Okay, it's time for the annual edition of Batter's Box's The Contest, whereby you predict various things about the forthcoming 2009 season -- standings, awards, achievements, etc. Your answers -- well, the correct ones anyway -- earn you points on a carefully-considered, awesomely well-thought-out (translation: randomly-assigned) basis.

The Bauxite who compiles the highest number of points will be awarded the title of Unbelieveably Awesome Basebally Predictor-Head of the Internets and win a standard Batter's Box No-Prize, which in the past has included a cuttlefish, multiple cuttlefish and once, if I recall correctly, an entire school of cuttlefish. Note: your deadline for entering The Contest is Monday, April 13 at 5 p.m. -- but enter early, for each day you wait to post your predictions past Wednesday, April 8, 10 points will be deducted from your score. Unless you have a really excellent excuse that we buy, fictional or otherwise. (See, it really is random!)

Anyway, on with The Contest '09 ... your 38 predictions-to-be-made, worth up to 700 points in total, are as follows ...

Three players will be wearing the black, blue and graphite for the first time on Opening Day when the Blue Jays take on the Tigers Monday night at the Rogers Centre.  They'll also get to wear powder blue during Flashback Fridays if they stick around long enough.

Cleverly, I waited until the roster had been set before I started to write this. No point in previewing a bunch of guys who won't be on the roster, right?

Minor league rosters will be released this weekend.  Mendocino found the Lugnuts roster last night and it is shown below.   Kevin Gray at the Union Leader got Dick Scott to reveal a few of the players that will be on the Fisher Cats roster, namely 1B David Cooper, 2B Brad Emaus, LHP Marc Rzepczynski, C Brian Jeroloman, RHP Zach Dials, C Kyle Phillips.

Is there anything we can deduct from what we know so far?

It must be Data Table time.

Once more, it's time - way past time, in fact - to check in with the ancient sage of the desert.

Is there an economist in the house?

Once I was a rich man
Now I am so poor

Giving the Tigers a false sense of security before they're swept in next week's four game series at the Rogers Centre, the Jays lost 8-5 to Detroit Thursday afternoon in Lakeland. 

Don’t hate on the Rays just because they’re young, talented and successful.

Roy Halladay crafted together another fine outing as the Jays beat the Nationals 7-6 in the home finale of the spring season in Dunedin.

When you're in the Top 5 in team salary in Major League Baseball, the questions surrounding your team entering the season are often of lesser significance than most. Such is the case with the Boston Red Sox, one of the richest and most dominating clubs in the sport. The impressive thing about the Sox, though, is that it truly is a very well-run organization that makes smart decision both off and on the field. With that said, though, no team is without question marks. Let's have a look at the biggest mysteries surrounding the Sox as the club prepares to enter the 2009 season in search of another World Series title.

The defending World Series Champions may have guaranteed Brad Mills a one way ticket to Las Vegas after a 9-1 bombing of the Jays Tuesday night in Clearwater.

UPDATE April 1/09 @ 12:26 p.m. EDT:  Blue Jays assistant GM Alex Anthopoulos tells the FAN 590 that Scott Richmond will be the number five starter in the rotation, Michael Barrett will be the backup catcher, and Kevin Millar is heading to Baseball North as well.

I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I’m close to something real
I wanna find something I’ve wanted all along
Somewhere I belong.

It's not a lock that it'll be B.J. Ryan charging out of the Rogers Centre bullpen in the ninth to the dulcet tones of Slipknot.  Concerns about the big lefty's lack of velocity this spring means he may be sharing the closer's role with fellow southpaw Scott Downs.

UPDATE:  03/31 @ 6:30 P.M. - Jeremy Accardo and Joe Inglett have been demoted to Las Vegas.

I can’t imagine being an Orioles fan.  For the past decade or so, your most frequent thought has been “Stupid Angelos,”  the team has been stuck on ‘suck’ forever and they play in a division with upwards of three behemoths; It’s like being a Jays fan, but worse. 

But maybe, just maybe, there's some light at the end of the tunnel.  And a good chunk of it comes in the form of a potential superstar catcher.