New York Yankees

Bottom line, the Yankees are the defending World Series champions.

I think they have a very good shot for pulling off the repeat. The Yankees lost Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrerea and a great prospect in outfielder Austin Jackson, however they did bring in Curtis Granderson, Javier Vazquez, Randy Winn, and Nick Johnson.

With the meteoric rise of Jersey Shore and the "gorilla juiceheads" that the MTV hit so lovingly glorified, I was starting to believe that America had turned a corner in its collective stance on steroids.

If you're a baseball fan, that was your hope anyway. Coming off a year in which Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and Mark McGwire were either tied or outright admitted to PED use, we were juiced out on the juice.

On Aug. 31, 1961, the Detroit Tigers trailed the first-place New York Yankees by a mere one and one-half games, but by just a single game in the all-important loss column.

With the passage of time, it is often forgotten that the great 1961 Yankees were in a torrid pennant race with the Tigers most of the season.

1. Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox were humbled last postseason after getting swept in the ALDS by the Angels, and now they're determined to take back the throne.

The Red Sox improved their already great pitching staff by signing John Lackey to a five year, $80 million contract.  

They now have Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Clay Buchholz in their rotation. Tim Wakefield and Junichi Tazawa provide excellent depth and insurance.  

AJ Burnett is 33 years old, 2010 will be his 12th season in the major leagues, he’s played for two World Series winning teams, and despite all of that experience he is still learning valuable pitching lessons to this day.

Chan Ho Park spoke with reporters about becoming a Yankee even though he had a better offer from the Phillies and also had an offer from the Washington Nationals.

Here are some quotes from his first day in camp :

Yesterday, I wrote a piece about Robinson Cano being the best Yankee second baseman in the history of the franchise.

That made me think about the rest of the infield. If you look at the numbers, this Yankee infield is the best that the New York Yankees have ever had.

When you consider overall talent, both offensively and defensively, there has never been an infield to compare to the one now assembled to play in the Bronx.

And the primary reason is the left side of the infield.

The Yankees are fresh off a World Series championship.  They have no steroid-scandal distractions, no major injuries, and all but about two or three spots of the roster have been solidified.  Yes, things are good for the Bombers.

However, the Yankees have issues that could flare up this season.  I’ll try to address the 10 biggest, or at least most obvious, questions (potential problems) the Yankees could have in 2010:

New York Yankee Brian Cashman was quoted in today's New York Daily News as saying that Robinson Cano has a chance to make a name for himself that people will remember forever.

Cashman predicted that Cano has the chance to win batting crowns, MVPs, and implied that he could have a Hall of Fame career.

What came to mind is whether Robinson Cano is the best Yankee second baseman who has ever pulled on the pinstripes.

The Yankees have had some very memorable players at second.

With the great teams of the 1920s and 1930s, Tony Lazzeri was a rock at second base.

In an article about the Yankees outfield depth beyond their starters , I made the assumption that Marcus Thames was going to make the team and made it seem like the only way Jamie Hoffmann would stick with the team is if the Yankees worked out a trade with the Dodgers to keep the Rule 5 pick.