David DeJesus

I know, I know.

The Braves are a first place team with good vibrations all around.

They've been one of the best teams in the game since the beginning of May and really lack any substantial holes in their line-up.

But...I like to think ahead.

And, right now, I'm thinking about how Frank Wren and Company can improve the National League's top run-scoring offense.

There are a couple of different routes the Braves could pursue to achieve this.

As we inch closer and closer to Major League Baseball's trade deadline at the end of July, the rumors will start flying fast and furious.

There have already been a few rumors shot down in the last few weeks, including one that was about to send an ace to a team that wouldn't have any way of picking up his remaining salary because of their financial trouble.

Why some of these rumors get started is beyond me, but that's what makes baseball, and the trade deadline, fun.

There have many reports which have Kansas City Royals outfielder David DeJesus being available in trade. And why not? The Royals stink and they can do just as badly without DeJesus as they can with him*.

*That reminds me of a story in which Ralph Kiner, then a power hitting right-handed hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates, going into Branch Rickey's (then GM of the Pirates) office before the 1953 season to talk contract. Kiner had just led the National League again in home runs (he would lead the NL in home runs his first seven seasons!).

Alex Gordon’s make-or-break 2010 season has been derailed .

What we know right now is that there is one team pursuing Matt Holliday.

Despite Scott Boras' best antics, everyone that follows baseball knows only the St. Louis Cardinals are in the running for Holliday.

Why hasn't Holliday signed yet?

Boras.

Boras won't let Holliday sign until they have exhausted every option and gotten the offer they want from the Cardinals. In other words, he wants to prolong this until he gets his way.

In part two of my series of struggling franchises trying to find their way back to the top, I will look into the Kansas City Royals.

Unlike Baltimore, the Royals have had a .500 season (83-79 in 2003) within the last decade. The drawback, though, are the four seasons of 100+ losses (2002, 2004-2006).  Fortunately for Royals fans, Kansas City did not have a fourth-straight 100+ loss season in 2007. 

Kansas City entered the 2009 season with high hopes.

The 2009 MLB baseball season just started, with the Atlanta Braves playing the defending champion Phillies as we speak.

On Monday, some games to watch include the AL East showdown between my Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays, Texas plays the new-look Indians, and of course, the match-up which includes a storied rivalry, the Dodgers against the Giants.

Many changes took place during the offseason. As you know, the Yankees transformed themselves into contenders overnight, acquiring big bat Mark Teixeira, southpaw C.C Sabathia, pitcher A.J. Burnett, and Nick Swisher.