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?
If the classic Giants/Dodgers rivalry is to be relaunched, Tim Lincecum and Chad Billingsley could play the roles of Juan Marchial and Sandy Koufax.
Tim Lincecum, RHP, San Francisco Giants
Other players considered from the Giants: Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey
Why he's a franchise player: In just his second season in the majors, Tim Lincecum won the Cy Young by striking out 265 in 227 innings with a 2.62 ERA. He had 18 of the Giants' 72 wins for the 2008 season. Lincecum joined the likes of Walter Johnson and Dwight Gooden amongst the 18 seasons in which a player 24 or younger struck out 250 or more batters.
Lincecum has an unorthodox delivery and is extremely small in build, but there is absolutely nothing to suggest he won't have a healthy career.
Chad Billingsley, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers
Other players considered from the Dodgers: Russell Martin, Matt Kemp, James Loney, Andre Ethier
Why he's a franchise player: Between Billingsley and Lincecum, which player would you think has a higher ERA+ since 2007? Most would probably say the Giant, but Billingsley's 140 is slightly higher than Lincecum's 138. They are sixth and seventh in all of baseball in this category.
Billingsley was undoubtedly aided in that category by being given 23 relief appearances in 2007, but a 3.33 career ERA at the age of 24 is pretty darn good no matter when you're on the mound.
He had 201 strikeouts in 200.7 innings in 2008 to go with his 3.14 ERA and 1610 record.
