I'm Back...And So Is Baseball

Well, after taking a two and a half month break (a break I did not plan on taking) I am trying to get back into the flow of things in the spirit of pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training.

In the news: Chien-Ming Wang, the former New York Yankee ace, reportedly signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Washington Nationals.

The deal caps what has been a very active off-season for the Nats. The team made headlines in December by picking up veteran backstop Ivan Rodriguez and signing him to a two-year, $6 million deal.

They also managed to land starting pitcher Jason Marquis and closer Matt Capps.

Perhaps the aggressive winter and heavy spending (relatively speaking) will pay off if Washington can finally find its way out of the National League East basement.

Time to catch up: As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, all you have to do is scroll down to my previous post to realize that I pretty much took the winter off when it came to updating America's Baby.

I am sure even the casual baseball fan is aware of the major signings that have gone down since early December. But, just in case you have been living under a rock, they are as follows:

Roy Halladay to the Phillies: Phillie fans got a Cy Young Award winning Christmas present this December. Philadelphia was able to pull off a three way trade with the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners bringing 32-year-old ace Roy Halladay to the City of Brotherly Love, while shipping Cliff Lee off to pitch for the Mariners.

Arguably the game's best starting pitcher (although Mr. Santana still has my vote when he's healthy), Halladay has a career record of 148-76 with a 3.43 ERA and 1,495 strikeouts over 11 major league seasons. He has never pitched in a playoff game.

Meanwhile, Cliff Lee, or the "odd man out", has a Cy Young award of his own. Not to mention that he pitched to a 4-0 record with a 1.56 ERA with the Phillies during the 2009 postseason.

The Mets Add A Big Bat: After what seemed like an eternity of going back-and-forth, all-star left fielder Jason Bay finally signed with the New York Mets in late December.

The deal is worth $66 million over four years with a vesting option for a fifth.

Many had been speculating as to whether or not Bay would land with the Mets or opt to return to his former team, the Boston Red Sox. But after a medical dispute put the Sox and Bay at odds with each other, it seemed that the Mets were the best (or only) option.

Bay managed to set career highs in big flies and runs driven in with 36 and 119 in 2009, respectively.

Boston Gets A New Ace: Much like Phillie fans, Red Sox fans received an early Christmas present this year when John Lackey, the top free-agent pitcher on the market this past off-season, signed with Boston for five years at $82.5 million on December 16th.

Since winning the clinching game of the 2002 World Series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (then just Anaheim Angels) in his rookie season, the 31-year-old Lackey has blossomed into one of the game's best starting pitchers.

Regarded as a true "gamer", Lackey went 11-8 with a 3.83 ERA while missing some time due to injury in 2009.

He also managed to earn his 100th career victory during the season.

Holliday Back For More: The last of this off-season's "big three" free-agents to go was outfielder Matt Holliday. However, unlike Bay and Lackey, Holliday returned to the team he was with in 2009 (at least for half of 2009).

Holliday hit .353 with 13 home runs and 55 runs batted in for the St. Louis Cardinals after being dealt from the Oakland Athletics in late July. He hit .313 with 24 homers and 109 driven in overall.

At the beginning of the off-season Holliday's agent Scott Boras made it clear that his client was only going to sign with a team for "Mark Teixeira" money ($180 million over eight years).

Well, Holliday didn't quite get Teixeira money, but he did manage to garner a pretty hefty contract worth $120 million over seven years.

In addition, signing with St. Louis gives Holliday the opportunity to be a part of what could be the most dangerous offensive duo in sports, as he will bat behind arguably the best hitter in the game in Albert Pujols.

Keep checking back for more posts, as I will be keeping the blog updated regularly again now that spring training is officially under way!

Where We Stand

After a huge football weekend, there were still some pretty important series going on in Major League Baseball. Ground was both lost and gained in many different spots.

American League East

The Boston Red Sox still remained strong throughout the weekend. As expected, they swept the Baltimore Orioles. They now stand five games behind the Yankees (four in the loss column), who dropped two of three to the Seattle Mariners over the weekend.

It is not time for New York to panic - yet. The Yankees have lost five of their last nine to teams that they really should have put away with ease, while the Sox have continued to cruise.

There is a bit of a silver lining for the Bombers, however, as a win against the Angels tonight OR a Texas Rangers loss would at least give New York a guarunteed playoff berth.

That said, the Yankees would love to take the division, which is something they haven't done since 2006. Their magic number to clinch stands at 9.

American Leauge Central

The Minnesota Twins continue to keep things interesting, taking two of three from the Detroit Tigers this weekend.

The loss of Justin Morneau to injury certainly makes things a bit more challenging, however Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer has picked up the pace, going 7 for 24 this past week with four home runs and 11 runs batted in.

Minnesota finishes up the weekend only three games back of Detroit. And to make things even more exciting, these two will meet again a week from today in Detroit for the first game of a four game series.

Keep an eye on this, because it appears to be far from over.

American League West

Not that anyone in the Angels organization was that concerned, but the Angels took two out of three from the second place Texas Rangers over the weekend.

Texas now stands 7.5 games behind Los Angeles, as the Rangers continue to falter down the stretch.

American League Wild Card

The American Leauge West wasn't the only place where the Rangers lost ground over the weekend.

After Boston's sweep of Baltimore over the weekend, Texas is now eight games behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card.

Barring a miracle, it appears that the Texas Ranger season will end at 162 games. However, a great amount of positives can be taken out of this season for the young team. For one, they are just that: young. Players such as Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus, Josh Hamilton, and Chris Davis should give Texas fans a great amount of hope for the future.

In addition, the guidance of team president Nolan Ryan has refocused the organizations concentration on aquiring solid, young pitching. This was something sorely lacking on the sub-par Ranger teams of the early to mid 2000's.

The pieces will continue to come together, as I would expect this team to be an absolute powerhouse in another season or two.

National League East

It belongs to the Phillies - enough said.

Philadelphia has been on cruise control for the last month or so. They lead the second place Florida Marlins by eight games.

Right now, manager Charlie Manuel should be concentrating on getting his team ready for the playoffs, particularly his bullpen, which has proven to be the team weakness all season long.

Magic number: 6

National League Central

After taking two of three from the rival Chicago Cubs over the weekend, the Cardinals are in even better shape, division-wise, than the Phillies.

The aquisition of outfielder Matt Holliday in late July has ended up being one of the most ingenius moves of the season.

Since joining St. Louis, Holliday owns a .355 average with a .413 on-base percentage. In addition, he has offered excellent protection for Albert Pujols in the Cardinal lineup.

The performances of pitchers Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter should also have St. Louis fans feeling confident about the NLDS, as they provide an excellent one-two punch.

St. Louis's magic number to take the Central is 4.

National League West

The Colorado Rockies are still hanging around in the West at five games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers have stayed consistent since mid-summer, when they began to cool off a bit after Manny Ramirez's return.

While solid pitching has carried them through much of the season, the Los Angeles offense, while not completely overpowering, still poses a threat, as it has the ability to "make things happen."

Late surges by players such as Andre Eithier, Matt Kemp, and James Loney also supply good news for Los Angeles. With strong showings from the young core, the Dodgers may not have to completely rely on Manny's bat for offense through the playoffs, which proved to be one of their downfalls last year after losing the NLCS to Philadelphia.

National League Wild Card

The race still remains close after the weekend, although San Francisco dropped a game in the standings.

The Giants, Marlins, and Braves currently stand 4.5, 5, and 5.5 games behind the Rockies, respectively.

Still, no teams have given up hope. As Braves third baseman Chipper Jones points out, "It's not over until you're mathematically eliminated...we still need to take care of business."