Baseball

On another bone-chilling night, in the last of the ninth inning, the Phillies still preserved the biggest hit. A shot on a night that dictated the Dodgers' season.

If there’s a veteran the Phillies can depend on, Jimmy Rollins is the name to single out.

So far, we've looked at two names that the Atlanta Braves could pursue this offseason in Prince Fielder and Juan Rivera .

We'll continue in the Juan Rivera-Esq direction (as in realistic options) with this piece.

Now, I know that I made a small case against him in the Juan Rivera article, but today we are going to talk about Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz.

While the majority sentiment has focused on over-managing and the alleged Mariano Rivera spitball, it’s an entirely different issue that may have cost the Yankees a nine-inning win last night.

With two on and one out in the top of the eighth and the score tied at four, Melky Cabrera and his slumbering bat feebly approached the plate. Predictably, Cabrera struck out.

I was reading an article the other day where a baseball commentator said the qualities needed to make the playoffs aren’t the qualities needed to succeed in the playoffs

They said that deep starting pitching, production up and down the lineup, good middle relief and steady defense isn't nearly as important as having two dominant starters and a closer.

Intrigued to know just how true this was, I began researching the topic, starting with the 2008 American League.

Throughout the playoffs, Joe Girardi has turned to Joba Chamberlain in high-leverage situations. My question is, why? I haven't seen Chamberlain do anything to warrant trusting him in a big spot.

Chamberlain has been inconsistent all season and there is no doubt that David Robertson is a better option out of the bullpen at this point. Now, I'm not trying to knock Joba; I am actually not as down on his season as most people are. He was only slightly below average for the season, which is just fine for a back-end starting pitcher.

Prospect #16 comes in the form of a athletic outfielder who has drawn comparisons to a guy who hit over .320 his rookie year and has two 25 home run seasons to his name. Prospect #16 is Ronnie Welty

Welty was a 20th round draft pick by the Orioles in 2008. At the time he was rated as the 5th best junior-college player in the nation. Welty was drafted in the 37th round in 2006, but a strong commitment to Kansas State kept him from signing.

Since the end of the regular season, there has been a veritable carousel of coaching changes that have occurred around baseball. Now with the offseason just a couple of weeks old, we’re beginning to hear names associated with various jobs around the league.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are heavily involved having placed several coaches on the carousel themselves. I thought it might be interesting to look at what we know right now.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four…

Pedro Florimon Jr. and Greg Miclat may be the two primary candidates vying for the Orioles starting shortstop position, but the one dark horse in the whole thing might be the guy with the best potential out of them all. And his name is Garabez Rosa.

Rosa was born in Cotui in the Dominican Republic, and is the first product churned out by the Orioles new Dominican scouting system.

During the 11th inning on Monday, seconds after Dave Robertson had registered the second out of what seemed to be an uneventful half inning, FOX cameras cut to Joe Girardi.

The Yankees manager looked discombobulated...even frantic. He took three quick steps toward his matchup binder sitting on the dugout bench, hurriedly flipped through the first few pages, and then he quickly turned around and shot up the dugout steps to pull Robertson from the game.

That was the precise moment when I knew for sure that Girardi was in over his head.