Conor Jackson has always intrigued me. He looks and sounds like a guy who should hit .320 with 30 home runs and be an All-Star every year.

Unfortunately, he is a guy who hits about .285 with 15 home runs every year. Which, if you consider it, isn’t all that bad.

But the issue now with Jackson isn’t his productivity on the field, it’s the fact that he can’t stay on the field. Jackson missed all but 30 games last year because of Valley Fever Virus.

Looking for a team that is building its way to being competitive? Hoping to get in on the ground floor of a team loaded with young fantasy talent? The Cincinnati Reds might be your team.

Cincinnati general manager Walt Jockety has done a good job of assembling talented youngsters. Then he surrounded them with quality veterans who can produce on the field, lead in the clubhouse and mentor the kids.

New York Mets’ prospect Ike Davis made his major league debut against the Cubs Monday night.

The 23-year-old left-handed first baseman recorded a hit in his first at-bat, a bloop single to right. In the seventh inning, Davis drove in Jason Bay on a hard-hit grounder up the middle off southpaw Sean Marshall. Davis finished the night 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Over the past two years, Jon Lester has been one of the best pitchers in the game of baseball. In both 2008 and 2009, Lester won at least 15 games while maintaining an ERA under 3.45.

Last year, Lester struck out 9.96 batters every nine innings while allowing just 2.83 walks. His 3.15 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching, a statistic combining strikeouts, walks and home runs) was better than all but fours pitchers in the American League.

At the young age of 26, Lester is one of the most promising stars of the game.

With the 2010 season less than two weeks old, this seems kind of premature, well, unless you're me than you're chomping at the bit to put a list together like this.

There are several managers that should be on this list, maybe more than 10 but we'll stick to 10 and see where that leads us.

I was originally going to title this piece, “Five Reasons Houston Astros Fans Should Be Happy Right Now,” but during that momentary lapse of reason I guess I forgot the team is still 3-9 (regardless of playing well lately).

However, there are reasons to be optimistic, and we’re now going to quickly count down five positives as Houston heads back to Minute Maid Park for their April 20 series opener against the Florida Marlins.

Brett Myers, boasting an impressive 3.46 ERA, will take the hill on Tuesday as Houston aims to begin their home-stand on the winning track.

If the As

The picture shown here could very well be the last time that Prince Fielder greets his teammates on Opening Day in a Milwaukee Brewers jersey.

There, I wrote it.

This is not a reality that I look forward to.

In fact, Fielder playing Major League Baseball in a uniform other than the Brewers is probably the thing I'm least looking forward to as it relates to the Brewers since Robin Yount's retirement.

After a seemingly endless nine-game slide, the Orioles have added one more notch to the win column and currently sit at the bottom of the AL East standings with a record of 2-11.

In 1947, Ted Williams won the American League's Triple Crown. He led the league in batting with a .343 average, in home runs with 32, and in RBIs with 114.  Williams had a .499 on base average, a .634 slugging percentage, and drew 162 walks.

In 1947, Joe DiMaggio hit .315 with 20 home runs and 97 RBIs. He had a .391 on base average, a .522 slugging percentage and 64 walks.

There is no comparison.

Tampa Bay Rays GM Andrew Friedman has been the best in baseball in accumulating young starting pitching. And they are not just young. They are good. They are very good.

The cup is overflowing in Tampa Bay.

After two weeks of the season, all five of the Rays starters are tapping into their immense potential.