Horsehide Chronicles

Who's the hottest pitcher in the majors? There's Yu Darvish, the Texas Rangers right-hander who nearly threw a perfect game his first time out. Or maybe it's Atlanta Braves lefty Paul Maholm, who is 3-0 and has thrown 20.1 scoreless innings.

Last year, R.A. Dickey was a walking, talking reminder of one of the coolest realities of baseball: Anyone can excel at it. Even knuckleballers in their late-30s who have spent the majority of their careers fending off irrelevancy.

Now here we are in 2013, and Dickey is a walking, talking reminder of one of the not-so-great realities of baseball: Glory in this sport can be fleeting. Dreams that come true can come untrue in a hurry.

The Chicago Cubs announced on Monday that they have reached an agreement with the city of Chicago on a proposed $500 million renovation to Wrigley Field, the team's home ballpark since 1916.

There are still some details that need to be worked out, but Cubs owner Tom Ricketts went ahead and used the deal as a platform for a bold promise.

Another week filled with injuries to key players gives us the opportunity to speculate away at how the affected teams will fill the new holes on their roster. 

If you think the New York Yankees look different this year, just wait a while. There's going to be a ton of turnover in The Bronx over the next couple years.

There's clearly something wrong with Roy Halladay. Your eyes say so, and so do the gory numbers.

The Philadelphia Phillies' veteran right-hander has made two starts so far in 2013, and neither of them have been good. His totals: 7.1 innings pitched, 12 hits, six walks, three home runs, one hit batsman and two wild pitches.

It was all about the Los Angeles Angels' bats heading into the 2013 season. Thanks to Tuesday's news, it's going to be even more about their bats going forward.

The first trade of a major league player in the 2012 regular season didn’t take place until April 21 when the Cubs traded Marlon Byrd to the Red Sox for reliever Michael Bowden and a player to be named later.

The Astros got the ball rolling earlier in 2013 by acquiring Travis Blackley from the A’s for Triple-A outfielder Jake Goebbert on April 4. Exciting, right?

The Chicago Cubs are ready to spruce up Wrigley Field. When they do, they'll be looking to usher in an entirely new era of Cubs baseball.

But first, the news itself.

We're all baseball fans here, so I feel safe in assuming that we all love stud rookies. They give us the warm fuzzies.

On the flip side, I also feel safe in assuming that we all fear what could happen to our favorite rookies. That dreaded phrase: "sophomore slump."

[Ominous piano keys. Thunder. Wolves howling. Floorboards creaking.]