Archives

Two veterans poised to make opening day history

With each spring comes a variance of storylines ranging from position battles to epic comebacks of players once thought to be left to the baseball graveyard. It’s these players that remind us what baseball is all about. It’s about heart and a passion to never give up no matter what the circumstances. Below are two […]

MLB awards preview: NL Rookie of the Year

The National League, unlike its counterpart, has had a really strong crop of ROY candidates over the last two seasons. In 2010, Jason Heyward and Buster Posey dueled for the award while leading their teams to the playoffs, with Posey winning both the award and the World Championship. Last year, a pair of Braves sat […]

MLB awards preview: NL Cy Young

Roy Halladay pitched really good in 2011, as he did in 2010 when he won the NL Cy Young award. Unfortunately for Halladay, Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw was just a little bit better, and Kershaw took home his first career award. These two are the odds on favorites to win in 2012, but as usual, […]

MLB awards preview: NL MVP

Last season, Ryan Braun won the NL MVP award, barely edging out Matt Kemp of the Dodgers. Many people, including the staff of this site, thought the award was Kemp’s to lose. Alas, it wasn’t to be after Braun’s Brewers won the NL Central. Things could be a little different this year, with Braun’s season […]

MLB awards preview: AL Rookie of the Year

Last season, the American League rookie crop was…well….kinda weak. The award ended up being won by pitcher Jeremy Hellickson of the Rays, due in part to his 2.95 ERA and 13 wins. His overall peripherals weren’t overly impressive (117 strikeouts, 72 walks, and 21 homers in 189 innings), but the conventional stats won him the […]

Andrew Bailey to have thumb surgery?

ESPN is reporting that Boston Red Sox closer Andrew Bailey has a thumb injury that may require surgery after a second opinion. The exact injury hasn’t been revealed, but we do know that it occured on Bailey’s right (throwing) hand. Bailey will likely be out a substantial period of time after the surgery, and Boston […]

MLB awards preview: AL Cy Young

Last season, Justin Verlander destroyed all competition in the race for the AL Cy Young, and won the award unanimously after a dominant season. Maybe someone else should have at least gotten one vote, but you really couldn’t argue against Verlander without sounding a little bit silly. He’s looking to repeat in 2012. Favorites: Justin […]

MLB awards preview: AL MVP

The field for all of the awards this season is wide open. Over the next two days, I’m going to look at some of the top contenders for each of the three major awards in both leagues. Right now: the AL MVP award. Last season, Justin Verlander won the AL MVP (as well as the […]

Week One Power Rankings

Rank Team LR Why? 1. 2 Why they deserve it: Two-time defending AL Champs bring back full offense and have added Darvish and Feliz to their rotation. Why they don’t deserve it: They lost their best starter in CJ Wilson, Joe Nathan wasn’t great last year, questions about Feliz’s stamina are cropping up and they […]

Indians’ Jimenez suspended five games after beaning Tulowitzki

The MLB has suspended Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez five games for his plunking of former teammate Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies on Saturday. Following the beanball, which hit the Rockies star in the elbow, benches cleared for both teams, but no blows were thrown. X-rays on Tulowitzki’s elbow were negative. Jimenez and […]

Jayson Werth’s 2011 was a fart in the wind

In this article in the Washington Post, Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth talks about how his 2011 season will hopefully just be “a fart in the wind” as he’s made changes to his swing going into 2012. While reading the article, Werth mentioned how the issue in Werth’s swing, which caused him to struggle against left-handed […]

Baseball Movie March Madness – and the winner is….

You’ve voted for the last two weeks, and finally, a champion has been crowned. The winner of TOC’s first ever Baseball Movie March Madness tournament is… MAJOR LEAGUE! Major League crushed Bull Durham in the final, winning 75% of the overall vote. Major League definitely earned this victory, playing in the tough classics bracket and […]

Reds, Votto close to $200 million extension? (UPDATE: signed)

The Cincinnati Reds are reportedly extremely close to signing first baseman Joey Votto to an extension that could cost the team upwards of $200 million, reports Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors.  I can only assume the deal would be similarly structed to the nine year, $214 million contract signed by Prince Fielder this offseason […]

But who is the favorite?

As I’m looking at the predictions being churned out by the TOC staffers (which will be released in a comprehensive post on Wednesday), and the picks of analysts and writers all around the internet, one key thing is coming to mind: there isn’t a consensus for the best team in baseball. Our staff predictions thusfar […]

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