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In case you were out playing it real cool about the NSA's newly revealed data-mining operations because you have nothing to hide, nope, nothing at all, here's what you missed in sports on Thursday: Tim Duncan shook off a poor first quarter to po...

Vin Scully has been doing his job since 1950, which means he saw Jackie Robinson steal home, witnessed a perfect game by Sandy Koufax, and was there when Kirk Gibson hit one of the most incredible home runs in baseball history. So if you can amaze th...

Blog | June 07, 2013

Astros-Royals Preview

CHICAGO -- Many will ask why a Chicago Cubs system void of pitching would take a position player with the second overall pick in the draft. The answer is easy: Cubs president Theo Epstein and Co. will take the best player available rather than dra...

The Houston Astros selected Stanford right-hander Mark Appel with the first overall pick in the 2013 MLB draft on Thursday night.

Here is the complete list of all 1,216 draft picks over 40 rounds and three days.

Keith Law unveils his final mock draft for 2013, and word is that the Astros are making a run at Stanford's Mark Appel.

Story | Conversation | June 06, 2013

I've long been of the opinion that only boring people like athletes and teams just because they're good. If you're going to spend precious words praising Mike Trout, come up with something better than "He's the best player in the game." Praise him fo...

There's much debate over who the Chicago Cubs should draft with the second overall pick on Thursday evening. With top third base prospects available as well as two high-caliber pitchers, our baseball beat reporters, Jesse Rogers and Bruce Levine, deb...

In their heyday during the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Houston Astros boasted a pack of "Killer B's" and routinely sat atop the National League Central. A lot has changed. Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman are long gone, the Astr...

Blog | June 05, 2013

Cubs Nation expects the organization to select the next Mark Prior or Kerry Wood with the second overall selection in the draft on Thursday. While it makes sense for pick a pitcher in an organization without many quality arms, other elements of the c...

Mark Appel went back to Stanford instead of going pro last summer, and was criticized for it. Now, as the next MLB draft approaches, he looks back without regret.

CHICAGO -- Getting ready to make an organizational decision that will have impact for years to come, the Chicago Cubs have a big choice to make on Thursday night when they pick No. 2 overall in the draft. By now you know the players who could be a...

The Franchise Player Draft has been completed, so it's time for Eric Karabell and myself to continue our tradition of doing the second round. All picks were made by Eric and myself, not the franchise "owners," so yell at us, not them. Eric made all t...

Oklahoma pitcher Jonathan Gray and Stanford pitcher Mark Appel, viewed as the top prospects in this week's amateur draft, were overlooked as the finalists for the Golden Spikes Award on Tuesday.

The Houston Astros are known nowadays for chasing the unorthodox. Their raid on the brain trust of Baseball Prospectus, their tandem starters in the minor leagues, their complete disinterest in competing at the major league level until they've develo...