When the New York Yankees won their 27th World Series crown in November, they did so with a 35-year-old designated hitter, a 36-year-old left fielder, a 37-year-old catcher, and a closer who would turn 40 just a few days after the Series ended.

Two of those guys are gone now and two return a little older.

Washington DC

By Patrick Read

The winter offseason is just about over. We're about to get back to baseball.

For those who haven't had much to watch since the Super Bowl, and aren't into college or pro basketball, you are about to get your baseball season going again.

This past November, the Yankees got back on top of the baseball world by winning the 2009 World Series over the Phillies, the previous champions, in a very competitive series.

We've seen some changes to the roster this past winter. There will be some new faces and even some old faces coming back to the team for the 2010 campaign.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is an early arrival to the Boston Red Sox spring training camp. However, he didn't appear on the practice field today, according to ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes. The answer as to why might come from several Japanese media outlets.

Starting Pitchers

Aaron Harang

Edison Volquez

Aroldis Chapman (my NL Rookie of the Year pick)

Bronson Arroyo

Johnny Cueto/Homer Bailey (until Chapman is ready)

The 2009 season saw many players break out of mediocrity in America's Pastime, but only a select few of them can be expected to continue their newfound success into 2010.

You can ask Ryan Ludwick or Geovany Soto: at any rate, players that put together a career year without any moderate success before hand can be expected to see a drop in their statistics.

In this article I have identified the top breakout players of 2009 and analyzed whether or not they can be expected to follow it up with a big season this year.

Mark Reynolds

Point: Yes, I hope the Tigers bring Johnny Damon in. It makes perfect sense.

Counterpoint: The Tigers might as well turn over left field to Ryan Raburn.

P: Raburn? I like Raburn as a fifth outfielder. He won't put up what Damon will.

CP: Signing Damon would make the Tigers awfully crowded with outfielders. They have Raburn, Clete Thomas, Austin Jackson, Wilkin Ramirez, Magglio Ordonez, and possibly Carlos Guillen.

CP: Forget Ramirez and Thomas. Now you are down to four guys. Guillen could play a lot at third base considering Brandon Inge's injuries.

Welcome to the ninth edition of "Daily Random Sports Thoughts!"

For those not familiar, I pick a team, player, or any other topic in sports that I have five random thoughts about.  If you like 'em, read 'em.  I'm trying to get 'em on here every day!

Today's lucky random sports topic is...Dustin Pedroia!

1) How tall are you? And please, give me the truth. I've heard people say that you're 5' 9'', others say 5' 5'', and some claim that you are three-and-a-half feet tall. What's the real thing?

Hal Steinbrenner received a telephone call from Nan Croft, an assistant comptroller in the Tampa office of the New York Yankees.

“Mr. Steinbrenner, I’ve been going over some of the invoices from the training facility and thought you needed to know there are some strange things going on over there.”

I was very high on Jason Bay last year. I figured he would drive in a ton of runs with Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia at the top of Boston’s lineup.

He did not disappoint with 36 HRs and 119 RBI despite missing 11 games.

He’s moved on to the Mets this year, and he still figures to have plenty of opportunities hitting behind the likes of Jose Reyes and David Wright.

Bay has reached 100-plus RBI in four of his last five years, with nearly four of those years coming in Pittsburgh, so I don’t see him having a problem reaching that figure.