Kuzul

Hank Steinbrenner indirectly called out Yankees captain Derek Jeter and his newly constructed mansion on Monday.

Steinbrenner implied the team was not focused in 2010 and was hungover from its 2009 World Series championship, saying: “Some of the players are too busy building mansions and other things and not concentrating on winning.”

It seems more than ironic that he would make the mansion statement in the Yankees’ Tampa spring training home. Tampa is also where Jeter has just completed construction on his new 30,875 square foot waterfront mansion.

The mansion dwarfs the neighboring mansions on Davis Island.

Steinbrenner can claim the statement was not aimed at one player in particular, but it seems quite the opposite.

Jeter, being the class act that he is, laughed the comments off as being funny.

If they were truly distracted, the Yankees were perhaps the best distracted team of all time.

Last season, they won 95 games and secured a wild card berth in the playoffs. Then they managed to sweep the Twins in the American League Divisional Series. Their playoff exit was in six games to the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship Series.

If a team that fell two games shy of the World Series was not concentrating, then I would hate to see the concentration level of the teams that did not make the playoffs.

The bottom line is probably that Steinbrenner was looking to energize the Yankees going into 2011 spring training games and the regular season. He probably knew that Jeter could take a jab better than other players and they can begin chasing their 27th World Series championship.

Either that or Steinbrenner is still bitter from the way contract negotiations with Jeter played out in the media and public.

The world will see how focused the 2011 New York Yankees are once the first pitch is thrown and the new season begins.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon are going to be reunited as members of the 2011 Tampa Bay Rays. The former Boston Red Sox stars are aging, yet will be called on to be productive for the 2010 AL East champion Rays, who will take on a new look.

Gone from the roster are plenty of fan favorites. Tropicana Field’s seats will probably still be filled with Carl Crawford, Matt Garza, Carlos Pena, Rocco Baldelli, Jason Bartlett and Carlos Pena jerseys. However, none of those players will be wearing a Rays uniform.

Here is a look at how I see the Rays’ starting lineup on Opening Day.

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The Tampa Bay Rays have gone through baseball’s version of a liquidation sale in the 2010 offseason. It is almost as if any player with any value has left the team or has been rumored to be traded with few exceptions.

Starting with the expected departure of Carl Crawford to the Boston Red Sox and the subsequent departures of players including Carlos Pena and Jason Bartlett the team will look very different in 2011.

When a fan asked David Price on twitter about how the team will be different in 2011, he responded jokingly by saying, “the field will still look the same.”

Here is an examination of the impact the departed players will have on the Rays in 2011.

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Carl Crawford and the Boston Red Sox have agreed to a seven year contract worth $142 million. The left fielder will be taking his talents to Boston after most rumors had him projected to land either with the New York Yankees or Los Angeles Angels.

The Red Sox were quiet on talks with Crawford, probably due to past experiences such as losing Mark Teixeira to the Yankees. In the end they prevailed and got what most consider to be the top outfielder on the market.

There will be plenty of debate on how the move affects the balance of power in the American League East, should baseball have a salary cap, how the Yankees can lose a bidding war and many other topics. However, at the end of the day, Boston was the best situation for Crawford.

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Carl Crawford and Cliff Lee are still available in Major League Baseball Free Agency. Some of the major names have already landed with new teams including Jayson Werth and Victor Martinez.

That leads to the question of who are the best remaining free agents. While it is a simpler process to measure these players from a numbers standpoint, who are the best value players remaining. In other words, who provides the most “bang for the buck”.

Let’s take a look at the 50 most valuable players still available on the market.

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Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees have been going back and forth in negotiations that don’t look like they are going to end anytime soon.

There doesn’t appear to be a large market for a shortstop that will turn 37 years old next season. The Yankees are still by far the most probable team that Derek will play for next season.

However, since he is a free agent, anything is possible. If Derek Jeter is not in Yankee pinstripes next season, what uniform could he be wearing?

Maybe that of the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Tampa Bay Rays need to seriously consider attempting to sign Derek Jeter. For the Tampa Bay Rays, Derek brings a lot more to the table than he does for the New York Yankees.

Here are 10 reasons Derek is a great fit for the Rays.

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David Price should’ve won his first American League Cy Young Award.

The voters selected a pitcher who finished the season one game above .500. Felix Hernandez had a good year but not a Cy Young year.

Although Hernandez had a .227 ERA compared to Price’s .272, the difference between 13 and 19 wins is much more substantial. The thought that wins don’t matter in the voting of a Cy Young candidate is ludicrous. 

Pitchers are the only players in baseball who get credit for wins. Therefore, wins are an important means of measuring one pitcher’s performance to another.

Seventeen pitchers had more wins than Hernandez in 2010. Hernandez actually won seven fewer games than he did in 2009.

Not too many players can say they won a Cy Young in a year that they won almost a third fewer games than the year prior.

To his credit, Hernandez did pitch the most innings and the second most strikeouts, which was enough for him to be a finalist for the award but not the winner.

He was by far the most dominant pitcher in the AL. Although Price was tied for second in the AL with 19 wins this season he had the best winning percentage, winning 76 percent of the games he received a decision.

His leadership and arm led the Tampa Bay Rays to their second postseason berth. He finished the season third in the AL with a 2.72 ERA. He also compiled 188 strikeouts in his 208.2 innings pitched.

He also won crucial games during the season when faced against the top pitchers in the AL including fellow Cy Young candidate CC Sabathia.

It is much more difficult to be a dominant pitcher when every game counts for your team’s postseason hopes. Price excelled when the ball was in his glove and every pitch mattered.

There are countless examples of teams not playing their best when facing teams they deem inferior. Hernandez was able to capitalize on those situations.

Although Hernandez had an incredible season, Price was the best AL pitcher in 2010.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The San Francisco Giants lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 5 of the 2010 NLCS. The Giants lead the series 3-2 but must now return to Philadelphia for Game 6 and Game 7 if needed. They are only one win away from from earning their fourth National League pennant since the team moved to San Francisco in 1958. It would also be the team’s first pennant since 2002.

If Game 7 is needed, the Giants can place their champagne dreams on hold for next season. The window of opportunity for them to advance to the World Series is growing ever shorter. The Phillies have been the most dominant team in the National League for the past three seasons, advancing to the World Series in the past two seasons.

I believe that the Giants have all of the tools necessary to split the final two games in Philadelphia. I also believe that they are at a severe disadvantage in a Game 7, should it be necessary.

Here are 10 reasons that Game 6 is a do or die game for the Giants.

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Coming into the 2010 MLB postseason, everyone wanted to know if Roy Halladay was ready to pitch on the big stage. The real question turned out to be if the stage was ready for him. Roy Halladay stepped on the mound and put on a historical performance by completing the second no-hitter in postseason history, leading his team to a 4-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 of the NLDS.

The only other no-hitter in baseball postseason history was Don Larsen’s 1956 World Series Game 5 perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Although Halladay threw the most memorable game of 2010, here are 10 reasons Larsen’s perfect game was more impressive.

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The Tampa Bay Rays entered the playoffs as the American League East Champions, with the second-best record in baseball.

None of that mattered once Cliff Lee took the mound for the Texas Rangers, which defeated Tampa Bay 5-1 in Game 1 of the ALDS. David Price got off to a shaky start and didn’t receive much assistance.

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