Kuzul

This past calendar year has been nothing but heartbreak after heartbreak for New England sports fans.

(All 29 other sports regions/cities roll their eyes collectively).

We’re no Seattle or Cleveland, but these have been somewhat trying times for fans that have high standards for success.

A quick recap: The Red Sox didn’t make the playoffs due to freak injuries to their two best players; the Bruins blew a three game lead in the Eastern Conference semi-finals to a Philadelphia Flyers team made up of unwashed heathens; the Super Bowl favorite Patriots tanked in their first playoff game against the Jets; and the Celtics lose the NBA Finals game seven against the Lakers. Rough stuff.

Also, that NBA deadline deal which took Kendrick Perkins out of green was another unexpected occurrence that was unsettling, to say the least.  

And through all that, I’ve remained positive. Why, you ask?

Did you see who the Red Sox signed this offseason?

Honestly, I don’t think Boston was all that bad last season. Eric Patterson and Daniel Nava started more games than anyone should ever ask of them; John Lackey ate a whole lot of nachos; and Adrian Beltre really liked kicking people in the chest super hard.

Despite all that, they almost won 90 games last season. Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz proved to be a fearsome one-two punch to build a rotation around; Jed Lowrie showed some real glimmers of being a versatile major league baseball player; and that Daniel Bard guy threw the ball wicked hahd, dude guy.

Now, everyone is healthy, and there are some fresh faces that make this team the clear favorite in the American League.  

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The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers (by virtue of being the defending AL champs) Philadelphia Phillies, and San Francisco Giants (by virtue of being defending world champs) can be considered the early favorites to play in the 2011 Fall Classic.

But who else? There are five teams in each league that aren’t being talked about as much, and should be. 

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It’s official—the 2011 Major League Baseball season is right around the corner. Don’t believe me? Just ask the groundhog. Or maybe the fact that the next edition of Major League Baseball video games are primed for release will convince you. No?  Ok, the Super Bowl is over and so is another season of the National Football League. Pitchers and catchers have reported for Spring Training. Yes, the 2011 season is swiftly approaching.

With nearly all of 2011’s top free agents signed, it’s time to evaluate how all 30 big league teams did this offseason, and predict where they will finish in their respective divisions in this rendition of MLB 2011 Predictions. Concluding now with the American League.

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Some of the former big names of baseball still linger in the sport today, even if it is just some time in the minor leagues. Some people say that these players should hang up their spurs, because those players do not know when to walk away.

Some of the players who took the biggest contracts in baseball, or at least had an extremely expensive market price, are now contracted to play for mere fractions of the contracts that they were once signed to. This has allowed some players to get good play time for teams who are in desperate need of a rebuild. It also reunited Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez, but some other players are making chump change playing for a minor league team, at least in comparison to what they once made.

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The Tampa Bay Rays enter the 2011 season with lower expectations than the last few years, and for good reason. This past offseason saw the Rays lose some of their most valuable players.

While the losses of players like Carl Crawford, Rafael Soriano, Matt Garza and Carlos Pena will hurt, all is not lost for this team.

Here are eleven bold predictions, both good and bad, for the Tampa Bay Rays this season.

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Ever feel like you’re being lied to? In my first couple weeks of mock drafts, I’ve noticed some trends developing and some widely accepted beliefs that don’t entirely hold true. Some positions aren’t as weak as they appear, some are weaker. And some guys just seem to end up on my team regardless of which draft position I start out with. These are the things that might be useful notes to make as you prepare your draft-day cheat sheet.

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The minute the final out was made in Game 5 of the ALDS at the Trop, Rays fans knew they had a long offseason ahead of them.

Some, like me, held out hope that they would be able to retain Carl Crawford or somebody, but that never happened; they even got rid of great players that they didn’t have to.

But how did the Rays actually do this offseason? I have factored in the Rays financial situation into this. If money was no object, this offseason would be mass catastrophe, but since the Rays cannot afford seven years and $142 million, I have graded them differently.

First, let’s take a look at the contracts the Rays signed this offseason.

All in all, the Rays retained three players from last season: Those three were JP Howell, who was non-tendered only to be signed a couple weeks later, RJ Swindle and Richard de los Santos.

The Rays lost 14 MAJOR LEAGUE players via trade, signings or retirement. That’s not including Fernando Perez, who spent some time in the MLB in recent years.

The 14 that the Rays lost:

• OF Rocco Baldelli (retired, still with Rays organization)
• RHP Grant Balfour (signed with A’s)
• SS Jason Bartlett (traded to Padres)
• RHP Joaquin Benoit (signed with Tigers)
• LHP Randy Choate (signed with Marlins)
• LF Carl Crawford (signed with Red Sox)
• RHP Matt Garza (traded to Cubs)
• 1B/OF Brad Hawpe (signed with Padres)
• OF Gabe Kapler (signed minor-league deal with Dodgers)
• C Dioner Navarro (signed with Dodgers)
• 1B Carlos Peña (signed with Cubs)
• RHP Chad Qualls (signed with Padres)
• RHP Rafael Soriano (signed with Yankees)
• RHP Dan Wheeler (signed with Red Sox)

Willy Aybar and Lance Cormier are still out there, so we will see where they land, if anywhere.

Outside of Gape Kapler and Dioner Navarro, every single one of those players contributed to the Rays playoff run last season—some more than others, like Carl Crawford, Matt Garza and Rafael Soriano, but all were important. 

In the beginning of the offseason, we watched these players get signed away and the Rays did not do anything. The Winter Meetings passed and still nothing of note from the Rays front office.

Just when Rays fans, again, like myself, began to panic is when the Rays front office, led by Andrew Friedman, kicked it into high gear. Here is who the Rays signed this offseason:

• RHP Juan Cruz (minor-league free agent with Spring Training invite)
• LF Johnny Damon (free agent, one year $5.5 million)
• RHP Kyle Farnsworth (free agent, one year $3.25 million with 2012 option)
• 1B Casey Kotchman (minor-league free agent with Spring Training invite)
• INF Felipe Lopez (minor-league free agent with Spring Training invite)
• RHP Joel Peralta (free agent, one year $900K)
• DH Manny Ramirez (free agent, one year $2 million)
• RHP Adam Russell (Jason Bartlett trade)
• RHP Chris Archer (Matt Garza trade)
• LHP Cesar Cabral (Rule 5 draft from Red Sox)
• C Robinson Chirinos (Matt Garza trade)
• RHP Rob Delaney (waivers)
• OF Sam Fuld (Matt Garza trade)
• LHP Cesar Ramos (Jason Bartlett trade)
• RHP Cory Wade (minor-league free agent)
• RHP Chris Bootcheck (minor-league free agent with Spring Training invite)

The Rays did pretty well this offseason, considering the circumstances, but only Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon, Kyle Farnsworth and Joel Peralta have a chance to make an immediate impact.

The rest are fighting for their spots on the roster this spring. 

The Rays could still sign a guy or two to minor league deals, but the Rays are pretty much done when it comes to big signings, unless they have something up their sleeve that nobody knows about.

What grade do I give the Rays offseason? I give Andrew Friedman and company a B for the offseason.

They did a good job finding cheap signings who can boost the team this season. They also did a great job getting a loaded package from the Cubs for Matt Garza, with prospects who will help the Rays for years.

I also applaud them for going out and getting Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon, even though they don’t fit the Rays mold as young prospects or veterans who they are taking a flyer on. They got two proven veterans who we know will have an impact on the Rays this season.

 
New and old player info from the St. Petersburg Times.

For more Rays news and opinions, check out my blog, Rays the Roof. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

“Athlete” and “in shape” are often thought of as going together. It’s part of the requirement, right?

You can’t be one without the other.

Unless, of course, you are a major league baseball player. Then being fat is okay.

Maybe it’s part of the appeal millions of Americans still have to what was once the national pastime, but baseball is a sport that can be played by the short or tall, fast or slow and in-shape or out of shape.

However, some players have taken the inherent advantage of being able to coast to a whole other level. There are some diamond stars that believe it’s not just about what you do on the field, but how much you can eat off of it.

Maybe it’s the constant travel, or the need to unwind before and after the games, but these 25 players could use a little more time at the gym.

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Wait he still plays?

Like many baseball fans, I am guilty of saying this expression from time to time. It seems like more than any other major sport, baseball players still tend to have the ability to produce in the later stages of their careers.

Every team seems to have that one old hitter that you thought retired five seasons ago. Often times we poke fun at them, but it is not deserved.

Most championship caliber teams are guilty of having these kinds of players. There is a lot of value in having a hitter that has aged like fine wine.

They can keep they clubhouse under control, they mentor young players, and they have the “game-changer mentality” to come up with a big hit.

In this list I will rank the best hitters from each team over 35 years old (at the start of the 2011 season) based on current skill, not career statistics.

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Often, it is not the most talented player who ends up being the most valuable player for his respective team. A player making $1 million can be much more valuable than a player making $10 million if they produce similar results

A great example of this is Adrian Gonzalez of 2010. With the Padres, he was playing for a very low sum of money despite being among the league’s best first basemen. While Albert Pujols may have out-produced Gonzalez in 2010, he was far more costly. Thus, Gonzalez was more valuable to his team than Pujols.

Every team has at least one player who they know they are underpaying. In this article, I will examine the most underpaid player on each team. 

One important note is that players who are not yet arbitration eligible, i.e. Buster Posey, Evan Longoria, will not be included in this list. Also, I will be using the player’s 2011 salary, not the aggregate of his current contract. For example, Adrian Gonzalez will still be considered cheap, despite the fact that he will receive his fair share of money when the Red Sox release his contract. With that, let us begin. 

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