So I'm going to try getting into baseball again...

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

When I was a kid I would go to a game every few weekends - my dad's work gave out skybox tickets every week and he was on rotation half the time. When I hit my later teenage years I lost interest and found a dozen other things to spend my time doing. Since then I just haven't had the time or desire to sit through a three-hour game I don't really enjoy.

For whatever strange reason, I've ALWAYS loved baseball video games. I think there might actually be more fun to be found in them than the actual real-life sport... I dug out my old copy of MLB 2001 for the Playstation, and immediately nostalgia'd. Good ole' Mark Grace... I then went a bit further back and got out Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball for the N64. God I was a demon at that game! Tom Goodwin and 3 other runners could steal me at least 10 runs in any game... I want to pick up the new game for VITA next week, and since baseball season is approaching I thought I'd give the sport another shot.

So, sport's fans... what should I expect? I can only assume the Cubs are still terrible but sell-out every game, everyone still hates the Yankees, and the home-run record still hasn't been broken since all the steroid laws went into affect. But what has changed in the last 10-15 years? Who are the big teams and who has become an under-dog? Which divisions are OP and which are being sucked dry?

I'll admit, I'm from and live in Chicago and have always been raised by Cubs fans. I went to Cubs games my entire childhood, so I do feel particularly attached to them as a team. However, being gone from the sport for so long I don't really care all that much. I'll still cheer for them, knowing they'll lose more than 50% of the time, but I'm open to eventually finding a team I like and following them.

Baseball fans..come at me!

 

[Harthan]

AL East is pretty much top dog right now. Yankees have a stellar offense and reasonable pitching that has a high upside if some young talent pays off as expected. Rays are a fine young team centered around pitching. Red Sox are strong offensively, pitching has a ton of holes, though they added a good young closer. Rotation is weak though. Blue Jays are up and comers. Orioles are shit and will continue to be shit for the next decade probably, unless they draft extraordinarily well over the next couple years. Relevant storyline in the AL East include the emergence of Granderson and Cano, whether they will stay in New York, who desires to get under the luxury tax, the emergence of top notch pitching in Tampa Bay headed by Matt Moore, possibly future Cy Young winner, the Red Sox epic collapse that saw them completely squander the wild card last year in September and now look to get back on top complete with new manager Bobby Valentine...Blue Jays have Jose Bautista who kinda came out of nowhere in 2010 and now is an MVP. Oh, and the Orioles suck. Did I mention that?

AL Central is probably the weakest division in the game. Detroit runs it thanks to Justin Verlander (SP, last year's Cy Young and AL MVP) and power hitters Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. Rest of the division is in a state of limbo right now. Indians shocked the world during the first two months of 2011 and were the best team in baseball, but fell to just under .500 and second place by the end. Royals have tons of young talent about to pay off for them, both offense and pitching. Twins were kings of the division for the last decade but injuries, age, and general decline leave their future questionable. White Sox were supposed to be contending for a World Series around now but a spectacular collapse from Adam Dunn, who was supposed to be a 40 HR guy but instead dropped to like 12 HR and a .150ish BA was the cornerstone behind their rebuilding movement that'll take a few years now to pay off. For the most part, the storylines in the AL Central are Detroit, if they can win a title, and the rest of the division is about comeback players and young talent emerging.

AL West has the AL Champs for the last two years, the Texas Rangers, who are a pretty complete top to bottom team on offense and pitching. Their most relevant storylines are Josh Hamilton (star outfielder) approaching free agency and also being an alcoholic who occasionally falls off the wagon and owning the highest paid Japanese player ever, Yu Darvish, who may or may not be the staff's future ace (this is his rookie season). LA Angels were number two last year but shocked the world by signing CJ Wilson (Rangers' ace last year) and Albert Pujols (arguably the best position player in baseball) which makes them at least candidates to scrap with the Rangers for 1st place. I'm not as high as them on many since there are still a ton of holes there. Also, quietly, they have one of the best prospects in baseball in Mike Trout who should be fun to watch emerge. Mariners will be bad...things to pay attention to are whether Ichiro becomes a power hitter now that he's hitting 3rd and whether he can return to All-Star form after slipping last year after nearly a decade of Hall of Fame caliber play. Also watch Felix Hernandez, their ace, and Jesus Montero, power hitting young guy. Mariners will be sucky this year but building around pitching could be future contenders rapidly. Athletics tore down the house over the offseason in preparation for a move to San Jose in the near future and as such are staring down 90+ losses. Storylines there are Yoenis Cespedes, the Cuban Youtube sensation and whether he's any good, plus Manny Ramirez making his comeback with them.

NL East is a stacked division after this last offseason. Phillies run the place anchored by a top notch rotation headed by Roy Halladay with Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels behind him, three of the best in the game. Offense is aging but still productive. Probably still the best team in the division. Nationals' excellent drafting and prospect building is now paying of as several of their young assets - Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmerman, and rapidly Bryce Harper - are paying off and will probably lead them to scrap for the division this year, maybe win a wild card. Lots of young talent entering primes there. Miami Marlins (formerly Florida) added huge free agent talent over this offseason so they look good...mostly Jose Reyes, shortstop, but also some pitching. Probably not good enough to win more than 85 games though. Braves are a pretty complete team that also suffered an epic collapse last year much like Boston. I'm not sure if they finish in second or fourth this year. Chipper Jones may be in his last season. The Mets have one asset on their team and they'll probably trade him soon, David Wright at 3B...the ownership is embroiled in a massive lawsuit that's strangling the team. No good from them in the near future.

I'll tell you more tomorrow. That's 4/6. Good enough for now.

 

[The Best]

This post probably won't be as long as Harthan's but here we go. Due to the massive off-season, this season is really the season where it's easy to come back to being a fan of the game. There are really legitimate story lines going on. The Miami Marlins are a good team to start with, as they moves their Stadium, and signed a lot of new talent, including Jose Reyes. They should compete with the Phillies and Braves this season even more, as it has been Philli and Atlanta taking over that division for a while now. Then there is Prince Fielder signing with Detroit, to give Miguel Cabrera a great power hitter to hit before (maybe after, not sure) him. Both Fielder and Cabrera could easily get the MVP this season. Speaking of the Brewers, Ryan Braun, the rigning NL MVP was suspended 50 games for PED's but it got overturned, and he's currently not suspended. Another MVP candidate who switched to the AL from the NL is Albert Pujols. Obviously, Pujols is the top player in the game today, and he just won his second ring in St. Louis with the Cardinals, before leaving them for the Angels. Another big loss for the Cards is their manager, Tony La Russa, who retired on top after winning another World Series. The Angels also got the ace of the opposing World Series team, and division rival, Texas Rangers, CJ Wilson. The Angels and Rangers will probably battle on and off for the division crown, and the team that doesn't get the division might not get the wild card due to the stacked up AL East. The Rangers are dealing with their own problems with Josh Hamilton's alcohol usage, along with his not-as-important contract situation. The Yankees picked up a young stud pitcher from the Mariners, in a trade that people are saying that is bad for the Yankees, but I disagree on that. Also, the Cubs had a quiet offseason, and haven't won a World Series since 1908. The Giants are looking to get back in to the playoffs after winning the World Series two seasons ago, but missing the playoffs last season, but they do play in a very talented division in the NL West. Matt Kemp of the Dodgers is a stud, just saying, and he could very well win the NL MVP this season. Also, the Mets who have done nothing but choke and be bad the past few seasons had a quiet offseason, but their ace, Johan Santana is looking healthy, which is a good sign for them, but it doesn't look like they're going too far, but they might beat the Nationals out for 4th in the NL East.

This long rant is basically saying that there are a lot of big things going on in baseball right now, and it's very easy to be drawn back in to it if you just follow it. Just watch Baseball Tonight I guess, and you'll be caught up. I hope you get back in to the sport! Baseball looks to be in a great spot right now, and it's only Spring Training.