Every offseason in major sports these days sees a merry go round of players riding of into the sunset to greener pastures, and new players arriving.
If you look a little deeper at this year's movements there is certainly a strong case for the usual suspects. But there are also some promising fires burning in towns across America, not known for their ability at winning major championships.
Sure you have to say the Yankees and the Red Sox will dominate the mound, as will the Phillies in the National League.
But apart from the obvious, there a at least ten teams that could find form and ride it all the way,to deep within the playoffs.
With this "open" season for MLB managers hunting a title, we must strongly thank the MLB commissioner,Bub Selig, and his team of merry men and women who have been working hard behind the scenes over the past decade, to give us the best opportunity to see an even contest.
Bud Selig has every right to take the credit for a well-structured salary cap that is allowing smaller town franchises, an opportunity to grow their market share and compete with the big names of baseball throughout the country.
Not only has the competition evened out there has been a number of benefits that have come as a side note, that has increased the skill level required to play in the big league and also has increased the entertainment value.
Spreading out the superstars of the game has been great for young athletes who play for the smaller market clubs. When a major player is traded for salary cap purposes, and he goes to a team that has room, they not only bring their skill as a ball player, they also bring their skill as a mentor. Many young players have shown huge improvement learning from the more experienced players now being shared around the clubs.
The last generation of fans would look forward to the big match ups of each season. These days there is a match up worth watching every day of the season. There is some intriguing battle going on, that has a history and a relevance to the fabric of baseball that once was lacking amongst all true baseball fans.
I'm not saying baseball was floored before, or even implying that, I'm just giving credit to the MLB association for making baseball a game for all Americans, not just for fans in New York and Philadelphia.
So if you're a fan and you're getting excited about opening day, sleep well knowing that no matter what team you go for, they have a reasonable chance of giving you a season to remember.