Last night on The Baseball Show, Clint from Diamond Hoggers and I took part in a long, two-part show. In the first half of the show, we welcomed David Franco from NextLevelBallplayer.com. David (who is Clint’s former teammate) has been writing about his experiences from Spring Training on Diamond Hoggers for the past week. You can follow him on Twitter here. He offers the perspective of a former Division I collegiate player who has had some great experiences.

The first half of the show was a lot of fun, and we talked about the following:

• The idea behind his site, Next Level Ballplayer.
• Why aren’t high school kids better prepared for the mental side of the game?
• David talks about his experiences playing with or against guys like John Ely, Joe Blanton, Dirk Hayhurst, Drew Stubbs, Rice University, University of Texas and many more guys who are now in the big leagues.
• A funny story about him spending 9 innings in the GM’s box with the GM of his favorite team, Ned Coletti
• A tale from Fall Baseball in college, involving fiery John Ely
• Talking Jim Tracy’s influence and management style when he took over in Colorado
• Thoughts on the Dodgers for 2011
• Tales from Spring Training

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Mike Leake did his best to contribute in the Reds’ 15-2 loss to the Brewers on Monday afternoon, surrendering five runs on nine hits in his three innings of work.  After becoming the first player since Xavier Nady (2000) to bypass the minor leagues entirely, Leake began his career at the back of the Reds’ starting rotation.  His rookie campaign looked to be exceptionally promising when he won four of his first ten decisions over April and May, logging 66 innings in the process.

And then Leake got tired – really tired.  By June his effectiveness had waned considerably – evidenced by his 5.22 ERA and 1.77 WHIP – and he was in the midst of pitching himself out of the rotation.  The subsequent months resulted in more of the same as he posted a 4.56 ERA in July, and 8.83 ERA in August

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After a long and arduous offseason, the beginning of Cactus and Grapefruit League play has officially ushered in the 2011 season.  For prospect junkies like myself, Spring Training is one of the more exciting portions of the MLB season; an opportunity to watch the future of the game alongside future members of the Hall of Fame.

Sometimes, however, there are simply way too many players to follow.  In any given Spring Training game you are bound to see a slew of players with completely unfamiliar names, and jersey numbers that edge triple-digits and more appropriate for an NFL lineman or receiver.

But if you were to take a few minutes to scan each team’s respective roster – that’s right, numbers 1 through 99 – you’d naturally assume that many of these players are bound for greatness.  Or at least their names would lead you to believe so…

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Today on The Baseball Show, co-host Clint Evans from Diamond Hoggers and I welcome Jason Rosenberg from It’s About The Money, Stupid. IIATMS is the New York Yankees SweetSpot network blog on ESPN. A huge thanks for Jason to being on the show–and as he mentions about former guest Matt Sosnick–we would also say that Jason is one of the best guys in baseball writing.

Topics discussed included:

• How he got started blogging about baseball
• He talks about our friend Matt Sosnick, MLB Agent
• His induction into the SweetSpot network & relationship with Rob Neyer
• Speculation about the next head editor of SweetSpot at ESPN
• We are joined by a renegade intruder, only for a moment though!
• Jason says The Extra 2% is a must-read book.
• Hardcore New York Yankees talk
• The Tampa Bay Rays possibilities of winning in the AL Central
• What does the future hold for the catching position (Francisco Cervelli, Russell Martin, Gary Sanchez, Jesus Montero, and Austin Romine), as well as Joba Chamberlain
• Have Yankee fans and Alex Rodriguez mended their relationship?
• Curtis Granderson talk, and how will Andruw Jones fare as the fourth outfielder?
• Thoughts on Derek Jeter’s contract extension
• Much more!

A huge thanks to Jason for being part of the show. Check out IIATMS anytime you want  to read about the Yankees. Find him on Facebook or follow him on twitter. And as all baseball fans know, the Yankees are always relevant.

The Golden Sombrero presents MLB Look-alikes: Homer Bailey and Christian Bale

Thanks to Clint from Diamond Hoggers for bringing this one up last Saturday on The Baseball Show.

If it weren’t for Bailey’s distinguishable tattoo, we’d never be able to tell them apart.