Remember last June when Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon send outfielder Sam Fuld to the mound to warm up? The Rays were playing at Milwaukee when the incident occurred. Fuld pinch-hit for reliever J.P. Howell in the top of the eighth inning and Tampa Bay scored three runs to take an 8-1 lead. Maddon then had Fuld come in to warm up for the sole purpose of “taking up time” while he got someone up in the bullpen. Maddon had planned on using reliever Joel Peralta while the game was close, but once the Rays pulled away Maddon wanted Cesar Ramos to pitch in the bottom half of the inning. Ramos wasn’t ready, and so Fuld was sent out there to stall. Fuld never did throw a pitch as Ramos replaced him to start the inning.

MLB has now amended Rule 3.05 regarding this type of behavior. The Playing Rules Committee proposed the tweak in the offseason and yesterday it was approved by MLB, the players’ union and umpires.

The change will “prohibit a manager from sending his current pitcher out to warm up with no intention of having him pitch because a relief pitcher is not ready to enter the game.”

The National League East is going to be a very good division this year. The Philadelphia Phillies are still going to be a strong contender to be one of the best teams in the National League. The newly named Miami Marlins have once again gone on a shopping spree, this time to draw fans to its new ballpark. History is doomed to repeat itself with the Marlins, who have spent money, won and then realized they do not draw enough fans consistently to support their product. Even with a new park, the Marlins will not draw enough. People do not like to go to the old Orange Bowl area, and South Florida is simply not a baseball town/area.

The Washington Nationals are building a team that can contend in this division for a long time, and the New York Mets? Well, someone has to bring up the rear, and as long as the team remains in its current financial state, it cannot contend. There is one longtime division stalwart, however, that cannot be overlooked, and is by some.

It’s happening again. Just prior to last spring training Zack Greinke broke a rib playing basketball and the M*A*S*H unit known as my Fantasy Baseball roster injury carousel started. The injuries didn’t stop all season, only progressing and only getting worse. At one point I had 11 of my 31 guys on the DL. The injuries came to body parts both likely and unlikely, but the most offensive one was the oblique strain which sidelined six of my guys in 2011. Blame it on no more steroids and players taking Creatine they said. I don’t care what the catalyst was, I just know it sucked and ruined my season.

Now this year it’s déjà vu all over again as the Atlanta Braves’ Tommy Hanson, a guy I was counting on heavily to blossom into a true stud this season, drove off the road in a one-car accident on the way to the spring training complex on the first day of workouts leaving him with a concussion.

Not everyone who watches sports is excited about pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training. Pro football purists already have their calendars marked as to when the NFL Draft takes place, and can’t wait for training camps to open in the summer of 2012.

For those who prefer yard lines over foul lines, and would rather hang out in the end zone than under a basket or near the batting cage, we’ll help you get through the offseason. During the week leading up to Super Bowl XLVI, we conducted a plethora of interviews with current and former NFL players. Every day, we’ll bring you some audio from highly recognizable names to fill the gaps in your pro football offseason.

After countless hours of watching game film, Jayson Braddock and Dory LeBlanc have narrowed down the top ten centers and guards (combined) of the 2012 NFL Draft. They used extensive criteria that included (but was not limited to) pass blocking, run blocking, pulling/trapping, initial quickness, downfield quickness, physical makeup, and physicality into determining how those attributes translate to the NFL. The ten-best prospects at the C/G (combined) position are:

1. David DeCastro – G – Stanford, rJr., 6’5” 312 Lbs. – Far and away the best OG to enter the draft in years. He will go quickly in the first round.

2. Peter Konz – C – Wisconsin, rJr., 6’5” 315 Lbs. – Excellent combination of size, strength, quickness, and intelligence and can also line up at Guard.

3. Brandon Washington – G – Miami (FL), Jr., 6’3” 325 Lbs. – We have Cordy Glenn being drafted as an OT, a position Washington also has experience playing – but we like him more as a guard. His tape can be a little inconsistent at times, but he has enough upside to be the number two guard drafted this year.

After countless hours of watching game film, Jayson Braddock and Dory LeBlanc have narrowed down the top ten tight ends of the 2012 NFL Draft. They used extensive criteria that included (but was not limited to) hands, route running, release, separation, after the catch, vision, blocking, physical makeup, physicality, and productivity into determining how those attributes translate to the NFL. The ten-best prospects at the TE position are:

1. Dwayne Allen, Clemson, rJr., 6’4” 255 Lbs. – The most solid all-around TE in the draft: reliable hands, physical and strong.
2. Coby Fleener, Stanford,  rSr., 6’6” 245 Lbs. –  Teams hoping to find the next Jimmy Graham could be enticed by the production and similar size of Fleener.

With next Monday’s NHL Trade Deadline right around the corner, our Pat Mayo takes a look what moves might get done / not get done.

After countless hours of watching game film, Jayson Braddock and Dory LeBlanc have narrowed down the top ten cornerbacks of the 2012 NFL Draft. They used extensive criteria that included (but was not limited to) read & react skills, man coverage, zone coverage, recovery, closing, run support, speed, tackling, tracking, physical makeup, physicality, and productivity into determining how those attributes translate to the NFL. The ten-best prospects at the CB position are:

1. Janoris Jenkins – Northern Alabama, Sr., 5’11’ 191 Lbs. – The Darrelle Revis of college football. Show him the opposing team’s #1 receiver and he’ll shadow him and shut him down all day.
2. Morris Claiborne – LSU, Jr., 6’0” 185 Lbs. – Great size for a cornerback that is sound in technique. Teams will love this combination when playing the dominant 6’4 receivers in today’s game.

Last season Adam Dunn pointed his bat like Babe Ruth, but ate too many Babey Ruth's...

I’m Baaack! I’ve decided that if I’m going to finish in the money that I need to take a gamble. I’m in a 12-team mixed 5×5 league where we can protect up to 12 players and we have an auction draft. The team that finished last the previous year, which happens to be me (what else is new), nominates a player and then it’s a free for all, auction style. The 11^th place finishing team then nominates someone and we bid auction style, and so on. We continue on until the first place team nominates a player, then it comes back to me and the process starts over again for the next round. Here’s my strategy, and it doesn’t matter that the other 11 teams will now know, because I nominate first.

Join us for NFL Draft Cheat Sheet each week as we gear up for the 2012 NFL Draft April 26-28. This is the program where NCAA Football & NFL Writer Dory LeBlanc and co-host NFL Scout Jayson Braddock take an in depth look at everything from NFL prospects to specific team needs.

This week  our two experts started off talking about the Top 10 QBs of the 2012 NFL Draft.

After the breakdown, our experts had a great conversation with a prospect who is quite familiar with quarterbacks – Vanderbilt cornerback Casey Hayward, who is quickly becoming one of the top-rated corners of this draft class. Casey shared his accomplishment he was most proud of, where his outstanding leadership ability comes from, how he’s preparing for the combine in warm Boca Raton Florida, and what he does in his down time to unwind. They also had a little fun with Casey with the number of shoes he has – and the number is shocking!