Baseball Analysis

The pennant race wasn?t over after the ?78 massacre, and it isn?t over here. The Red Sox get one more shot at the Yankees in September, four games at Yankee Stadium. But realistically, you have to figure, given the sorry state of Red Sox pitching, that the division?s been lost. And, given the quality of pitching of the teams ahead of them ? the wild card?s likely gone as well. Read more »

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim certainly didn?t live up to their moniker on Wednesday night (and by that I mean the Angels, not the ridiculous Anaheim-Los Angeles dual citizenship). After being baited by the Texas Rangers for several games, the Angels finally snapped and retaliated in a not-so-angelic fashion. Read more »

The AL MVP winner should be awarded based on which player leads their team to a playoff berth. The Twins were not expected to do anything this season and with Liriano being out for the year, Morneau should be the MVP if he leads his team to a playoff berth. As great as David Ortiz has been, he cannot receive that award if his team does not make the playoffs, which will likely happen. Read more »

In an Exclusive Interview with RealGM, the San Francisco Chronicle reporters who wrote 'Game of Shadows' shared their feelings on the government's original investigation into BALCO and the reasoning behind the publishing of the grand jury testimony. Read more »

Working through the executive ranks since 1979 with the White Sox, Expos, Marlins, and Tigers, Dave Dombrowski has seen it all in his baseball life. Now, after years in the cellar of the baseball world, he is back on top in Detroit and looking at another World Series square in the eye. Read more »

It started with rumors here and there, low turnout and bored fans. The griping became louder over time until finally the League could not turn its? back anymore. It will be decided after the end of this season whether or not the National League will remain a part of Major League Baseball. Read more »

If Derek Jeter can become the 2006 AL MVP, it?ll be just another accolade in his Hall of Fame career, and it?ll further immortalize Jeter as a Yankee legend. As for Rodriguez, he?s only as loved as his current at-bat... Read more »

With the calendar quickly moving through August and onto September, it is now time to look at who needs to step up in order for their teams to make the playoffs. With so many teams still in the hunt for October, here are the top ten players who will decide the fate of all of them. Read more »

This team is rolling and who knows if they?ll slow down. But if they don?t, watch out because a repeat of 1988 could be seen all over again. This Dodgers squad remains the best team in baseball, but how long will they keep it up? Read more »

Certainly the MLB wants Barry Bonds to be proven guilty as much as the French want to see Floyd Landis' title taken away. Where are the conspiracy theories on this one? Oh -- right, there hasn't been a positive test, I'm sorry, I keep on forgetting. Read more »

The richest team in sports, the Evil Empire, the team run by the most playoff hungry boss in sports is coming down the stretch run of the season without a big chunk of their payroll on the playing diamond. We?d be hard pressed to hear a collective sob from the rest of the baseball world, who actually hate this team, also known as the Yankees. Detractors will have to admit, though, that its actually is pretty amazing to see a team in first place in mid-August without having two-thirds of their opening day outfield for almost the entire season. Read more »

Who wants it? NL Central? Anyone ? anyone? West? Oh, come on. How about the Wild Card? Believe me, they?re worth it. You get to play in October and everything. The season-long National League game of hot potato continued again this week, and there are still just as many non-takers as there ever have been. There comes a point when parity becomes paralysis, as evidenced by the absolute lack of mobility in this league. Read more »

The youth movement is alive and well in Arizona. Consider the position players already set in stone: Conor Jackson 1B, Orlando Hudson 2B, Stephen Drew SS, Chad Tracy 3B and Carlos Quentin OF. Add in 30 year old veteran Johnny Estrada (.309 BA) and the entire infield is set. Read more »

Most pitchers should be able to figure it out by the fourth year, but Kyle Lohse never could. It was a joke that Twins' GM Terry Ryan wanted him over Francisco Liriano in the rotation because he felt Liriano was not ready. Can Liriano be any worse than Lohse? What had Lohse done to earn Ryan?s faith even if he had potential? He simply did not deserve it. Read more »

Kevin Towers has shown a lack of understanding in building for the future, while he instead brings in above-average veterans to do just enough to be competitive. His signature move was dealing Jason Bay and Oliver Perez for Brian Giles. Read more »

It's August baseball! David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Alfonso Soriano, and Derek Jeter once again find themselves in familiar places. Can Pujols hold off Carlos Beltran to win his second straight NL MVP? Can the division leaders count on their young arms? Will your team's best players stay healthy for the stretch run? Take a look at our NEW RealGM.com Top 25, that includes Travis Hafner, Justin Morneau, Johan Santana, and Lance Berkman. Read more »

After looking like he may turn into another one of those big busts that come to the Mets, such as their ?savior? Bobby Bonilla, Carlos Beltran is a fan favorite in New York. His numbers are staggering and better then ever before. He is going to have career years and probably set Met records with home runs and RBIs. He gets big hits, and carries the team when they need him most. Read more »

Twins fans should be very thankful for the contributions of Shannon Stewart. He is the reason why the Twins made the playoffs in 2003 thanks to an awesome second half. They were sputtering offensively for the first few months of that season as they were falling apart players began pointing fingers at each other for the team?s problems. Read more »

Its playoff push time for the contenders and in the NL, some losers as well. Dealings are (mostly) done and injuries are starting to have a real affect. And for some reason the worst teams in baseball were very interesting this past week. Read more »

Fans desperately want to believe that their team has just uncovered the next Alex Rodriguez, when in reality, most of the time the rookie is a lot closer to John Rodriguez, but every once in a while, the rookie actually lives up to the hype. Already this year there seems to have been a plethora of new superstars making their debut: Francisco Liriano, Justin Verlander, Ryan Zimmerman, Andre Ethier and John Papelbon. Well, it looks like the Los Angeles Angels are going to get to add a name to that list, Howard ?Howie? Kendrick III. Read more »