Baseball

Theo Epstein’s introduction as President of the Chicago Cubs was impressive.  You won’t see a sports executive as glib and articulate as the 38 year-old Epstein. When it comes to “winning the press conference,” few have won as convincingly as he did.  Some six months later, what stands out most from that October morning is Epstein’s proclamation that “every opportunity to win is sacred.” 

Magglio Ordonez is retiring after playing 15 seasons in the major leagues. He was a six-time All-Star during his time with the White Sox and Tigers. He won a batting title, three Silver Sluggers and was the runner-up for the 2007 American League Most Valuable Player award.

The New York Mets have done surprisingly well so far this season, and as June nears, there are whispers of a playoff run.

They have the tools at the plate. David Wright has an all-multiverse batting average of .373, and the Mets have been pleasantly surprised by the output of Mike Baxter, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Daniel Murphy and others once considered little more than fill-ins.

The 2012 Boston Red Sox season is not going to come down to whether Roy Oswalt is going to pitch half a season or not.

The flaws that this team has—for whatever playoff run they may make—are harder to fix than by just picking up an expensive pitcher for twenty starts in a league he is not familiar with.

What can you really say about the whole Roy Oswalt signing with the Texas Rangers scenario other than thank God its over?

The rich certainly got richer in this case.

Stanford ace right-hander Mark Appel is likely to be the first overall pick of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft for the Houston Astros next week.  I scouted Appel at Sunken Diamond back in March when Stanford hosted USC.

I sat behind home plate and charted each of his 113 pitches using the stadium radar gun.  Appel threw a complete game, allowing six hits, two walks, and two runs, while striking out seven.  He induced eleven grounders, eight flyballs and six line drives. 

The task of catching the Texas Rangers has just become more difficult for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as they were forced to place Jered Weaver on the 15-day disabled list.

The move happens less than 24 hours after Weaver was forced to leave the game against the New York Yankees.

The American League may as well take the rest of the season off. There's no point in trying to win the AL pennant this year. The Texas Rangers have already secured it.

The Rangers, in case you haven't been paying attention, have been the Junior Circuit's best team all season. They may have hit a rough patch earlier this month, but they're going to end May with the best record in the AL and the best run differential of any team in the majors. 

Mark Bowman of MLB.com has confirmed what the Atlanta Braves faithful have been hoping for recently when he reported Kris Medlen has been optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett to prepare for starting duties.

He will likely need two or three starts in order to get stretched out for the rotation.

Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy's breakout season is expected to be put on hold for four to six weeks while he recovers from a "boxer's fracture." Bernie Augustine of The New York Daily News passed along the timetable on his recovery.