Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3. Boston Sports Guy with an upbeat Red Sox preview.

The Baseball Crank, Boston Sports Guy's guest columnist, gives his 2001 baseball predictions. He sees a championship for the American League's second most storied franchise (guess who?) (no, not the Red Sox).

Joe Sheehan's AL predictions. He's even more optimistic about the Royals (2nd place) than Rany Jazayerli. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Chris Kahrl's Transaction Analysis. Chris has a lot to write about this time of year, with all the teams cutting their rosters down. Good stuff. (The Baseball Prospectus)

ESPN's baseball predicitions. Buck Showalter likes the Diamondbacks.

The Rockies have signed Todd Helton to an 11-year, $151 million contract. The $13.7 million per year isn't shocking; he'll only be the 14th highest paid player in the majors. Eleven years, though - wow. He's 27 now, and he's one of the best hitters in the game, but not the best. I wonder how good he'll be when he's 38. And I wonder whether $13.7 million a year will seem like a bargain in 2012. (ESPN)

The Angels have picked up Glenallen Hill from the Yankees and released Jose Canseco. Hill was a fearsome bat off the bench for the Yankees last year, but I guess they're committed to Chuck Knoblauch as an outfielder. At the trade deadline, when the Angels are in last place, they'll trade Hill to a contender. Canseco can still hit, and he ought to land somewhere (Cleveland?). (ESPN)

Joe Sheehan brings back the DiSar Awards, given to the player in each league who accumulates the most at-bats before taking his first walk. Guess the winners, and you could win a book. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Chris Kahrl's latest Transaction Analysis. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Jeff Hildebrand in Florida, Part 4. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Rob and Rany argue about the Royals, who reportedly are considering trading Mark Quinn (a good young hitter) for Rick White (a replaceable reliever). They already did something similar with the Johnny Damon deal, so maybe it's all part of a master plan. Hey, how about Mike Sweeney to the Red Sox for Rich Garces? (robneyer.com)

Don Malcolm answers a reader's question about why offense exploded in the Nineties, and sets off an interesting discussion. (Baseball Primer)

Jonathan Vankin criticizes Peter Gammons. (NY Press)

Predictatron 2001: Send your 2001 predictions to Scribbly Tate (aka Rob Neyer in Abraham Simpson mode). Win a book.

Major League Baseball, in its ongoing effort to squeeze every possible dollar out of its fans, will soon put an end to free Internet broadcasts of games. (Akron Beacon-Journal)

Peter Gammons doesn't think any single team will dominate this year. Headline: Into the Great Wide Open. (ESPN)

Lemme see if I can come up with song titles as headlines...

Everybody's Happy Nowadays. Art Martone on the positive things happening with the Red Sox. (Providence Journal)

The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades. Diamond Mind projects the 2001 standings using their computer simulation. The best team in baseball, with 98 wins: Boston. (ESPN)

The Boy with Perpetual Nervousness. Rick Ankiel will keep his spot in the Cardinals' rotation, for now. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out. Rob Neyer on the impasse between the A's and Jason Giambi. Losing him wouldn't be devastating, says Rob, because the A's have some good alternatives. (ESPN)

OK, that last one didn't make sense. It's harder than I thought. Does Gammons write with a pile of CDs next to him, and scan them for song titles that might work? And is "Dodgers Not Doomed" a song?

Art Martone on the Red Sox' spring training woes. (Providence Journal)

Rany Jazayerli says Josh Hamilton should start the year in the minors. Tim Kurkjian disagrees. (ESPN)

Chris Kahrl's Transaction Analysis. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Jeff Hildebrand in Florida, part 3. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Rob and Rany (Neyer and Jazayerli) argue about the Royals. Today's topic: Pitching coach Brent Strom and manager Tony Muser. (robneyer.com)

Joe Sheehan on Rickey Henderson's prospects for breaking the all-time records for walks (good) and runs (not so good), and for reaching 3000 hits (also not so good). (The Baseball Prospectus)

Jeff Hildebrand reports from Florida, part 2. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Keith Law on Commissioner Selig's gag order. This is good; we won't have to listen to baseball owners complain about their economic woes, or make stupid proposals on how to "fix" baseball. Of course, if we can't hear their ideas, we won't be able to shoot them down, but they wouldn't listen anyway, so whatever. (The Baseball Prospectus)

The Baseball Crank names his top 20 players, based on the impact he expects them to have in 2001. No arguments with #1 and #2 (Pedro and A-Rod). After that, the list gets interesting. Well done. (Boston Sports Guy) (Note: The Baseball Crank isn't Boston Sports Guy; he's a regular contributor to the BSG site.)

Drew Henson back to the Yankees? The Yankees and Reds have agreed to a deal, pending physical exams: Henson and Michael Coleman to the Yankees for minor league outfielder Wily Mo Pena. Interesting ramifications, with Henson being a Heisman candidate at Michigan. More important, I hope Wily Mo Pena makes it. Great name. (ESPN)

John Sickels on Henson, Coleman and Pena. (ESPN)

Rob Neyer on unheralded players who "step up" in spring training. Usually they step down when the season starts. (ESPN)

Chris Kahrl's Transaction Analysis. Angels fans can breathe a little easier now that Ben Molina is locked up for the next four years. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Jeff Hildebrand reports from Florida. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Peter Gammons likes the Astros. Also, a hot rumor from Gammons's top source. "I'll bet Rick Down as [Red] Sox manager by Memorial Day," says one AL GM. (Is it always the same AL GM?) (ESPN)

Daring predictions from Sports Illustrated. Division winners: Yankees, Indians, A's, Braves, Cardinals, Giants. Wild cards: White Sox, Astros.

Peter Gammons on Atlanta's Travis Wilson, who's from New Zealand, of all places. Increasingly, the best organizations are keeping their edge by seeking out talent in unlikely places. It's more effective, and cheaper, than throwing money at the Derek Bells and David Seguis of the world. (Headline: "Apolitical Blues.") (ESPN)

An old Gammons column, also headlined "Apolitical Blues." He's starting to recycle his headlines, which are usually song titles by southern rock, alt-country and indie-rock acts. "Apolitical Blues" is by Little Feat. "Blue Sky Mining?" Midnight Oil. "Copperhead Road?" Steve Earle. "I Asked for Water (He Gave Me Gasoline)?" Lucinda Williams. "I Can't Remember to Forget?" I dunno. (ESPN)

Rick Ankiel was wild again. Thirteen batters, 8 walks. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

New York Times piece on Don Zimmer's new book. "'I feel like I'm getting cheated here, the way this team is playing,' Zimmer recalls Steinbrenner growling [during a rough stretch in 1999 when Zimmer was interim manager], then looking around at him and the coaches. 'If there's anyone in this room who honestly thinks they've done the best job they could, they're excused.' Hearing that, Zimmer stood up and walked out. 'I couldn't think of anything I might've done better or different,' he writes." (Registration is required for the NY Times Web edition. It's free, though.)

The Week in Quotes from The Baseball Prospectus. Bizarre comments from Cubs pitching coach Oscar Acosta, who thinks young hurlers should pitch through pain. (Worked for Kerry Wood, right?)

Rob Neyer on the Yankees' Chuck Knoblauch situation. If he can't play second, they can move him to left...but then he'd be the worst-hitting left fielder in the league. (ESPN)

Sammy Sosa gets a 4-year contract extension for $72 million. (ESPN)

Sosa's career stats. (baseball-reference.com)

Rany Jazayerli speculates that the new strike zone will benefit the Royals. Rob Neyer tells him to get real. (robneyer.com)

Lou Piniella wanted to bring back Rickey Henderson, but Pat Gillick said no. (ESPN)

Keith Law on the Devil Rays' Josh Hamilton situation. If the Rays promote him to the majors too soon, he'll become eligible for arbitration and/or free agency before he hits his prime. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Cincinnati Enquirer story on Chris Reitsma, who may make the Reds' rotation this year. The Red Sox did the Reds a huge favor by taking Dante Bichette last year, even if Reitsma and John Curtice don't make it. If one of them does make it, then the Reds really pulled one off.

Rangers fans are excited about the upcoming season. The fans who've submitted predictions to the Dallas Morning News seem to be about evenly divided between those who think the Rangers are going to the World Series, and those who think they'll lose to the Yankees in the ALCS.

Chat wrap with Rob Neyer. (ESPN)

Allen Barra joins the Albert Belle HOF discussion. "For nearly a decade Albert Belle was one of the greats, not Babe Ruth, quite, but surely up there with Jimmie Foxx, and if he had taken the effort to let us know him a bit, let us inside, or at least shown us that he was happy, for God's sake, to be young and wealthy and so great at a game we all fantasize about playing, then he'd probably get the plaque in Cooperstown that his efforts earned him." (Salon.com)

Rick Ankiel is in control. Eleven strikes in a 12-pitch first inning. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

SportsJones has a feature called Fourth Dimension, in which they report classic sports stories as if they were happening now. "We think that the sports world is a mess now, and that we need to get back to the good ol’ days." They're being sarcastic, I hope. Today's story is about Joe Dimaggio's 1942 contract dispute. Other stories include the 1961 college basketball point-shaving scandal and the Colts' late-night move to Indianapolis in 1984. Good ol' days.

The Village Voice plucks some Yankees- and Mets-related tidbits from Baseball Prospectus 2001.

Joe Sheehan on the possible effects of the new unbalanced schedule. Pedro Martinez could very well have 30% of his starts against the Orioles and Devil Rays. The NL Central's top hitters could put up some monster numbers, with most of their games in hitters' parks. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Chris Kahrl's latest Transaction Analysis. So long, Jerry DiPoto. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Arky Vaughan on Jose Lima's historic collapse, and his prospects for recovery. (AstrosConnection)

Eddie Epstein on the greatest pitching staffs of all time. Several surprises in the top 10 (based on standard deviations): 1999 Red Sox, 1990 A's, 1948 Braves, 1985 Blue Jays. (ESPN)

Jayson Stark reports that a number of GMs are not happy with the Dodgers right now. Hey, who is? (OK, Darren Dreifort, but who else?) (ESPN)

Derek in the Desert, Part 4. (The Baseball Prospectus)

The Red Sox are going to blow up, says Ken Rosenthal in the Sporting News.

No, they're not, says Sean Forman of Baseball Primer.

The latest on Gary Sheffield: He's fired his agent, hired Scott Boras and apologized to Dodgers fans. (ESPN)

The Marlins have signed Preston Wilson for 5 years and $32 million. Good move in theory: They've been rebuilding for a few years, and now they're ready to put together a contender. Locking up their good young players, and adding valuable veterans like Charles Johnson, is the way to do it. Wilson is probably not as good as they think he is, though. (ESPN)

Derek (Zumsteg) in the Desert, Part 3. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Interview with Rob Neyer in the San Jose Mercury News.

Interview with BP's Joe Sheehan in SportsJones. Hey, now that Baseball Primer has launched, can I still use "BP" to mean Baseball Prospectus? Should I call them BPro and BPri?

Eddie Epstein on the best offenses of all time. Here's a good argument against the "baseball is 75% pitching" canard: The top ten teams on the list all made it to the World Series. (ESPN)

Joe Sheehan on the worst offenses of all time. Even without Albert Belle, the 2001 Orioles can't compete with these teams. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Derek Zumsteg with Part 1 of a report from spring training in Tucson. A good read. He's a Sleater-Kinney fan (cool!). (The Baseball Prospectus)

Derek Zumsteg from Tucson, Part 2. Everything relates to baseball.

Ross Newhan of AP on the Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki. ''It's hard, really, to imagine how big he is [in his native Japan],'' Ted Heid, Seattle's Pacific Rim scouting director, said. ''It may be blasphemous, but I'd compare it to Michael Jordan, maybe bigger.'' He's 27, he's won six straight Japan League batting titles, and he's the front runner for AL Rookie of the Year. Prediction: He'll win the award, then MLB will pass a rule to make Japan League veterans ineligible.

Chris Kahrl's latest Transaction Analysis. Troy Glaus at shortstop? Why not, the Angels have nothing to lose. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Chris Kahrl on contraction. More good arguments against it. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Keith Woolner on Albert Belle's Hall of Fame credentials. Belle, one of baseball's most disliked players (by the media, anyway) compares well to Kirby Puckett, one of the most liked. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Career stats for Belle and Puckett. (Baseball-Reference.com)

Dave Kindred and Ken Rosenthal on Belle. (The Sporting News)

More Belle discussion in the Outside the Box weblog.

Joe Sheehan is bullish on the Astros because they can score tons of runs. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Nick Acocella on Bill Mazeroski, just elected to the Hall of Fame. (ESPN Classic)

Rob Neyer on questionable Hall candidates. Dom DiMaggio = Brett Butler. Gil Hodges = Boog Powell. (ESPN)

Peter Gammons of ESPN on the Red Sox' early spring woes. He calls Trot Nixon the best defensive right fielder in the American League; too bad Nixon will be playing left.

Bud Selig: "A year ago, if you had asked me about contraction, I would have said that I don't like that idea and I had spent a lot of time thinking about it." Since then, apparently, he's stopped thinking. Here is how contraction will work, as far as I can figure: The commissioner's office will choose two unlucky teams (who knows how), and write them letters saying "Sorry, you're out of major league baseball. Your business is now worth nothing. All the money that you have invested is lost. Nice doing business with you. Love, Bud." The two unlucky owners will say "Aw, shucks" and get on with their lives. No lawsuits, or anything. Twenty-eight teams will remain, and then the commissioner's office will start looking for two others to destroy. It won't happen, and I suspect Selig knows it won't happen. It's an empty threat.

Joe Sheehan of The Baseball Prospectus on the first day of Spring Training. Mark McGwire played the field and looked good. Deion Sanders looked bad.

NY Daily News on Alex Rodriguez's interview in the April Esquire. A-Rod says "(Derek) Jeter's been blessed with great talent around him. He's never had to lead. He can just go and play and have fun. He hits second — that's totally different than third or fourth in a lineup. You go into New York, you wanna stop Bernie (Williams) and (Paul) O'Neill. You never say, 'Don't let Derek beat you.' He's never your concern." Sorry, Alex, you're a better player than Jeter, but he is a leader, and I'm sure other teams worry about him at least as much as Williams or (please) O'Neill.

SF Examiner on Satchel Paige. I thought I knew all the great Paige anecdotes, but here are some more.

Chris Kahrl's latest Transaction Analysis. Good moves by the Brewers, tying up their good young hitters (Sexson, Jenkins, and recently Burnitz) to multi-year contracts and dumping Marquis Grissom. Not-so-good moves by the Dodgers (taking Grissom) and Diamondbacks (if they're so strapped for cash, why are they throwing it at Greg Swindell?). (The Baseball Prospectus)

CBS Sportsline compiles a bunch of Garry Sheffield quotes. Funny to see him contradict himself so many times.

Keith Law on the abundance of viable markets for major league baseball teams. He makes several good points: Fans shouldn't be blamed for not supporting awful teams; "territorial rights" ought to be thrown out in court (example: the Giants are trying to prevent the A's from moving to San Jose; I think the A's ought to be allowed to move to downtown San Francisco if they choose); contraction is a stupid idea and will never happen. (The Baseball Prospectus)

Boston Sports Guy on Nomar Garciaparra's underpublicized bad relationship with the media. (Digital City Boston)

Alkie's first series preview of 2001: Astros vs. Dodgers. (AstrosConnection)