Minnesota Twins Season Preview

Last year on April 7th, Justin Morneau was accidentally kneed in the head, as he was trying to break up a double play against the Toronto Blue Jays. Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said about Morneau after the game, "He was a little dizzy out there. We got him out of the ball game. He said he had to come out. We'll see how he is tomorrow." The Twins were very concerned with their former AL MVP Morneau said, "If you get a second concussion before the first one has healed, then it can get even worse.'' Morneau didn't return to the field in 2010 and missed the Twins last 78 games with a concussion. Justin's first regular season game back since the horrible injury will ironical be at the same field where he suffered the concussion when the Twins play the Blue Jays on opening day. Morneau said about his return, "It's not like it's my first game of the year. I'm usually more nervous about the first game of spring training than opening day. But it's exciting to play on Opening Day, with the butterflies and all that comes with it." His return to the Twins in their first game is so surprising because Morneau had an abbreviated spring training, as he didn't play in the first half of the Twins games. When Justin was playing, he struggled only batting .192 with just 1 RBI. With the uncertainty of Morneau returning to his huge numbers with his health, there will be a lot of added pressure on Delmon Young. Young had the best season of his career last year when he nearly batted .300, hit 21 home runs, and added 112 RBI's. Young will have the opportunity to drive a lot of guys in again this season when he is batting fifth behind the M&M boys.

Projected starting lineup:

1. Denard Span, CF

2. Tsuyoshi Nishioka, 2B

3. Joe Mauer, C

4. Justin Morneau, 1B

5. Delmon Young, LF

6. Joe Thome, DH

7. Michael Cuddyer, RF

8. Danny Velencia, 3B

9. Alexi Casilla, SS

The top of the rotation will be the key for the Twins. Francisco Liriano, who went 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 2006, missed the 2007 season after he received Tommy John Surgery during the off-season. Although Liriano struggled in 2008 and 2009, he looked much better last season posting a 3.62 ERA and having a record of 14-10. Gardenhire said, "He's one of the best starting pitchers. He's one of those top-of-the-line guys that has some pitches that blow people away. That's always valuable. That's why we signed him... He's getting better and better. Now it's just about keeping him healthy." There is no doubt that Liriano has a fastball in the mid 90's and a slider that has a hard bite, but the question will be if Liriano can stay off the DL, as he has already missed time during spring training due to a sore shoulder. Carl Pavano, at the age of 35, will also be relied on heavily to perform well. Yankee fans remember this name well, as he only pitched 9 games with the Bronx Bombers in his last two seasons in New York. However, Pavano had a spectacular season last year when he won his most games since 2004 at 17 and had his best ERA since 2004 at 3.75. 

Projected starting rotation:

1. Carl Pavano

2. Francisco Liriano

3. Nick Blackburn

4. Scott Baker

5. Brian Duensing

Projected closer:

Joe Nathan

Baltimore Orioles Season Preview

The Orioles president of baseball operations said about his new manager Buck Showalter, "I've never seen a guy walk in a room and have so much change so soon with nothing else happening other than a different guy walking through the room." When Buck Showalter took over the Baltimore Orioles on August 3rd, he was inheriting a team in last place of the AL East with a 32-73 record. Showalter led the Orioles to a 34-23 record after he was hired, the best among the teams in the AL East during that stretch. The Orioles catcher Matt Wieters said about Showalter, “It definitely was a different attitude, which I think Buck brought. He brought the attitude of we're not going to shy away from anybody.” Oriole fans that hope that their teams late season success will continue through the 2011 season. 

They scored the fourth fewest runs in the league last seasons. Buck Showalter said about his team’s offense, "It was a challenge for us last year. Where we are, we had to improve offensively." The Orioles tried to improve their lineup in the off-season by adding Derrick Lee at first base, Mark Reynolds at third base, J.J. Hardy at shortstop, and Vladimir Guerrero, who will be their designated hitter. Oriole fans hope that Lee and Reynolds will have bounce back seasons. Lee failed to hit 20 home runs last season for only the second time in his last 11 seasons and Mark Reynolds also struggled hitting a career worst .198 from the plate and had over 200 strikeouts. Showalter said about Reynolds high strikeout numbers, “He brings some things we don't have. You can find negatives on any player. We certainly like his contact-to-damage ratio. We’re going to dwell on all the positive things he does.” 

Projected starting lineup:

1. Brian Roberts, 2B

2. Nick Markakis, RF

3. Derrick Lee, 1B

4. Vladimir Guerrero, DH

5. Adam Jones, CF

6. Luke Scott, LF

7. Mark Reynolds, 3B

8. Matt Wieters, C

9. J.J. Hardy

The Orioles also let up the 5th most runs in the major leagues last season. However, their young pitching staff definitely has a lot of promise. Brian Matusz, who is only 24 years old, showed how good his stuff can be, as he was 7-3 with a 3.63 ERA in 14 starts after the All-Star break last season. "I think we have great young pitching, guys that showed a lot of progress at the end of last year. We've got to hope we can continue that growth and that progression," said Jeremy Guthrie, who went 11-14 and posted a 3.83 ERA in 2010. Guthrie added, "[I will] try to go out there and work hard and prepare for each start... be aggressive with the hitters, and hopefully that will rub off on the others and we will pitch well, the way we did the last two months of the season." Mark Connor, the Orioles, pitching coach said about his team's rotation, “What I see on film excites me. Starting with Guthrie, he is still a young guy, even though he is the veteran on this club. He is still a young man. When I was in the other dugout watching him pitch, I always wished that I had him. And then I look at Matusz, Arrieta, Tillman, Bergesen, there is some talent here. It is just a question of being consistent with it, and staying healthy. I think the sky is the limit. Matusz’s whole approach on the mound, if you watch his mound presence and the way he went about things, for a young kid it was impressive... The ball jumps out of Tillman’s hand, from what I saw on film... Arrieta has great stuff. I was talking to him a little bit about trusting it and not trying to make it more than it is or needs to be.”  Arrieta, Tillman, and Bergesen are all very talented pitchers and have great stuff, but they are unproven in the big leagues. The three of them struggled last season with a combine 16-23 record and a 5.17 ERA. 

Projected starting pitching staff:

1. Jeremy Guthrie

2. Brian Matusz

3. Chris Tillman

4. Jake Arrieta

5. Brad Bergesen

Projected closer:

Kevin Gregg

Toronto Blue Jays Season Preview

From 2006 to 2009, Jose Bautista had a total of 74 home runs. Last season, Jose Bautista led the league in home runs at 54 and was third in the league with 124 RBI's. Jose agreed to a 5-year deal worth 64 million dollars following the season, but many people wonder if Bautista is only a one year wonder. Bautista began to start his swing earlier last season, which allowed for his hands to get behind the ball. He also contributed his success to playing every day, which he will definitely be doing this season but at right field and not third base like last season. Bautista will need to get some help from Adam Lind and Aaron Hill, who both had very poor seasons last year. Lind only had 72 RBI's in the middle of the Jays lineup last season, while having career lows in batting average at .237, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. Hill had a batting average of .205 last season and only had 68 RBI's.

Projected starting lineup:

1. Rajai Davis, CF

2. Yunel Escobar, SS

3. Jose Bautista, RF

4. Adam Lind, 1B

5. Aaron Hill, 2B

6. Travis Snider, LF

7. Juan Rivera, DH

8. Edwin Encarnacion, 3B

9. J.P. Arencibia, C

The pitching staff is also a big question for the Jays especially since Shawn Marcum was traded to the Brewers and Brandon Morrow is out with a right forearm injury. Coming off a 14-9 record with a 3.73 ERA, Ricky Romero had a 7.91 ERA during spring training but will be the Jays opening day starter. Brett Cecil had a great second season last year with a record of 15-7 and a 4.22 ERA. He also finished tied for 12th in the AL with only 54 walks, as he has great command of his pitches. Blue Jays pitching coach Bruce Wilson said, “I think he’s doing it right now... I think you see good command and good control of his game. That’s the next step for Cecil, controlling the game, kind of like a Pettitte, how he controlled that whole gamut and I think you see Cecil doing it already in spring training.” Blue Jay fans are very excited about top prospect Kyle Drabek earning a starting role in the rotation, as he had a fantastic spring training. Drabek was the key to the Roy Halladay trade last season but went winless last season in three starts. He has a lot of promise and showed it in the minor leagues last season, where he had an ERA under 3. The young pitching doesn't spot there though. Jo-Jo Reyes, Jesse Litsch, and Mark Rzepczynski all will have great chances to prove that they will succeed in he majors. Blue Jays manager John Farrell said, "This is a very good blend of youth and talent in rotation and good combination of veteran, proven relievers, that can provide some protection to that young core of starters. I think the year that Brett Cecil had in kind of a break out year last year for him, the continued consistent performance by Ricky and really what we've seen from Morrow making a very successful transition from a bullpen arm, this is an extremely talented group. The key for us is going to be who fills out the fourth and fifth spots. How consistent they can be? I think if we can gain some consistency from those young pitchers in contention for those spots, whether it is Jessie Litsch, Kyle Drabek, or Marc Rzepczynski. If you look at the talent we can stack up against anybody in this division. But the key is the experience and being established in a very tough tough division."

Projected starting rotation:

1. Ricky Romero

2. Brett Cecil

3. Kyle Drabek

4/5. Jo-Jo Reyes, Jessie Litsch, and Mark Rzepczynski

*When Brandon Morrow returns from his right forearm injury, he will return to the starting rotation.

Projected closer:

Jon Rauch

Tampa Bay Rays Season Preview

The Tampa Bay Rays have a new look after winning the American League East last season. Since 2002 Carl Crawford has been a star in the outfield for the Rays. He is the Rays' all-time leader in runs scored, hits, and RBI's. Now, Crawford will be in a Red Sox uniform playing against the Rays. The Rays also lost their first basemen Carlos Pena, who lead the team in homers at 28 last season, their shortstop Jason Bartlett, ace Matt Garza, and closer Rafael Soriano, who led the AL in saves at 45. The Rays added former Red Sox players Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon to salvage the off-season. Although many people are counting the Rays out of repeating as division champions, Rays manager Joe Maddon said, "We're not going out there right now to just fill out a 162-game schedule. Our goal is to repeat as division winners this year and then moving on from there. These two guys definitely make us more solvent. There's no question." Johnny Damon is also confident in his new teams ability to repeat. He said, "Absolutely this team can win the American League East... What I really like about this team is you have two guys that you'd really like to build any franchise around. This team is bred to win right now." The Rays offense, which scored the third most runs last season in the league, will rely heavily on third baseman Evan Longoria to have another season like last year when he had 22 home runs and 104 RBI's. The X- factor for the Rays will be BJ Upton, who had his worst season last year since 2006 when he only hit .237 but you can always expect Upton to steal about 40 bases with his blazing speed.

Projected starting lineup:

1. Ben Zobrist, 2B

2. Johnny Damon, LF

3. Evan Longoria, 3B

4. Manny Ramirez, DH

5. Dan Johnson, 1B

6. B.J. Upton, CF

7. Matt Joyce, RF

8. Reid Brignac, SS

9. John Jaso, C

The question for the Rays rotation will be how the rookie Jeremy Hellickson will pitch in the fifth spot after he looked very impressive in his four spots last season. He was able to baffle the Red Sox last season using his fastball changeup, curveball, and cutter. Joe Maddon said, "I think he's kind of spoiled the fan base into thinking that he's pretty much infallible. So just understand that he's young, he's going to make some mistakes, he's going to have some rough nights. But by the end of the season, we're going to see a guy that's definitely capable of 10-plus wins with some really good numbers attached to them. That's always been what he's done in the past, and I don't think there's any reason to think that's going to change a lot." Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey said, "I expect him to be really, really good. I'm pretty certain he could not necessarily replicate all the numbers, but he could fill in the production we lost via Garza, the 200 innings and the 15 wins." There will be a lot of pressure on the young star to pitch well for the Rays at the back end of the rotation.

Projected starting rotation:

1. David Price

2. James Shields

3. Wade Davis

4. Jeff Niemann

5. Jeremy Hellickson

Projected closer:

Kyle Farnsworth

New York Yankees Season Preview

The Yankees off-season was mainly dominated by the contract negotiations between Derek Jeter and the ball club and Brain Cashman saying he was against the deal to sign former Rays closer Rafael Soriano. The negotiations between Jeter and the Yankees became public and turned ugly with the team telling Jeter to "drink some reality potion" in regard to how much money he would get on the open market. Jeter finally signed a three-year deal worth 51 million dollars with the Yankees. Many question marks that Yankee fans have surround Jeter, as last year he only batted .270, his worst batting average since 1995 when he was a rookie.

Projected starting lineup:

1. Brett Gardner, LF

2. Derek Jeter, SS

3. Mark Teixeira, 1B

4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B

5. Robinson Cano, 2B

6. Nick Swisher, RF

7. Jorge Posada, DH

8. Curtis Granderson, CF

9. Russell Martin, C

However, Yankee fans should be much more concerned about their pitching staff. After losing out on trying to lure Cliff Lee to New York, the Yankees were stuck with a very shaky rotation behind C.C. Sabathia. Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com said about the Yankees unpredictable but talented pitcher Phil Hughes, "Scouts following Yankees have been stunned by Phil Hughes’ lack of velocity this spring 87-89 mph, with more 87s than 89s." A.J. Burnett had a horrible season last year, as he was 5 games under five hundred at 10-15 and had a 5.26 ERA, the highest of his career. Burnett is finally looking forward to putting last season behind him. He said, “I put a lot of things behind me [in spring training] and I’m looking forward to a new start... So it begins on Saturday... Consistency this season is the most important thing. I came out to a pretty good start last year and became inconsistent pretty quick. I want to start off on a pretty good foot but consistency is the main thing.” Although Ivan Nova pitched extremely well this spring and earned the Yankees fourth pitching spot, he is unproven and a lot of pressure will be on him to pitch well and pitch well right away. Although Freddy Garcia struggled during spring training posting a 5.93 ERA, he got the Yankees fifth starting role over Bartolo Colon. In his last 4 seasons, Garcia only has 17 wins and his best ERA in those seasons was at 4.20. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, "We actually felt that he [Freddy Garcia] had a chance to get better because he was another offseason removed from his arm issues that he had. But you still want to see it in spring training. For his standards, he had a great spring."

Projected starting rotation:

1. C.C. Sabathia

2. Phil Hughes

3. A.J. Burnett

4. Ivan Nova

5. Freddy Garcia

Projected closer:

Mariano Rivera

Although the Yankees rotation has a lot of question marks, with Cano, Teixeira, and A-Rod in the middle of the Yankee's lineup, they will definitely score a lot of runs like they did last season when they led the league in runs scored.

Boston Red Sox Season Preview

With injuries to Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, and Jacboy Ellisbury the Red Sox missed out on the playoffs last season for the first time since 2006. Although the Sox lost catcher Victor Martinez and third baseman Adrian Beltre to free agency, they acquired slugger Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres and signed Carl Crawford to a 7-year deal worth 142 million dollars. Gonzalez, who batted nearly .300, hit 31 home runs, and had over 100 RBI's last season will greatly help the middle of the Sox's lineup. Gonzalez said, "I'll be in there every day, no matter what. It's going to take a lot to get me out of the game." The ability of Crawford to always get on base and cause havoc on the base paths will definitely help a Sox's lineup who already scored the second most runs in baseball last season. Rocco Baldelli, who was a former teammate of Crawford said, "There's nobody out there that's going to give himself a better chance to succeed than Carl is... They're going to get one of the best defensive left fielders that I've ever seen in baseball.  They're going to get a guy who is an exciting player, probably as exciting a player as there is. He's going to be active and he's going to make things exciting. People are going to appreciate everything he does." 

Projected starting lineup:

1. Jacoby Ellisbury, CF

2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B

3. Carl Crawford, LF

4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B

5. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B

6. David Ortiz, DH

7. J.D. Drew, RF

8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C

9. Marco Scutaro, SS

They key for the Red Sox will be the pitching of Josh Beckett, John Lackey, and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Last off-season the Sox signed Lackey to a five-year deal worth 82.5 million dollars but Lackey had a very disappointing season. He only won 14 games and had his highest ERA at 4.40 since 2004. Lackey said, "There's a lot of room for improvement." Red Sox manger Terry Francona is confident that Lackey will return to his top form. "He's going to give you the 200 innings, and every time he pitches you're going to have a chance to win, regardless of who he matches up against. He's worked hard to get in real good shape, and I think it's going to show. I think across the board his numbers will be a little bit (better) this year." Last season Josh Beckett only pitched 21 games due to a lower back strain. He only won 6 games and had a 5.78 ERA, the highest of his career. Beckett is confident coming into this season though. He said, “I feel like the mechanical adjustments I made have really gone a long way.’’ Lastly, Daisuke Matsuzaka struggled mightily last season with a series of injuries including a stiff lower back and a shoulder problem. Matsuzaka is hoping he will have another season like 2008 when he went 18-3 and finished in the top 4 of the American League Cy Young. Terry Francona isn't concerned by Matsuzaka's disappointing pitching performance last season, as he said, "I think he's in great shape. I think his shoulder's strong. The ball's coming out [strong]."If Lackey, Beckett, and Matsuzaka don't all have repeat performances of last season, the Sox look like the team to beat in the American League.

Projected starting rotation:

1. Jon Lester

2. John Lackey

3. Clay Buchholz

4. Josh Beckett

5. Daisuke Matsuzaka

Projected closer:

Jonathan Papelbon

Games and Events to Watch

Games to Watch in the MLB Today
Houston Astros (Brett Myers( at Philadelphia Phillies (Roy Halladay)
Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester) at Texas Rangers (C.J. Wilson)
San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Chad Billingsley)

Games to Watch in the NBA Today
Charlotte Bobcats (32-42, 9th in the eastern conference) at Orlando Magic (47-28, 4th in the eastern conference)
Boston Celtics (52-22, 2nd in the eastern conference) at Atlanta Hawks (43-32, 5th in the eastern conference)
Memphis Grizzlies (42-33, 8th in the western conference) at New Orleans Hornets (43-32, 6th in the western conference)
Oklahoma City Thunder (50-24, 4th in the western conference) at Portland Trail Blazers (43-32, 7th in the western conference)

Games to Watch in the NHL Today
Chicago Blackhawks (41-27-8, 90 points, 8th in the western conference) at Columbus Blue Jackets (34-31-12, 80 points, 13th in the western conference)
Calgary Flames (38-29-11, 87 points, 10th in the western conference) at St. Louis Blues (35-32-10, 80 points, 12th in the western conference)

Matches to Watch on the ATP Tour Today
(All numbers are the seed of the player in the tournament)
Miami Semifinals:
2. Novak Djokovic vs 14. Mardy Fish
1. Rafael Nadal vs 3. Roger Federer

Tournaments to Watch on the PGA Tour Today

Shell Houston Open Second Round:

Notable players to watch include: Lee Westwood at -4 (7:50 AM tee time), Phil Mickelson at -2 (7:50 AM tee time), Jimmy Walker at -9 (8:40 AM tee time), and Matt Kuchar at E (1:50 PM tee time)