A lot has happened in Major League Baseball since the last Hanging Curve, including an injury to a future Hall of Famer (Mariano Rivera), the benching of another (Albert Pujols) and a career-week for a slugger (Josh Hamilton) on a path that could lead to Cooperstown.
If the Jays front office thinks they can form a starting rotation worthy of contending in the East in the next couple seasons, there is no reason to believe that they will not make a run at Prince Fielder.
Ryan Braun and Troy Tulowitzki talked to RealGM about LeBron James and starting their own big three.
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Over the next few weeks as the NCAA Tournament and Spring Training dominate the month of March, we have combined the two for our own March Madness, which will determine who the readers of RealGM will select in the second edition of our 'Be The GM' series.
Though there are many different potential answers, the question is simple; If you were to start a MLB franchise from scratch and had the option to pick any player in the world, who would you pick?
The AL Central Division title was one by these two teams in three of the four seasons and while one of the below players is a five-tool perennial MVP candidate, the other is an old-fashioned slugger.
Grady Sizemore, CF, Cleveland Indians
Other players considered from the Indians: Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona
Why he's a franchise player: Grady Sizemore is the kind of player kids dream about becoming when they are 10-years-old. He is a complete ballplayer at the plate and on the field.
Sizemore is 32nd in OPS+ since 2005, which is impressive when considering that only Ichrio and Jose Reyes have more plate appearances during the timeframe.
Sizemore has worked to reduce his strikeouts while increasing his homers and stolen bases. He finished with 33 homers and 38 stolen bases, so he should continue to flirt with 40-40 for the remainder of his 20's.
His best season was possibly 2006 when he had career bests in batting (.290) and slugging (.533), hitting 53 doubles, 11 triples and 28 homers.
Sizemore is a human highlight reel in the centerfield, where he has remarkable range and uses some of that running back mentality from when he was a high school football star in Everett, Washington to chase down balls and crash into walls.
Carlos Quentin, LF, Chicago White Sox
Other players considered from the White Sox: Alexei Ramirez, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Bobby Jenks
Why he's a franchise player: In an era when the slugger is dying a quick PED-less death, Q-uperman burst onto the stage with the White Sox by hitting 36 homers in 480 at bats. He is a thinking man's slugger, with really remarkable strength, so it would not be surprising to see him average 40+ homers per season over the next eight or nine years with maybe one or two 50+ campaigns.
Ken Williams traded for his fellow Stanford man following the 2007 season and the former 29th overall pick finished 5th in MVP voting and would have had better than a 50/50 shot at winning it if not for his late season injury. Quentin was 8th in OPS+ in 2008 and hit .288/.394/.571.
Though I don't believe 2008 was a fluke season for Quentin, he clearly has three things working against him; a small sample size of success, a mediocre resume defensively and a history for injury (including self-inflicted wounds).
