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MLB General

MLB Power Rankings for May 16- 2007

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.

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New York Yankees

Strange Daze

The Yankees appear dead as Christopher Moltisanti. I gulp an overflowing glass of rum and coke, attempting to ignore their latest disintegration. It’s May 11th, which doesn’t stop me from worrying.

Bottoms up.

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MLB General

Does Clemens’ Contract With Yankees Disrespect Baseball?

When speaking about the integrity of the game of baseball, we must address the very basic idea of baseball as being a team sport, which takes the efforts of every player to be in attendance for every game, whether or not they are actually participating on the field that day.

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Milwaukee Brewers

Brewers assemble up and coming cast of characters

Remember that old theory that as long as Bud Selig was Commissioner then the Brewers would be cellar dwellers? Throw it out. Built like the cast of a smash hit television show, the Brewers have assembled a team of guys who are establishing their identities with this team, playing the role they were born to fill.

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MLB General

MLB Power Rankings for May 8- 2007

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…

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New York Yankees

Rocket Landing

By Billy Fellin

“Houston, we have a problem”
“Go on”
“The Rocket has landed in New York.”

The move that rocked the baseball world on Sunday, the Yankees signed Roger Clemens to a pro-rated 1-yr/28 million dollar deal. This comes out to about $4.5 million every month. So will the Rocket’s coming to the Bronx energize the team and get them back from the darkness of the AL East? Or is there nothing to help save the Yankees’ sinking ship?

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MLB General

The MLB Japanglicize Movement

Japanglicize v. (Juh-PANG-gluh-sahyz): to merge Japanese culture with that of English culture, ultimately enhancing both

I associate pasta with Sunday Night Football, hotdogs with baseball, Chinese food with rainy weather, and sushi with work. Those little white rice rolls, seaweed soup, and the green paste that masquerades as guacamole, conjure images of the suit-wearing, Blackberry-toting echelon of corporate America. Whenever a coworker suggests expensing lunch, I beg for Chipotle. But somehow I always get overruled and end up with an $8.95 lunch special on my desk (a "Bento Box," as it’s called), and a growling stomach for the rest of the day.

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MLB General

Next: The National League

What’s the price of instant gratification? The Arizona Diamondbacks were an expansion team in 1998, propelled on a fast track by relentless manager Buck Showalter and an aggressive front office, participating in postseason play by 1999, winning an epic World Series in 2001. It was a whirlwind, a winning tradition instilled within infancy, the antithesis of Tampa Bay. But nobody stays on top forever. The team’s foundation gradually cracked, and the Diamondbacks finally kissed abyss in 2004, collecting an abysmal 51 wins.

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MLB General

The MLB April Awards

April baseball may be about as meaningful as the 7th round of the NFL draft (do you really think Ramzee Robinson will have a big impact on the Lions next season?). Still, this opening month of baseball has been quite an eventful one. The Yankees are in last, the Brewers are in first, the Braves have returned, and Barry is back. Here is some hardware for the best (and worst) of April.

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MLB General

MLB Power Rankings for May 1- 2007

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.

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