Here we sit in the first week of 2010, and the Atlanta Braves still, seemingly, have a hole to fill in the outfield.

With a starting group currently composed of Cabrera-McLouth-Diaz (the Braves will probably end up taking the Hanson route with Heyward), you can kind of see why.

With that in mind, though, you have to think that the Braves aren't going to be looking to break the bank (sorry, no Matt Holliday ) since they could go to war with that group and be okay.

Among the things that struck me with the arrival of 2010 last night (hmm...I start grad school in four days...) was a new found excitement for the opening of Target Field.

As a lifelong Twins fan, I spent many a night twisted half around in my seat to face home plate instead of somewhere between second base and the centerfielder, phenomenal seats for the Vikings game the next day, but not so great for a pitchers' duel.

In my excitement, I went looking for some press on the new stadium, and there's a lot of excitement around baseball about this new park.

I am now on the sixth installment of my series in which I am naming who I feel are the top 10 players in each MLB franchise's history, and this one is the Mariners.

With just four postseason appearances in their 33 seasons, the Mariners have had some tough times with just ten winning seasons i their history. Nonetheless, they have had some great players don the Mariners uniform.

As with any rankings list, I'm sure not everyone will agree with me.

Earlier in the offseason, I broke down the catchers in the A's organization. That article can be found at http://bleacherreport.com/articles/307963-heres-a-thought-breaking-down-....

It’s officially the new year. With 2009 in the rearview mirror and 2010 upon us, it’s time to take a look at the Houston Astros probable bench for this coming season.

Stopping to read the Jim Hendry outfield foibles over the last few seasons reads like the tale of a man who just doesn't get it. Corey Patterson, Jacque Jones, Jeromy Burnitz, Matt Lawton, Cliff Floyd, Juan Pierre, Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Milton Bradley, just to name a few.

In pretty much every case, the Cubs have either failed to get the production that they hoped for, and/or wildly overpaid for it. I'll let you figure out which is which.

According to reports by FoxSports.com’s John Paul Morosi, the Twins are still looking for a middle infielder, which is hardly surprising considering just one member of Game 163 ’s infield (Michael Cuddyer, Nick Punto, Orlando Cabrera, and Matt Tolbert) is likely to be in the starting infield next season.

Sure, their projected 2010 infield (Justin Morneau, Alexi Casilla, J.J. Hardy, and Punto) is better in some places, but it’s weaker in others and not much better overall as a result.

Boston sports started off the decade in a bit of a rut. None of the Big Four teams had won a championship since 1987, and only the Patriots reaching a championship game in that time. Ten years and six championships and later, it's safe to say being a Boston sports fan this decade has been pret-tay, pret-tay, pret-tay good.

But with such success also came heartbreak.

In the days before the arrival of Stephen Strasburg, there was already a pitching prospect considered good enough to be the team’s future No. 1 starter.

His name was Jordan Zimmermann.

The San Francisco Giants have had one of the strongest traditions of pitching in all of baseball throughout their franchise history. They have had countless Hall of Famers, league leaders and two Cy Young award winners.
When they were the New York Giants, they boasted such names as Carl Hubbell, Christy Mathewson, Red Ames, Joe McGinnity, and Rube Marquard. Since the Giants relocated to San Francisco in 1958, Juan Marichal, Vida Blue, Gaylord Perry, Rod Beck, and Mike Krukow have all taken the mound.