The Rundown: Clouds are Brewing in Philadelphia
With our first busy week of the offseason in the books, the 2013-14 Major League Baseball spending spree is on. We’ve seen Jhonny Peralta and Brian McCann reel in buku bucks by signing long-term deals...
View ArticleThe Rundown: Minnesota Aims for the Middle
The pitching staff for the 2013 Minnesota Twins was positively abysmal a year ago. As a collective, the Twinkies ranked dead last in strikeout rate while simultaneously allowing their opponent’s to...
View ArticleYankees Wrap Up Pricey Offseason By Adding Masahiro Tanaka
After a tedious month filled with plenty of patience and very little news, Japanese ace Masahiro Tanaka finally broke the freeze, signing a 7 year/$155 million dollar deal with the New York Yankees. If...
View ArticleJose Abreu and the Importance of a Balanced Approach
It’s hard to imagine a player having a better first month in the big leagues than Jose Abreu did in April. He managed to lead all Major Leaguers in home runs (10) and RBI (31) while totaling more bases...
View ArticleChris Sale Changes It Up
Chris Sale made a victorious return from the disabled list on Thursday evening and in the process he tore thorough a decent Yankee lineup as though it were tissue paper. Sale retired 18 of the 19...
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Evaluating How Catchers Control the Opposition’s Running Game – 2013 Edition
One of the toughest things to quantify in all of sports is a catcher’s value on defense. Their are so many responsibilities and subtle nuances that go into being a quality Major League backstop. The...
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Alex Cobb Has a Shiny New Curve
When Alex Cobb was a prospect coming up through the ranks in the Tampa Bay minor league system he was never considered all that highly. Noted prospect hound John Sickels ranked Cobb 17th in the Tampa...
View ArticleThe Best Problem in Baseball to Have
There’s an old well-known adage around the game of baseball that goes a little something like this: you can never, under any circumstance, have too much pitching. You’re only one pitch away from an...
View ArticleThe Tampa Bay Rays: Offensive Juggernaut?
The start of the 2013 season marked the 16th year of professional baseball in Tampa Bay, Florida, and in that short amount of time the franchise has been many different things. Back in 1998, the Devil...
View ArticlePhil Hughes and Putting It All Together
When the Yankees drafted Phil Hughes with the 23rd overall pick back in 2004, the hope was that the young right-hander from California could become a dominant front line pitcher. Hughes did nothing but...
View ArticleJordan Zimmermann: Efficiency King
Seemingly lost amid all the story lines about Bryce Harper’s knee, Stephen Strasburgh’s right arm, and the Nationals disappointing .500 season in general has been the ascension of Jordan Zimmermann...
View ArticleHave Pitchers Solved the Josh Hamilton Equation?
For the better part of the past 6 years, Josh Hamilton has been an absolute force for pitchers to deal with. Just look at his list of accomplishments: one MVP award, 5 All-Star appearances, a majestic...
View ArticleBrian Cashman’s Contingency Plan Needs a Contingency Plan
This wasn’t how things were supposed to be for the New York Yankees. The All-Star cavalry was supposed to return to buoy what is an otherwise uninspiring roster of 30-something misfits. Curtis...
View ArticleThe Trials and Tribulations of Starlin Castro
There haven’t been too many bright spots in Chicago Cubs baseball over the past few seasons. Apart from Darwin Barney’s spectacular defense at 2nd, the release of Carlos Marmol and some savvy trades...
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How Worried Should the Yankees Be About CC?
With division and wild card rival Tampa Bay coming into town for a 3 game set, the Yankees were in dire need of a dominate performance from their $182 million dollar staff ace. New York entered play on...
View ArticleThe Rise and Fall of the Philadelphia Phillies
Smashing success and Philadelphia Phillies’ baseball are two phrases that haven’t been uttered in the same sentence very often over the 131 year history of the franchise. No professional sports team...
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Going Mad Over Bumgarner
With yet another brilliant start in a 4-1 win in Tampa Bay on Friday night, Giants’ starter Madison Bumgarner made a little bit of franchise history. The lanky lefty is currently on a nine-start streak...
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Miguel Cabrera Rewrites History
A season ago Detroit Tigers’ slugger Miguel Cabrera became the first player in 45 years to lead his league in batting average, home runs, and RBI, which earned him a historic Triple Crown. As an...
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The Yadier Molina Effect
“Yadi knows everything about every single hitter, exactly what to throw. If you execute your pitches and throw them where he wants the ball, you’re going to get hitters out, have a better ERA, win the...
View ArticleWhen Chris Became Crush
After popping his 49th homer of the season against the Yankees on Tuesday night, slugger Chris Davis now stands just 1 blast shy of the Baltimore Orioles single-season record, set by Brady Anderson...
View Article2013’s Tough Luck Losers
One of the most frustrating experiences for any pitcher has to be the well-pitched loss. You know the type I’m talking about. It’s the kind of game that occurs when both pitchers are dealing and the...
View ArticleBen Zobrist: MVP (Most Versatile Player)
Take a look at Fangraphs’ Wins Above Replacement leader board for position players since 2010 and you’ll notice plenty of familiar suspects among the top 10. There’s Miguel Cabrera sitting on top of...
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Can the Pirates Shift Past the Cardinals?
The ascension of the Pittsburgh Pirates, from two decades of losing to 94 wins and the NL Wild Card, was not an easy one. The franchise had to completely revamp everything; from they way they do...
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Four Thoughts on the 2013 World Series
After dispatching both the Dodgers and Tigers in hard fought 6 game series, the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals find themselves on the cusp of a title. And while this World Series match up may...
View ArticleBuilding a Balanced Roster with Texas and Detroit
After spending the better part of the past few seasons climbing baseball’s Mount Everest only to run out of steam just shy of the peak, the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers have decided enough is...
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