MLB

Jorge Cantu is likely to stay in a Marlins uniform in 2010, MLB.com's Joe Frisaro is reporting. Cantu's coming off of a couple of decent seasons in Florida after being pulled off the scrap heap by the Fish in 2008, so this sort of news should be unsurprising. Of course, when talking about the Marlins and keeping people around, one can't take anything for granted.

This move is likely made possible by the Marlins' plan to trade Dan Uggla, who's looking at a substantial raise on his $5.35 million salary in arbitration this spring. Cantu, on the other hand, made $3.5 million last year and will probably be looking at a smaller raise in his second year of arbitration.

Twins catcher Joe Mauer was a nearly unanimous selection for 2009 American League MVP by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, receiving 27 of 28 first-place votes to win the award in a landslide Monday.

He beat out Yankee teammates Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter, who finished second and third, respectively, to win the award for the first time in his career. Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who finished fourth in the voting, was the only other player to receive a first-place vote.

Mauer hit .365 to win the batting title for the second straight season and third time in his career, matching the total number of batting titles won by all other catchers in major league history. Babe Phelps is the only backstop in major league history to qualify for a batting title and hit for a higher average, hitting .367 for the 1936 Brooklyn Dodgers.

But Mauer's triumph is complete. In addition to winning the batting title, he also led the American League in on-base percentage, slugging and OPS, a feat never accomplished by a catcher before.

It's a baseball podcast. The math is easy, right? BaseCast. Let's rock.

It's been a whole weekend since FanHouse's Frank Piliere released his Top 50 Free Agents list to the world. After taking some time to digest the list in all its glory, we decided to go to our in-house expert for some more details on his thinking.

Why did John Lackey beat out Matt Holliday and Jason Bay for the top spot? Why did he see Rich Harden and Marlon Byrd in such a positive light and guys like Adrian Beltre and Mark DeRosa less so?

Listen in after the jump as Piliere and I dive deep on his Top 50.

If there's one common theme to take note of when teams are deciding who to protect on their 40-man rosters, it's that the list of names usually contains high-upside pitchers with good arms.

This year was no different. Each team made their best effort to leave none of their top arms exposed.

Some of the names added seemed like foregone conclusions -- many top prospects unquestionably required protection for the Rule 5 draft. Others, however, may not be household names. The addition of the lesser known or lower-level players can speak volumes about just how highly an organization regards certain obscure talents.

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each week.

I used to always enjoy lists like our own Frankie Piliere's Top 50 Free Agents. Then Milton Bradley happened. Now, as a Cubs fan whose been scorned by the clubhouse-dividing, unaccountable-yet-entitled lunatic, I can't look through the list without being skeptical of many of them. Which one is going to ruin someone else's favorite team like Bradley ruined mine? With this in mind, I present 11 potentially dangerous free agent signings in this year's class.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

About halfway through the 2009 season, the San Diego Padres looked poised to be among the worst teams in baseball. They were 38-62 and being outscored at an alarming rate. All of a sudden, though, they seemed to put some things together. In their last 62 games, they won 37 (a .597 winning percentage). There seems to be a foundation of youth in place, though they aren't yet ready to compete with the Dodgers, Giants or Rockies in the NL West.

The biggest issue is their offense. It's been well-documented it's tough to score runs in their home park because it sucks the power out of anyone. True to form, the Padres were last in the NL in slugging percentage and 13th in home runs. Still, it's not just the ballpark. Their .321 OBP was 12th in the NL, which was a major they scored fewer runs than everyone in the NL except the Pirates.

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Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

After an awful start to 2009, the Rockies fired Clint Hurdle, promoted Jim Tracy and proceeded to play like the best team in the National League for the rest of the regular season. They lost an exciting playoff series to the eventual NL champion Phillies, but there is no reason to think the Rockies are going away with all their young talent.

In fact, the Rockies are in position to make themselves a candidate to be a dynasty. Seriously. They can move forward with a starting lineup of Todd Helton, Clint Barmes and six proven guys who are 27 or younger. The pitching staff and minor-league talent are equally as impressive. Now it's simply a matter of cultivating their young talent while making sure they don't halt any momentum.

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Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

The Giants made a nice improvement from 72 victories in 2008 to 88 in 2009, achieved pretty much because of an outstanding pitching staff. The Giants aren't likely to pitch better in 2010 than they did in 2009 -- their 3.55 ERA ranked second in the majors -- so if they are to take the next step, they'll have to find a way to score more runs.

The bad news is, outside of Pablo Sandoval, they don't have a single player on their roster who is a safe bet to perform at an above-average level next year. The good news is that means the Giants have a lot of flexibility in where they can put whatever players they find to upgrade. They seem locked in to Freddy Sanchez at second and, because of their contracts, Edgar Renteria at short and Aaron Rowand in center. Sandoval can play first or third. Other than that, the lineup is a blank slate that GM Brian Sabean can spend the winter completing.

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Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

The Dodgers went to the National League Championship Series for the second year in a row, and lost again.

So they now realize -- or at least should -- that they need to retool some to take the next step. And as if that already didn't make this a critical offseason, owner Frank McCourt is divorcing his wife Jamie, leaving everyone to wonder who will control the team and whether it will affect their spending, as happened down the road in San Diego.

The Dodgers did some fixing on the fly over the summer, with Vicente Padilla, Jon Garland and Ronnie Belliard. But all three of those players are now free agents, so the holes are back to be patched.

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Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

Since the moment they were swept out of the 2007 NLCS, the Diamondbacks have been waiting. Waiting on their impressive collection of young talent. Waiting on their dynamic rotation duo of Dan Haren and Brandon Webb to deliver a playoff spot. Waiting for everything to come together.

It hasn't happened yet. Arizona was passed by the Dodgers in late 2008 after holding the NL West lead for much of the season. Then, this past year -- one filled with calamity, including a major shoulder injury to Webb that limited him to one start -- saw the Diamondbacks dip all the way to last place.

Arizona is still waiting. There is still promising young talent on hand, including the terrific Justin Upton. There is still hope. It's just tempered by all the work that needs to be done to get the Diamondbacks back in contention.

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