Kuzul

Reports began to surface early Wednesday morning that St. Louis Cardinals’ ace Adam Wainwright was experiencing pain in his throwing elbow and heard a mysterious “pop” when pitching batting practice on Tuesday.

Most baseball fans will remember it was a mysterious “pop” that forced young phenom Stephen Strasburg to undergo Tommy John surgery this past season.

All signs indicate that Wainwright will have to do the same, which will shelf him for anywhere from 12-18 months and guarantee he doesn’t pitch for the Cardinals in the 2011 season.

With Adam Wainwright likely out for the season, the St. Louis Cardinals’ rotation starts to look a little thin.

Chris Carpenter becomes the de facto ace, although he is no stranger to serious injury himself.

Jaime Garcia slides into the second spot in the rotation and will have to fight off a second half lull that sent his season into a tailspin last year, as well as the dreaded sophomore slump so prevalent in baseball.

Jake Westbrook and Kyle Lohse will round out the back end of the rotation with a fifth starter yet to be named.

All in all, it isn’t an overly impressive rotation–especially if Garcia is unable to repeat his 2010 performance or Carpenter misses any time due to injury.

Therefore, the Milwaukee Brewers starting rotation is now, without a doubt, the best in the NL Central—if it wasn’t already.

After all, the Cincinnati Reds have named Edinson Volquez their Opening Day starter. Volquez has been anything but consistent; he hasn’t pitched a full season since 2008.

Paul Maholm will likely start for the Pittsburgh Pirates—yawn.

Ryan Dempster is opening the season for the Chicago Cubs, as Carlos Zambrano is a headcase and Wandy Rodriguez has taken the reigns in Houston after the departure of Roy Oswalt.

None of those names instill fear in opposing hitters.

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers have Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum and Yovani Gallardo—all Opening Day starters for their respective 2010 clubs—to choose from as well, as a solid veteran like Randy Wolf rounding out their rotation with Chris Narveson in the fifth spot.

The only NL Central team with a better offense than the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010 was the division winning Cincinnati Reds.

While there is reason to believe the Reds and their young offensive core should put up similar numbers to last season, there are more reasons to assume the Milwaukee Brewers should improve offensively across the board.

The Brewers’ two superstars–—Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder—both had down seasons, with Fielder possibly having the worst of his career.

That shouldn’t be the case this year, as he and Scott Boras have a huge contract waiting for them at the end of the season if he is able to return to his run-producing, home run slugging ways.

Braun’s best two seasons have been in 2007 and 2008, when the team was in contention until the very end.

It is assumed that the Milwaukee Brewers will be in the playoff hunt until the very end, which could lead to a career season from Ryan Braun.

With the St. Louis Cardinals suffering a major blow from the loss of Adam Wainwright and the Cincinnati Reds having more questions than answers with their pitching staff, it seems as though a recipe for success is beginning to brew in Milwaukee.

2011 could be the year of the beer in the NL Central.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Outside of fans of the Milwaukee Brewers, devoted fantasy baseball managers and his wife and child, very few people are familiar with Casey McGehee.

It’s to be expected.

McGehee plays in the smallest market in Major League Baseball and wasn’t a top prospect like say, Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg or Jason Heyward.

In fact, McGehee didn’t even break onto the scene until 2009 at 26 years old when, after a season-ending wrist injury to Rickie Weeks, he was thrust into the starting lineup.

Since then, Casey McGehee has gone on to become one of the more consistent contributors to the Brewers offense and a core player in their lineup.

Consistency is extremely valuable in a 162 game season, so much so, that McGehee was recognized on a national level this offseason.

As part of its offseason programming, the MLB Network has run a series of programs entitled Top 10 ____ Right Now for each position and low and behold, McGehee appeared in their third base rankings:

10. Casey McGehee

9. Placido Polanco

8. Scott Rolen

7. Mark Reynolds

6. David Wright

5. Adrian Beltre

4. Kevin Youkilis

3. Alex Rodriguez

2. Ryan Zimmerman

1. Evan Longoria

At first thought, some might be surprised to even see Casey McGehee on the list, what with having only played one full MLB season in his career. However, when you look closer and see some of the names ahead of him, you begin to wonder if McGehee isn’t in fact closer to the Top 5 rather than 10.

Placido Polanco? Mark Reynolds? Scott Rolen?

He has to be better than those guys.

Casey McGehee had the second most hits amongst third basemen behind only Adrian Beltre, and were it not for Beltre having one of the best seasons of his career, it is very possible McGehee would have topped the list.

In fact, McGehee hit more home runs than Longoria in 2010 and more doubles than Ryan Zimmerman, David Wright or Alex Rodriguez and had the fifth best AVG amongst third basemen in 2010.

While he didn’t score as many runs as some on the list due to batting fifth in the Brewers lineup, he did have the second most RBI behind only Alex Rodriguez.

If you watch many Milwaukee Brewers games, you know that Casey McGehee isn’t the best defensive third basemen in baseball and his 17 errors last season certainly indicated that.

However, he had the same amount as Ryan Zimmerman and less than Adrian Beltre, Mark Reynolds and David Wright, and his FPCT was better than both Reynolds’ and Zimmerman’s.

McGehee ranks in the middle or above in almost every offensive category when compared to his counterparts on the list. His main flaw is his speed and his one stolen base last season tied him for worst amongst the group with Scott Rolen.

His defense, while not stellar, is better than some on the list and suffers from playing with one of the worst, if not the worst, defensive first basemen in the league—Prince Fielder.

Casey McGehee can’t compete with Mark Reynolds in terms of home runs or David Wright in terms of stolen bases. His defense isn’t as good as Placido Polanco’s and he wasn’t playing for money last season like Adrian Beltre was.

Instead, he is right in the middle.

The middle of a Top 10 List—according to most—is somewhere right around five, last time I checked.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

There have been quite a few dynamic duos throughout history and pop culture–Batman and Robin, The Lone Ranger and Tonto, Wayne and Garth, Hall and Oates, etc.

Baseball is no different.

It’s almost impossible for an offense to be successful in a 162-game season without at least two talented bats in the lineup.

A lot of offseason moves broke up some of the more dominant duos from 2010.

Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena in Tampa, Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez in Florida and Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman in Washington are no more.

Other moves created new powerful partnerships, like Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko with the Chicago White Sox and Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth on the Washington Nationals.

With spring training beginning this week and lineups starting to take shape, it’s becoming clear which duos will be amongst the best in 2011.

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The NFL season has come to an end and mainstream interest in the NBA continues to plummet each and every year. Therefore, most devoted sports fans will start to turn their attention to professional baseball and the 2011 MLB season.

That’s right! Spring training is here with the first full team workouts beginning this weekend.

Baseball spring training means new preseason favorites and predictions for the upcoming 2011 MLB season.

Most baseball writers, bloggers, experts and so-called experts will be publishing their predictions for the 2011 baseball season if they haven’t already.

Most of their predictions for 2011 will be the product of in-depth research into the statistics, sabermetrics and results of the 2010 season, along with one-on-one interviews with professional baseball players and personnel. Due to their position as respected members of the media, it is important to note that their predictions will be completely free of bias and random thought.

The predictions for the 2011 MLB season you will soon dive into are almost solely based on bias with little to no research. I can tell you for a fact that I have not interviewed one front-office member of a single major league club, nor did I attend the winter meetings.

I definitely have watched my fair share of the sport over recent years and would like to think of myself as a knowledgeable fan. Which is to say, in terms of understanding baseball, I probably rank somewhere below Vin Scully and somewhere far ahead of the guy who doesn’t know what WHIP stands for.

You’re still reading? Fantastic! If you have made it this far, then you are probably at the edge of your seat waiting to see my predictions for the 2011 baseball season.

Drum roll please, here are my 2011 MLB predictions for the American League:

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As the NFL season draws to a close and national interest in the NBA continues to plummet on an annual basis, most avid sports fans will begin to direct their attention to baseball and the 2011 MLB season.

Yes! It’s finally that time of year, with pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training earlier this week. 

Baseball spring training means new preseason favorites and predictions for the upcoming 2011 MLB Season.

Many baseball pundits, experts and so-called experts will be publishing their predictions for the 2011 season if they haven’t already.

Most of their predictions for 2011 will be the result of intense scrutiny and research into the statistics and results of the 2010 season, as well as direct interviews with professional baseball players and personnel.

It is important to note that their predictions for the 2011 MLB Season will have little to no bias.

Well, the predictions you are about to read are almost solely based on bias and little to no research. I most certainly haven’t spoken to or interviewed anyone working in the MLB.

Unlike Ken Rosenthal or Tom Verducci, my Rolodex contains only the phone number for Pizza Hut and my friend Steve.

I definitely have watched my fair share of the sport over recent years and would like to think of myself as a knowledgeable fan.

Which is to say, in terms of understanding baseball, I probably rank somewhere between Peter Gammons and the guy who jumps out of his seat every time a ball is popped up into the air thinking it is a home run.

Please, don”t be that guy.

With that being said, you are probably at the edge of your seat waiting to hear my predictions for the National League in the 2011 MLB season.

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John Axford had an impressive debut season in 2010 when he filled in for Trevor Hoffman as the Milwaukee Brewers closer.

Equally impressive was his mustache which rivaled the infamous beard of Brian Wilson and revived memories of renowned Brewers closer and former Cy Young Award winner, Rollie Fingers.

Axford went 24-3 in save opportunities and compiled 76 K in only 58 innings for a 11.65 K/9—good for fourth best amongst closers. He maintained a 2.60 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in that time.

His performance was one of the few bright spots in the Brewers season and a relief considering the struggles of one of baseball’s all-time greatest relievers.

Now John Axford has become the primary closer for the Milwaukee Brewers entering the 2011 season. 

The promotion might seem like a glorious achievement for the longtime minor leaguer, but in reality, inheriting the Brewers closer role has been something of a curse over the last 10 years.

In fact, you might say it is career suicide as the majority of pitchers to have recorded a save for the team since 2001 have gone on to either immediately retire or suffer severe drop offs in performance.

There might be no such thing as curses in the real world, but in the superstitious sport of baseball they are most definitely real and this particular curse began with Curtis Leskanic.

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Just when you thought the offseason couldn’t get any worse for the New York Yankees, there is now talk of CC Sabathia possibly opting out of his contract after the 2011 season.

Considering Andy Pettitte’s retirement last week, that would be very, very bad news for Yankees fans with AJ Burnett projected as the team’s ace in 2012 were CC to leave.

Sabathia originally signed a seven-year $161 million contract with New York prior to the 2009 MLB Season. The contract includes an opt-out clause after the third year (2011) which would allow the lefty to become a free agent again or pursue an even better extension with the Yankees.

In October during the team’s playoff run, CC Sabathia told reporters that he had no intentions of opting out of his contract. Now on Monday in Tampa, FLA with a new season looming, Sabathia is changing his tune.

When asked if he would opt out of his contract, Sabathia replied,”I have no idea. It’s still in my contract, anything can happen.”

It is possible that Sabathia truly doesn’t know what he will do following the 2011 MLB Season, it is also possible that his agent instructed him to say that in order to get the New York Yankees thinking about life without CC and what they would do not to lose him.

I think he knows exactly what he intends to do next season. Like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh scheming to join the Miami Heat in 2010, it is my best guess that CC Sabathia intends to partner with friend and former Cleveland Indian teammate Cliff Lee and join the Philadelphia Phillies in 2012.

It might seem unlikely, but did you ever think Lee would be going to Philadelphia instead of New York or Texas? I didn’t think so.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks 2011 Major League Baseball Season couldn’t be any worse than their 2010 season, could it?

The 2010 MLB Season marked the second consecutive year the Arizona Diamondbacks finished with a losing record (65-97) and in last place in the National League (NL) West.

The team’s slow start resulted in manager AJ Hinch and general manager Josh Byrnes losing their jobs midway through the season on July 1st.

Hinch was replaced by the legendary Kirk Gibson while Jerry Dipoto filled in for Byrnes on an interim basis before Kevin Towers was hired in the offseason.

To make matters worse, the 2010 Arizona Diamondbacks set the all-time MLB Team Record for strikeouts by a hitters with 1,529 with Adam LaRoche (172) and Mark Reynolds (211) both leading the charge.

LaRoche was not resigned and Reynolds was traded to the Baltimore Orioles during the offseason.  The Diamondbacks also made various moves for the 2011 MLB Season to improve their bullpen’s league worst 5.47 ERA, including the signing of veteran closer JJ Putz.

After trading tenured veterans and fan favorites, Chad Qualls, Dan Haren and Reynolds, along with hiring Gibson and Towers, the 2011 MLB Season is certainly a new beginning for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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