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In April, Jose Bautista had turned into a three true outcomes type of player: home run, walk or strikeout. He hit seven home runs and had a slugging percentage over .500, but was hitting just .200. Was he just finding his stroke as he returned fro...

Yes, it's the time of the year ... awards predictions! Here are the collective thoughts of the writers from across the SweetSpot network. MOST VALUABLE PLAYER Last year, the SweetSpot bloggers correctly picked Miguel Cabrera as the AL MVP winner....

Does pressure exist in baseball? We've made heroes and goats of those who performed -- or didn't perform -- in the game's biggest moments. But those are usually isolated snippets of time in a postseason game, when the results of one at-bat or a few g...

Back in 2008, just a few days after reaching the majors, Evan Longoria signed a six-year, $17.5 million contract that included club options for 2014 through 2016. It was really the first deal of its kind, since Longoria and the Rays had agreed to ...

Adam Dunn is at the plate, looking relaxed, just another of his more than 7,000 career plate appearances in the major leagues. Dunn may appear relaxed, but Chicago White Sox fans certainly aren't, as they stand in unison, knowing the season has co...

I sent an email to my pal Jim Caple, asking: Would you rather see the A's or Angels in the playoffs? I could also ask: Would you rather see the Orioles or the Rays? All four teams won on Wednesday, which means good news for the Orioles and A's ...

Ben Zobrist has long been admired by Rays fans, Joe Maddon and baseball analysts for his ability to shift seamlessly between second base and right field and play well at both positions. You can add a new position to his resume: He started three of Ta...

Here are just a few things that have gone wrong for the Tampa Bay Rays this season: 1. Preseason MVP candidate Evan Longoria missed 86 games with a slow-healing hamstring pull. 2. Carlos Pena and Luke Scott, signed in the offseason to provide p...

During Tuesday's chat session, Stephen Strasburg's name kept coming up ... and so did Ross Detwiler's. Is Detwiler that much of a drop from Strasburg as a potential playoff starter? We discuss that, Buster Posey's underrated season, the best 3-4-5 co...

Eric Karabell hosted, I guested, and we talked baseball stuff on Tuesday's Baseball Today podcast. 1. Jered Weaver versus Justin Verlander: Who deserves the AL Cy Young Award right now? And are we ignoring other candidates? 2. Mike Trout yelled...

With the announcement that Joe Torre will manage Team USA in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, let's have a little fun and project who could form the 28-man squad in March. Before we get to my suggested roster, a few notes and thoughts: 1. Rules...

"Show us some respect," yell Baltimore Orioles fans. Or maybe they're politely demanding. But I've seen the complaints in the Power Rankings comments, read the emails sent to "Baseball Today," been asked the question in my chats: Why doesn't anyone b...

The question is simple: If you were starting a franchise and could pick any player in baseball, who would you pick? Ignore contracts, current or future. Ignore current team. Think only of ability, position and age. Who do you build around? On Thur...

Eric Karabell and myself hosted Wednesday's Baseball Today podcast while ESPN.com senior writer Jerry Crasnick made a guest appearance. 1. Jerry has a story up on Orioles pitching prospect Dylan Bundy -- who has allowed one hit in 17 innings so f...

It was another eventful chat session as we discussed Albert Pujols' homerless April and asked readers to project his final numbers. We discussed many things about the Minnesota Twins, gave a shout-out to the awesome Jose Altuve, tried to figure out w...

Evan Longoria will reportedly miss six to eight weeks after injuring his hamstring in Monday's win over the Mariners. No team can afford to lose its best hitter for long, but the Rays always seem to find a way. Longoria missed a month last season ...