From the Windup: Gifts for Every Baseball Fan

From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

Season's Greetings. Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

As baseball fans across the country gather to celebrate the holiday season with their loved ones, we here at MLB FanHouse have come up with a present we'd like to give to fans of every team -- even the ones who root for the Yankees, it turns out you folks don't have quite everything just yet.

On a day like Christmas, baseball season can seem an awfully long way off, especially here in the Northeast, where the snow banks are piled four and five feet high. In reality, pitchers and catchers can report to Spring Training in a mere 52 days.

Enjoy the hypothetical gifts for now; it won't be very long before we can all unwrap a very tangible one -- a brand spanking new baseball season.

Angels: Enough power, patience and pop out of Juan Rivera and Kendry Morales to stave off the rise of Oakland and Texas for one more year.

Astros: A new general manager, something tells us this Ed Wade guy isn't going to work out in the end.

Athletics: Near a BART station. Not near a BART station. In Fremont or San Jose or even in the rubble of McAfee Coliseum, a new stadium, not in a few years time, but now. Sometimes old buildings have a certain character that is missed when they are gone. The A's current home isn't one of those buildings.


Blue Jays: Right after Barack Obama fixes the economy and the BCS, he works out a deal with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to get Toronto into the AL Central, for one season at least.

Braves: It'd be juvenile to wish ill on agent Arn Tellem, so instead how about for something -- anything really -- to go according to plan for GM Frank Wren and the rest of baseball operations. Failing that, some sort of ESPN Classic retrospective on the Braves' dynasty would be a nice consolation prize. That's about as close as Atlanta is going to get to the good old days now.

Brewers: The emergence of Yovani Gallardo at the top of the Milwaukee rotation. As we learned this year, baseball is better when Brewers fans have a reason to pack Miller Park in September.

Cardinals: That Jake Peavy guy stays out of the NL Central, and particularly away from the North Side of Chicago, since the Cards might have a real shot at getting back to the playoffs in 2009.

Cubs: We trust you can figure this one out.

Diamondbacks: Justin Upton's coming out party. No one's going to want to miss that one.

Dodgers: The Andruw Jones of about five years ago is probably too much to ask for, but Christmas is all about miraculous things anyway. Ditto Jason Schmidt.

Giants: Offense. Real offense, preferably in the form of a core of players under the age of 30.

Indians: A new logo -- one that has the classic feel of Chief Wahoo, but isn't completely and utterly offensive and tasteless.

Mariners: A few real infielders would be a start, but since the baseball on the field is going to be ugly next year no matter what, bringing Ken Griffey Jr. back to the Emerald City would be a pleasant distraction.

Marlins: More fans. The scant few people in South Florida who follow this team religiously probably need a few similarly inclined seamheads to talk to at this point.

Mets: A (relatively) stress-free September.

Nationals: A guarantee that Stephen Strasburg is signed with plenty of time to spare.

Orioles: A contract extension for Nick Markakis.

Padres: Marital harmony for the next owner of the club. Or at least a prenuptial agreement that keeps the poor Friars out divorce court.

Pirates: Hope -- spelled in Pittsburgh P-E-D-R-O.

Phillies: One World Series wasn't enough? How about another perfect season from Brad Lidge?

Rangers: Nolan Ryan's new conditioning regimen for pitchers is unconventional enough to work and not just plain crazy/abusive.

Rays: Jason Giambi? Bobby Abreu? Adam Dunn? Pat Burrell? Any impact bat for the middle of the order will do.

Reds: A copy of Baseball Between the Numbers makes its way to Dusty Baker, who soon discovers that pitch counts and clogged bases are not only for the weak-willed.

Red Sox: A little levity, and nothing more. How quickly the fans in Boston forget that the Yankees will always be the Yankees, that the ownership and baseball operations people that have been in charge of the club for most of the past decade have routinely outsmarted the Steinbrenners despite the financial disparity between the two teams. Losing out on Mark Teixeira might sting, but remember what they've accomplished, and have a little faith.

Rockies: A full, healthy season from Troy Tulowitzki.

Royals: Either Alex Gordon or Billy Butler lives up to the hype, even if they're both about two years late.

Tigers: Many more 100 mph fastballs from Joel Zumaya and Justin Verlander than we saw in 2008.

Twins: More love for Joe Mauer, who is rapidly becoming one of the most underrated players in the game.

White Sox: An encore from John Danks.

Yankees: What to get the fan who has everything? Maybe a ticket to actually see the juggernaut GM Brian Cashman is building this winter in person. The only way a blue-collar Yankee fan is going to be able to see his or her favorite team next year is if Santa Claus himself buys the tickets. No word if $2,500 is out of his price range.