MLB

Days after announcing his first big surprise about Russell Branyan being his primary starter at first base, Manny Acta stirred the pot once again.

While he had this idea in his head since he first got the job, Acta is just now making it known that center fielder Grady Sizemore will be moving out of his long-time leadoff spot.

Asdrubal Cabrera will be replacing him.

Even more surprising, was the news that Sizemore wouldn't be moving to the three-hole like so many people yearn for, but he'd be following Cabrera and hitting in front of right fielder Shin-Soo Choo.

Will 2010 be the last season for Derrek Lee as a Cub? Perhaps, but it looks like there is mutual interest on both sides:

"The last time Derrek Lee was up for a new contract, he signed a five-year extension at the outset of the 2006 season and suffered a season-changing wrist injury a couple of weeks later.

The thought of trading young talent away is always a scary one.

“But what if he comes back and kills us for years?”

“Who knows how good he’ll become!”

“Uhhh…two words, Lou Brock.”

Imagine a Pirates rotation with the 2007 ("star") versions of pitchers Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny, together with Paul Maholm and Zach Duke at their later (2008-2009) selves.

Imagine that the fifth starter is actually better than fifth starter-caliber.

That's what the Pirates may finally have in 2010.

Old Pirate standbys Maholm and Duke are (slightly) better than league average pitchers (by half a game or so). They don't look that way because they've had less than league average run support.

While fans of the Milwaukee Brewers are looking forward to the 2010 season, the majority of them are more worried about what could potentially happen after the 2011 season: Prince Fielder's departure.

In four full seasons with the Brewers, Fielder has cemented his place as one of the best power hitters in baseball. In that time, he has hit 158 home runs and knocked in 443 runs.

Fielder became the youngest player in baseball history to hit 50 home runs in a season at age 23 in 2007.

Point: Yes, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood...enough said.

Counterpoint: Dusty Baker killed their careers?

P: Yes, it is well known that Baker cares little about pitch counts.

CP: What about Carlos Zambrano?

P: He has not been free of symptoms either.

CP: Abuse happens but your criticism of Dusty Baker doesn't sound very scientific.

The AL Central looks to be a great race this year. They have the reigning division champions in the Minnesota Twins returning with what might be a better team than last year. They have the Chicago White Sox who look to boast one of the MLB's best starting rotation this year. They have the Detriot Tigers who lost the division last year in an epic game 163. Then they have the Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Indians who are, for lack of a better word, miserable.
In this slideshow, I will reveal who I think will win the division.

Much has been made about the lack of potential upgrades to the New York Mets rotation this offseason and, by and large, the reason for concern is legitimate.

Every slot in the rotation has a question mark next to its given name. Even Johan Santana, to a lesser extent, could be cause for concern after suffering season ending surgery last season.

Originally published at TwinsTarget.com .

Historically, the NL West has been an extremely competitive division. Although there was a 25-game difference between the first- and late-place teams in the NL West this past season, each team in the division has had some degree of success in the past.

Through Martin Prado’s first 779 major league at bats he has been extremely productive, especially for a middle infielder. He has a career .360 OBP, .451 SLG, and a .353 wOBA (similar to OPS, but weighs OBP more than SLG, mean is around .330 just like OBP).

Prado also performed extremely well after being promoted to full-time status last season after Kelly Johnson and Omar Infante were injured. Despite all things going well for Prado, I am still skeptic about him starting the season at second base.