Baseball

Let me say to begin that I have long dreamed that the Oakland Athletics would move to my hometown of San Jose.

The issue has long been that the San Francisco Giants "own" the rights to the San Jose market, which in my opinion is anachronistic. 

The San Francisco ownership of the San Jose market is from a time before San Jose became the technological powerhouse of Silicone Valley, and one of the largest cities in America, larger even than San Francisco.

A few months ago it was announced that the 2010 season will be the last one for Bobby Cox. Sure to go down as one of the best managers in baseball history, Cox led the Atlanta Braves to 14 consecutive division titles from 1992-2005.

While Cox has certainly been a tremendous manager, he's had plenty of help from a quality general manager and various coaches over the years. Here's a look at 10 potential candidates to replace Cox in the 2011 season.

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I took a bit of time to offer up my thoughts on the Only Trade That Matters. For good reason, such a deal provokes an instant firestorm of reaction, and there's a point at which you are contributing to information overload instead of getting your message across.

Now that the Cubs have finally moved Milton Bradley, it appears that former Ranger Marlon Byrd is the target of choice for GM Jim Hendry in his ongoing search for a center fielder.

The caveat, of course, is that Byrd must agree to a salary that fits within the budget that GM Jim Hendry has following the Bradley trade. Yes, the Cubs received cash in the deal with the Mariners, but that cash is spread over two seasons, first of all, and second, part of it has to cover the difference in Silva and Bradley's salary.

If you take a quick look at Trevor Cahill's 2009 stats from, say, Yahoo! Sports, you probably would come away thinking "It's not great, but he did okay for a 21-year-old."

Cahill went 10-13 with a 4.63 ERA...something like a No. 4 starter.

However, a deeper look reveals a season built on luck rather than skill, and some serious problems for the righty.

After making major moves this offseason by acquiring 3B Chone Figgins and P Cliff Lee, the Seattle Mariners made another move that will hopefully pay off in the long run.

They allowed the Chicago Cubs to dump controversial outfielder Milton Bradley on them.

Bradley, an All-Star in 2008, was traded to the Mariners for P Carlos Silva and cash.

Yes, he will be more productive than Silva (5-18, 6.81 ERA during two seasons with Seattle...55-26, 4.31 ERA during previous six seasons). This trade shows how desperate the Cubs were to get Bradley out of town.

Only a few franchises in MLB truly understand how to spend money wisely. I would trot out the A's, Twins, Rockies, Mariners, Brewers, Cardinals, Phillies, and the Rays as some of these.

Few do a better job of acquiring the best talent with the least money than the last team in that list: Tampa Bay.

And they've done it again.

Most fans, possibly even many Tampa Bay fans, don't realize that the Rays signed first baseman Ryan Shealy to a minor league deal this week.

It has been a while since I have written anything for Bleacher Report; let’s hope college has benefited my writing.

It was a forgone conclusion that the Tigers would trade Curtis Granderson. He was an expensive commodity that we could get good value for in return. The Tigers have long been looking to get younger, and cheaper, and Granderson and Placido Polanco were the casualties of a tight budget.

As a devoted Chicago Cubs fan for more than a decade now, I have long been keenly aware of the plight of Ron Santo. Santo, who was a key cog during the Cubs' quasi-revival in the late 1960s and early 1970s, now broadcasts Cubs games for WGN radio, and so remains (alongside Ernie Banks) the face of the Cubs franchise, some 35 years after the end of his illustrious career.