Opinion

I understand that the new Cubs owners have no appetite to increase the payroll for 2010. And, if you look at it reasonably, one can understand.

Yet we all know that the way in which Cubs GM Jim Hendry has spent the money has left a huge void and right now, as currently constructed, the Cubs are not a contending team.

Although we are still months from the official Hall of Fame vote, it is never too early to take a look at the upcoming ballot, and with a less than stellar first year class headlined by Fred McGriff, Edgar Martinez, Barry Larkin, and Roberto Alomar, this may be the year for holdovers such as Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven to be enshrined.

However, I feel that Alomar may have a legitimate chance at first ballot enshrinement. Let's take a look at the statistics.

Everybody seems to love the New York Yankees trade with the Atlanta Braves for Javier Vazquez. The Yankees traded OF Melky Cabrera, LHP Michael Dunn and Low-Low A (although highly rated) pitcher Arodys Vizcaino to get the former Yankee right handed pitcher.

The San Francisco Giants clearly need some offensive help from the free-agent market but re-thinking the way they evaluate their own home-grown talent would help boost their offense from within.

For instance, while the Giants have a plethora of inconsistent young talent including players who may or may not develop into everyday starters, Nate Schierholtz doesn't belong amongst that group.

Throughout the past couple years Giants fans have grouped together such players like John Bowker, Eugenio Velez, Fred Lewis, Travis Ishikawa and Schierholtz in the same category.

It sure is going to be fun watching the Washington Nationals play baseball now that the adults are in charge.

Former general manager Jim Bowden would address a specific need by signing dozens of players in the hopes that one of them might make the team.

I would like to preface this by saying that I am not a Mets fan. However, I do think many of their fans are not giving the team enough credit. The team is very good at its core, and many seem to forget that they entered last season as contenders before a slew of injuries. The team does need some revamping, though. So, if I were in their place, I would enact the following multi-step plan for the off-season to try and make the team competitive in 2010:

Let Jason Bay and Bengie Molina wait.

This morning, Joe over at River Avenue Blues pointed out a few things about the Yankees' left field situation. In short, he suggested that the Yankees will be signing someone to complement the outfield and not necessarily take Brett Gardner's starting spot.

The New York Yankees faced a risky off-season but Brian Cashman and the Yankees did well in keeping the franchise from breaking down. The Yankees lost two starting position players from a year ago but made smart moves to enhance confidence for 2010. The signings of Andy Pettitte and Nick Johnson, plus trades bringing in Javier Vazquez and Curtis Granderson made it easier to forget about Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon.

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The 2009 Kansas City Royals baseball season got underway with much fanfare, due in large part to completed renovations to Kauffman Stadium that made it suitable for well, royalty.

The stadium’s concourses and concessions were brought up to today’s standards, and there were so many new amenities that any Royals fan would have a hard time taking advantage of them in a single homestand.

About a month ago, I would have completely dismissed any type of Dan Uggla to the Atlanta Braves rumors as just that, rumors.

But, with the Braves still having a hole in left field (a position that many say Uggla could play) and the Marlins seemingly eager to trade their arbitration-eligible second baseman, you have to at least think about it.

Let's first examine what Uggla brings to the table.

For his career, the soon-to-be 30-year-old is a .257 hitter and has slugged at least 27 home runs in each of his first four big league seasons.