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I grew up as a crazy Los Angeles Lakers fan right in the middle of Boston Celtics country in central Vermont, which meant that all of my friends rooted for Larry Bird and Robert Parish and Cedric Maxwell, and I rooted for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magi...

Blog | January 20, 2013

Buster Olney ranks the top 10 rotations in baseball in today's blog, along with the latest news and notes from around baseball.

Blog | Conversation | January 20, 2013

In rounding out our series of winter top 10 rankings, here are the top 10 bullpens in Major League Baseball (and I'm hedging a little in this category because of the uncertainty about what role one big-time pitcher will have). 1. Atlanta Brav...

Blog | January 05, 2013

Buster Olney reveals his ranking of the top 10 bullpens in baseball, with the Atlanta Braves taking the top spot.

Blog | Conversation | January 05, 2013

There is a significant difference between being a front-line pitcher and being the ace of a staff, as longtime Oriole Mike Flanagan once explained. There is an extra accountability factor because an ace embraces the responsibility of leading a rotati...

Blog | September 04, 2012

CC Sabathia has been an ace for more than a decade, and he still fills that role for the Yankees. But, as Buster Olney writes, there is still some concern about Sabathia's elbow and whether he's healthy enough to beat other aces down the stretch.

Blog | Conversation | September 04, 2012

Of all the decisions that will be made by baseball executives over the next three days, none will be as excruciating as the Tampa Bay Rays' decision to trade or not trade James Shields. After the Rays' 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels...

Blog | July 28, 2012

Buster Olney asks what James Shields' actual worth is and whether he is he really an ace or innings eater.

Blog | Conversation | July 28, 2012

With the trade deadline now five days away, some executives spent part of Wednesday digesting the deals that took place late Tuesday night and continuing their assessments of their own teams and the market. The number of shopping days is dwindling...

Blog | July 26, 2012

With the trade deadline five days away, Buster Olney goes through the biggest holes to fill, beginning with the Los Angeles Angels and their starting rotation.

Blog | Conversation | July 26, 2012

Alex Gordon's early-season slump is over, Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain are back from injuries, Wil Myers is preparing for his debut, and it's easy to imagine a time, within the next two or three years, when the Kansas City Royals might h...

Blog | July 19, 2012

Ryan Dempster, Zack Greinke and Cole Hamels have dominated the discussions of starting pitching options on the trade market, but they are all headed for free agency this winter. Buster Olney lists some of the best multi-year pitching trade targets.

Blog | Conversation | July 19, 2012

I live in the New York area, but my 12-year-old had never been to a game at Yankee Stadium until Monday night. She loved the massive scoreboard and hated the foul balls that zoomed past us repeatedly on the left field side. And while she decided ...

Blog | June 26, 2012

There are obvious, tangible forms of value in baseball: Joey Votto's offense or Adam Jones' defense, for example. But as Buster Olney writes, Nick Swisher brings an intangible value to the Yankees through his energy and effort that should be appreciated.

Blog | Conversation | June 26, 2012

Cole Hamels is positioned perfectly for free agency, because it appears there will be nobody else like him on the market in the fall, assuming he doesn't sign with the Phillies. (And as of Thursday evening, his contract talks with the Phillies r...

Blog | June 08, 2012

While the pitching market in free agency will likely be Cole Hamels and little else, the free-agent market could be a bit deeper, which isn't good news for those seeking massive deals.

Blog | Conversation | June 08, 2012