Team, which was led by former Red Sox first baseman Brian Daubach.

Last year was forgettable for these catchers, but look for them to return to form in 2010.

One of the Red Sox top right handed pitching prospects will be making his 2010 Spring Training debut as a starter for the big league club this Saturday.

Michael Bowden will get the call to face the Pirates at City of Palms Park in Ft. Myers.

Bowden has pitched two innings of relief this spring, giving up just a hit and no runs with a pair of strikeouts against the Twins.

Bowden is hoping for a role in Boston’s bullpen when the club heads north. The team already has six starters vying for the five rotation spots.

Inspired by recent thoughts of Steve Phillips (not the philandering former-ESPN baseball analyst, rather the philandering former GM of the New York Mets) and his unhealthy past obsession with Mo Vaughn and his contract, I started to think about current "bad paper" contracts in the MLB, and after some research I can confirm that horribly-structured contracts do exist.

Now, what follows is not what you would call an "objective" ranking of bad contracts.