against the at Citi Field on September 14, 2015 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

Yoenis Cespedes is the best trade deadline acquisition of the last five years

0 comments by on 9/15/2015

Yoenis Cespedes is, quite frankly, kicking ass and taking names for the Mets. He’s played in just 41 games with the team, and is hitting .309/.356/.691 with 17 homers. In 102 games before the trade with the Tigers, he homered 18 times. Those 17 homers also rank third on the Mets (behind Curtis Granderson and […]

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – AUGUST 13: Stephen Strasburg #37 of the Washington Nationals pitches against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park on August 13, 2015 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Nationals, Rangers talked Stephen Strasburg last winter

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The Washington Nationals ended up signing Max Scherzer as their big splash move last winter, but they were in talks with the Rangers about a blockbuster trade involving Stephen Strasburg according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Washington and Texas reportedly discussed a massive deal involving Strasburg, Steven Souza Jr, Juickson Profar, and others. The […]

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 30: Jonathan Papelbon #58 of the Washington Nationals pitches in the ninth inning against the Miami Marlins at Nationals Park on August 30, 2015 in Washington, DC. Washington won the game 7-4. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Jonathan Papelbon blames everyone but himself for the Phillies losing

0 comments by TOC Locker on 9/14/2015

Jonathan Papelbon is back in Philadelphia with the Washington Nationals, and he’s not exactly being careful with his words. Here’s what Papelbon said before Monday’s series opener at Citizens Bank Park, via MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. “If I say something I mean it,” Papelbon said. “I’m not going to take anything back that I’ve ever said or […]

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – SEPTEMBER 11: David Ortiz #34 of the Boston Red Sox warms up as he waits on deck to bat during the first inning of a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on September 11, 2015 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** David Ortiz

Best hitters and pitchers: Week 22

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Welcome to week 22 of our ongoing series highlighting the best hitting and pitching performances from the previous week. If last week’s installment was an all playoff bound edition, this week’s is about the complete opposite. We feature two hitters from teams with zero chance of playing past the regular season. With the pitchers, only […]

MILWAUKEE, WI – JULY 31: Taylor Jungmann #41 of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches a Chicago Cub batter in the first inning at Miller Park on July 31, 2015 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Tom Lynn/Getty Images)

End of season post-mortem: 2015 Milwaukee Brewers

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The Brewers showed manager Ron Roenicke the door after a disappointing, MLB-worst  7-18 start that many blamed on poor luck. After replacing him with Craig Counsell, they played much more respectably, going 55-63 following Roenicke’s dismissal, right in the middle of the National League pack. So, could the Brewers end up holding their heads strong […]

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 07: Drew Storen #22 of the Washington Nationals walks back to the dug out after giving a grand slam to Carlos Gonzalez #5 (not pictured) of the Colorado Rockies during a baseball at Nationals Park on August 7, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Drew Storen breaks thumb, becomes unofficial symbol of the 2015 Nationals

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Ideally, Drew Storen’s 2015 season would have ended on a redemptive note. Instead, it ends with a broken thumb and what is likely the end of his career with the Washington Nationals. On Saturday, the team revealed that the 28-year-old reliever suffered a broken thumb on Wednesday after serving up a two-run homer to Yoenis […]

SAN DIEGO, CA – AUGUST 12: Joey Votto #19 of the Cincinnati Reds hits a two-run home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park August 12, 2015 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)

End of season post-mortem: 2015 Cincinnati Reds

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The Reds went into 2015 with dreams of competing in the AL Central and the knowledge that if they didn’t, they wouldn’t have many more shots in the future with the current roster. Instead, they were more than ten games out of the Central lead at the end of May and things never got better […]

End of season post-mortem: 2015 Colorado Rockies

0 comments by on 9/13/2015

More than anything else with the 2015 Colorado Rockies, I’m surprised they weren’t the first team eliminated from playoff contention. I think that about sums things up – the same problems that have been prevalent in Colorado for years are still around. Preseason Prediction: Chances are if Dinger was going to be arrested for not wearing […]

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – SEPTEMBER 12: David Ortiz #34 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates after hitting his 500th career MLB home run off of pitcher Matt Moore #55 of the Tampa Bay Rays during the fifth inning of a game on September 12, 2015 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** David Ortiz

David Ortiz hits 500th career home run

0 comments by TOC Locker on 9/12/2015

Cue up all of the ridiculous comparisons and narratives – David Ortiz hit the 500th homer of his career on Saturday night at Tropicana Field against the Rays. I’m already getting a headache from all of the groups Ortiz is being dumped in after hitting his 500th – fourth player with three World Series rings […]

BALTIMORE, MD – SEPTEMBER 28: Carl Crawford #13 of the Boston Red Sox walks in the dugout with first base coach Ron Johnson #50 after a 4-3 loss against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 28, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

A look at some of baseball’s most historic September meltdowns

0 comments by on 9/11/2015

Having a big lead in September is usually a good sign that a team is playoff-bound, but it’s definitely not a sure thing. You may think your team is sitting pretty with a 9 game division lead in the middle of the month, then cold hard reality smacks you in the face and your squad […]

ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 10: Shelby Miller #17 of the Atlanta Braves walks off the field after the sixth inning against the New York Mets at Turner Field on September 10, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Lots of stuff has happened since Shelby Miller last won a game

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The date was May 17th. Shelby Miller of the Atlanta Braves was starting in Miami against the Marlins. Miller made it into the ninth inning without allowing a hit. He retired Adeiny Hechavarria and Jhonatan Solano to start the frame. Miller was one out away from a no-hitter…and Justin Bour ruined everything by bouncing one […]

ANAHEIM, CA – SEPTEMBER 08: Andrew Heaney #28 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on September 8, 2015 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

You can now buy stock in Los Angeles Angels pitcher Andrew Heaney

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Los Angeles Angels pitcher Andrew Heaney wants you to buy into his performance, literally. The rookie has become the first player in Major League Baseball history to enter a brand contract with Fantex, which means you can invest in Heaney on the stock market. Here’s more details from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Under the […]

CINCINNATI, OH – SEPTEMBER 9: Jung Ho Kang #27 of the Pittsburgh Pirates follows through on a grand slam home run in the sixth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on September 9, 2015 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

The longest home runs for the week ending September 10th

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Another week, another Statcast controversy. On September 6th, Kris Bryant obliterated a home run off of Rubby de la Rosa (which you’ll see in a bit today). Despite all of the underlying data being identical, Statcast measured the homer at 495 feet. ESPN’s Home Run Tracker, which we use here at TOC, measured the homer […]

ATLANTA, GA – MAY 02: Freddie Freeman #5 of the Atlanta Braves reacts after striking out in the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Turner Field on May 2, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

End of season post-mortem: 2015 Atlanta Braves

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The 2015 Atlanta Braves were supposed to be a more fun team, focusing less on strikeouts and more on making contact at the plate. And while the team did strike out much less and did make more contact than in 2014, the offense was just as bad. The team’s pitching staff was also a trainwreck, […]

WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 09: Yoenis Cespedes #52 of the New York Mets celebrates hitting a two run home run in the eight inning with Curtis Granderson #3 during a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 9, 2015 in Washington, DC. The Mets won 5-3. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

The Mets won’t collapse because the Nationals won’t let them

0 comments by on 9/10/2015

If any division-leading team was primed for a September collapse, it was the Mets. They had a bunch of things working against them: the drama surrounding Matt Harvey and his innings limit, a young pitching staff that could tire down the stretch, and a history of gut-punching September finishes (like 2007 and 2008) that seemed […]

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