Kuzul

Spring training is two weeks away. With the calendar turning to February, you can feel the palpable excitement among baseball fans. Maybe you can hear their hands rubbing together with anticipation. Winter is that much closer to being over. Pitchers and catchers will be reporting very soon. Baseballs will be popping into leather mitts. Groups of players will be jogging together, almost like a flock of birds flying in formation. Close your eyes and you can feel the warmth of the sun, smell the scent of sunscreen in the heat. Do fans of other sports have such feelings about the preseason beginning? In August, do football fans daydream about roasting under summer heat, watching their favorite players run around without pads while coaches scream and blow whistles at them? Perhaps a few do. But I've never heard or read them eagerly anticipating practices or driving off to training camp locations with any sort of ...

Yu Darvish announced his presence to the baseball world at-large during the 2009 World Baseball Classic.Those who follow Japanese baseball or just take a global view of the sport may have been aware of Darvish prior to the 2009 WBC. Pitching for the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2008, Darvish compiled a 16-4 record and 1.88 ERA in 24 starts (25 appearances). He struck out 208 batters in 200.2 innings.Though Darvish struggled at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (5.14 ERA in seven innings), he carried his success from the Japan Pacific League into the 2009 WBC. Darvish went 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA, striking out 20 batters in 13 innings, helping Japan to its second consecutive WBC championship.Over the next four years, Darvish became the highest-paid player in Japan (500 million Japanese yen or $6.4 million U.S. dollars) and became the prize of a bidding war among several MLB teams including the ...

Have the Philadelphia Phillies made enough improvements to their roster to compete with the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves in the NL East? General manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. thinks so, according to comments he made to MLB.com's Phillies beat reporter Todd Zolecki. "I think we have a good enough team to contend for the division, yes," Amaro told Zolecki. "Absolutely. It's up to the players to prove me right, I guess."To be fair to Amaro, what else is he supposed to say?Look, everyone else sees what the Nats and Braves have done. We're thinking of forfeiting the season. Atlanta traded for Justin Upton, and we signed Delmon Young. When that deal hit the news, I hid under my desk and cried for six hours. Contend? Yeah, right! With those remarks, however, Amaro comes off a bit like Kevin Bacon in Animal House, trying to keep a frenzied crowd under control. "Remain calm!" he ...

If Alex Rodriguez ends up missing all of the 2013 season following hip surgery, it might end up being a fortunate development for him. That is, in terms of avoiding the media. Otherwise, the New York Yankees third baseman will likely be answering frequent questions about a report in the Miami New Times linking him to an "anti-aging" clinic run by Anthony Bosch. According to the story, Rodriguez was one of several athletes supplied with human growth hormone (HGH), testosterone and other performance-enhancing substances by Biogenesis, Bosch's clinic located near the University of Miami. His name or nickname (given as "Cacique") was listed repeatedly in Bosch's notes going back to 2009. What's interesting about mentions of Rodriguez as far back as 2009 is that it coincides with when he admitted his steroid use to ESPN's Peter Gammons. During that interview, Rodriguez confessed to using steroids from 2001 to 2003, but claimed not to have ...

Chicago Cubs team president Theo Epstein may say that the 2013 season will be considered a failure if the team doesn't qualify for the playoffs."Postseason or bust" is the sort of ambition every fanbase wants to hear from its favorite team's front office. As Epstein himself said to reporters, including the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan, there's no reason to bother building a team without setting that kind of goal. Every team aims to play in the postseason.But realistically, the Cubs aren't going to be one of the National League's five playoff teams this season. The team might avoid 100 losses but will likely finish last in the NL Central now that the Houston Astros have moved to the American League. That means Epstein will probably try to deal some players away in exchange for prospects the Cubs can continue to build with.Alfonso Soriano is someone Epstein would surely love to trade, ...

The Miami Marlins and owner Jeffrey Loria ticked off a lot of people by gutting their roster and trading five of their best players to the Toronto Blue Jays in one of the blockbuster deals of the offseason.The Marlins sent shortstop Jose Reyes, starting pitchers Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle, catcher John Buck and utilityman Emilio Bonifacio to Toronto, pulling the plug on a team that was expected to contend in the NL East and bringing an abrupt end to what was supposed to be a new era of baseball in South Beach. Fans, commentators and fellow baseball executives were outraged at Miami for selling off talent to save money again—especially after their new ballpark was funded largely with taxpayer money. This wasn't supposed to be how the Marlins did business anymore. No more fire sales.The outrage and uproar over the Marlins reverting to another salary dump was loud enough that MLB commissioner Bud ...

Getting a right-handed bat for the outfield was one of the offseason priorities for the Philadelphia Phillies.General manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. finally got his man by signing Delmon Young to a one-year, $750,000 contract on Tuesday (Jan. 22), as announced by the team and reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer's Matt Gelb.Last year for the Detroit Tigers, Young hit .267 with a .707 OPS, 18 home runs and 74 RBI in 608 plate appearances. He was especially impressive in the postseason, however. As the Tigers made a run to the World Series, Young batted .313 with a .907 OPS, three homers and nine RBI. The initial guess is that Young will be a platoon outfielder with the Phillies. That role should suit him well since he hit .308 with an .833 OPS, seven homers and 26 RBI versus left-handed pitching last season. For his career, Young has a .307 average and .824 OPS against ...

Spring training is three weeks away, yet there are still several players who could help MLB clubs available on the free-agent market.Perhaps teams want to go through drills and a couple of weeks of exhibition games to see what they have on their rosters before bringing outside help in. Maybe a few of these players are still holding out hope for a starting position that doesn't currently exist.Obviously, the numerous players still waiting to be signed aren't perfect. They're certainly not stars. But even those who are coming off injury or just can't contribute on a full-time basis anymore can still help out most major league teams. Better yet, these guys won't cost very much. Here are eight players who have played well during the past couple of seasons that should find employment within the next three weeks or shortly after spring training camps open. Begin Slideshow

With approximately four weeks remaining until MLB teams report to spring training, there are a surprising number of familiar names still available on the free-agent market. Some of these players have had impressive seasons in the majors, both in the regular season and postseason, and could surely make a meaningful contribution to any club that signed them to a contract.However, with many MLB clubs looking to save money where they can or determine whether younger players can make an impact, veteran players who have had previous success are still looking for employment and could still be waiting once spring training begins.Obviously, outfielder Michael Bourn and starting pitcher Kyle Lohse are big-name free agents still looking to sign with a team. But players of their caliber will likely get a contract from someone before spring training begins—especially since their asking prices will surely come down. But who are some recognizable names that could ...

The Milwaukee Brewers salvaged what was a disappointing 2012 season by playing themselves into the NL wild-card race by the end of the season. The Brew Crew went 18-10 in September. That surge pushed Milwaukee to within 1.5 games of the St. Louis Cardinals for the NL's second wild-card spot, as of Sept. 21. However, that's as close as the Brewers got before falling back and eventually finishing five games behind in the wild-card race and 14 games out of first place in the NL Central.Part of the Brewers' late-season success can be attributed to Corey Hart's second-half performance.After the All-Star break, Milwaukee's first baseman hit .292 with an .875 OPS, 14 home runs and 45 RBI. Along with Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez, the Brewers had a formidable offensive trio in the middle of their batting order. Unfortunately, Milwaukee learned on Friday (Jan. 18) that it will be without Hart for at ...