Baseball

During the offseason, we continually heard about three international players that teams really wanted to get their hands on: Yoenis Cespedes, Yu Darvish and Jorge Soler.

Cespedes and Darvish were both signed, but teams were unable to sign Soler until he was declared a free agent.

It's been a longtime coming, but the 20-year-old outfielder was declared a free agent this morning, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

The Major League Baseball draft is set to begin Monday, and there's still a lot for teams to figure out between now and then.

For starters, this year has no clear-cut, No. 1 overall pick, making it a crap shoot as to who will be selected with the top five picks.

But, just like everyone else, I've come up with pick-by-pick projections for every team in the draft for the first round.

While in some instances it will be similar to other people's mock drafts, there will also be a degree of difference with mine.

So, here's a look at my projections for the first round.

It's time to place your Mets (bets).

The New York Mets finally have their first no-hitter in franchise history. And it only took 51 years, 8,020 games and three ballparks to do it.

Happiness. It's a word that's been hard to come by as a New York Mets fan the past twenty or so years. Thank you, Johan Santana. 

Fans of the Milwaukee Brewers have watched many of their favorite players on the All-Star Game stage since the team came to Milwaukee in 1970.

Ever exemplifying the pure definition of the term "journeyman," Boston Red Sox center fielder Scott Podsednik has played for seven different teams in his 11 years as a professional baseball player.

Just in case you've hibernated for the past two years, let me update you on the Giants' pitching.

Jonathan Sanchez is no longer a Giant. Ryan Vogelsong has stepped in and pitched very well. Barry Zito is playing well. Brian Wilson has a beard, Sergio Romo does too, and Javier Lopez was traded to the Giants and he has played very well.

Oh, and there's also this other guy named Madison Bumgarner, and he's pretty good.

I know Boston Red Sox fans are not entirely thrilled with relief pitcher Alfredo Aceves right now.  This is understandable.

It’s been 20 long years since the Pittsburgh Pirates have finished a regular season with a winning percentage of over .500. However, after the first 51 games in the 2012 regular season, the Pirates are one game over that magical number with a record of 26-25.

Could this be the year that Pirates fans have been dreaming of, the year that a once proud franchise finally finishes with a winning season? 

After 50 years and a grand total of 8,019 games before it, the New York Mets have finally tossed a no-hitter, and I am proud to say that I was in attendance.  

The scene was electric at Citi Field as Johan Santana dazzled for nine straight innings in front of a crowd that was 27,069 strong.