Opinion

Let me be the first to say congratulations to the Minnesota Twins for locking up Joe Mauer for the next eight years. His monstrous $184 million deal is good for their fans, good for the city, and good for baseball in general.

It’s too bad it's going to be bad for the Twins in the long run.

A wise man once said that money can't buy you happiness. That poor, dead, man is probably having second thoughts as his cheaply built coffin (or spacious cardboard box, if you will) disintegrates around him.

The Minnesota Twins seem quite content to pay Joe Mauer a whopping $23 million a year to play for them. And unless Mr. Mauer is a little slow (the sideburns beg questions), he's going to take that money.

And they're both quite happy about the arrangement.

The regular season is just a few weeks away and the Yankees roster is beginning to take shape. A few of the position battles are starting to clear up as players are released and sent to the minors.

The Yankees lost to the Phillies today as Phil Hughes gave up a game-ending home run in the bottom of the ninth. The home run was one of three given up by Hughes today. Despite the long balls, Hughes pitched very well, as he made batters swing and miss using his changeup.

As anyone who has read examples of my past writing can attest, I tend to focus a lot of my historical analysis pieces on the Hall of Fame. Today, I will divert myself from that path a little bit to argue my Hall of Fame case for a great in our generation whose contributions have been highly underrated: Scott Rolen.

Ever since Andy McPhail took over as General Manager, Baltimore Orioles fans have had this year circled. This is supposed to be the year that we saw signs that all of the waiting and developing prospects was going to show itself. However, as Spring Training is ¾ done, it seems that something unforeseen could stand in the way, injuries.

Every manager in baseball will say the same thing about record in Spring Training; it doesn’t matter.

Brian Sabean’s drafting and construction of pitching depth in the organization has set manager Bruce Bochy up to be a very lucky man.

His biggest decision at the culmination of spring training?

To decide on who gets the fifth spot in the rotation.

The two most likely contestants to win that spot have been narrowed down to free-agent acquisition Todd Wellemeyer and the homegrown pitching prospect, Kevin Pucetas.

While questions regarding Tim Wakefield's age and Daisuke Matsuzaka's durability continue to swirl around the Boston Red Sox during the middle stages of spring training, new acquisition John Lackey has quietly gone about his business.

Putting up goose eggs.

Lackey arrived to much fanfare but has managed to slide into the background during a spring training where the hot topics have included a perceived lack of punch on the offensive side and the battle for the back end of the rotation.

Welcome to Tribe Talk, where Bleacher Report's Tribe fans weigh in on the ups and downs of the Indians each week throughout the season and here in our annual season preview.
 

He is, without much argument, the most popular face in the state of Minnesota. He was born and raised in the same atmosphere where he recently broke out as a sporting icon and ripened as the greatest catcher in the majors.

Dating back to his childhood, Joe Mauer was covetous, immersing and engaging in a sport that he idolized, growing up as a Twins fan.