Kuzul

It is not crazy to say that without injuries to almost every major player, Boston would have made the playoffs last season. The team was a lot stronger offensively than people predicted and if Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Victor Martinez, Jason Varitek and Mike Cameron had been healthy all year, they would have made a serious run at the Rays and Yankees in the AL East.

But they weren’t, and they didn’t. Now, with free agency leaving holes in their lineup, and the tantalising prospect of signing Adrian Gonzales next year to be taken into account, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the 2011 lineup.

Gonzalez’ agent has said the slugger will test the free agent waters after next season and it is almost certain the Red Sox will be interested. That does create a rather awkward situation at first or third for 2011, depending on where Kevin Youkilis plays, and whom the Red Sox get as a bridge to Gonzalez.

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The Mets have finally made a decision and named Terry Collins as their next manager.

This was a mistake, as their were much better candidates. Some got interviewed (Wally Backman and Bob Melvin) and others did not even get a shot (Bobby Valentine).

The Mets will have to live with this decision for at least the rest of the year and if the team struggles again, the fan base will once again be calling for change.

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The offseason for the Florida Marlins has been quite a whirlwind and it a surprise twist blew the Marlins way when Dan Uggla stunned the front office be rejecting a four year, $48 million extension. This past season, Uggla had career highs in batting average (.287), home runs (33) and RBIs (105) with a steady salary of $7.8 million. 

Why would Dan Uggla reject the Marlins offer? For starters, Dan Uggla has essentially raised the bar on power hitting second basemen by hitting 30 home runs in four consecutive seasons, no second baseman has done that in the history of baseball, not even Chase Utley or Jeff Kent have accomplished that feat. 

The Florida Marlins are also hesitant to offer a long-term deal to a player whose production might begin to decline. Dan Uggla will be 31 by Opening Day and if he gets his way will be 36 by the end of the five year deal, something the Marlins want to avoid considering Uggla isn’t great with the glove at second. Uggla is expected to earn $10 million + in 2011 and gradually rise for the next few seasons of his contract. 

While these contract talks are akin to the Josh Johnson fiasco of the last offseason, Johnson is four years younger than Uggla at 26 and the Marlins are tend to shy away from offering long-term deals to players who are over 30. 

At the end of the day, I expect the Marlins to get a deal done with Dan Uggla just because this is the last thing the front office needs a season prior to the opening of their new stadium, bad publicity and another infamous jettison of a cornerstone player, Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis are prime examples. 

 If a deal gets done, expect for the fifth-year to include somewhere in the neighborhood of a mutual option or a vesting option which would give Uggla his dough if he achieves certain seasonal milestones. 

But what if nothing gets done? Here are five possible trade destinations for Dan Uggla if the Marlins deem Uggla out of their range..

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This offseason marks a turbulent time for Major League Baseball, as several key names around the league are free agents, and many of them have already begun the steps towards a new team and a new beginning. 

By now, experts and analysts everywhere are already buzzing about the possibilities of blockbuster trades and big-name free agent signings.

Los Angeles Dodgers GM Ned Colletti has leaked to the media his plan to add starting and relief pitching, and maybe acquire a power bat if the price is right.

With this in mind, let’s explore the possibilities no one is talking about.

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Brian Wilson has quickly become one of the country’s most beloved sports icons after the San Francisco Giants came home with a World Series Trophy.

After Wilson and company “raged” it up with the rest of San Fran, he went on the Tonight Show to have a chat with Jay Leno.

Oh yeah, and he brought the trophy with him.

Brian Wilson not only held his own with Leno; he stole the show.

If you haven’t had a chance to watch the interview, you’re in luck!

Read on for more.

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Jayson Werth is going to be a free agent at the end of the year.  If the Phillies don’t re-sign Werth, rookie Domonic Brown will probably become their starting right fielder.

There is some debate about whether Domonic Brown will do as well as Werth did, and whether it would be a good decision to re-sign Werth.  Here, I am going to explain the reasons why each player would be good or bad for the Phillies.

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With the season in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to move forward and start looking at what the team can do to win next year and in the future.

Although Atlanta’s team strength on the major league level was its pitching staff, they have an incredible number of young and talented hurlers both already in the majors and waiting in the minors to make an impact in the future.

In order to make it onto this “future” pitching staff, a player must be currently in the Braves system and 25 or younger at the present date.

It’s not just an arbitrary number; the logic behind 25 is that ages 26 to 30 are typically considered a player’s prime years.

Anyone who is currently 25 would be right in the middle of that (28) when the contracts of Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson come off the books (thus allowing more of our youngsters to get the call).

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The Bay Area has been rejuvenated with the San Francisco Giants winning the World Series against the Texas Rangers.

In light of that great playoff run, it’s time to take a look at some of the most popular names in Bay Area history.

Where does Tim Lincecum rank?  Let’s find out.

Here are the most popular San Francisco and Bay Area sports stars ever.

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Apparently the pitchers duel that everyone was expecting to occur Wednesday night caught a late flight to San Francisco and arrived Thursday evening. With Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee facing off in Game 1, no one could have predicted the 11-7 slug-fest that took place in the World Series opener.

In Game 2, the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants sent their secondary aces to the hill to hopefully do the job that neither of their respective No. 1 pitchers could accomplish. With C.J. Wilson of the Rangers and Matt Cain of the Giants taking the hill Thursday evening, the promise of a superbly-pitched game was well within reach.

Through six innings, that scenario unfolded beautifully as each starter had his best stuff working and had command of all his pitches. Cain had the upper-hand, as he continued his amazing run of scoreless postseason innings, extending it to 21.1 innings. However, Wilson nearly matched his effectiveness through six, until he was forced by a blister on his finger to turn the 2-0 game over to the Texas bullpen.

That’s when things began to get interesting—primarily if you’re a Giants’ fan. Texas’ bullpen, normally highly effective, imploded in spectacular fashion, helping the Giants to an eventual  9-0 victory in front of an ecstatic home crowd in AT&T Park.

The Rangers were comprehensively shut down by Matt Cain and two San Francisco relievers with barely a whimper. For a team that was only shut out five times all year, Texas was stifled all game by a dominant Giants’ pitching performance.

San Francisco continued its trend of finding a different unlikely hero each night, as tonight Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe led the way with both their bats and gloves. New-found folk hero Cody Ross had another great game as he continued to ride his hot streak following his NLCS MVP performance. Technically, the Rangers’ bullpen played a massive role in the Giants success as well, gifting several runs to their NL foes to put the once-close game out of reach.

Join me as we examine the key facets of Texas’ game and find out where it all went wrong for the visiting Rangers in World Series Game 2.   

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I can remember not long ago when a certain Giants fan voted against SF in the NLCS against the Phillies.

This Giants fan had lost his way, dazzled by the stats, highlights and in-depth commentary that pervaded his home before the series, all leading him to believe his beloved Giants would fight a good fight but ultimately crumble before the mighty two-time defending NL champs.

But the Giants didn’t lose. They didn’t crumble. In fact, they won four games to two, with the final win coming inexplicably in Philly against Roy Oswalt—who had dominated them in Game 2—and with their most unpredictable starter, Jonathan Sanchez, basically imploding.

That is when this Giants fan realized this team is bigger than any stats, bigger than anything on paper, and that talent alone wasn’t carrying this team—destiny was.

What this team has done this season has been remarkable, a team of castoffs many cast off as lucky to be in the playoffs, lucky to have the privilege of facing the powerful Phillies.

But this Giants fan knows better now—and he will be damned if he picks the Texas Rangers over the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.

Thus, here are 10 Reasons SF Will Win the Ring.

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