That pun sucked, I admit it. The NL West race is really down to two teams at this point in time: the Giants, and Diamondbacks. The Giants currently hold a four game lead over Arizona in the division, and are the defending World Champs. The teams are the exact opposite of each other. Arizona has […]

Woe is the Seattle Mariners.  The once “surprising” Mariners’ fall from grace continued yesterday as they were saddled with their 15th straight loss, something that has to be truly excrutiating for a team that was actually a .500 team when their skid started.  I’d love to be able to tell you that things are about […]

The division that seemingly nobody wants to win is shaping up to be one of the more exciting races in recent memory as baseball enters its second season. Right now, four teams – count ’em, four are within five games of first place. Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and St. Louis are each within a game of each other. […]

Matt Stairs has hit a home run for 11 different MLB teams. He has played for 13. The only two who haven’t been privileged enough to see Matt Stairs trot around the bases? The Montreal Expos, for which Stairs played in 1992 and 1993 … and his current employer, the modern embodiment of the erstwhile […]

The Tampa Bay Rays called up top prospect Desmond Jennings, and inserted him right into the lead-off spot for his major league debut yesterday. And boy did he make that look like a good move; 2-3 with a double and a triple, 2 walks, plus a stolen base. Only 36 players since 1950 have gotten […]

Dan Uggla did not get the start for the Braves yesterday, but did make an appearance as a pinch-hitter, hitting the game-winning two-run homer in the 9th inning. That gives Uggla 18 home runs for the year, and moves his batting line to .195/.267/.390. That’s pretty ugly for a guy who’s 9th in the NL […]

New York Yankees The Yankees have problems in the rotation and could use some bullpen help. Having been linked to Ubaldo Jimenez recently, that ship seems to have sailed. The Rockies have no need to trade Jimenez just as the Diamondbacks had no need to trade Upton in the winter, they were just gauging value […]

The trade deadline is less than two weeks away, so the hot stove action is about to really start heating up.   But before the trades start flying, let’s take a stroll through the AL West to see what each of the teams figures to be up to at the deadline. Texas Rangers The Rangers are […]

From now until at the very least the July 31st trade deadline, Carlos Beltran will know what it’s like to be the prettiest girl at the ball. Beltran won’t win the MVP award that matters this season — that honor will go to his soon-to-be former teammate Jose Reyes — but he has officially been […]

It could just be because I’m a biased East-Coaster, but I feel like the amount of hype that Jered Waver’s gotten this year isn’t at all proportional with his great performance in 2011. Weaver tossed another gem on Thursday night, shutting out the red-hot Rangers over seven innings, out-dueling CJ Wilson, who’s been almost as […]

Top prospects don’t always stay with their original teams. With the trade deadline “around the corner” (sorry, couldn’t help it), top prospects are also used to net stars from other teams. It’s not that the teams don’t want them anymore. It’s just that getting now production is more valuable than possible future production, and it’s […]

Hunter Pence has been one of the few star players for the Astros over the past few seasons, but his time in Houston may be coming to an end soon. Pence’s name has been floated in trade rumors and the Astros seem very willing to move him for the right return of prospects. Despite the probability that trading Pence […]

Behind every great rule, there are exceptions. Fielding-Independent Pitching (FIP) certainly fits that description. Essentially, FIP attempts to describe solely what a pitcher does. ERA and wins also incorporate other factors such as defense, offense, randomness, managerial decisions, and the bullpen, but FIP attempts to measure only the pitcher. It does this by measuring the […]

A report out of ESPN today is suggesting that the Mets are looking to hang on to Jose Reyes. The team has already traded Francisco Rodriguez and we’ve talked on this site last week about how the team should sell off its assets now, and buy in the offseason. But after reading this article, the prevailing […]

In this week’s roundtable, we talk about the surprising story of the 2011 MLB season, and perhaps any season in this millennium, the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The OC staff also talks about the biggest star that will be dealt at the trade deadline and in light of the Sox and Rays recent 16 inning 1-0 game, […]