Opinion

This past season, Philadelphia almost won a second consecutive World Series title. Almost.

The Phillies were a fantastic, diverse team. They had their sluggers, like Ryan James Howard, Rauuuuul, and Chase. They had their fair share of wheels, with J-Roll lighting up the base paths for 31 steals and a success rate of 80 percent.

Creating a championship team has never been more difficult than it is now in professional sport.

Annual play-off contenders in all sports are working hard to continue the trend and make important post-season revenue to pursue or re-sign important team components.

Dave Hall will examine the most successful builders of champions in each of the major sporting leagues in a four part series.

And the 2009 Cy Young Award goes to...Tim Lincecum.

For the second year in a row Tim "The Freak" Lincecum, took home the hardware, earning the Cy Young Award for the National League, given to the finest pitcher in the league.

But was Lincecum truly deserving of the award in 2009?

In '08 he seemed the most dominant pitcher far and away and rightfully so he was voted the award winner. This year, Cardinal pitchers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright had good arguments in favor of, well, themselves. 

The strangest thing just happened to me.

A few minutes ago, I received a call from Nationals’ team President Stan Kasten. He said that Mike Rizzo was fired by the Lerner family, after being found walking aimlessly along the Beltway, wearing nothing but a Mets’ cap.

Kasten told me Rizzo could have survived the “naked” part, but wearing the oppositions’ colors was a deal breaker.

Whenever performance-enhancing drugs rear their head, you often see the phrase "innocent until proven guilty" thrown around the discussion. It's a fine idea and one that deserves respect, but there's a significant snag to borrowing legal phrases for generic debate—it sounds very authoritative and conclusive, but the reality is much messier.

There are very few universals in law. Like many legal rules, the aforementioned presumption of innocence is defined by its context.

When compared to Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx, George Sisler, Hank Greenberg, and Bill Terry, Fred McGriff is not a Hall of Famer. But when compared to Tony Perez, Orlando Cepeda, Eddie Murray, and Harmon Killebrew, Fred McGriff is a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Fred McGriff Compared to the Greatest First Basemen

Fred McGriff's offensive production pales in comparison to the first group's offensive production, but it holds its own against that of the second group.

The Chicago White Sox have signed 32-year-old outfielder Andruw Jones.

If this was 2006, one could consider this a blockbuster signing.  But three years is a long time in Major League Baseball and in those three years, the 10-time Gold-Glover has seen his stock plummet.

A five-tool player once destined for the hallowed halls is no longer.  Currently, Jones is relegated to sharing outfield duty on an aging White Sox team.

In 2006, Jones led the Atlanta Braves with 41 home runs and 129 RBI.  In the four years since, he has combined to hit 46 homers to go with 147 RBI.

I recently took a written beating for saying that I thought Joe Mauer was helped greatly by being a catcher, in his recent naming as the American League's Most Valuable Player for 2009.

With that being said, is Mauer not only the best catcher in the game, is he also the best player in MLB? Let's not throw pitchers in this mix, I would like to be able to compare "apples with apples."

Roy Halladay, the six time All Star, has been linked with the Red Sox. The real question is whether the Red Sox need another ace or should the payroll be better used elsewhere.

There are a number of reasons why Boston would look to trade for Halladay. The first of which is his obvious talent. The Toronto Blue Jay's star is one of the dominant pitchers in the American League. Last year he went 17-10 with a 2.79 ERA in a losing team. He was third in the AL in ERA and 4th in wins. His abilities as a pitcher are unquestionable.