MLBTR Originals: 2/13/11 – 2/20/11

Major League camps opened all across Florida and Arizona this week, but that doesn't mean hot stove news has taken a back seat to the game on the field. Here's a recap of the original content we produced this week…

• Tim Dierkes continued his Offseason In Review series by looking at two NL Central clubs, the Pirates and Cubs.
• Ben Nicholson-Smith rounded up the contract extensions given to arbitration-eligible players this winter, as well as those that did not buy out free agent years. He also explained the challenge the Cardinals are facing after failing to sign Albert Pujols long-term, found some potential suitors for CC Sabathia, and looked ahead to some second basemen who will be free agents after the season.
• Ben appeared at Yahoo! Sports to discuss potential suitors for Pujols, and at FanGraphs to review this winter's relief pitcher market.
• Our series looking at players in make or break years continued with Aramis Ramirez of the Cubs and Casey Blake of the Dodgers.
• I looked ahead to some 2012 vesting options we should keep an eye on this summer.
• This week's poll questions asked which move you thought was the best of the offseason, and whether or not you'd offer Jose Bautista $64MM+. Bautista's future was also a discussion topic.
• Howard Megdal's latest Jack of all Trades post looked at players born on February 17th. He also examined some transactions that took place on Valentine's Day.
• The best the blogosphere had to offer was rounded up Baseball Blogs Weigh In.
• This week's chat transcript can be found here.
• If you're new to MLBTR, here's a handy guide on all the different ways you can use the site. Be sure to check out and subscribe to our team and transaction-only feeds.