Baseball Reflection’s MLB Keychain Raffle
Welcome to the first, and hopefully not last, Baseball Reflections Keychain Raffle sponsored by WholesaleKeychain.com. We will be raffling off 9 MLB team keychains. There will be links below to the WholesaleKeychain.com page of the 9 teams (these links will open up in a new tab or page) selected for this raffle. There will be […]
How Good Is Dan Haren?
When the Arizona Diamondbacks traded six of their best prospects for Dan Haren in December of 2007, I was vehemently opposed to the deal from the Diamondbacks’ perspective. Not only was I extremely high on the prospects involved – Outfielders Carlos Gonzalez and Aaron Cunningham, Southpaws Brett Anderson, Greg Smith, and Dana Eveland, and first […]
Schmidt’s long road back ends with victory, tentative hope for future
In a Dodgers season full of compelling stories, add one more that is perhaps the most unlikely: The return of Jason Schmidt. Image by Getty Images via Daylife The veteran right-hander signed a three-year $47 million contract before the 2007 season and, before the other night, had given the Dodgers just six starts in return. […]
Can the Rockies stay hot after the break?
Coming off a June record of 21-7 and finishing with a 10 game home–stand before the break, but there are still many questions to be answered in Colorado regarding the second half of the season. The Colorado Rockies began the season as many fans would have anticipated, slowly. But after the firing of Clint Hurdle […]
Manny Returns to the Dodger Lineup
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Manny Ramirez returns to the Dodgers’ lineup tomorrow not as a pariah, but as a prodigal son. All has been foriven after his 50-game exile for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs when he takes the field for the Dodgers in San Diego. Mannywood, otherwise known as the left-field bleachers, […]
Dodgers Looking Great with 2/3 of the Season to Go
Editor’s Note: Due to my being on vacation, Jim’s article that he wrote on June 5th below has been posted just now. According to Chris at Dodgerfan.net, the Dodgers are the favorite in Las Vegas to win the World Series, with odds at Mandalay Bay at 7-2. But now, with one-third of the season under […]
The Giants Road Struggles
The Giants road struggles have little to do with the road. The Giants are struggling on the road this year, just 2-8 entering Tuesday’s game in Chicago. So the easy excuse is to blame the ivy on the brick walls of Wrigley field for being out of bloom, or the cavernous alleyways of Petco Park. […]
Diamondbacks Fire Manager Bob Melvin
Bob Melvin has been fired as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks and replaced by A.J. Hinch, the club’s director of player development since 2006. Melvin was a good guy and a great interview. What he did with the 2007 Diamondbacks was incredible, leading that team to the best record in the National League despite fielding […]
Arizona Wants Ex-Diamondbacks Back
On Sunday, Randy Johnson no-hit his old team through six innings, finishing with seven strikeouts and just three baserunners allowed through seven frames. Adding to the insult, the Big Unit erased both of the runners he let on base via free passes, picking off Chris Young and inducing pinch-hitter Mark Reynolds into an inning-ending double […]
2009 Season Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers
Last year: 84-78 Projected 2009 record: 91-71 Projected finish: First Place, National League West Key additions: Manny Ramirez, Orlando Hudson, Randy Wolf Key subtractions: Jeff Kent, Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, Takashi, Saito, Greg Maddux, Andruw Jones Quick-hit synopsis: Joe Torre will have an almost embarrassing level of riches in his 25-man roster — a hard-hitting […]
Reflections on the Rockies Past, Present & Future
Looking at the 2009 Rockies is a lot like looking at the 2008 Rockies. Only with a bit more urgency attached. Urgency in that if these Rockies don’t get off to a solid start, Clint Hurdle may not be in charge for long. This is Hurdle’s eighth season, and for the first time, he is […]
D-Backs Fantasy Impact
The Arizona Diamondbacks have won more games than any other National League team over the past two seasons. Considering that, you would figure that they would have a myriad of impact Fantasy Baseball players from which to select, but that really isn’t the case. General manager Josh Bynes and company have created a team for […]
The Giants pitching needs to be perfect in 2009
Pitching is the strength of the 2009 San Francisco Giants. It’s the one hope they have for being competitive this season. Well, that’s at least what’s been bought and sold thus far by the organization and the media. Truth is the staff could be pretty good. But the Giants may be in for a surprise […]
Welcome to Mannywood 2009
Image by Getty Images via Daylife The frustrating courtship between Manny Ramirez and the LA Dodgers is finally over. Manny’s a Dodger again, signing a contract on Wednesday. The slugger with Predator hair is expected to be in uniform and on the field by Friday (editor’s note: this was written on Thursday). Frank McCourt flew […]
February Diamondbacks Reflections
Image via Wikipedia Generally speaking, when a team enjoys a productive offseason, you should predict good things for that team in the following season. Conversely, a team’s poor offseason will lead to pessimism for the upcoming campaign. Seemingly simple enough, it doesn’t always work that way. Last winter, the Detroit Tigers acquired Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle […]
SF Giants Offseason Report Card
Image via Wikipedia This is why I’m not a teacher; I’m sort of a pass or fail guy. So since the Giants seem destined to have Bengie Molina bat cleanup for the second year in a row, I suppose they have failed (or at least come close) in their off season mission to improve the […]
San Francisco Giants Off Season Report
Season Wrap Up 2008 saw the Bond-less Giants tied for the 6th worst record in baseball at 72-90, but I actually thought they had a chance of reaching 100 losses so they did better than I thought they would. They went into the year without a solid closer, which effects the rest of the bullpen, […]
Colorado Rockies Off Season Report
Season Wrap Up Like most of the NL West, the Rockies had a disappointing 2008 season going 74 and 88 after being in the World Series the previous October. On top of that, they lost second year SS Troy Tulowitzki to injury for a big part of the year, missing 61 games and 1B Todd […]
Arizona Diamondbacks Off Season Report
Season Wrap Up After a red hot start to the 2008 season, the team in the desert cooled off come June and never really struck fear into anyone in the NL West from that point forward, but theacquisition of LF Adam Dunn must have turned a few heads though. April did show a look into […]
Los Angeles Dodgers Off Season Report
Season Wrap Up Although the Dodgers had the worst record in the 2008 playoffs it was mainly a byproduct of their poor first half. The acquisition of Manny Ramirez from Boston in a three way deal at the deadline rejuvenated this young team, giving them the experience and the potent bat they were missing up […]
Who Wants to Win the NL West?!
It seems as if no one in the NL West wants first place. It is truly sad when the Rangers would be in 1st place if after the All Star break if they were in the NL and they’re only 4 games over .500. No NL West team is above .500 as of July 21, […]
The Arizona Diamondbacks: How They Were Built
In an attempt to lower the average age of the writers of this site, I would like to introduce to you, the readers of Baseball Reflections, the newest addition to our site’s team, Bill Jordan. He is also a staff member of the Business of Sports Network where he is the Editor of Content for […]
Pete’s Picks: NL West
NL West This is a tight division overall and anyone can easily pull ahead of the pack, but they will need to improve without costing them security in another spot on the roster (see the D’backs with trading Jose Valverde). 1. Diamondbacks : The difference makers here are the departure of SP Livan Hernandez and […]
