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The potential shortstop marketing this coming offseason is a little light. The only two bright spots have options on their contracts. Stephen Drew is a servicable shortstop but like his older brother J.D., Stephen has been very injury prone over the course of his career. Jhonny Peralta has always provided a decent offensive threat at shortstop however, I am not conviced that this potential threat is worth the defensive liability Peralta brings to the table. Detroit will most likely retain him. * – player whose currently has an option for the 2013 season. Jason Bartlett * Geoff Blum Stephen Drew * Jhonny Peralta * Luis Rodriguez Ryan Theriot

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• Category: Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Free Agents, San Diego Padres
• Tagged as Geoff Blum, Jhonny Peralta, Luis Rodriguez, Ryan Theriot, Stephen Drew

Previously, I took a look at the top 25 position players under the age of 25 currently in the major leagues. Since I compiled that list, the highly-rated Justin Smoak of the Texas Rangers has received the call to the big leagues, where he joins Jason Heyward and Ike Davis as the next wave of sluggers in the game. Today, I want to take a look at the top 25 pitchers under 25 that are currently in the big leagues. Currently, their is an exciting crop of young pitchers in the game with the list to soon see the likes of Stephen Strasburg, Drew Storen, and Aroldis Chapman. With apologies to those pitchers, let’s take a look at the list [...]

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• Category: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Fantasy, Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Teams, Texas Rangers
• Tagged as Aroldis Chapman, Brett Anderson, Brian Matusz, Chris Perez, Chris Volstad, Clayton Kershaw, Dan Haren, Daniel Bard, David Price, Drew Storen, Felix Hernandez, Franklin Morales, Homer Bailey, Ike Davis, Jaime Garcia, Jair Jurrjens, Jason Heyward, Jenrry Mejia, Jhoulys Chacin, Joba Chamberlain, Johnny Cueto, Josh Johnson, Justin Smoak, Kerry Wood, Mark DeRosa, Mat Latos, Mike Leake, Neftali Feliz, Phil Hughes, Rick Porcello, roy halladay, Ryan Perry, Stephen Strasburg, Tommy Hanson, Wade Davis, Xavier Nady, Yovani Gallardo

Baseball is like no other sport in terms of its fans embracing their favorite teams young talent making an impact in the big leagues. Already in this brief season, Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves and Ike Davis of the New York Mets have sent their teams fans into a frenzy over their successful debuts. Later this year, we should see even more highly anticipated debuts as such names as Stephen Strasburg, Aroldis Chapman, Justin Smoak, and Starlin Castro are expected to make the jump to the big leagues. I am just like most baseball fans and love to see young talent succeed in the big leagues and with that I decided to compile a list of the top 25 [...]

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• Category: Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Fantasy, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Teams, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as Adam Jones, Alcides Escobar, Andrew McCutchen, Aroldis Chapman, Asdrubal Cabrera, Austin Jackson, Billy Butler, Cameron Maybin, Carlos Gonzalez, Chris Coghlan, Chris Davis, Colby Rasmus, Cristian Guzman, Curtis Granderson, Delmon Young, Dexter Fowler, Elvis Andrus, Evan Longoria, Everth Cabrera, Gordon Beckham, Ian Desmond, Ike Davis, Jason Heyward, Jay Bruce, Julio Borbon, Justin Smoak, Justin Upton, Kyle Blanks, Matt Wieters, Pablo Sandoval, Reid Brignac, Sean Rodriguez, Starlin Castro, Stephen Strasburg, Tyler Colvin

The Houston Astros have extended their general manager Ed Wade for another 2 years. The announcement was made today at their Orlando spring training complex when the pitchers and catchers officially reported. Wade was hired back in September of 2007. Wade is in his 34th season in professional baseball. Prior to his stint with the Astros, he served as the Philadelphia Phillies GM from 1998-2005 and then spent two seasons (2006-07) as a scout for the San Diego Padres. Owner Drayton McLane had a glowing review of Wade’s tenure so far: “Ed is an outstanding baseball man. He’s organized and has surrounded himself with a good, solid staff. Much of the work Ed did in Philadelphia had a lot to [...]

• 0 Comments
• Category: Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, Teams
• Tagged as Drayton McLane, Ed Wade

After taking a look at some potential breakout candidates from both leagues, I want to shift gears a little and take a look at some potential bounceback candidates from each league. Bounceback candidates are players that are poised to rebound from unsuccessful 2009 seasons due to injuries or lack of production. Today, I want to take a look at some candidates from the American League. Daisuke Matsuzaka (RHP) Boston Red Sox – Last season was a miserable season for the former Japanese ace. Matsuzaka revealed this off season that he hid a groin injury, that he sustained in the World Baseball Classic, from the Red Sox last season. To compensate for his groin injury, Matsuzaka’s mechanics were altered which led [...]

• 5 Comments
• Category: Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Fantasy, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Teams, Texas Rangers
• Tagged as B.J. Upton, Ben Sheets, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Grady Sizemore, Jake Peavy, Josh Hamilton

It’s that time in free agency where the unsigned are left scrambling to find a new team in time for Spring Training or have to settle for a one-year deal with the hopes of establishing value for a bigger payday next off season. Over the past few days some quality free agents have found new teams for 2010. Ben Sheets – The former Milwaukee Brewers right-hander signed a one-year deal worth $10 million plus incentives with the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday. Sheets is looking to prove to the A’s that he is fully recovered from elbow surgery that caused him to miss the entire 2009 season. The A’s were in attendance for Sheets throwing session last week and came away impressed [...]

• 8 Comments
• Category: Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, Free Agents, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Rumors, San Diego Padres, Teams
• Tagged as Adam Jones, Ben Sheets, Billy Beane, Denard Span, Jason Giambi, Jason Kubel, Jim Thome, Joe Mauer, Jon Garland, Justin Morneau, Kosuke Fukudome, Matt Wieters, Michael Cuddyer, Miguel Tejada, Nick Markakis, Nolan Reimold, Xavier Nady

The next installment of the MLB Network’s Prime 9 list of top players at each position takes us to the closer’s role. This decade has seen the role of the closer become extremely important in many teams’ eyes as it can be difficult to find the right guy to get those all important last 3 outs of the game. Here are the guys who were the best at closing out a win for their teams this decade: 9. Troy Percival – Despite missing the entire 2006 season due to injury, Percival finished the decade with 219 saves mostly with the Los Angeles Angels. He posted a record of 21-21 with a 3.37 ERA and posted an impressive 7 saves in [...]

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• Category: Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Teams
• Tagged as Billy wagner, Eric Gagne, Francisco Rodriguez, Jason Isringhausen, Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon, Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Troy Percival

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com reports that free agent pitcher John Lackey took a physical with the Boston Red Sox today. This is a huge sign that Lackey is close to signing a deal with the team. Rosenthal believes the deal is close to the one A.J. Burnett signed with the New York Yankees last offseason for 5 years and $82.5 million. The 31-year-old Lackey is considered the No. 1 free agent starter on the market and has spent his entire 8-year career with the Los Angeles Angels. The potential signing of Lackey would be a huge move for the Red Sox as he would bring another great arm to their rotation in their quest to dethrone the Yankees. The Red Sox [...]

• 1 Comment
• Category: Boston Red Sox, Free Agents, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, Rumors, San Diego Padres, Teams
• Tagged as A.J. Burnett, Adrian Beltre, Adrian Gonzalez, Clay Buchholz, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jason Bay, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield

The most exciting time in the baseball offseason is upon us with next week’s annual Winter Meetings (December 7-10, Indianapolis, IN). The Winter Meetings is where we start to see teams shape their rosters for the upcoming season. The meetings are filled with plenty of rumors as general managers and agents from all of baseball convene and discuss free agents and trade possibilities. Last year’s meetings were rather slow compared to previous years. The biggest talk of last year’s meetings was the near trade of San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy (currently of the Chicago White Sox) to the Chicago Cubs. The state of our economy played a big role in teams not being as aggressive at last year’s meetings, [...]

• 3 Comments
• Category: Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Free Agents, Los Angeles Angels, Rumors, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Teams, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tagged as Bobby Abreu, Curtis Granderson, Edwin Jackson, Jake Peavy, Jason Bay, Jim Hendry, Matt Holliday, miguel cabrera, Milton Bradley, Pat Burrell, roy halladay, Scott Boras

There are 15 new candidates for the Hall of Fame in 2010. Among the new names on the ballot are Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez and Fred McGriff. It will be interesting who receives what percentage of the votes this year as the stigma of steroids is starting to play an ever increasing role in the vote. There are 26 candidates in total, three more than last year, when Rickey Henderson was elected in his first appearance and Jim Rice made it on his 15th and final try.

• 17 Comments
• Category: Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics, Rumors, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Teams, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tagged as Alan Trammell, Andre Dawson, Andres Galarraga, Barry Larkin, Bert Blyleven, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, David Segui, Don Mattingly, Edgar Martinez, Ellis Burks, Eric Karros, Fred McGriff, Harold Baines, Jack Morris, Jim Rice, Kevin Appier, Lee Smith, Mark McGwire, Mike Jackson, Pat Hentgen, Ray Lankford, Rickey Henderson, Roberto Alomar, Robin Ventura, Shane Reynolds, Tim Raines, Todd Zeile