Kuzul

The New Year is quickly approaching and as baseball fans pour over the latest Hot Stove news, now is as good a time as any to look back at the 2010 season.

From a bevy of great pitching performances, to an unlikely home run king, to the Giants improbable World Series run, the 2010 season was a memorable one.

So here are the top 50 players from the 2010 season, from the subjective view of one sports writer. I welcome you to inform me where you disagree with my rankings, as this is certainly up for debate.

Begin Slideshow

Heading into the offseason, the Yankees considered themselves favorites to land Cliff Lee, and the Rangers definitely thought they had a chance. The Angels though they could sign Carl Crawford, and several teams around the league believed they could bring in Zack Greinke.

With all three players off the market—Lee in Philly, Greinke in Milwaukee and Crawford in Boston—GM’s around baseball are scrambling to find that backup plan, fill their budgets and put a competitive team on the field heading into 2011.

Some backup moves work out. But when teams panic, things rarely go well.

Begin Slideshow

MLB Free Agency is still on the minds of everyone in baseball as the Hot Stove continues to simmer.

The biggest names have already been signed to mega deals, which has left clubs around baseball looking for what’s left.

But December and January are usually when the biggest free-agent bargains can be found for relatively cheap. Already there have been some great deals on some solid players so far.

I apologize if it sounds like a late-night infomercial, but the point is that there have been some really good signings that don’t include triple digits and a buyout clause. Here are the 10 smartest signings so far.

Begin Slideshow

Carl Crawford, Cliff Lee and Jayson Werth have grabbed all the headlines with their lucrative nine-figure contracts, but many of this off-seasons free agents remain unsigned.

For some players like Adrian Beltre and Rafael Soriano, their big day is a foregone conclusion, but others won’t be so lucky. Whether due to age or declining skills, many players may have to wait until Spring Training to sign a contract, that is, if they can find work.

With that in mind, let’s examine 15 players who could have to wait until March before finding a new home for the season.

Begin Slideshow

In baseball, there are few things more exciting than a home run. It doesn’t matter when it happens; there is something truly magical about watching these athletes turn on a 95 mph fastball and launch it deep into the night.

In the long and illustrious history of baseball there have been a number of memorable home runs. Some of them have won World Series, some have won All-Star Games and some have broken the hearts of the opposing team and their fans.

But above all else, these magical moments have withstood the test of time and become a part of the stories that we are told when we are children, and those become the stories that we tell our children.

Who can forget Joe Carter’s jump for joy around the bases when he smashed that Mitch Williams fastball over the left field fence to win the 1993 World Series? Or how about seeing Hank Aaron break Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record?

No matter what your favorite memory is, the home run, no matter when it happens, is a marvelous feat and something that sports fans everywhere will talk about forever.

Here are the 25 most memorable home runs hit in baseball history.

Begin Slideshow

New Year’s resolutions for all 30 MLB teams are difficult to craft.

With the big time free agents starting to find homes and the trade market heating up, next years teams are starting to take shape.

Technically, every team’s 2011 New Year’s resolution is to win the World Series in October.

But if you play in Pittsburgh or Kansas City, that probably doesn’t seem too likely.

Now for the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and a few other club it’s too easy to say their resolution is to win the title. So we’ll try to add a little more suspense to it than that.

Begin Slideshow

Every season, the MLB Winter Meetings give rise to dozens of fascinating rumors about blockbuster trades or surprising free-agent signings. Some come to fruition, but the majority of them leave us wondering who on earth ever thought such a thing would actually happen.

Trade rumors sometimes spring fully formed from the heads of sportswriters. At other times, teams make cursory inquiries on players they have no real intention of acquiring, and writers misunderstand.

One way or another, though, we always hear a fair number of crazy rumors during the week-long swap meet. Read on for the 10 most outrageous rumored moves of the Winter Meetings.

Begin Slideshow

The Cliff Lee contract will eventually impact almost everyone in the league in some way, but for Philadelphia Phillies’ right-handed pitcher Joe Blanton, that time is now. Phillies’ GM Ruben Amaro acknowledges he will eventually need to make a trade to move some money and make room in the team budget for Lee.

Blanton, 30, posted a 4.82 ERA in just over 175 innings with the Phillies in 2010. His numbers consistently suggest he is better than that, a good command pitcher with an unfortunate propensity to surrender home runs. Blanton has walked only 2.5 batters per nine innings for his career, a solid number.

Blanton has two years and $17 million total remaining on his contract, a three-year pact he signed during his final year of arbitration eligibility last winter.

Read on for the five teams who make the most sense as suitors for Blanton. 

Begin Slideshow

Ranking the top 100 baseball players of all-time is no easy task. It’s hard to juggle players from the dead-ball era, the middle 20th century and modern times.

Even more complicated is how to rank players at different positions. Where do you place the game’s dominant closers? How about starting pitchers? No matter how lights-out they may be, they still sat on the bench for most of their teams’ games.

Then, of course, comes the prickly situation of cheating, whether proven, admitted or alleged. Should ballplayers be penalized for the use of performance-enhancing drugs? Corked bats? How about the spitball?

It all adds up to a lively debate that we encourage you to join as Bleacher Report presents The Top 100 Baseball Players of All Time.

Begin Slideshow

The 10 biggest laughing stocks of free agency are described as such not necessarily because they aren’t (or weren’t once) fine players.

Although some of them are far past their prime.

But the main reason why teams would be foolish to sign them is because of the likely very high asking price.

Maybe the aging veterans whose production has dwindled would take a reduced deal, one-year to hang or try to resurrect their career. But that’s not likely.

And maybe the free agents who aren’t over the hill, aren’t seeking contracts far better than they’re worth.

That’s not likely either.

Begin Slideshow