Biggest Surprise – Baltimore Orioles

With the Blue Jays due for the AL East cellar, we’ll finally see the O’s in a new spot in the standings. But I think they’ll be even better than we think. They have an incredible foundation of young talent that will just get better. With the exception to the SS position and Cesar Izturis, this team really has no glaring holes in its lineup for the first time. Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Matt Wieters and the underrated Nolan Reimold form a more than solid lineup. Their rotation is full of upside and they have a formidable closer in Mike Gonzalez. Although it’s a stretch, if some things go right we could see them escape the 4th spot in the East.

Biggest Disappointment – New York Mets (again)

The team is a giant question mark. Their rotation is extremely mediocre, they have an offensive hole at first-base, Luis Castillo still plays for this team, we don’t know what the hell Jose Reyes’ deal is and Francisco Rodriguez didn’t look very good last season. Some of these problems could be resolved and the Mets could turn out pretty good. They should probably sign Carlos Delgado to play first-base too. However, all signs point to disappointment – again.

Top Player – Albert Pujols

Rather than predict the often poor choice for MVP (they got it right lately, though) I’d rather just predict the top player for next season – and when I say predict I mean choose the obvious. Not much needs to be said here.

Top Pitcher – Tim Lincecum

Pitches in the NL West – check. Misses bats – check. Strikes out 10+ per 9 – check. He’s the most dominating pitcher who pitches in a friendly pitching environment. He’ll continue to pile up the Cy Young Awards in San Francisco.

Top Team – New York Yankees

Last year the best team during the regular season won the World Series. This is far more rare than people think. How did the Yankees do in the offseason? They acquired one of the best pitchers last season in Javier Vazquez and added a left-handed batter with pop who is going to rake with the short left-field wall in Curtis Granderson. This team is deep in every aspect of the game and are without a doubt the best team in baseball this year.

Worst Team – San Diego Padres

While the Nationals will give them a run for their money, the Padres are undoubtedly the worst team on paper right now. Adrian Gonzalez is awesome, but there’s really no where to go after that. Jake Peavy was traded out of town and their top bullpen guy Heath Bell is due to be on the move.

Thoughts? Let me know in the comments.

His latest laugher comes from an interview with Mariners head Geoff Baker, who had the pleasure of interviewing Bradley. When asked about his latest ejections, Bradley responded that he’s trying to avoid any and all controversy this season and for the rest of his career, so he’s at least taken some steps, if baby.

But the absolute best? Bradley again opined that Major League Baseball umpires are conspiring against him, and that he’s constantly victimized with a bullseye on his back and a short leash around his neck. Umpires don’t play nicely with repeat offenders, and Bradley’s rap sheet is longer than Al Capone’s.

Honestly, I don’t want to ever see Bradley change. There’s nothing like tuning into a 9-2 blowout around the seventh inning, seeing Bradley jog out a routine ground ball, somehow get into a verbal spat with the first base blue, and wind up throwing Gatorade coolers across the dugout.

Ron Washington had this to say for himself:

“I did make a mistake and I regret that I did it,” Washington told SI.com on Tuesday. “I am really embarrassed and I am really sorry.”

Washington said he didn’t want to give any reason for the circumstances of his drug use, saying it was “going to sound like excuses.”

Washington was tested back in July. The 57-year-old manager of the Texas Rangers told the commissioners office about his use of cocaine before the results came back. Perhaps he felt it would be less embarrassing that way.

Source: ESPN Dallas

Jose Reyes was told that he’d be shelved anywhere from two to eight weeks because of his overactive thyroid, which means that New York Mets fans better get ready for fifty thirty-five year old Alex Cora to fill in when the regular season approaches.

Brian Giles has officially retired, which means one of the league’s more underrated hitters from the mid 90s-00s has finally succumbed to knee problems. He had an abysmal season last year at the dish, but finishes his career with some pretty impressive numbers, including an OPS north of .900!

Brandon Webb is still struggling through his rehabilitation practices, and the team is now officially worried he’ll be forced to the disabled list to begin the 2010 season. Webb, once regarded as one of the better pitchers in all of baseball, had season ending surgery last year and hasn’t had as speedy of a recovery as the Diamondbacks would’ve liked.

Joe Nathan is undergoing a waiting process to see if the pain in his elbow will subside. If it doesn’t, Nathan will have season ending Tommy John surgery, which pretty much means the Minnesota Twins bullpen is going to be torched on the regular. Some Twin Cities fans aren’t worried about Nathan’s impending absence, but I just don’t see the rock steady reliever in that bullpen sans Joe.

Todd Helton just inked a two year contract with the Colorado Rockies, which means he’ll probably finish out his career at Mile High Stadium and retire in black, purple, silver, and white. Helton’s been with the Rockies since 1997, and has moved from cult hero to baseball icon during his stint. Oh yeah, and old man can still rake – he was good for a .325 AVG /15 HR/86 RBI slash last year.

(Hat-tip to Deadspin for the video)

Every year, the sport of baseball is taking giant leaps away from the traditional statistics of earned run average and batting average, and focusing on the more defined, logical, and still quantifiable. I came across Sabermetrics through a website called Fan Graphs years ago, and since then have looked at the sport of baseball in a completely different manner.

It forces you to stop taking everything in the game for face value and dig deeper. These stats will tell you who is ready to collapse, who is ready to rise, who is running hot, and who is running cold. To give you the wikipedia rehash:

Sabermetrics is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially baseball statistics that measure in-game activity rather than industry activity such as attendance. The term is derived from the acronym SABR, which stands for the Society for American Baseball Research. It was coined by Bill James, who was one of its pioneers and has long been its most prominent advocate and public face

Here’s the provided link, and I can personally guarantee that should you make it through the free course, you’ll have a better and more developed understanding of the sport of baseball, period.

Sabermetrics Course

The Twins have released a statement saying that they’re going to shelve Nathan for some time and see if his elbow fixes itself, but some heads are not as optimistic.

Joe Nathan is on record as saying he’ll deal with the pain before throwing a season to waste and going under the knife, but if the pain is uncontrollable he’ll be forced to choose the latter. Nathan had an incredible 2009 run, with a 2.2 ERA and 47 saves( 1.87 ERA and 246 saves in the past seven years), so the Twins desperately need his arm if they want to compete for a playoff birth. There aren’t too many other reliable choices in that Twins ‘pen, and certainly not one as elite as Nathan.

If Nathan does choose the surgical route, his expected full recovery would take anywhere from ten to twelve months, so Ron Gardenhire would be forced to hand the ninth inning over to another arm. His best choice as of right now would be Matt Guerrier, but don’t rule out a closer-by-committee ordeal.

The odd thing about the casting is that the real-life DePodesta is a Harvard graduate and former football player. While it might not end up being a tremendous stretch for Hill’s acting abilities, it’s a hard role to picture him in given the past roles he’s taken. Then again, perhaps it’s time that the “Superbad” star spread his wings a bit and tried something new. This “Moneyball” role definitely qualifies.

The report was received by ESPN’s Rob Neyer through the author of the book, Michael Lewis.

For those who have read the book – is this not the last actor you would imagine in the role? For those who haven’t read the book – go read it.

Source: MTV Movies Blog

“Very impressive, especially somebody that tall and lanky being able to change his release times as effectively as he did and still get his arm to its proper slot and spin the ball,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “Their [scoreboard radar] gun wasn’t working, but it looked like about a 90-mile-an-hour slider today. That’s tough to square up.”

Other Notables

• Albert Pujols sat out today’s game with discomfort in his back. He is expected to miss at least one more. Fantasy leaguers have no fear as this is just precautionary.
• Josh Beckett pitched three perfect innings and struck out three batters.
• Jays’ catching prospect J.P. Arencibia hit his third homerun of the spring. Could he challenge for the catching spot? He still needs a lot of work on drawing walks at the dish.
• The Washington Nationals are dead last in the Grapefruit standings with an 0-6 record. Spring Training records are meaningless, but they’ll likely find themselves in the same position in the NL East.

#1 overall pick Stephen Strasburg is set to pitch for the Nats tomorrow afternoon. We’ll recap his performance here at Pete Prose.

• All but two Cactus League games were rained out today
• Dodgers’ catcher Russell Martin has a pulled groin muscle and will miss four to six weeks.
• Joe Nathan is heading to Minnesota for an MRI and CT scan on his right elbow after leaving yesterday’s game with discomfort.
• Alex Gordon injured his right thumb sliding into second-base and will miss approximately three to four weeks.
• Clay Buchholz is in the running for a rotation spot for the Red Sox and didn’t help his case by giving up three runs in just two innings of work today.
• Jays’ second-baseman Aaron Hill walked again today giving him a 5:0 BB/K ratio for the spring. Toronto would welcome some increased patience for the entire year hitting out of the 2 hole but I’m sure they’re very happy with 36 HR.
• Pedro Alvarez, the Pirates’ top pick a few years ago, went 2 for 4 today while playing third-base.
• Phillippe Aumont threw for the Phillies today. He went 2.2 scoreless innings.
• The Rockies’ Franklin Morales is currently the leading candidate for worst outing of the spring. 1.2 IP, 8 ER, 0 K. Yikes.