Category: MLB General

There’s been a changing of the guard in Major League Baseball. Over the past year and a half that I have been writing this weekly article the Royals have had the worst or second-worst record in the league for essentially every single week, and have occupied the 29th or 30th spot in the power rankings each and every single week. Despite getting swept by Seattle, it’s time for Kansas City fans to rejoice… they’ve clawed their way out of baseball’s cellar and seen the light of day.

Of course, their meteoric rise has not been because of their good play, by any means, but because of the horrid play of the Cincinnati Reds and the Texas Rangers. There is still some hope, however, for the dwindling fan base of the Reds and Rangers, as the Royals still have the worst home record in baseball and are still riding a four-game losing streak.

On the other hand, the NL West, once revered as the weakest division in baseball, now looks to be one of the most competitive, with three teams in the top ten for the second week in a row.

This week the big movers are the Minnesota Twins. Unfortunately, they’re moving in the wrong direction, as they slide four spots into the 14 spot. One of the Twins big issues is that Johan Santana hasn’t been as dominant as he was in past seasons. The good news though, if you’re a Twins fan, is that Santana is typically a slow starter, who is playing his best baseball toward the end of summer. His career ERA in the months of March, April, and May is over 4.20, but in August, September, and October his ERA is under 2.40.

To me, the biggest news in baseball is the announcement that the amateur draft will be televised for the first time. I’ve been saying for a while now that it’s time the MLB did some extra work to hype the draft. The NBA draft gets televised, the NFL draft gets televised; it only seems appropriate that the national pastime’s draft should be televised. The added hype of the draft will create a more knowledgeable fan base and it will help add some hype to the College World Series.

Some people say that the baseball draft isn’t as relevant as the NFL and NBA counterpart, because it takes too long to develop the talent in the minor leagues, that the players don’t make an instant impact. To those people, I would simply point at the players who were selected in the first rounds of the past three drafts: Justin Verlander, Jeremy Sowers, Jered Weaver, Stephen Drew, Phil Hughes, Huston Street, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Travis Buck, Brandon Morrow, and Tim Lincecum.

Next up is a revision to the draft-pick trading rules…

There’s been a lot of moving and shaking this week in the Power Rankings. The Yankees continue to slide, while the Brewers, Indians, and Diamondbacks have gained a lot of ground.

It seemed everybody was jumping on the Giants bandwagon, after they won eight games in a row, but now they’ve lost three out of their last four and finish the month two games over .500.

Another team that’s showing impressive improvement is the Pirates, who are currently at .500. Last year at this point they were 7-20.

Is it just me or have there been an awful lot more two-game series than normal this year? All in all, it seems there has been quite a bit more scrutiny about the scheduling than usual. If you’re looking for somebody to point a finger at, then take aim at Katy Feeney, a senior vice president for Major League Baseball who is in charge of the scheduling puzzle.

In terms of the rankings, the Mets hold on to their top slot and the Red Sox are still in second. The Braves and Brewers continue to march their way toward the top with impressive starts, while the Royals and Nationals look like they’re going to be in a season-long battle for the numero treinta.

In other news “Manny Being Manny” is just another way of describing the constant comedy of Ramirez’ play in the outfield; Alex Rodriguez might join the 600-homerun club this year; Torii Hunter could potentially be suspended for three years for a fairly minor rule violation; and both Mark Prior and Kerry Wood are injured, although that should go without saying.