Anytime a baseball player who had a good career retires, the debate begins on whether or not they belong in the Hall of Fame. Most of the time, the answer is no, and the topic should not even be brought up. The Hall of Fame is for the best of the best, not the most popular.

But in the case of Nomar Garciaparra, I think the answer is yes.

When the question was first asked, my initial reaction was no. But looking at his stats, it is hard for me to leave him out.

Jermaine Dye hit 27 HR last season. That's tied for 37th most home runs among players in either league last year, one less than Joe Mauer and one more than Justin Upton. And he has no job.

Joe Pawlikowski did a good job breaking down why Dye doesn't have a job on FanGraphs . To recap for the lazy, he had a terrible second half and his defense is utter excrement.

It hasn't been the best of springs thus far for the New York Mets.

After being one of the most disappointing teams in baseball in 2009, the Mets and their fans hoped to ring in 2010 with a fast and furious start to the Grapefruit League. It hasn't happened, however, as the Mets have had to deal with many of the same issues this year that plagued the team last season.

1. Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers

.320 average, 32 homers, 114 RBI, 20 steals, 113 runs

Braun has been a stud pretty much since the day he stepped on the diamond in the major leagues and he has officially ascended to the top of the fantasy outfield.  He pretty much does it all and helps you across the board.  He gives you average, power, speed, and scores a great number of runs.

Today's Yankees game against the Atlanta Braves has been rained out, so this is a perfect time to take an updated look at the position battles this spring.

The pitching continues to be a big focus, as Joba Chamberlain has struggled in his two appearances so far. Nick Johnson has come back from a brief injury and is performing well— as is Curtis Granderson. See their battle and the others at Double G Sports.

This year, I set out on a goal to better learn the minor leagues. I am a Phillies fan but I realized that other than the Phillies, I didn't really know anyone else's system too well. I thought it would be a good idea to start ranking teams' top 10 prospects.

Do you guys remember what baseball was like 40 years ago?

Before the average baseball fan knew what a pitch count was.

Before six innings was considered an outstanding start.

Before stadiums were named after buisnesses' rather than individuals who achieved outstanding success in our game.

Before steroids came about and numbers actually mattered.

Before players played for the love of the game and not the love of $100 million contracts.

Those were the days.

For the last five years or so, the AL West has been dominated by the Angels. Whether they claimed to be from Los Angeles or Anaheim, they had no problem beating up on a weak division with only four teams. However, with the Rangers getting better each of the last three seasons, I see this year as a changing of the guard.

Texas Rangers: 

While browsing through Bleacher Report lately I came across an article, by Nino Colla, about John McDonald being an unheralded backup who deserves more credit.

The fact of the matter is John McDonald does not deserve any more credit, he does not deserve an American League job and he is barely worthy of a National League backup role. Just barely...

The article proposed that backups are a role in the MLB that someone has to play and that John McDonald does it well.

This is plain wrong.

Chicago Cubs General Manager, Jim Hendry, had some good words of advice for Milton Bradley on Wednesday. Hendry told ESPNChicago.com that it is time for Milton to look at himself in the mirror and take some responsibility for his unsuccessful season in Chicago.

Bradley recently did an interview with ESPN's Colleen Dominguez. He told her that he felt like a prisoner in his own home when he was in Chicago. Also that he received hate mail with no postage mark on it. When asked if this mail came from inside the organization, Bradley told her that he hoped not but maybe it could've.