Last season the Tigers opened training camp with a hole at 2nd base, and once again may be opening the season with a hole in the same position. Scott Sizemore ended up filling that hole, but was ineffective at the plate and was eventually sent down after about a month and a half. That opened the door for Danny Worth, while they waited for Carlos Guillen to return from injury and fill the position. Injuries to other tiger infielders, including another to Guillen reopened the door for these guys, as well as a new candidate in Will Rhymes.
Carlos Guillen is still in the tigers plans at second base, but that is no reason for these young players to be discouraged. It isn’t even known if Carlos will be able to start the season at second, and once he does start playing it is only a matter of time before he goes down with another injury. Perhaps a negative point of view, but history is not on his side. 
It is no secret that I am a huge Matt Diaz fan. I think he’s the most underrated baseball player in the bigs, and I’m fairly certain he holds the cure to cancer. Since the news came out about Matt leaving Atlanta, it’s been a struggle for me to get out of bed and to be nice to people. I’ve been raving about Matty for the past 3 seasons. Most of Diaz’s time in Atlanta was spent platooning left field because of his “struggles” against righty pitching. Less intelligent baseball fans seem to obsess over Matty’s numbers against right-handed pitching. They would call him a “lefty killer”… which he certainly was. You see, Diaz is a .335 lifetime hitter against lefties, which rightfully deems him as a “lefty killer”, however his .269 lifetime avg against righties is not something to be frowned upon. Alex Gonzalez hits .250 against righties, Dan Uggla hits .267 against righties, and Brian McCann has a lifetime .267 avg against lefties.
The San Diego Padres have made it official – Adrian Gonzalez will move East to play for the Red Sox next season. Most in baseball point to this deal as another glaring reason why salary reform needs to done, and I’m not in opposition, however, don’t be too fast to cry for San Diego. They might have given up a premier Major League first-basemen, but they got three of the top minor league prospects in all of Minor League Baseball in return in 1B Anthony Rizzo (pictured), RHP Casey Kelly, and CF Reymond Fuentes.
Going into the off season there were plenty of questions about who would play what position come 2011. There were really only two known answers, Cabrera at first and Austin Jackson in centre field. Every other position had uncertainties, including the other 2 outfield positions. At some point this season the answer will be Casper Wells or Brennan Boesch. 
John Mozeliak said Saturday that the Cardinals lineup is “set for 2011″ after signing Lance Berkman to play left field. The 34 year old switch hitter signed a 1 year deal worth 8 million to presumably start in left field. A knee injury has halted Berkmans recent production, but 2008 saw him finish 5th in the MVP voting and he’s a .296 career hitter who’s 1 short of 1,100 RBI. Assuming he stays healthy Berkamn should provide a much needed boost to a Cardinal offense that was anemic at times and just seemed to lack cohesion. Berkman can hit just about anywhere, including second, comfortably while providing power and getting on base at a good clip. The Cardinals have lacked such a two hitter for some time now and Berkman would be a perfect fit. Defensively may be a bit more of an adventure. Matt Holliday is going to move to right field to allow Berkman to play left. Berkman is adequate in the outfield and it’s a bit scary considering he’s coming off a knee injury but having him play right really isn’t an option. If the Cardinals have one glaring defensive weakness it maybe very well be corner outfield. 
The offseason still has several months to go, but that does not mean that scouts are not gearing up to watch some of the best high school talent in the nation. Of course pitching is always high on every team’s list. But it is impossible to ignore the talent found in the infield and the outfield of the upcoming draft class. These are just a few of the high school position players that scouts will be keeping a close watch on this upcoming spring. 
As a Phillies fan, I’d like to talk about Jayson Werth’s free agency, how Philadephia should and could replace him, and where he’s likely to end up.