Best Slideshows - Team

The Oakland Athletics have a few players that are deserving of an All-Star invitation, including Kurt Suzuki, Ryan Sweeney, and Andrew Bailey.

Despite how great all of these players are playing right now, Trevor Cahill is the most deserving of any.

The 22-year-old right-hander is from the Southern California area and should be returning there to represent the A's in Angel Stadium. Cahill is 7-2 on the year with an impressive 2.88 ERA.

Of his 12 starts, 10 have been "quality starts," and the team has won nine of the games started by Cahill.

Through his years in the minor leagues, San Diego Padres officials were excited about young Kyle Blanks.

He was a monster of a young man, could hit the longest home runs, but could do something that a whole lot of people wouldn't expect from someone his size, he was fast.

Coming into his first major league season in 2009, the Padres had high hopes for Blanks and what he brought to the lineup. They were hoping that having someone of his size and talent would provide some form of protection in the lineup for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.

As of Monday night, the Texas Rangers are four-and-a-half games in front of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the race for the AL West crown, and don't look to be slowing down any time soon.

What's surprising about that is the fact that the Rangers currently have the fourth-lowest payroll in all of baseball, just in front of the Oakland A's, San Diego Padres, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

What has impressed me about this ball club is that it is doing all of this in the midst of the team going through bankruptcy proceedings.

I wrote a piece on Wednesday night about how the Seattle Mariners traded Cliff Lee to the Minnesota Twins for Minor League catcher Wilson Ramos, left-handed pitcher Brian Duensing, and a low-level minor league outfielder.

The trade disintegrated when Ramos got hurt last Saturday playing for Triple-A Rochester.

Starting pitcher Andy Oliver will make his big league debut for the Tigers tonight against the Atlanta Braves.

Oliver, who Detroit took in the second round of the 2009 MLB Draft out of Oklahoma State, has been stellar with the Double-A Erie Seawolves. In his 14 starts, he has a 6-4 record with an ERA of 3.61 and 70 strikeouts.

Oliver has been moved up partially in response to starting pitcher Rick Porcello's sophomore slump. As a result, Porcello was recently sent down to Triple-A Toledo.

Take a peek at the San Francisco Giants' active roster and you'll see a curious thing. You'll see Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey checking in at a green 23 years of age—the Kung Fu Panda's birthday is coming up in August whereas Gerald Demp the Third just had his in March.

There's also newbie reliever Dan Runzler, who's recently turned a grizzled 25.

The second place San Francisco Giants are good enough to win the National League West as is.

Yes, with a pitching staff that features two Cy Young candidates, nobody is denying that.

But to make a serious run in the post-season, the Giants are going to need some additional help.

Ranked No. 19 in home runs and No. 24 in runs batted in, San Francisco can't continue to expect flawless pitching from its staff.

To say it’s been a roller-coaster season for the fellas from Flushing would be an understatement.

Jerry Manuel’s firing appeared to be a sure thing six weeks ago.

While Angels’ southpaw Scott Kazmir struggled with a 7.20 and 5.97 ERA in April and May respectively, the 26-year-old has seemingly salvaged his season with a deceiving June.

In 23 innings (four starts) this month, Kazmir is 4-0 with a 2.35 ERA. What most fail to see is his 1.35 WHIP and 13/15 K/BB ratio, both of which raise red flags.

For as long as I can remember, the Twins have been a small market team. Rare were blockbuster trades or multi-year signings for the Minnesota teams of the past few decades.

All of that changed this season. With a new stadium expected to bring a revenue increase, and an owner who isn't afraid to spend some cash, the Twins had one of their most expensive offseasons in franchise history. By bringing in JJ Hardy, Orlando Hudson, and Clay Condrey, as well as extending Carl Pavano and Joe Mauer, the Twins gave a clear message to their fans: We're no longer a small market.