Baseball

Philadelphia Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. recently spent half an hour talking to Mike Missanelli on 97.5 The Fanatic. The presumptive goal of Amaro Jr.'s participation in the interview was to placate Phillies fans.

The St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to a deal that will send former World Series MVP David Freese and reliever Fernando Salas to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for outfielder Peter Bourjos and prospect Randal Grichuk.

Mariano Rivera continued to be showered with recognition this past week, as the corner of East 4th Street and Broadway was temporarily re-named "Mariano Rivera Way" on November 21.

David Freese and Fernando Salas were traded to Anaheim in exchange for outfielder Peter Bourjos and minor league outfielder Randal Grichuk, as reported by various outlets including the Cardinals' Twitter account.  The move is an interesting one for the Cardinals and impacts far more than the outfield.

For New York Mets fans, it's been a difficult run of futility, especially during the hot stove season. While rebuilding and retooling can be justified by any rational fan, the lack of big-market activity by general manager Sandy Alderson has been alarming over the last few years.

Major League Baseball is on the cusp of something big. Whether it is the bursting of a looming bubble from overwhelming television contracts to pricing casual fans out of the ballpark with substantially high, overpriced contracts for aging stars. 

One of the biggest things that came out of the 2013 World Series for the Boston Red Sox was the arrival of Xander Bogaerts.

With every at-bat and play in the field, Bogaerts showed all of the characteristics that people had been projecting for him during his minor league days.

If the Arizona Diamondbacks are serious about changing their fortunes this offseason, they should consider trading either Martin Prado or Aaron Hill.

With the Hot Stove season in full swing and rumors flying around about what the New York Mets will do in free agency, the 2014 roster is far from set.

While moves in free agency and the trade market need to be made before the Mets can be considered a potential playoff team, there is one player already on the roster whose development can push the Mets to a 2014 playoff berth: Travis d’Arnaud. 

Anyone remember the ALCS this year?

Anybody?

If you do remember, your memory is that it was a very, very close series. It sounds silly, but it was probably the closest series ever that didn’t go to seven games.

You’ll also remember the Detroit Tigers blowing the series because of their bullpen. That bullpen needs help if the Tigers want to finally win a World Series. Here are four relievers they should sign.