Kuzul

Spring is in the air, meaning baseball is on the horizon: the best sport there is and will ever be. Players are reporting to camp and rosters are all but set. Many teams have improved this offseason, including bottom-dwellers such as the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Boston Red Sox managed to have the best offseason of them all, signing speedy Carl Crawford out of the blue, bolstering their bullpen, and trading for Adrian Gonzalez, the power-hitting first baseman they have long coveted. Gonzalez, whom they acquired for some of their best prospects, should destroy opposing pitching this upcoming season, especially at hitter-friendly Fenway Park. Barring injury, clubbing 40-plus homers and plating 100-plus runs is to be expected. Still up in the air is whether he, who has a contract that expires following the season, will be signed long-term. The 28-year-old is recovering from shoulder surgery he underwent in October. He was cleared to swing when ...

Andy Pettitte, who announced his retirement from baseball on Friday, pitched 15 seasons in the major leagues for the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. With New York, in stints spread from 1995 to 2003 and 2007 to 2010, he won five World Series championships. He has 19 postseason wins, most all-time. He finished with 240 regular season wins, averaging 32 stars per season. But despite his rings, clutch postseason play and overall durability, he didn’t win a Cy Young award, was an All-Star only three times and, most importantly, admitted to steroid use. In 2007, Pettitte admitted to using Human Growth Hormone to recover from an elbow injury in 2002, during the heart of his prime. His admission, albeit five years after the fact, is to be applauded, considering Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds continue to deny usage when there is solid evidence against. But how long did Pettitte really ...

In 2003, Mark Prior won 18 games with the Chicago Cubs. That same year, Freddy Garcia won 12 games for the Seattle Mariners, while Bartolo Colon won 15 for the Chicago White Sox. Andruw Jones was also in his prime, smacking 36 homers and driving in 116 runs for the Atlanta Braves. Eight years later, these four players are New York Yankees. Jones, on his fourth team in four years, has seen his batting average and playing time sharply decrease after a successful career with the Braves. Prior, who hasn’t appeared in the major leagues since 2006, is trying to work his way back from multiple arm injuries. Colon, who didn’t pitch in the majors in 2010, and Garcia, who made 28 starts for the White Sox after throwing 129 innings over the previous three seasons, are on their last legs. All four are trying to extend their careers on a winner, but while they may ...

On paper, the Boston Red Sox have the best and most complete team in the American League. To back up such a declaration, however, many of their prime talents must bounce back from a slew of injuries. Last season, the team was held back as baseball’s version of the Portland Trail Blazers, a power built to seriously contend yet decimated by broken bones, surgeries and sickness. Speedy outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury broke four ribs, sidelining him for most of the season. Former league MVP Dustin Pedroia underwent foot surgery, shortening his season. First baseman and now current third baseman Kevin Youkilis missed his fair share of games with a thumb injury that ultimately required surgery. Utility infielder Jed Lowrie suffered from mononucleosis. Catcher and captain Jason Varitek broke his foot. Shortstop Marco Scutaro hurt his neck and right shoulder. Two players they brought in this offseason, slugging first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and offensive-minded ...

I knew the Tampa Bay Rays were interested in both Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon, but I was stunned upon learning that the team signed the duo for a combined $7.25 million. Ramirez, 38, played with Damon, 37, on the Boston Red Sox from 2002 to 2005. Now the stars meet up again on another American League East power. These one-year contracts may be the last deals these two sign, so they can’t be expected to produce as they did in their prime, but the Rays certainly need their presence. This offseason has been a tough one for Tampa Bay. The team won the American League East in 2010, winning 96 games before falling to the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship Series, but that success could not keep them from losing star outfielder Carl Crawford and closer Rafael Soriano through free agency to division rivals Boston and New York, while ...

Pitchers and catchers report in 23 days and, to be expected, the pickings on the free-agent market are slim. The biggest news in the past few weeks has been reliever Rafael Soriano signing with the New York Yankees. The 31-year-old who previously closed for the Tampa Bay Rays was given $35 million over three years to be Mariano Rivera’s set-up man—money the Yankees always seem to have at their disposal no matter how much they spend. New York remained busy, adding outfielder Andruw Jones on a one-year pact worth $2 million. He will fill the role left by Marcus Thames, who recently signed a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers after providing some pop with the Yankees last season as their fourth outfielder. The last few years of Jones’ career have not gone the way he would have liked. He was one of the two Jones Boys on the Atlanta Braves from 1996-2007—teaming ...

The Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908, a painful 102 years ago. Their fans have thought "this will be the year" year after year and their front office has been aggressive enough through free agency and trades in recent offseasons to keep expectations high. But while they have failed to measure up to those expectations, a division that was once between them and the St. Louis Cardinals is now a four-horse race. Cincinnati emerged this past season as a contender, winning 91 games to take the division over St. Louis by a comfortable spread. They will continue to give opponents fits this upcoming season, as will the Milwaukee Brewers, who made an aggressive trade for ace Zack Greinke, to show how serious they are about 2011. The Cardinals, with their pitching staff, won’t be chopped liver either and the middle of their lineup is as dangerous as any in baseball. Where ...

Perusing the internet as I do, I came across the latest piece by Sports Illustrated‘s Tom Verducci, which was a very interesting read. The best-selling author discussed young pitchers in the major leagues and claimed many have been overworked by their teams. The game of baseball has changed drastically since the early 1900′s. Instant replay is part of the game, albeit minimally, steroids have been injected and the average salary is over a million dollars. But pitchers haven’t changed. Way back when, if starters didn’t throw 200-plus innings they must have missed time due to injury. Rotations have expanded since the days two pitchers pitched a majority of the games, as five now make up every staff, but there are still 200 innings out there for young pitchers especially to throw. Verducci notes that “Last year … 29-and-younger pitchers made 3,497 starts, the second most in the 13 seasons with 30 teams and ...

  Members of the Baseball Writer’s Association of America vote on who is inducted into the Hall of Fame. This year, pitcher Bert Blyleven and shortstop Roberto Alomar had their name called and are now enshrined in Cooperstown. Others deserving of being chosen were not, and most of those were snubbed primarily due to the suspicion surrounding their potential use of steroids. Blyleven won 287 games from 1970-1992, posting a 3.31 ERA while throwing an astronomical 4,970 innings and compiling an astounding 3,701 strikeouts, a total that ranks him fifth all-time. He also threw 242 complete games and 60 shutouts, the latter amount ranking ninth in history. He only made two All-Star teams and never won a Cy Young, but he was a dominant and durable pitcher. Among the pitches that made up his repertoire, his curveball gained the most notoriety, confusing hitters throughout his illustrious and long stay in the major leagues. It ...

Carlos Gonzalez, one of the best hitters in the game, is reportedly close to signing a $80 million deal with the Colorado Rockies. It is interesting how many players in their early 30′s are receiving long-term contracts. Relievers in their mid-30′s are getting two year deals, and in some cases three. Thirty-one-year-old outfielder Jayson Werth signed a seven-year deal worth $126 million with the Nationals, shocking the baseball world. Thirty-two-year-old Cliff Lee was looking for a seven-year deal this offseason before choosing to sign a five-year pact with the Philadephia Phillies. Adrian Beltre, who 31 and 32 in early April, is about to sign a contract with the Texas Rangers worth $96 million over six years. Players thought to be nearing the edge of their prime are being signed as if they are 25, the age of baby-faced Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. Gonzalez’s teammate Troy Tulowitzki, 26, inked a seven-year contract worth $134 million earlier ...