Kuzul

Prince Fielder is to 2011 as Adrian Gonzalez was to 2010. Whether or not he gets traded before the deadline is completely dependent on the Milwaukee Brewer’s place in the NL Central standings by July.

Teams like the Milwaukee Brewers usually need to pick and choose who to spend their money on. Like the Padres, did they feel like they would sink into the abyss if they don’t sign Adrian Gonzalez to a large contract?

Or did they feel like it was better for the franchise to trade him for some prospects like they did with Jake Peavy in 2009 and try to replace at least 65 percent of Adrian’s production with cheap signings and shift to a more pitching and defense team with a small-ball oriented lineup?

Prince Fielder had a bit of a down year Pujols-style last year with 32 home runs, 83 RBI and a .261 batting average. Unlike the Padres’ Adrian Gonzalez situation, the Brewers have other power outlets in their lineup other than Prince.

He is just one of five Milwaukee hitters with more than 20 homers and 80 RBI. They locked up one of the five by signing second baseman Ricky Weeks to a five-year $50 million contract just recently. They already have Ryan Braun locked up, and they will have third baseman Casey McGehee for a while.

And to top all that off, they now have a newly assembled young and proven starting rotation to take care of.

Truth of the matter is, the Milwaukee Brewers don’t really need Prince Fielder. They want to have him, they would like to have him, but they don’t need him.

Done right, a Prince Fielder trade in July might actually help the team during it’s playoff push.

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Prince is to 2011 as Adrian Gonzalez is to 2010. Whether or not he gets traded before the deadline is completely dependent on the Milwaukee Brewers’ place in the NL Central standings by July.

Teams like the Milwaukee Brewers usually need to pick and choose who to spend their money on.

Take the Padres for example: did they feel like they would sink into the abyss if they don’t sign Adrian Gonzalez to a large contract, or they feel like it was better for the franchise to trade him for some prospects like they did with Jake Peavy in 2009? Could they try to replace at least 65 percent of Gonzalez’s production with cheap signings and shift to a more pitching and defense team with a small-ball-oriented lineup?

Prince Fielder had a bit of a down year Pujols-style last year with 32 home runs, 83 RBI and a .261 batting average. Unlike the Padres’ Gonzalez situation, the Brewers have power outlets in their lineup other than Prince.

Fielder is just one of five Milwaukee hitters with more than 20 homers and 80 RBI. They locked up one of the five by signing second baseman Ricky Weeks to a five-year, $50M contract just recently. They already have Ryan Braun locked up, and they will have third baseman Casey McGehee for a while.

And to top all that off, they now have a newly assembled, young and proven starting rotation to take care of.

Truth of the matter is, the Milwaukee Brewers don’t really need Prince Fielder. They want to have him, they would like to have him—but they don’t need him.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It’s that time again.

Pitchers and catchers report to their respective spring complex in either the coast of Florida or the greater Phoenix area under the Arizona sun.

For the Cleveland Indians this feeling is bittersweet.

Yes, they get to start getting back into the swing of things, but they have to share the place with the Cincinnati Reds.

Arizona is home to two proud college baseball programs, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University have a combined eight national championships and a plethora of professional ball players. So it only makes sense to see some of the Indians players show up at college practice for a little BP and some time to chat with their old coach and give the current players some pointers.

Cleveland’s crowed outfield includes three former Arizona Wildcats, Shelly Duncan, Trevor Crowe and Jordan Brown, all competing for a roster spot.

Trevor Crowe has the best future of the three, having already shown the Cleveland brass how good of a baserunner he is after stealing 20 bases in 2010.

Shelly Duncan has the most experience, being in the majors for four years. He has shown that he has some pop in him after hitting a career-high 11 home runs as a reserve outfielder for the Indians in 2010.

That leaves Jordan Brown, who has had less playing time to work with among the three. In only 26 games, Brown has managed to record only 20 hits, leaving him with a .230 batting average in 2010.

Still, Brown is confident in his abilities and knows that spring training is not about him going up against Duncan and Crowe—or even veteran Austin Kearns, whom the Indians waived Brown for to make room on the 40-man roster—but what he does in Goodyear that translates to an Opening Day roster spot.

“You go in and compete against yourself and good things will happen,” Brown said on Monday when talking about position battles. “You can’t think that way because it makes it tough, they have a bad AB or a good AB it doesn’t change anything that I’ve done.”

Guys like Brown and Crowe are part of a youth movement that has started around mid 2008 when the Indians started trading stars like C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez for prospects.

“I think the best thing is that there are a lot of good young players that are scratching the surface and finally getting their first exposure at the big leagues. There’s a lot of ability there, whether or not they are able to harness that ability is another question. There is definitely help on the way,” Brown said, adding that fans of the Tribe should keep an eye on their young catcher. “I think a guy to keep your eye on just simply because he is such a hard worker is Carlos Santana.”

Spring training this year should be very interesting for the young Tribe.

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No MLB player gets tugged and jerked around by his only team and is as respected as long time Texas Ranger Michael Young. He was a second baseman, then shortstop to accommodate Alfonso Soriano, moved to third to accommodate Elvis Andris, now is moved to 1B/DH when the Rangers signed Adrian Beltre. Now he said enough is enough and he wants out. Who can blame him? The Ranges can easily trade Young to the Rockies, Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Yankees, Twins, Astros and Cardinals. Anyone else would have to be done by his approval. So lets see not where he will go but HOW he would fit in the lineup.

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The Boston Red Sox usually does a good job when it comes to retooling and trying to keep up with the New York Yankees. They should, it is as important of a skill for the front office now than ever before.

Ever since the Tampa Bay Rays wedged their way into the penthouse of the AL East, things have been tough on both the Yankees and Red Sox. Since then, every year now it is clear that one of the two power teams might not make the playoffs.

They did a better job getting good players in this edition of the hot stove than the rival Yankees have. But there will be very tough competition this year.

Starting Rotation

1. Josh Beckett

2. Jon Lester

3. John Lackey

4. Clay Buchholz

5. Daisuke Matsuzaka

Want to know how to piss off Red Sox fans? Say that their starting rotation is two notches ahead of the New York Yankees, then say that they are a notch below the Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox have two studs, (Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester) one pitcher that wasn’t spectacular but might be a bit better this year, (John Lackey) a pitcher that had just fallen apart both health wise and pitching wise, (Daisuke Matsuzaka) and then Josh Beckett. Beckett needs a bounce back year if the Red Sox are going to have their rotation carry the team this year.

Bullpen

CL: Jonathan Papelbon

P1: Daniel Bard

P2: Bobby Jenks

P3: Dan Wheeler

What if I told you that the Boston Red Sox, given their injury problems that plagued them all last year, finished the seas only six games out of a playoff spot? Then I tell you that their All Star closer Jonathan Papelbon blew a total of eight saves and lost seven of them?

Would it justify trying to sign Mariano Rivera of the hated Yankees? Paps should bounce back or be traded trying. Daniel Bard looks in line to be the new closer should the Sox decide to save their money. They might have gone overboard with the signing of Bobby Jenks, we’ve seen what happens when former closers pitch in Boston. Signing Dan Wheeler was a very smart move.

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No one expected the Tampa Bay Rays to resign Carl Crawford or Carlos Pena.

But when the Rays said goodbye to Rafael Soriano, Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett, Grant Balfour, Dan Wheeler and Joaquin Benoit, that just felt like overkill to a team that put a nice effort to knock off the Yankees and Red Sox and take the toughest division in the game two out of three times.

But this isn’t the end for the Rays. Their starting rotation is intact and their bullpen somewhat repaired. And the arrivals of Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon proves that the Rays are out to win again or entertain trying.

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This is it, the Florida Marlins final season. After 2011, there will be no more baseball in Sun Life Stadium, no Major League baseball in Miami Gardens, no more empty stadiums or the perception of the team being known as second class citizens on welfare.

In 2011, the Florida Marlins have one last chance to win a championship before their big transformation.

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Fans are starting to notice a subtle decline in the Phillies overall success ever since their big banner year of 2008.

In 2009, they lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series. In 2010, they lost to the San Francisco Giants in the National League Conference Championship Series. Their only big hot stove move was surprisingly signing star pitcher Cliff Lee.

They now have a starting rotation of historical caliber, but are they set for another World Series run?

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According to MLB, a rookie is “A player who hasn’t accumulated 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in previous seasons and hasn’t spent 45 or more days on 25-man active rosters, not including times when the active list is expanded to 40.”

Most times rookies come out of nowhere and surprise his team and the league. rarely do you see a rookie start the season as a starter and nearly handed the rookie of the year award like they did with Jason Hayward, until Buster Posey showed up.

Nevertheless, I’ll hand hand someone the award anyway.

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With the signing of Rafael Soriano, it makes a young former phenom like Joba Chamberlain become trade bait. But he is not the only one, there are at least 10 other players that might also be dangled as trade bait and a few of them might be Joba’s teammates. Anyone who takes Joba would be better off to give him a slot in the rotation. In fact, that’s what I believe the Yankees should do.

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