Baseball

If you’ve heard about Stephen Strasburg , chances are you’ve heard about Bryce Harper too.  There could be a lot of similarities between the two—or there could be none other than the hype they’ve both received long before draft time.

Projected as the consensus first-overall draft pick in the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft, here’s what you need to know about Harper before we get to June.

Ever since he announced his retirement last year, there's been an ongoing debate about whether Curt Schilling belongs in the hall of fame. I haven't quite made up my mind on that yet, but I'm leaning toward saying he should get in.

But what I'm absolutely sure of is the cap he should have on his plaque if he does get in. The three teams that have a shot are the Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Boston Red Sox. So which logo should be on his plaque, the Phils, Snakes, or Sox?

What I’m Reading

• Just imagine a Mauer-less Twinky-Town. Through means of a trade, no less. My head hurts already.

• So Jose Reyes’ thyroid is due to keep him out anywhere from two weeks to two months. Great diagnosis, Doc.

When Ichiro Suzuki entered the league back in '01 he was far from unknown, underappreciated, or underrated. In fact if anything for a guy who had never played a MLB game, there might have been a better argument he was overrated.

Since then Ichiro has slowly but steadily fallen out of the spotlight and has become virtually untalked about all around baseball.

My question is, why?

As if the advent of the 2010 MLB season wasn’t stressful enough, the Houston Astros were dealt with a major blow today.

Lance Berkman is scheduled to have surgery on his left knee Saturday, and while his projected recovery time is said to be only two weeks, a month or longer is more likely, leaving the Houston Astros season in dyer straights.

No player on the Brewers' roster had more of a breakout season in 2009 than Casey McGehee.

He went from a completely unknown commodity in spring training to finishing fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

McGehee finished the year with a .301 average, 16 home runs, and 66 RBI while playing in only 116 games. In fact, he only started two games in the first six weeks of the season. Prior to May 19, he had only 16 at-bats.

On May 19, McGehee started for the injured Rickie Weeks at second base, and his remarkable season began.

Yet again, the AL Central will be the most competitive division in baseball.

The White Sox, Twins, and Tigers could be the team making the playoffs here. Hell, the Indians could make a run as well.

Because of this, you aren't going to see a team win 100 games. However, you will see some great baseball. 

Chicago White Sox

Check out these photos. This is actually a year old, but a couple of blogs have been posting these pictures this week so I thought I’d do the same. The guy who built this is a lego artist Sean Kenney . It is really impressive, especially if you are a big kid like me.

Check it out:

Call him what you will, for Jose Reyes goes by many names.

Jose the Nuisance: A pest in the eyes of the Phillies, Marlins, and beyond.  It seems that teams don't like to see Jose be Jose on the field or in the dugout and hold some sort of grudge against the New York Mets when their teams meet on the field.  Is it jealousy, envy?  We're not sure, but he sure isn't Armando Benitez's favorite player.

When Richard Henry "Dick" Pole was sacked from his post as the Cincinnati Reds' pitching coach and Bryan Price was brought in to replace him, it easily ranked as the team's biggest offseason move—well, maybe besides that signing of some 6'4" lefty kid from Cuba. 

It's a fine trait to be loyal.  But Reds' manager Dusty Baker has proven more than a few times of being loyal to a fault.