Opinion

The New York Yankees have reeled off nine victories in a row after starting the season poorly and having player after player on the disabled list.

But they have hit more home runs than any other team; are on pace to set a major league record for home runs; score runs in clusters and have more pitching depth than any other team.

An analysis of the Yankee team one fourth of the way into the season gives New York fans many reasons to hope for postseason glory five months from now.

Success for baseball players in Detroit isn't measured by placement in the final standings. It isn't measured in division crowns and pennant victories. 

No sir, baseball in this town is about one thing and one thing only: beating the Colorado Rockies.

The natural rivals share such a rich baseball tradition that it's impossible not to get drawn in by the allure of the games.

This is why I'm a baseball fan.

There are a number of excellent second basemen in the major leagues.

A few of the best would have to include Ian Kinsler of Texas, Placido Polanco of Detroit, Brian Roberts of Baltimore, Dustin Pedroia of Boston, Jeff Keppinger of Houston, Freddy Sanchez of Pittsburgh, Chase Utley of Philadelphia, and Brandon Phillips of Cincinnati.

But at this time in his career, at age 26, the New York Yankees have the best of the entire bunch in Robinson Cano.

Cano carries a career batting average of .304 and a career on-base percentage of .336.

Acquired by the Red Sox at the eleventh hour of last season's trade deadline as part of the three-way deal that sent Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers, Jason Bay has more than filled the shoes vacated by his predecessor in Boston. 

In 184 at-bats for the Red Sox in 2008, Bay compiled a solid line of .293 AVG/.370 OBP/.527 SLG.  He continued to perform in the playoffs, and unsurprisingly, the Fenway Faithful had high hopes for their new left-fielder coming into the 2009 campaign. 

The Blue Jays are still in first place in the American League East, but one wonders how long that will last. Perhaps until the next weekend, the next time they meet the Red Sox.

Boston is a strong 8-0 against the other other two AL East contenders, the Blue Jays and the Yankees. They should be huge favorites for the AL East title.

But they're not. The reason is that they are only 17-16 against all other teams.

The Oakland A's need to shore up their third base position. With Eric Chavez continuous injury streak looking like it's never got to resolve itself, it's time for the A's to look into acquiring the replacement for Chavez.

That means a player who has power from the right side of the plate, will hit for a reasonable average so (more than .265 and provide stellar defense at the hot corner—in other words, a proven commodity. No more prospects Billy Beane—we already have enough of those.

The San Francisco Giants offense was never expected to carry the way. We all knew it was pitching first and foremost and the performances at the plate would be at least an improvement over last year.

We all thought that the pitching dominance could overshadow the fact that Bengie Molina, despite all his clutch hits, is the cleanup hitter, or that a guy who had never put two good years together in the minors offensively could suddenly hold his own and produce at first base.

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Yankees reliever Jonathan Albaladejo was ultimately the last player added to New York’s 25-man roster coming out of spring training.

As fans and sports announcers scrambled to learn the correct pronunciation of his surname, others (like me) questioned his selection over a proven long man like Brett Tomko or Alfredo Aceves.

All that Aceves has done after finally being called up is win three games in just one week’s time.

It hurt this offseason when Jake Peavy turned down my favorite team, the Atlanta Braves.

Your turn to feel the wrath of Peavy, Chicago.

The Chicago White Sox join the list of jilted suitors of the San Diego Padres' ace.

When Peavy turned down President Barack Obama's favorite team, my only conclusion was that Peavy was headed to the eventual destination of most big-time players looking for lots of money: Boston or New York.