The Chicago Cubs and the Seattle Mariners swapped free agent blunders over the winter, with Carlos Silva heading to the North Side in exchange for Milton Bradley. From Chicago’s standpoint, the deal wasn’t motivated by a firm belief in Silva’s ability to contribute. Rather, the impetus for the trade was a combination of salary relief (the Cubs saved a [...]

With a nickname like “Death to Flying Things,” it’s clear that Seattle Mariners center fielder Franklin Gutierrez is known most for his glove. As well he should be — the 27-year-old has a career of Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 defensive games of  +27.2 in the middle garden, after rating exceptionally well as a corner outfielder [...]

At 27-23, the Boston Red Sox hardly face insurmountable odds in terms of climbing back into the playoff race. But it won’t be easy — the Rays and Yankees are arguably the two best clubs in the game, and the post-Halladay Blue Jays refuse to go quietly into the night. The Sox sit 6.5 games back of division-leading Tampa [...]

Tampa Bay Rays center fielder B.J. Upton is exceptionally talented. At one point or another during his big league career, he has shown every skill imaginable. The second pick in the 2002 draft has hit for power–Upton slammed 24 home runs in 2007 and went bonkers during the 2008 playoffs. He has shown patience at [...]

Prior to 2010, lefty C.J. Wilson hadn’t started a major league game since August 18, 2005. Taken out of Loyola Marymount University in the fifth round of the 2001 draft, Wilson was mostly a starter coming up through the minors, overcoming Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2004  season. But his six starts in [...]

Albert Pujols. Matt Holliday. Chris Carpenter. Adam Wainwright. The St. Louis Cardinals, currently four games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central and sporting a four-in-five chance of making the playoffs, have as much star power as any club in the majors. While he’s not as well known or accomplished as the names listed [...]

Rich Harden, Jake Peavy and Ben Sheets have all stumbled out of the gate in 2010. Each has a history of dominant pitching and questionable health, and each has looked more like a punching bag than a premium starter during the first month of the season. Here’s a quick look at the preseason expectations and some of [...]

During the first few days of the 2010 season, five starting pitchers returned to a big league mound for the first time since 2008. Ben Sheets, Shaun Marcum, Jake Westbrook, Greg Smith and Justin Duchscherer didn’t throw a major league pitch in 2009 while rehabbing from various injuries. How did they look after such a long layoff? Let’s [...]

On August 29, 2009, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pulled the trigger on a deal that brought left-hander Scott Kazmir out west. With long-time ace John Lackey poised to land a lavish free agent deal elsewhere (he eventually inked with Boston for five years and $82.5 million) and LA’s prized pitching talents residing in [...]

On March 17th, the Washington Nationals surprisingly showed outfielder Elijah Dukes the door. Dukes did scuffle in 2009, compiling -0.1 Wins Above Replacement, and knee, calf and hamstring injuries have cut into his playing time over the past couple of seasons. His off-the-field issues have also been well-documented. But what raised eyebrows about Dukes’ release [...]