Fan News

Why do so many writers in the baseball universe refer to Kevin Youkilis as over-rated or predict that his career will start to backslide?

Many of these pundits point to the fact he had a bad back throughout much of last year, and that back issues tend to linger and never go away—especially for a 31-year-old.  They assume that his back condition will be chronic, and with less time on the field he'll have fewer opportunities to produce runs.

Previously, I touched on ten National League rookies to keep an eye on. Let's shift our attention over to the American League.

Last year Andrew Bailey took the closer role in Oakland. Bailey finished the season with 27 saves and a 6-3 record, earning him AL Rookie of the Year honors.

The White Sox called on Gordan Beckham to take over at third base. Beckham answered by establishing himself as a consistent hitter with sneaky power and speed.

Matt Weiters stepped in as Baltimore's everyday catcher in June.

The NL East has been dominated by the Phillies the past couple years. This year isn't going to be any different, as the Phillies will be just as good, if not better, than last year. Although, 2nd place is up for grabs between the Marlins, Braves, and Mets. I could easily see the Braves taking that spot, and the Mets getting 3rd. Here are my predictions:

1. Philadelphia Phillies (97-65)

Today Detroit defeated Houston 17 to 7. No, folks, it’s not preseason football that I am referring to. That was, in fact, todays spring training final score. Besides, we all know that the Lions' defense can’t hold an opposing team to just seven points.

Prior to that pitcher's duel (note sarcasm), I had a chance to watch last season's draft picks Jacob Turner and Andy Oliver in a scrimmage game on a practice field.

This continues my 2010 MLB preview. I intend to touch on every team in the major leagues in installments by division. The lineups I provide will be what I predict will be the most productive for each team for the MAJORITY of the season (e.g., Jason Heyward will be listed as the Braves RF even though he may not begin the season as the starter).

I will also provide the stereotypical letter grade to each team's lineup, rotation, bullpen, and depth/bench. Though it is trite, I think all baseball fans can identify with the letter grade system.

These aren't the Cleveland Indians from a few years ago.  This team has been gutted by trades, from Cy Young winners C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee to dealing Victor Martinez to the Boston Red Sox.  The 2010 edition of the Cleveland Indians will be very young and not very deep.

Pitching

Single-game tickets for New York Mets' regular season home games go on sale on Sunday at 10 a.m.

Among the games on offer for 2010 are 30 games against NL East rivals (including nine games against the Philadelphia Phillies), matchups with five of the six division winners from 2009, and three sets of much-anticipated interleague matchups.

If the competition for the Yankees' No. 5 starter's spot is truly a five-man race, frontrunners Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes would currently rank fourth and fifth on the depth chart.

After Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre and Alfredo Aceves each turned in two scoreless innings of work in Wednesday's spring opener against the Pirates, Hughes and Chamberlain both struggled in their first outings on Friday.

The Arizona Diamondbacks entered their first full decade as a team with the fifth highest payroll in the league. In 2001, just their fourth year in existence, they won one of the most emotional world series in the history of the game.

But after ten years of entertaining baseball fans everywhere, the D'Backs could not be a more different franchise from the one that came back and beat the Yankees in seven games.

From the fifth highest payroll in 2000 to the twentieth in 2009. From Jerry Colangelo to Ken Kendrick. From Joe Garagiola to Josh Byrnes. From Bob Brenly to A.J. Hinch.