Roy Halladay

Opening Day is less than two weeks away, which means everyone and his mother is spouting predictions for the coming MLB season.

With so many talking heads out there, where can you go to find a variety of opinions together in one place? 

This is Part 2 of a two-part series in which I will analyze a current Cy Young Predictor formula.  I offer a replacement formula to account for the change in philosophy for the Cy Young voters with the growing influence of new-age statistics (sabermetrics) and use this new formula to project the Cy Young race in 2011 and beyond.

America's favorite past-time evolved into the first major professional sports league in the United States—Major League Baseball.

The MLB was founded in 1869, and now has 30 teams, one of them in Canada.

The nicknames of these teams helped create the names of sports teams ever since. For those of you curious baseball fans and history buffs, here are the origins of each MLB team nickname.

Note: If you are also interested in NCAA, NFL, NBA, and NHL nicknames, check out my profile for the articles.

With the 2011 MLB season just around the corner, it's time to see how the these team stack up. There have been a few injuries and several off-season moves and it's now time to see how those will effect each team.

There are only a handful of dominant teams out there with world series aspirations but there are also so teams flying under the radar that could make a run.

Heading into opening day these are where the teams rank, for now.

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Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt... What is and what isn't with the best 1-2-3-4 of the decade?

They're not going to win 80 games. They're not going to have the top three Cy Young vote getters. They're not all going to stay healthy.

They're not all going to win 20 games or make 30 starts. In fact, I bet they don't all make 25 starts.

They will be good enough to win the NL East. They will be very difficult to beat in the playoffs.

We have been waiting since last October for the fun of the MLB season to start anew. On Mar. 31, 2011 we will get our wish. By that day, all clubs are required to reduce rosters to 25 players and play ball! We have seen changes occurs this offseason as we typically do each year but one thing seems to remain consistent. The same powerhouse teams appear to be set to make a run at the postseason and the World Series.

The Philadelphia Phillies have proved to be the class of the National League in recent years.  Their successes have included two World Series appearances (one title) and four straight NL East crowns.  As of late, they've done everything possible to keep the proverbial "window" open for as long as possible.  With winning comes more money; money that the Phillies have spent more and more freely.

Click here to enter the 2011 Fantasy Baseball Team Name Contest



Here’s an updated and expanded look at the 2011 Starting Pitcher rankings.

1.  Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies:  Led the Majors in wins (21), ranked third in WHIP (1.04), fourth in ERA (2.44), and tied for fifth in strikeouts (219). He’s the complete package.

This is a 2 part series in which I will analyze a current Cy Young Predictor formula, offer a replacement formula to account for the change in philosophy for the Cy Young voters with the growing influence of new-age statistics (sabermetrics), and use this new formula to project the Cy Young race in 2011 and beyond.

There are few "sure things" in life. Some that come to mind are death and taxes, which are not exactly what most people like to think about. But, with the baseball season less than four weeks away, lets take a look at each team's "money player" for the 2011 season. "Sure thing" will be defined as anybody who has and will put up consistent numbers over a minimum of a three year period. We aren't looking for flashes in the pan as much as legitimate stars who have been and will be consistent throughout this season and their career.