Mets Gaining Reputation As Not-So- Lovable Losers

Murphy's Law: Anything than can go wrong, will.

When I search "New York Mets" these days on the internet, I see a whopping increase in stories outlining the inexplicable ineptitude of New York's second best baseball club.

I also see a glut of blogs and websites dedicated to lamenting on the travels and travails of this comically dysfunctional organization. It's unreal the amount of effort that is going into these things. 

On March 24, 2008, Claudio Vargas was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers and competing for a spot in the starting rotation. On March 25, 2008, Claudio Vargas lost that competition and was cut from the team altogether.

In reality, there were too many starters for not enough spots in that rotation...on March 25. Shortly after, Chris Capuano was injured and hasn't thrown a pitch in the Majors since. Thus is the tenuous nature of pitching. One day you can have an apparent surplus and the next you can have a severe dearth.

With pitchers and catchers due to report to Spring Training this week, the race to find the next ace for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is about to heat up.
Typically a strength in Anaheim, it was the Angels' pitching staff that set an ominous tone at the start of the 2009 season.
John Lackey injured his shoulder just weeks before Opening Day. Ervin Santana was sidelined after straining his forearm early on in Spring Training.

In December of 2004, Red Sox veteran catcher Jason Varitek was named the Red Sox's team captain, the first captain since outfielder Jim Rice in the 1980's. However, fastforward to 2010 and the 37-year old is now the back-up to Victor Martinez.

What has happened to Varitek in a period of six years? Could it involve off-field issues, such as the 2009 divorce between him and wife Karen? Is it simply old age? Whatever the answer, one only has to look to Varitek's stats to understand the magnitude of his rapid decline.

To celebrate my 50th article here on Bleacher Report, here are the top three things I'd like to see from the Oakland A's in 2010.

1. A's Stay Healthy in '10

There's no doubt that baseball is a kid's game. 

There's nothing like trying on your very first pair of cleats, or having your very first bag of sunflower seeds. 

Baseball is built on the foundation of youth. Many of us dreamt about playing under the lights of Yankee Stadium at one point or another during our childhood. And many of us had aspirations of becoming a major league ball-player someday.  

Brett Gardner had 284 plate appearances last year, and during approximately 284 of them I was screaming at my TV begging him to bunt.

Maybe 284 sacrifices is a bit much for one season, but when you have as much speed as the Yankees' outfielder does, it makes sense to lay one down once in a while to see if you can beat the throw to first.

This is why I was pleased to learn today that the 26-year-old has practiced more bunting this offseason. Because, after all, it's hard to steal bases if you're not on base.

After the 2008 season, the Mariners fired GM Bill Bavasi and hired Jack Zduriencik.

Led by GM Jack Zduriencik, the Mariners made bold moves over the last couple of years to make them the favorite to win the AL West in 2010.

This is a look at the seven best moves JZ has orchestrated.

Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments section.

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According to George King of the NY Post , longtime Yankees trainer Gene Monahan will miss spring training and possibly the start of the season with what is termed as a “significant illness.”

When I have a couple of things to write about at the same time and don't feel like making separate posts about each one, I combine them under a heading I like to call Quick Hops.

Every now and then, I get some information passed along to me. You can take the information for what it's worth to you. At this point, after all, I am just a fan of the team that enjoys sharing his thoughts about it.

So, with that disclaimer out of the way, let me pass along what I've been told.