Baseball Analysis

For Detroit to continue its Cinderella season they will need to use the pressure being put on them from last seasons World Series Champions to keep their edge. The Tigers are hardly proven. While having the best record in baseball, along with the majors best pitching staff (at least in terms of numbers) makes them a serious threat, they are not battle tested. Untested teams tend to be very susceptible to a slump in the second half. Read more »

It was rumored that general manager Jim Bowden was on the hot seat with his legal troubles, questionable moves, and new ownership, but with this move, he should be headed straight to the penthouse. Read more »

One year ago, July 12, 2005, the NL West division leading Padres led second place Arizona by 5.5 games. At season?s end, the Padres still led Arizona by five games and won the division. Yes, 82-80 was a pathetic record for a division champion but San Diego still got the banner and made the playoffs. That?s the goal, no matter how ugly it looks. With great pitching and great defense, the Padres are poised to win the West again, but Arizona, L.A., San Francisco and Colorado are in the hunt. Read more »

Between severe conflicts of interests as 'former' owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, dishonesty about his knowledge of steroids and multiple ill-advised decisions in regards to the All-Star Game, it is time for Bud Selig to finally do something 'in the best interests of baseball.' Read more »

Now that the World Series home field advantage has been decided, by yet another win for the American League, baseball's best players return to the diamond this weekend. Will any of our Top 25 players be dealt by the July 31st trade deadline? Take a look at this weeks RealGM.com's Top 10 Player Rankings, with Red Sox slugger David Ortiz our new #1 ranked player. Read more »

In Houston, they must be singing in the streets as they finally were able to acquire a proven hitter to match the quality arms they have amassed. Huff, while not an upper echelon hitter, still provides the Astros with a very capable bat from the left side and gives manager Phil Garner options now when filling out his line-up card. Read more »

While the Tigers inhabit the comfy throne atop our list this week, and will not disappear any time soon, I must admit the postseason will be a whole ?nother kettle of fish. They will be forced to battle the Sox Bros. who will then go on to crush the NL's sacrificial lamb. Read more »

Ryan Howard hit 19 HR's on Monday and just like usual, no Phillies were on base for any of them. Yankees fans are complaining about the weak NL East, while David Wright's Derek Jeter imitation bleeds right into the All-Star Game. See what else we learned this week.. Read more »

On a night we saw one Latin right fielder with a rocket for an arm and a pure swing hit a eye-level 98 mph fastball for a home run the opposite way, Major League Baseball honored that man's Jackie Robinson. Read more »

Keep your eyes open. Understand the facts. Respect Manny Ramirez for what he is -- a future Hall-of-Fame player. And enjoy watching Manny Ramirez make his place in history. The next generation of sports fans won't be seeing the media's portrayal of him, they'll be looking at a spreadsheet of his career statistics in Cooperstown -- and if anyone were to come up to them and say, "Manny Ramirez? That guy didn't play hard at all," they would just point to the statistics and laugh. Read more »

KFAN?s afternoon drive-time sports talk show host Dan Barriero has mocked Joe Mauer as Baby Jesus because the Twin Cities media has been talking about how he is going to be the next best thing before he played a major league game. As derisive as it is, this nickname seems to fit in a way because he is carrying his hometown team to greatness this season. Read more »

The 2006 Mets have many similarities with the 1996 Yankees. They are both up and coming teams that are built to win now, while having enough young stars to keep the team in contention for the next decade. Both teams had a great mix of young talent with veteran leadership. With David Wright, Jose Reyes, Pedro Martinez and the Carlos Brothers, are the Mets ready for the big time? Read more »

Despite leading the small market Oakland Athletics, Billy Beane is perhaps the biggest name in the MLB GM business this side of Theo Epstein. 'Moneyball' made him a legend and the moves he has made with the A's limited resources has made him one of the best GM's in all of sports. Read more »

Trade rumors are heating almost as much as the division races ? this is what Major League Baseball is all about. After seeing the first half of the season, we feel fairly comfortable to annoint whichever team comes out of the AL the World Series champion. Read more »

Even though the Pirates haven?t given the fans of Pittsburgh much to cheer about this season, PNC Park was still packed to capacity as the American League squeaked out a ninth inning comeback off of San Diego?s Trevor Hoffman to secure home field advantage for the league come October. Here are the top 10 moments of the 2006 All-Star game. Read more »

Rich in position depth in the minor leagues, the Diamondbacks have ammunition to go after starting pitching, if they choose to trade. A major weakness since Schilling and the Big Unit departed, the Diamondbacks drafted pitching with eleven of their first thirteen picks in the 2006 amateur draft last month. Read more »

As the All-Star break comes and goes this year with all of the regular festivities, it is time once again to dish out some mid-season hardware. With so many teams still in the race and a little under half of the season left, here is how it looks for the top awards baseball thus far. Read more »

The 2006 Mets have many similarities with the 1996 Yankees. They are both up and coming teams that are built to win now, while having enough young stars to keep the team in contention for the next decade. Both teams had a great mix of young talent with veteran leadership. With David Wright, Jose Reyes, Pedro Martinez and the Carlos Brothers, are the Mets ready for the big time? Read more »

No matter how many Red Sox, Yankees, White Sox, or Mets are in the 2006 lineups, no one is stuffing the ballot-boxes. The outdated, 'we must have a rep' from each team is the cause of the major snubs. Read more »

File this one under better late than never, but the Angels have finally created an opening in the rotation for Jered Weaver? again. After a prodigious beginning to his career, the Angel decision makers apparently felt it was a better idea to return Jered to AAA so that his big brother Jeff could continue to muddle through his disaster of a season. A few weeks later they saw the error of their ways and traded Jeff to the Cardinals, allowing Jered to pick up where he left off. Read more »