MLB

By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com

I feel like I have a few months to make up for, don’t you?

Sure the hot stove league is a season in itself, but after months of baseball withdrawal, I’m ready to make up for all of it in one month.

That is why I’ve declared March as the Month of Baseball!

For the next four weeks, I’m going to be putting out a series of articles that will downright blow my own mind, so it better at least put you, the reader, in a state of shock. Whether it’s a good shock or a bad one is something I’ll be gambling with.

Whenever your star closer breaks camp to have his surgically-repaired elbow looked at, all the excitement surrounding the start of a new year comes to a screeching halt.

The joy of finally having outdoor baseball in Minnesota again is replaced with the fear that they will suffer a similar fate as the Mets in their new ballpark. 

This is not a Top 10 list of home run hitters in Cincinnati history, nor is it a list of the RBI leaders.

I chose five categories to sort through to obtain the best power hitters in Reds history.

The categories used are based on 162 game season averages. To qualify, a player had to be with the Reds for a minimum of five years.

I selected HR, RBI, total bases, slugging pct., and OPS. Only numbers accrued while with the Reds are used.

Let's take a look at them now.

The Author originally published the following slideshow at hotstove.com, and it can also be seen here:

http://www.hotstove.com/2010/03/will-the-san-francisco-giants-make-the-p...

When a team finishes 72-90 in 2008 and then jumps up to a 88-74 finish in 2009, 2010 expectations obviously skyrocket.

The AL Central, in my opinion, is a tough division to call.  There are several viable teams that should be fighting for the title come the first week of October.  Let's take a team-by-team look at the offseason moves and forecast how the season will play out.

Chicago White Sox

Spring is when young players show their tools, hoping to fulfill their dream of playing in the Major Leagues.

This is not some knee-jerk reaction to what happened in yesterday's 15-3 blowout loss to the Sox. Sure, the right-hander gave up seven hits and six runs in two innings of work, including a pair of home runs. 

But Carlos Silva has got to go.

Now this should not be a surprise to anyone who knows anything about baseball. The fact that Silva is a lousy pitcher is one of the biggest "Duh!'s" in history. It is an understatement similar to saying that Tiger Woods likes the ladies.

The battle for the fifth starting spot on the Yankees is up for grabs this spring. While in all reality there are about five players in contention, many believe it will come down to either Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes, with the "loser" moving to the bullpen.

Unlike football or basketball, baseball’s annual player draft is not designed to change the team that year.

They hold the draft in the middle of the season (June) instead of during the off-season because the teams do not expect any player they draft to have an immediate impact. In fact teams usually have to wait years before they see what type of players their draft picks turn out to be.