Yes it is. And the MLB looks very different than it did 365 days ago. People who we thought would never move left. More than 1 team had their heart and soul ripped from them. Several others gained them back. Who could think of the Red Sox without Terry Francona leaning on the top step? And who, exactly, is going to fill the gaping 3 hole in the Cards order?This offseason could be called “the Winter of the Yankees,” where all the teams threw money at their problems. Some teams even threw money at stuff they didn’t need. For once, it wasn’t the team from the Bronx doing this. It’s the GMs from Miami, Detroit, and Los Angeles, trained in arts of Brian Cashman. Can we fix it? No. Let’s pay someone tons of money to do it for us. I mean, come on Angels, you have two good, promising 1st basemen, Mark Trumbo and Kendry Morales, so you have a backup plan, and you go after Pujols? C.J. Wilson made sense, he filled a need, But there was no need to throw 250 million bucks down the drain. Same with the Marlins, but I’ve been over that. All Detroit needs is another complaining, overweight, overrated first basemen. C’mon, Prince. The Brew Crew needed you, especially with Braun getting busted for steroids. The Cardinals will not be the World Series Champions of 2011 in 2012, or anything close. Not wiht their Hall of Fame manager and franchise player gone. The Red Sox need to shape up, and quick. Years of being good have lulled them into thinking they will always be on top. They need to cut ties with David Ortiz. The Manny and Big Papi days are over in Fenway. Carl Crawford needs to shape up, fast. Clay Bucholz needs to fufill his potential. John Lackey needs to get his act together, too. The Nationals wil be tough this year, finally decent after years of being terrible. The district wide holiday that occurs every 5 days, known as “Strausmas,” will be back, with talented lefty Gio Gonzales as a perfect complement, and the 2 should form a fearsome strikeout tandem. Micheal Morse will serve as most of the offense, at least until the revered Bryce Harper shows up. The Giants will finally have something that resembles and offense with the return of Buster Posey, Freddie Sanchez, and perhaps some help from promising prospect Brandon Belt. Spring Training is here. Adam Wainright is back. So is Buster Posey. And, for better or worse, so is Manny Rameriz. Tony La Russa is gone. So is Ryan Braun,for a while, one of my favorite players. I still can’t believe he took steroids. Jorge Posada is gone. The Yankee Dynasty of the modern era now consists of Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. I wonder what it will be like, starting a new baseball season without someone who you always thought would be there. How would it feel to be practicing with tons of new faces, people you are not sure you will get along with? I can just see Hanley being disgrunteld about moving and starting something with Jose Reyes, and Ozzie Guillen running in a lighting th C4. The guy blows up so many situations you wonder if he does it on purpose. Baseball’s different, but baseball’s back.
Pigskin and Pine Tar 