The Yankees and Red Sox have their eyes set on the same catcher reports ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Via his Twitter page, Olney writes that the Yankees are “taking an aggressive approach� in negotiations with Russell Martin, who batted just .248 with five home runs, 48 RBI and 45 runs scored in an injury plagued 2010 season. He wound up with only 331 at bats, which was a career-low for the Dodger backstop.

But while the Bombers may be aggressively pursuing Martin, Olney said Thursday that the Red Sox were still the favorites to land him. The Blue Jays are also in the mix, as is least one other unidentified team according to Rotoworld.com.

The Yankees want to make Jorge Posada their full-time DH, which would open up a spot for Martin behind the plate. If they were to acquire him, Jesus Montero would likely stay at Triple-A in order to gain more seasoning.

Martin’s numbers have steadily declined since 2009. That year, he slumped while hitting only .250 with seven home runs in 143 games, which were the weakest totals in his four-year career. In August last year, he suffered a torn labrum in his right hip while trying to avoid a tag at home plate in a game against the Padres and he missed the rest of the season with the injury.

Seeing as how he’s only 27, he has plenty of time to turn around his career and maybe a change of scenery would do him well. That said, changing leagues is no easy task for a hitter that has played his entire career in the National League.

Whether it’s that reliever that always seems to blow tight games in late innings, that batter that leaves runners on the bases, or that starter that walks seven batters an inning, every team has at least one player that as a fan, you’d rather set your eyelids on fire than watch trot onto the field for just one more inning.

I’ve compiled a list of 10 infuriating, punch-a-hole-through-your-wall MLB players to watch. Granted, this list is by no means all-inclusive (and I implore you the reader to list the guys that drive you nuts in the comments section). But these are the 10 that seem to make my blood boil on a consistent basis, whether they’re playing for my favorite team or not.

Read the rest of this entry »

Click Here to see Previews of all 30 MLB Teams

Offseason Movement: The Dodgers were mostly quiet this offseason outside of adding Orlando Hudson, Guillermo Mota and Randy Wolf. Oh yeah, and after 4,958 days of painful back and forth negotiating, L.A. GM Ned Colleti was able to re-sign outfielder Manny Ramirez to a two-year deal.

Top Prospect: James McDonald, RHP
The Dodgers have a couple of top prospects, including OF/1B Andrew Lambo and INF Ivan DeJesus Jr., but McDonald is the closest to making the big league roster. The club has been in search for a fifth starter all spring and they could tab McDonald for the role if he continues to pitch well in exhibition games. McDonald doesn’t overpower hitters (his fastball only tops out at 92 mph), but he has a nasty curveball and his command is solid as well. It’ll be interesting to see if L.A. gives the 24-year old the fifth spot in the rotation or sends him down to Triple-A for more seasoning.

Read the rest of this entry »

All 2009 Fantasy Articles | 2009 Position Rankings

There’s an unwritten rule among intelligent fantasy football drafters that goes a little something like this: Don’t draft a quarterback before Round 5. That’s because unless you land Peyton Manning, there’s not a huge difference between the No. 2 rated quarterback and the No. 8.

A similar rule can be applied to catchers in fantasy baseball. Chances are if you selected Victor Martinez (the No. 1 rated catcher in most draft rankings in 2008) early in your draft last year, you punched a whole through one of your walls by the All-Star Break.

If you selected a guy like Joe Mauer in the fourth or fifth round, you probably were quite satisfied by his .328-9-85-98 production. But what if we told you that you could have had taken Bengie Molina much later and still wound up with .292-16-95-46 production out of your catcher spot? Sure, you would give up runs and sacrifice average, but you almost doubled your home runs and gave your RBI numbers a boost as well.

What we’re saying is – don’t overvalue the catcher position. Let someone else jump on Brian McCann’s potential or Russel Martin’s stolen base production while you’re concentrating on bolstering the other positions that don’t have the amount of depth that the backstops do.