The Cardinals have been the class of the National League for the past few seasons, making three straight NLCS appearances and advancing to the World Series twice. Not only have they had more big league success than just about anyone, but they also boast some of the best prospects in the game that are now […]

For better or worse, the Brewers are tied to Ryan Braun. They’d love to see him return to the levels he was at prior to his suspension, but even if he doesn’t, they at least have a young core of players that can help carry the team into an era where Braun is no longer […]

There are a lot of questions you could ask about the Brewers, and a decent amount of them wouldn’t actually have anything to do with what will happen on the field. We’ll keep those to a minimum here, but there is one nagging question that will hang over the team’s head, at least for the […]

For as long as the Brewers have been one of the better offenses in the National League, they’ve also been one of the league’s worst defensive teams. A lot of that is their desire to get bats that produce into the lineup, without thinking much about the effects on the team’s defense. For all the […]

By any measure, the 2013 season was a disaster for the Milwaukee Brewers. A 6-22 month of May sent the Brewers crashing down to the bottom of the NL Central standings, and they were never able to fully dig themselves out. Of course, there was also the matter of Ryan Braun’s involvement in the Biogenesis […]

When Johan Santana's fastball was barely able to crack 80 miles per hour in a workout last week, it seemed unlikely that any of the seven teams in attendance would sign the former Cy Young winner. It only takes one team to take a flier, though, and apparently that team is the Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore […]

The Diamondbacks had two of the National League’s biggest breakout players last season, but also had problems when it came to power in the middle of the order and locking down late leads. It stands to reason, then, that the four horsemen for Arizona in 2014 are those two breakout stars and the two guys […]

Lately, there seems to be one big question when it comes to the Arizona Diamondbacks — what, exactly, is Kevin Towers thinking? There doesn’t seem to be much of a long-term plan, and he’s made some trades that seemed to produce underwhelming returns. To be fair, the assets he’s been killed in the blogosphere for […]

When you’re a good-but-not-great team, there aren’t a whole lot of weaknesses. As an entirely average club lately, the Diamondbacks don’t have many (if any) problem positions. They have solid players across the diamond, a rising star in Paul Goldschmidt and have the depth to cover a few injuries. There isn’t a lot to be […]

For a second straight offseason, Kevin Towers stayed busy, swinging a pair of trades involving the Chicago White Sox and adding some power to a lineup that hit the fourth-fewest home runs in the National League after trading Justin Upton. The fire-and-grit Diamondbacks are coming off back-to-back .500 seasons after winning the division in 2011, […]

Ron Washington defending bunting is one of the surest signs of spring. It's becoming a bit of an annual tradition, really, and when one writer in the Rangers' press corps asked what the deal was with all of the bunting in the team's early drills, Washington delivered with a goldmine of colorful quotes. Writers questioning […]

You can probably figure out at least two of the four players most important to the Mariners' success in 2014 — it's finding the other two for this piece that was a bit more challenging. While some teams have four (or more) guys who are clear keys to success, the Mariners have two top-tier stars […]

The Mariners fancy themselves contenders, but part of the reason they're being met with skepticism (other than the fact that we've seen this kind of optimism before, only to have expectations blown up by June) is that there are more than a few questions still surrounding this team. We'll do our best to narrow it […]

The Mariners are desperate. They haven't had a winning season since 2009, haven't been to the playoffs since 2001 and the past four seasons have been four of the of the 10 lowest-scoring seasons in franchise history. This offseason has seen a damning report about their front office surface and a spending spree that seems […]

Last offseason, the Seattle Mariners were looking to upgrade what was an anemic offense in 2012. They moved the fences in at Safeco Field, added a bunch of 1B/DH-type sluggers, and proceeded to finish in 4th place with a terrible offense for the fourth straight year. At least the addition of the Houston Astros to […]