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No, it isn't a very happy time in Southern California. SoCal fans just watched as the Lakers and Clippers got bounced out of the NBA playoffs in the first round, while the Dodgers and Angels have looked like they might not even make the playoffs. ...

Blog | May 08, 2013

With a month of the season in the books, rookies are making impacts on their teams across the majors. For some, their arrivals and performances were expected; others have been pleasant surprises. I'll be keeping track of this season's rookie class...

Blog | May 01, 2013

Among this year's crop of top prospects, some of the bigger, more well-known names are starting the season in the minor leagues. By now Oscar Taveras, Wil Myers and Jurickson Profar are no longer anonymous farmhands but familiar names. Reasons why th...

Blog | April 04, 2013

Potential and upside, even track record, can carry a career only so far. At some point, a player has to put up or shut up. Baseball is a results-oriented industry and if the production isn't there, neither are you. With it being Opening Day in man...

Blog | April 01, 2013

With Friday's news of right-hander Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers agreeing to a record-setting contract, the drama of whether baseball's best pitcher would see free agency in two years came to an end. Some could say it was predictable in...

Blog | March 30, 2013

Spring training performances and statistics can be very misleading. Often major league hitters are facing minor league pitchers, or sometimes major league pitchers are simply working on refining a certain pitch and get hammered. When scouting hitters...

Blog | March 27, 2013

The good news for the Los Angeles Dodgers is that Zack Greinke's elbow ligaments and tendons are fine. The bad news is Greinke himself doesn't know when he'll be able to pitch again. The right-hander has been dealing with inflammation in his pitch...

Blog | March 15, 2013

In the combined 15 years I served as general manager of both the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals, I was always a huge proponent of the World Baseball Classic. Baseball is an international sport, and perhaps someday the World Series will incl...

Blog | February 28, 2013

Baseball is a results-oriented business. Players who do not produce do not last long. Some young players, however, are afforded more time and multiple chances to establish themselves because of the potential they've shown or their formidable physical...

Blog | February 21, 2013

During spring training, players aren't the only ones trying to fine-tune things. General managers must use the time to evaluate not only their players but their field staff, too. It's the time to get things done, especially things such as contract ne...

Blog | February 14, 2013

It was an active offseason that witnessed the trade of a Cy Young Award winner, several large, multiteam trades and an inflated free-agent market. So to evaluate and rank the offseason of all 30 teams, I took into account the following factors: &...

Blog | February 12, 2013

There's an old scouting adage: "He'll tell us when he's ready." While that mainly pertains to gauging minor league players and their major league readiness, it also applies to young major leaguers trying to live up to their potential and looking f...

Blog | February 07, 2013

We haven't even gotten to spring training and there are already players whose jobs are in jeopardy either because of their team's trades, free-agent signings or young prospects who are getting ready to burst on to the scene. Here are six players who ...

Blog | January 04, 2013

An emotional reaction was not a surprise and probably warranted. Shortly after the Miami Marlins' blockbuster trade of Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson to the Toronto Blue Jays in November, Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton sent out the f...

Blog | December 21, 2012

It's not very often we have an offseason in which so many of the game's top prospects are traded, but that's exactly what's happened this winter with the Kansas City Royals dealing Wil Myers to the Tampa Bay Rays as part of the package for starter Ja...

Blog | December 19, 2012

When it comes to wheeling and dealing, Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Kevin Towers has a solid reputation as a gunslinger. In fact, at one point in his tenure with the San Diego Padres, he and then-manager Bruce Bochy were depicted in riding ch...

Blog | December 10, 2012