Defense highlights offseason moves

Coco Crisp is nearing a deal with the Oakland Athletics, according to late word from MLB Trade Rumors' Tim Dierkes. Presumably Crisp will slot into Oa...

Blog Entry | Conversation | December 20, 2009

Tigers, Twins and my award picks

Carl Pavano seemed almost out of breath Sunday night, naturally, at the end of a day in which he and the Twins had won a game they had to win, after t...

Blog Entry | Conversation | October 05, 2009

Cleveland, Washington should consider Valentine

Bobby Valentine's first full season as manager of the Mets was 1997, a year in which I took a job with The New York Times, and I covered him for just ...

Blog Entry | Conversation | October 04, 2009

For one night, Ordonez worth the cost

It's too bad there isn't a transcript of the conversation that took place sometime this summer between Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch and his baseba...

Blog Entry | Conversation | September 30, 2009

Boston velocity versus Anaheim speed

There are going to be two hard truths in play in the forthcoming division series between the Red Sox and the Angels, according to some talent evaluato...

Blog Entry | Conversation | September 29, 2009

Sox-Yanks, Aroldis Chapman, Cy Young Wars

It is still September and nine days of regular-season baseball remain, but the playoffs provided the context for everything that occurred at Yankee St...

Blog Entry | Conversation | September 26, 2009

...PRESSWIRE CAPTION: Jul. 28, 2009; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks...

Cracks in the AL contenders

The count was full, the bases were loaded and Brian Fuentes fired a fastball at the lowest part of the strike zone Wednesday night, and when home plat...

Blog Entry | Conversation | September 17, 2009

The overlooked stars of the season

Zack Greinke is battling for the Cy Young Award, and that standing has hoisted him out of the second division and into the national conversation. Simi...

Blog Entry | Conversation | September 14, 2009

Derek Jeter's unbroken contract with fans

Derek Jeter finished playing catch with Robinson Cano in front of the Yankees' dugout early Monday afternoon, about 10 minutes before the first pitch ...

Blog Entry | Conversation | September 08, 2009

Why Greinke should win the Cy Young

By the standards of a David Wells or Livan Hernandez or John Smoltz or Orlando Hernandez or Curt Schilling or Randy Johnson, Zack Greinke has yet to p...

Blog Entry | Conversation | August 31, 2009

Inside another great Colorado run

There was gleeful jumping and running and hat-tossing and a pig-pile kind of thing, and this was all taking place about 1,500 miles away from the Litt...

Blog Entry | Conversation | August 25, 2009

Smoltz manufactures a comeback

John Smoltz is a friend and golfing partner of Tiger Woods, which is hardly surprising, because the two men are similar in many ways. Both are superla...

Blog Entry | Conversation | August 24, 2009

How the league broke the code

Bob Watson played 19 seasons in the major leagues and was hit by pitches 48 times. He probably had a pretty good idea of when he was hit on purpose an...

Blog Entry | Conversation | August 13, 2009

Why White Sox might want Rios

Some team has claimed Alex Rios on waivers and will know by early Tuesday afternoon whether he will become theirs, and there is lots of evidence that ...

Blog Entry | Conversation | August 08, 2009