Ryan Hanigan: From Rollins College to the Cincinnati Reds
When the Rollins College baseball team hosted the Cincinnati Reds for a spring training exhibition in 2001, no one could have anticipated that one of the Tars would some day be living the big-league dream as a key member of the Reds. But fast-forward ahead eight years and sure enough in 2009 former Rollins standout […]
Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: Three Pitchers To Buy Low On
Many starting pitchers who are usually reliable such as Brandon Webb, Jake Peavy, John Lackey and Roy Oswalt have been wildly unpredictable and/or injured through the first ten weeks of the season. If you are one of the unlucky ones who have been become frustrated with your staff’s inconsistency, you might want to look into […]
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 […]
Chasing the Aces and the Pennants
Image via Wikipedia It’s officially trade rumor season in the MLB and teams are now just beginning to assess their needs and see what is available on the market. This season marks a special one in the starting pitching department as we have four key names playing for underperforming teams looking to slash payroll and […]
Pirates will remain sellers as deadline approaches
After suffering through 16 consecutive losing seasons, many Pirate fans wonder how any team’s management could be more inept; how any team’s ownership could be more stingy. And who could blame them? The streak of sub-.500 finishes will soon be historic. Image by Matt Bandi, MVN via Flickr The sudden and unexpected trade of All-Star […]
May’s Hottest Hitters By Position
Image by Keith Allison via Flickr Sorry about this, but due to the fact that I gave Nick the week off from his weekly Fantasy Focus and my vacation that I am currently on, this will be a little short. Here are the top hitters by position for the month of May. I will also […]
Oakland Still Sitting In Last Place
Although they were originally looked at as the number one contender to knock off the two time reigning American League West champions, the Oakland Athletics find themselves ten games under .500 and in last place in the division. General Manager Billy Beane deviated from his usual plan this past offseason by adding aging veterans and […]
Detroit Tigers June Splits
Every season is a different season, however there are trends in baseball. So today we’ll take a look at the career split stats for the current group of Detroit Tigers for the month of June and see at least on some level, what we might expect. Let’s start with the hitters. As you would expect […]
Despite Ailments, Streaking Mets Keep NL East Tight
Really? Come on. If this is a surprise then the last few years must be a bit fuzzy to the memory. What has become an annual drama-filled, slug-fest between the New York Mets and bitter rival Philadelphia Phillies has come to fruition once again this season as the two teams remain inseparable atop the National […]
Reds at 50 (well, 48)
The Reds sit at 26-22 on the last day of May, just 2.5 games out of first place. This should be a familiar record for the Reds this season. With their brand of strong starting pitching, team speed, and improved defense, this team will be between three and seven games over .500 for most of […]
Will The Baltimore Orioles Have To Trade Aubrey Huff?
Baltimore Orioles team president Andy MacPhail made the right call in his decisions to trade Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada and to keep Brian Roberts. He could soon get another test as he must decide whether to keep or trade free agent-to be Aubrey Huff. There is no question that Huff is a valuable member […]
The Cubs Are Slumping and on the DL
Over the course of a 162 game season, even the best teams have slumps. Particularly in this era of relatively balanced competition even the perennial division winners – teams like the Red Sox, Cardinals, and Angels – run into rough stretches. But the 2009 Chicago Cubs are currently enduring a slump that even the worst […]
What’s Wrong With Josh Hamilton?
The Texas Rangers are 30-19 after 49 contests, leading the Angels in the AL West by 5.5 games after play on Saturday. The Rangers’ quick start can be attributed to their potent offense, which ranks fifth in the majors, scoring 5.44 runs per game. Ian Kinsler, Michael Young and Nelson Cruz have led the way […]
Tracking the Top Prospects: 11-20
No lengthy introduction needed here as we continue with the second half of the top 20 prospects in baseball thanks again to Keith Law of Scouts, Inc. We will start now with No. 11. 11. Tim Beckham, SS, Tampa Bay Rays organization Last year’s number one overall pick in the MLB first-year player draft went […]
Hanley Ramirez: Is He the Best Shortstop in Baseball?
Playing for the Florida Marlins is about as close as Major League Baseball can come to having a site in the witness protection program, but even toiling away in anonymity, shortstop Hanley Ramirez is turning heads and creating a name for himself as one of the best young players in the game. A year after […]
The Cardinals Flip Flop in May
I don’t watch horror or suspense movies. I’m not big on being scared or losing control of bodily functions. So I can’t say that this season for St. Louis has been like one of those movies from personal experience, but knowing the general formula for a movie of that type, the analogy seems to fit. […]
Matt Wieters Scheduled to Join the Baltimore Orioles on Friday
Image by Getty Images via Daylife The wait is over. In an interview with Gary Thorne and Buck Martinez during Tuesday night’s game between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, Orioles President Andy MacPhail announced that top prospect Matt Wieters will be making his major league debut on Friday, May 29, when the Detroit […]
Dontrelle Willis Needed This!
He needed to step onto that mound at Comerica Park and feel the evening sun shine upon him, the clouds in retreat, the swirling winds at bay. He needed to kick his right leg high into the air and bring his left arm across his body in perfect plane as the baseball left his fingertips […]
The Rays After 40 Games
The 2009 Tampa Bay Rays played their fortieth game of the season on Monday, May 18th and in so doing got themselves back to the .500 mark at 20-20. But at this point, things that went right in 2008 so far have not in 2009, and the Rays find themselves in fourth place in their […]
Tracking the Top Prospects: Players 1-10
Image via Wikipedia Back on Jan. 22, Keith Law of Scouts, Inc. wrote a column for ESPN.com that ranked the top 100 prospects in the major leagues for the 2009 regular season. Well, since the most of us do not pay whatever fee that is charged to get ESPNinsider, we only have access to the […]
The Royals Become Relevant
Unless you are a Kansas City Royals fan or a really, really huge baseball fan in general, chances are you have not given the Royals much thought since about 1994. Even during the 2003 campaign, when Kansas City won sixteen of their first nineteen games and hung in the race until late August, they were […]
The Texas Rangers Are In First Place Still!
The surprise Rangers are sitting in first place in the AL West! This time it’s their pitching that’s carrying them. Unlike last season, the Rangers are relying more on balance from the starting pitching and offense to win games. Last season, the Rangers lost many close games (3 runs or less) and this season, they’re […]
Indians After Two Months = Disappointing
While the Cleveland Indians are currently on a winning streak at the time of this writing, it is the first time in nearly a month that they have won at least two games in a row. Even though there were no huge expectations coming into this season like there were in 2008 when many, including […]
Interleague Play Q&A
Back on December 8, 2008 I posted a 10 question interview session that I conducted with 6 other baseball bloggers about their thoughts concerning Interleague play. With the first Interleague series of the year going this weekend I thought it would be a good time to post this link to it for your amusement! Enjoy! […]
Phillies Fans It Is Not Time To Panic
If you have been watching the Phillies lately you may be wondering just where exactly DID the offense go? Or you may be wondering how it is possible that Chase Utley and Ryan Howard were a combined 0-22 with 12 strikeouts in their series with the Dodgers this past week. This is a very tough […]
White Sox Reflections 1 ½ Months In
I’ll let Paul Konerko and Ozzie Guillen sum up the White Sox season (15-18) through the halfway point in May. “We stink.” – Guillen “We’re just not good right now, that’s it.” – Konerko That pretty much sums it up, but let’s take a look at why the Sox are struggling so much. Offense The […]
The Blue Jays Are On Fire!
Hi from us at Bluebird Banter where, I can quite honestly say, I have never enjoyed baseball as much in my life. And I was there for the Jay’s World Series seasons. The great part of it this time is that we weren’t expected to be anywhere near this good. It really is good to […]
What’s Wrong With Jimmy Rollins?
Several top sluggers have struggled through the first month and a half of the season. Grady Sizemore is batting .220, but has 7 bombs and 6 steals. Mark Teixeira is batting a paltry .238 in Yankee pinstripes, but remains on pace for 39 HR. Lance Berkman has battled just to stay above the Mendoza line, […]
For the Nats, April was Forgettable
For the Washington Nationals, April 2009 was a month to forget. March was a bad sign of things to come. The club opened camp with the revelation that the future of the franchise, 19-year-old Esmailyn Gonzalez, was in fact 24-year-old Carlos Alverez Daniel Lugo. A resulting scandal broke out, the FBI got involved, and before […]
Joe DiMaggio Award Gala to Honor Reggie Jackson
Image via Wikipedia Xaverian High School president Dr. Salvatore Ferrera announced that former New York Yankee Reggie Jackson would be honored at a dinner held at their school on May 5. The event, which is called the Joe DiMaggio Awards Banquet benefits the Brooklyn, New York School and was held last week. According to Ferrera, […]
