Opinion

Gerald Laird might have been the best catcher in baseball in 2009—defensively.

But Detroit's catcher forgot to pack his bat when he left Spring Training.

His seventh campaign was his most disappointing at the plate. In 413 at-bats, Laird limped to a .225 batting average, four homers, and 33 runs batted in, all while providing top-notch defense. With an on-base percentage well-below .300 (.278), he was a major blockage in Detroit's light-hitting bottom of the order.

So the Tigers' backstop worked endlessly in the offseason to improve the weak point in his game.

The Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan wrote an article about how the Cubs' roster may change if they don't win this year. While I usually find Sully's columns to be less than noteworthy, he has hit the nail on the head with this one.

When it comes to spring training and statistics I am a non-believer. I am obsessed with watching the games, but it is more to get a feel for the players involved and it hardly ever matters to me who won, who lost, or if the players do really well or really poorly. Sure, part of me cringes a little bit if someone has a horrible day, but in the end I realize it is spring and this doesn’t really count (this lead was stolen from example A ).

Matt Cain is a good pitcher. In fact, he's a very good pitcher. If he wasn't teammates with the defending two-time NL Cy Young award winner, Cain would be the ace of the Giants staff, and already be known as one of the top pitchers in the game.

Fortunately for Cain, he doesn't mind playing second fiddle to Lincecum. Now, he just needs his offense to give him proper run support, and he'll be known as the current Giants ace.

When many non-sports fans think of Kansas City, they often think of it as a "cow-town" where people still live on farms, and as a home to some of the country's best barbecue.

At least they have the barbecue part correct!

Baseball fans around the country know Kansas City as home to one of baseball's most beautiful ballparks in Kaufmann Stadium, and the home to a once-proud Royals franchise in the midst of a resurrection.

Bobby Cox may want to rethink his retirement.

Never shy about elevating top prospects, throughout the years Cox has overseen the arrival of a number of impact players at Turner Field.

Intuition, intelligence, respect, and interpersonal relationship skills make up the character of the game's greatest skippers. What separates a common manager and a winning guru?

Bobby Cox of the Atlanta Braves, Joe Torre of The Los Angeles Dodgers, and Tony La Russa of the St. Louis Cardinals are perfect examples of what differentiates a club-house full of talent, to a unified team, striving to reach a common goal.

Going into spring training, the Yankees were trying to figure out who their fifth starter was going to be.

The two favorites going in were Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, with Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre and Alfredo Aceves as the longshots.

It's already the middle of March, halfway through the 2010 spring training season, and I am making a case now as to who the fifth starter should and needs to be starting now and going into the future.

Hughes needs to be made the fifth starter and Joba to be put back into the bullpen for good. It's where he really belongs.

Just to make things clear, I am not talking about the mediocre lefty for the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox who all of a sudden became unhittable in the postseason for the New York Yankees.

I am talking about the big outfield prospect for the Florida Marlins.

If you are not familiar with the Marlins’ version of Mike Stanton, then you will be very shortly. He is a big man who can hit a baseball very far.