Opening Day please come soon!

Pitchers and catchers reported to camp, which means that baseball is coming soon. And with football done that is not soon enough.

Just a few notes on the offseason and upcoming season.

1. Yankees. They are the reigning champs and it seems they got better. Granderson adds a spark to the offense and defense, Nick Johnson should produce nicely, and Javier Vazquez, if he does nothing more than eat innings, is a huge pickup that brings a lot of relief to an overworked rotation. I like Teixeira to really boom in his second season with the team and compete for the MVP again, especially with ARod healthy for April. Damon and Matsui were incredibly clutch in the World Series and throughout the season (Melky Cabrera too) and it seems unreasonable that a team could maintain strength after losing such important pieces, but this team can. If Posada can stay healthy and play at least 110 games then 103 wins and a World Series should again be well within reach.

2. Phillies. So the Phillies traded for Cliff Lee who won his first five starts for them and went 4-0 in the postseason (including their only two World Series wins), was basically their MVP after they got him, and rewarded him by trading him away without discussing it first? And yes, they got Roy Halladay. How could ANYONE do MORE than what Cliff Lee did for the Phillies? Are they any better with Halladay? NO! Even if he pitches his best season, it can't be better than what Cliff Lee did for them! 4-0 in the playoffs! Yet if they kept Cliff Lee even for one season with Roy this team would be the unquestioned World Series favorite. He wanted to stay there. Imagine Halladay-Lee-Hamels to go with Howard-Utley-Werth-Rollins-etc.! How is that not worth pursuing?

Anyway, they did get Doc Halladay, my favorite pitcher in baseball. The poor fella has played twelve seasons in the AL East. Over a quarter of his starts have come against the Red Sox and Yankees. He's 18-6 lifetime against the Yankees, a team that made the playoffs 11 of his 12 seasons. And after facing the likes of ARod, Jeter, Teixeira, Damon, Big Papi, Manny, Youkilis, Pedroia, and Evan Longoria (AND SUCCEEDING), he's moving into the division with the Mets, Nationals, Braves, and Marlins. And he has the best lineup in the National League supporting him. Hello 23 wins and another Cy Young.

3. Red Sox. Beckett, Lester and Lackey is as good as any 1-2-3 in baseball. Beltre and Scutaro are big improvements on the left side. The projected lineup with Ellsbury- Pedroia- Victor Martinez- Youkilis- Ortiz- Drew- Cameron- Beltre- Scutaro is not sexy but real strong. 95 wins should be expected.

4. Mariners. The M's won 85 games last year. Since then, they've added Cliff Lee to a rotation with King Felix; Chone Figgins, Milton Bradley, Casey Kotchman, and resigned Erik Bedard for a new start. Those batters might not seem like much but anything is an improvement to last year's lineup. Meanwhile the Angels have lost Figgins, Vlad, and John Lackey. The last time I picked Seattle to win 90 games they ended up losing 100, but this should be the best team in the division.

5. Angels. It's not just that they lost key players; it's that those key players all went to rivals (Lackey to Boston, Figgins to Seattle, Vlad to Texas).

6. Pirates will be the worst team ever to take the field. FYI, their best player is named Andrew McCutchen who hasn't even played a full season.