Field O' Dreams - Paid in $$$

The calendar turned to April, and here comes baseball. I've been looking forward to this for quite some time. I've already been blessed with a college basketball national championship, so now I'm a believer in a NYY repeat championship to continue the good times.

Born into a NYY state of mind family, I've seen the team change over the years. One has to admit though: winning last year felt kind of dirty. Benjamin(s)-like dirty. The championship rings are the receipt. Baseball has a spending problem; the team I root for happens to have the deepest wallet. I'm not complaining, I just find it odd that there are only a few teams that are ever in contention anymore. The Yankees just added Granderson, Johnson and Vasquez to the mercenaries. I say welcome and stay awhile. Pickup your rings at the end of the year. Other teams are getting into the act, drawing the top talent via trade or free agency. Halladay to the Phils? Pretend you're surprised. How about Holliday resigning with the Cards? A) It made sense and B) Winning games brings in revenue.

Not only that though, but you have to love the lower teams crying about it. The Brew Crew complaining they can't afford Fielder? Deal with it. Has anyone seen Billy Beane's A's starting lineup on opening day? One too many fire sales occurred. The biggest laugh I get: every time I see Carl Crawford, all I see are $$$ and pinstripes and the call "Now batting 2nd, LF for the Yankees..." You get the point. (There's your reason why we didn't sign Damon, didn't give a shit about Bay and are willing to fill the position with Gardner and Wynn until next year.)

Prediction Time: AL EAST - Yankees (you get what you pay for) AL CENTRAL - Twins (if M&M don't stay healthly, then this is way wrong) AL WEST - Angels WILD CARD - AL EAST #2 (Red Sox slight edge over Rays) NL EAST - METS! hahaha kidding, Phillies NL CENTRAL - Cardinals (injections now offered in the clubhouse, courtesy of your hitting coach) NL WEST - Giants NL WILD CARD - Braves WORLD SERIES - Yankees-Phillies, Yankees in 7 AL MVP - ARod NL MVP - Pujols AL Batting Champ - Ichiro NL Batting Champ - Pujols AL CY Young - Sabathia NL CY Young - Halladay AL Rookie of the Year - ? NL Rookie of the Year - Heyward (might as well give it to him now) Next Big Contract in offseason - Crawford Next Big Thing - Justin Upton Take these predictions for what they are. Just don't take them to the bank.