Opinion

Like most sports fans, I take a lot of pride in my predictions that come true. I said the Red Sox would win the 2004 ALCS even when they went down 3-0. I predicted Kurt Warner would be a great NFL QB before he ever took a snap in the league (and I was only nine at the time). I've made a number of other far-fetched predictions that came true in different sports.

However, baseball is a game that is largely random. The year-to-year player variations are staggering, and nobody, no matter their expertise, gets them all right.

Not sure if anyone read the latest foot-in-mouth interview from Chicago's North Side, but this time it isn't one of the usual suspects.

No, it wasn't Milton Bradley talking about how racist the fans were. And it wasn't Geovany Soto talking about the proper way to pack a bong during the World Baseball Classic.

This time, it was closer-to-be Carlos Marmol. And he was jumping all over the hot stove.

By Ryan of The Sportmeisters

The MLB Free Agency season is upon us, and after the New York Yankees' excessive spending led to a World Series title, will another season of open piggy banks arise?

Probably not, but there are still quite a few players that could break the bank and teams that will shell the dough for their services. Let’s take a look at 10 free agents and what they bring to the table.

The results are in and, as many predicted, Zack Greinke has won the 2009 American League Cy Young Award .

He has also claimed:

Sporting News AL Pitcher of the Year

Bullet Logan Award—Negro Leagues

AL's Outstanding Pitcher—Player's Choice Award

KC Royals Pitcher of the Year

Cool.

What does all of this mean for me?

The latest out of the Philadelphia Phillies camp is that they want to feel out the market before they move in free agency.

That is better than the story the day before, where a source said that Mark DeRosa could land on the Phillies to fill the shoes of Pedro Feliz.

Jason Kubel is finally where he belongs, at the top.

After a career-best season in 2009, Kubel, 27, proved to be one of baseball’s premier designated hitters, while working at a considerably lower rate than many of his contemporaries.

At this point, however, Kubel isn’t worried about getting a big payday.

It appears as though the Blue Jays aren’t winning over very many fans these days.

After the infamous Boston Red Sox ticket stunt, Jerseygate , and other numerous public relations blunders, the most recent development seems to have irked quite a few fans of both the faithful and fairweather kind.

At midnight, it begins.

Free agency basically ends everything from the 2009 season and begins the 2010 season.

For the 2009 World Series champion New York Yankees, it too begins their journey of defending their new championship that they worked hard to win.

Most people are probably wondering, where do the Yankees start in the offseason?

They have their own free agents to decide whether or not to bring back.

I still remember the first day I became a Mets fan.

It was spring of 1990 and there I was, five years old and ready to face the world of tee-ball. Where I lived in California, the teams were not green or orange, but actual baseball teams like the Yankees and the Dodgers.

As it turned out, I was destined to be on the Mets with my dad as coach. From then on, I was a Mets fan. There really are not a lot of memories from that age I can recollect, but this always stuck out in my mind