It seems that every season there is at least one team that comes out of nowhere to make the general public say, “What?  How are they winning?  They are supposed to suck.”  Last year, those teams were the Cleveland Indians and the Pittsburgh Pirates, at least up until the All-Star break.  Seeing supposedly bad teams […]

The Diamondbacks completed a miraculous transformation from 2010 to 2011, going from last in the division to first. Their attack was led by a good, young starting rotation, and a potent offense led by MVP candidate Justin Upton. GM Kevin Towers tinkered with his team this offseason, and manager Kirk Gibson has an extremely talented […]

Heading into September, it didn’t look like the St Louis Cardinals would be playing October baseball. But the stars aligned for St Louis  in September. They went on a crazy run and stole the NL’s wild card slot away from the Atlanta Braves, who collapsed in horrific fashion over the season’s final month. In the […]

As we pitted each bracket winner against each other in the quarterfinals, we expected the results to be a lot closer than they were. Shows what we know. We now have our Final Four, featuring three movies I absolutely adore, and one I’m not a huge fan of (but that has gotten a relatively easy […]

From my season preview of the Tigers on Wednesday… Burning QuestionIs Detroit’s offense going to be the best in the American League this year? Let’s look at this question statistically. The Tigers return most of their offense, but have a couple of change. Victor Martinez will miss the season, and will (essentially) be replaced by […]

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 […]