As first reoported on Twitter by Ken Rosenthal and later confirmed by others: Reds closer Ryan Madson will require Tommy John surgery, and will miss the entire 2012 season. This is obviously a massive blow for the Reds. Madson was one of their prize acquisitions of the winter, and a bargain at just one year, […]

From last Tuesday’s Reds season preview… Burning Question Where does the future for Aroldis Chapman lie: in the rotation, or in the bullpen? The Reds seem utterly confused as to what to do with their high-priced Cuban acquisition. The team signed him to a six year, $30.25 million contract prior to the 2010 season and, […]

From Tuesday’s season preview of the Cleveland Indians… Burning QuestionCan the revamped Cleveland rotation propel them into contention in 2012? Cleveland completely revamped their rotation for the 2012 season, adding Ubaldo Jimenez for a full year (after acquiring him for the final two months last July), and veterans Derek Lowe and Kevin Slowey. Those three […]

From my Cubs season preview on Monday… Burning QuestionIs the Cubs rotation solid enough to break .500 after Matt Garza and Ryan Dempster? You know what you’re getting out of Matt Garza and Ryan Dempster: 15 or so wins, maybe 200 strikeouts, and an ERA lower than 4.00. Those are two legitimate, solid starting pitchers […]

For a brief time this past July, the Pirates were in first place in the NL Central. The Pittsburgh Pirates, in first place, after the All-Star Break, in 2012. This is real life. Then, they summarily collapsed and finished in fourth place with 90 losses. This offseason, they took a huge step towards building a […]

Nothing that could have went right for the 2011 Minnesota Twins really did. The lowlights of this awful season were their two star players, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, each missing a huge chunk of time. No matter what happens in 2012 for the Twins, it’ll pretty much depend on Mauer and Morneau to stay […]

Another exciting round of Baseball Movie March Madness in the books, with three of the polls coming right down to the wire. A victor has been named in each bracket, and just eight movies remain. This round of voting will be shut down on Sunday evening, and the final four will be up for voting […]

2011 was pretty much a perfect storm for the Milwaukee Brewers. They got an MVP year from Ryan Braun, a fantastic year from Prince Fielder, and solid pitching from Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, and Yovani Gallardo. The team won the NL Central and lost in the NLCS to the eventual World Champion St Louis Cardinals. […]

Despite yet another fourth place finish in 2011, there were plenty of positives for the Royals. Alex Gordon finally had his breakout season, prospect Eric Hosmer made his major league debut and shined, and the team got some unlikely production from a pair of veterans in Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur. The team looks poised […]

Well, something that has seemingly been in the works for quite awhile is now official: Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones will retire at the end of the 2012 season, according to the team’s Twitter account. Jones has dealt with a myriad of injuries over his last few years with Atlanta, and hasn’t missed less […]

I am going to tell you something that will shock you: the Houston Astros are not a very good team. They weren’t a very good team last year (especially after trading Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence), and they’re especially not good this season. The lineup is mostly made up of prospects from their own weak […]

The Tigers won the AL Central last season after the Cleveland Indians decided that they were sick of first place in May, and started to fall apart. The Tigers machine steadily rolled on, and they advanced to the ALCS, where they were defeated by the Texas Rangers. The team was led by AL Cy Young […]

From yesterday’s White Sox season preview… Burning QuestionIs Alex Rios a five tool player, or a five cent player? Here is the thing about Alex Rios: he’s shown flashes of absolute brilliance in the past. He has three seasons of at least 30 steals, and two 5+ fWAR seasons. But there are a lot of […]

I don’t know if you can call a 79-83 season a “disaster year”, but for the 2010 NL Central champion Reds, it was pretty close. They finished third a season after winning the division crown, and nothing changed all that much. 2010 MVP Joey Votto raked again, they didn’t get destroyed with injuries…it just kind […]

The Indians started off the 2011 season like a house of fire, and were quickly in control of the AL Central. As the season went on, their tight grasp of the division lead started fading and fading, until they completely lost it, and ended up finishing under .500 for the season in second place. There […]