Kuzul

As a typical fan, you always wonder what if? What if my favorite team made the postseason? What if my favorite team made a move to sign this hot name off the market? What if the team I hated had it’s franchise player suffer an injury like a torn rotator cuff?

Well it goes to show you we live in a world of what ifs and we always seems to wonder, what if.

Quoting the narrator for the 30 for 30 commercials, what if I told you what it took to obtain a player such as Albert Pujols or Hanley Ramirez? It would be a team’s dream to have one of those players and in light of the recent Pujols contract deadline, we examine his worth and other stars’ worth and what it would take to acquire his talents. 

Now in this instance, we examine baseball’s biggest names who might just find themselves out of town if their teams can’t win or sign a long-term deal to stay and what trade package it might take to land them. Some scenarios are likely, some are just thought but so that we just to stick to the real world, we will only look at those with the slightest chance of being traded in the near future.  

Let’s find out what price teams would have to pay if they were to trade for the superstar they desire.

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The battle for prospect supremacy is on.

And not just who’s the top overall player. Or the top overall hitter. Or the top pitcher.

Rather, I think it would be more entertaining to try to rank the top hitter-pitcher duos in each organization, starting from the bottom and working our way up to the very, very best that the minor league system has to offer.

Taking into account, of course, level of play, ceiling/potential, injury history and any position (starter-reliever) issues.

So, let’s check it out, the best hitting/pitching combinations in the minor leagues, ranked from 30th to first.

Enjoy!

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Now that the MLB offseason is starting to cool down and the dust is starting to settle, which teams will make the playoffs in 2011?

The Boston Red Sox added superstars Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, Philadelphia added veteran starter Cliff Lee to their already dominant rotation, the Brewers added former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke, and much more.

How will these additions and subtractions affect the MLB standings in 2011?

Which teams are for real and which teams are overrated?

Here are my predictions. Prepare to be frustrated.

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I think we can all agree on one, simple thing: The National League is infinitely superior to its American League counterpart.

The Senior Circuit is real baseball as compared to the Junior Circuit’s designated hitter-tainted novelty act.

As for those of you who don’t want to see the pitcher hit like he was intended to when the beautiful game was created, who want to see some geriatric version of a once-proud slugger grip-it-and-rip-it until his joints are held together by pine tar and little else, who have given yourselves over to the AL hucksters who invented the DH freak show to sell tickets, who complain when a millionaire professional athlete can’t circle the bases without hurting himself…well…

I forgot my point, but I think “zip it” is close enough.

However, even an NL man like myself can admit that the AL has its advantages. Okay, it has one advantage—the Junior Circuit is obviously and demonstrably a stronger offensive league.

Common sense belies any argument to the contrary.

So you can see where I’m heading.

If you’re gonna make a list of 15 players who would struggle if they moved from the NL to the AL, a less ambitious man than I might be tempted to grab 15 pitchers and be done with it. Alas, that won’t do for this die-hard fan of the diamond.

Nope, I went all out for the readers and found a few position players who wouldn’t make the transition so smoothly, either.

Oh yeah, and Jonathan Sanchez is on the list.

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Before gaining entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame, a player must wait five years after his retirement to become eligible and then be named on 75 percent or more of the total ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Former pitcher Bert Blyleven did not achieve entry until his 14th try, and he is not alone in the annals of Cooperstown when it comes to having a long time to wait.

Because so few players were getting elected and inducted to the Hall in its early years, other mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that the Hall properly honors baseball’s true heroes. Still, the most prestige, and the greatest joy, is conferred upon those who are able to reach the promised land the old-fashioned way.

Setting aside (for now) those men who got into the Hall via either the Veterans or Old-Timers Committees, some 15 Hall of Famers went in on their 10th ballot or later.

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The sooner the mass public accepts the fact that steroids were ingrained into the fabric of baseball during the “Steroid Era,” the better.

There was no test for it. It was a part of the game.

Now every time someone hits a home run, eyebrows raise across the MLB and the same question runs through every expert’s mind: Is he juicing?

While steroid usage has certainly decreased dramatically in recent years, the success of these 25 guys make it pretty easy to assume that something was going on behind the scenes. Without further ado, here are the 25 most highly suspected juicers in baseball.

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Rafael Soriano headlines the market of remaining free agents this MLB offseason.

The biggest hitters left on the market are all aging stars like Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero and Manny Ramirez.

There are also plenty of pitchers on the market, including Jeff Francis and Brad Penny.

But the number of teams with enough money to sign some of these players is starting to drop off. If teams haven’t made moves by now, they might not make moves at all.

However, there are still a few teams, like the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets, with money to spend.

Here’s a list of 10 teams that could still make some noise this offseason.

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When you think about the most important positions on a baseball field, what comes to mind? The starting pitcher is the one who gets his name in the paper before the game. The catcher calls the shots, a corner infielder anchors the lineup and the closer pumps his fist when the game is won.

Outfielders don’t get much glory. Patrolling the big green is a thankless effort.

In an attempt to help shine some light on these deserving players, I humbly present my power rankings of the 30 Major League Baseball teams’ outfields.

I based the rankings on my best guesses for who each team’s three Opening Day outfielders would be, not bench depth or up-and-coming prospects.

Read on, and be sure to tell me who I got wrong! 

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San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey looks supernaturally natural at home plate.

The 2010 National League Rookie of the Year hit .305 with 18 home runs in the 2010 regular season, then helped lead the team to its first World Series title since 1954. Posey coolly strokes the ball with power to the opposite field and seems never to miss when an opposing pitcher makes a mistake.

Posey also possesses maturity beyond his years when it comes to handling pitchers and calling a game, making him a complete package and a blue-chip prospect. Yet he is not the most talented or exciting young player in the league.

Major League Baseball is teeming with guys who will play their age 25-or-younger seasons in 2011, but who are already among the elite producers in the game.

Where do your team’s young anchors fit? How many make the list of the top 25? The answer might tell you a lot about the future for your team.

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Felix Hernandez will make two more big-league starts for the Seattle Mariners before turning 25 years old on April 8. For a guy who still has not reached that age, Hernandez has posted phenomenal numbers already in his career. He won his first American League Cy Young Award in 2010, hurling 249.2 innings and posting a stellar 2.27 ERA.

Seattle should handle Hernandez with care, since he faced over 1,000 batters last season and may be an injury risk due to the resulting strain on his arm. He will finally be (in physiological terms) fully mature in 2011, though, so now might be the time to ride him back toward contention. More Cy Young honors might well be in his future.

He is not alone, of course. The big leagues are replete with promising young pitchers, many of whom will be 25 years old or younger in 2011. Having a stockpile of young hurlers is a key ingredient to success for any franchise, so this is a crucial question: Who are the best young arms in the league?

In the following slides, you will find a power ranking of baseball’s 25 best young pitchers who will be 25 or younger in baseball age in 2011. To qualify for the list, a pitcher needed to have pitched in the majors already. Where does your favorite team’s ace fall? How many youngsters make the list for your side? The answers may help inform the future prognosis of your franchise. Read on.

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