2012 AB4AR "Best And Worst Of The Year": The Preseason

There's not much going on right now as we get ready to leave 2012 in the rearview and forget to write "2013" on our checks for the first few weeks of January, so why not take a look back at the year that was?  I posted way more than ever in 2012, something that may be a good or bad thing for you depending on what you think of my writing and analysis.  I'm more willing to poke fun at myself and admit when I was completely off on something, so this 2012 recap won't be a complete greatest hits collection.  More like a collection of posts that are personal favorites for one reason or another, that reason usually being that I enjoyed writing them.  To break things up a bit, I'll separate the review into preseason, regular season, and postseason, the first and last sections comprising parts of the last 2 offseasons.  We'll start with the 2012 preseason, from January 1st to Opening Day.

- The Complete 2011/2012 AB4AR Top 30 Prospects List.  Because the 2nd edition is only weeks away and it's good to brush up.  Especially on the guys I whiffed on (cough, Rob Segedin, cough!)

- Looking Back at Jorge Posada's Career.  Tough to do since I was never as big a Jorge fan as most, but absolutely needed to be done for what Jorge did in his career as a Yankee lifer.

- Reacting to Kim Jones' Departure.  I still miss you, Kim!

- The Possibility of Another "Core Four."  I tried to keep it grounded, but it's tough to not get excited about a group of prospects all playing well and all moving through the MiL system together.

- Setting The Blueprint for Derek Jeter's Offensive Success in 2012.  Better contact rates?  Better performance against RHP?  Better approach at the plate?  Nailed it.

/pats self on back

- ManBan & Betances' Strong Spring Trainings.  How little did that end up meaning this year?  Sheesh.

- Not Being Fully On Board With the Andy Pettitte Signing.  Trying to argue that Pettitte shouldn't have been given a free pass over guys like Pineda, Nova, Phelps, Warren, and D.J. Mitchell??  Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking either.

- The Season of Mo.  This ended up not panning out because of his injury, but this was one of my favorite posts of the year.  I actually spent time over the course of almost a full day writing and re-writing this because I wanted to make sure I said everything I wanted to say exactly the way I wanted to say it.