Opinion

It hit me at one point in the offseason that of the 30 teams in the game of baseball, there are a few teams that currently “get it” when it comes to running an organization, both short-term and long-term.

There are a few teams that get it and then there is the Boston Red Sox.

Few teams are on Boston’s playing field when it comes to spending money. That is a reality of the game we play in and for the foreseeable future, it will be the reality.

Ten games into spring training, the Washington Nationals are 0-10.

Ugh.

It looks like the team, after back-to-back 100 loss seasons, are heading for a trifecta in 2010.

Or are they?

The biggest question regarding the 2010 Yankees right now is undoubtedly who should win the fifth starter job. I have largely stayed away from the topic, since I'm sure you all are sick of hearing the same things over and over again.

So, instead of debating who should win the fifth starter job, I'd like to take a look at what the Yankees need from their fifth starter. You see, fifth starters tend to be pretty fungible. Usually, the difference between a fifth starter and the sixth guy waiting at Triple-A isn't too vast.

The biggest news out of the New York Yankees spring training camp so far this spring has been the battle for the fifth spot in the club's rotation.

Among the five men battling for the spot, three stand out to me as potential starters for the Yankees come April. Those men would be Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Alfredo Aceves.

After the first few weeks only one has stood out as a potential fifth starter and that is Alfredo Aceves.

Immediate shock waves rippled through Philadelphia and Saint Louis on Sunday when Buster Olney of ESPN.com wrote that the Phillies have "kicked around" the notion of trading slugger Ryan Howard for regular MVP contender Albert Pujols.

"No way would (insert either team) do that!" cry emotionally attached fans in their respective home towns.  However, such a deal would make sense for both teams.

News broke on Sunday that the Phillies organization has discussed the idea of trying to use slugger Ryan Howard to pry Albert Pujols from the Cardinals.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro flatly denied the rumors, saying, "I don't know who you're talking to, but that's a lie."

Amaro may be denying it, but the idea makes a lot more sense than you would think.

Here it is, one day before "The Ides of March" and the so-called pundits, as well as the vast majority of the Mets' faithful, are in full panic mode and have come to bury Caesar long before the body is cold.

Come on everybody, 2009 was officially over on Oct 3. Or if you believe in the Julius Caesar calendar, how about 11:59PM and 59 seconds on December 31.

It's spring and no time to complain about anything that might or might not happen this summer.

The San Francisco Giants are favored by many to win the NL West. So, let's celebrate on day we enjoy our first extra hour of daylight.

OK. Celebration's over. A couple of things caught my on Saturday and, well, I'm concerned about what the summer will bring.

Giants fans who feel like playing right field at AT&T Park requires an advanced degree of some sort might be alarmed to hear that Aubrey Huff is talking about potentially seeing some action in right field.

Since the departure of Barry Bonds two seasons ago, the San Francisco Giants have undergone a youth movement—from the completely revamped and most feared starting rotation in the major leagues, to the likes of Pablo Sandoval and Eugenio Velez in the infield.

The Giants will be expecting big numbers from Sandoval, dubbed the “Kung-Fu Panda” by teammate Barry Zito...a nickname that has since stuck. They will also need contributions from Velez, who has been up and down for the last three seasons, as well as outfielder Fred Lewis.

The day Don Mattingly decided to come over to the Los Angeles Dodgers organization following Joe Torre, Hollywood rejoiced, and immediately embraced him. Mattingly, a Hall of Famer with a stellar Major League career as a player, has already had a couple slip ups as an interim manager.

In the short week that Torre and the Dodgers split squad have been in Taiwan stretching the ties of American Baseball overseas, Mattingly has been at the helm of the Glendale squad.