Baseball

Let's call the American League West for what it is, over. Pull out the white flag, hook it up, and raise it to the top of the flag pole and let it fly proudly.

That's the note that I would write to the front office of both the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It's time for these two teams to call it a season, pack it in, and start planning their off season capabilities.

Gio Gonzalez was a first round draft pick in 2004, so his road to fantasy relevance has been slow to develop.  Finally, at 24 years old (he’ll turn 25 in September), he’s achieved it, putting up a solid 2010 season with these stats:

10 Wins
141.0 Innings
3.51 ERA
1.32 WHIP
114 Strikeouts (7.3 K/9)
62 Walks (4.0 BB/9)
.287 BABIP

The question is whether Gonzalez is a pitcher worth owning, or whether his success has been an aberration.

With the final out of a very long game against the San Diego Padres where the Diamondbacks were drummed 10-1, the team gathered their things and headed to the airport to make the trip to Milwaukee for a three-game series with the Brewers after which they will travel to the nation’s capital for a three-game series with the Nationals.

Walt Jocketty, once again, has reached back into his past and grabbed a veteran to bring into the Cincinnati Reds organization.  This time, he has traded away Chris Dickerson to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jim Edmonds. 

Edmonds, now playing for his seventh Major League ballclub in his 16th year as a major leaguer, was hitting .286 with eight home runs and 20 RBI in 73 games for the Brewers.

As I’m sure you know, today’s major league pitchers can barely hit a lick. 

The rise of the designated hitter, not only in the American League but also it’s wide-spread use in the minors and in the college game, is perhaps the biggest factor for the demise of pitchers who cannot hit. But it’s hardly the only one.

I’m sure you have heard a lot about 2010 being the year of the pitchers. Look at this chart below showing the league averages since the year 2000. So far in 2010, every category is at it’s lowest point since 2000.

This is the day a lot of people have been waiting for since the decision came down that the Texas Rangers would go up for auction. At this moment it's a two team race, so to speak, as to who will be the new owners of the Texas Rangers. The two teams are groups headed by Attorney Chuck Greenberg and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan up against Houston businessman Jim Crane and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban .

Mark Kiszla is at it again.

It’s harsh to beat up on a player just after he gets hurt, but after watching the video of the big collision in today’s Indians-Red Sox game, I just don’t feel as much sympathy for Santana as perhaps I should.

Santana is a great young player, and I hope the injury isn’t too serious and he recovers quickly.  That said, the injury is entirely his own fault.

The trade deadline has come and gone and the Reds stood still, opting to go forward with what they have.