MLB

The Chicago Cubs lost Tuesday night to the Detroit Tigers 5-4 when Ryan Raburn hit a two run walk-off home run off closer Kevin Gregg.

If it seems like every Cubs' game is close, it's because they are. The Cubs are 34-33 and are only 3.5 games back in the NL Central division. Plus, this team are 21-13 at home, continuing the positive trend from last season of playing well at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field.

Finally, the news coming out of Boston is good. After dominating the MLB with an 18-3, 2.90 ERA performance in 2008, the Red Sox knew something was wrong with Dice K this year.

Coming back from another great performance at the World Baseball Classic, which has been thoroughly dominated by Japan in it's two contests since inception, Red Sox fans were hopeful that Dice K would be able to build on last year's numbers.

The only problem was the World Baseball Classic.

As we approach the halfway point of the campaign for the Jays, it's time to take a look at the numbers.

It's been a weird, weird, season. Expectations were pretty low for Toronto coming into this year. Yet they've turned potential disaster into first place, back to potential disaster, and finally into real competitors.

The numbers say it all for Toronto, and the following ones will define the remainder of the season for the Blue Jays.

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Manny Ramirez is no stranger to controversy, and now is part of a new one that has gained popularity in recent days. Only this time, it is not his fault.

As everyone knows, Ramirez is currently serving a 50-game suspension for violating major league baseball's illegal substance policy. Ramirez's suspension will end on July 3, barring any rain-outs before then.

The MLB amateur draft was first held in 1965. There's been some big hits and big misses chosen, especially in the top ten.

The list includes Hall of Famers, future Hall of Famers, and you can tell that it tails off near the end of the top-ten.

Here are the best players chosen by their pick number. Do you agree or disagree? I've also listed honorable mentions, although some of the pick numbers do not have any. Enjoy.

Travis Ishikawa

Ishikawa’s first base defense has been astonishing to start the season.  He has been as close to perfect as you can get.  I checked out some of his defensive numbers on baseballreference.com.

If the Cleveland Indians were a company on Wall Street, they would be looking for a bail out.

In business, as your company approaches the end of a quarter and earnings are set to report, often times you take an opportunity to perform a SWOT analysis.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. 

This is a continuous improvement exercise. I don't think anyone would argue that after two and a half months, the Indians are desperately in need of improvement.

No doubt about it, the A.L. West is one of the worst divisions in baseball.  Good thing for Mariners fans: The M's are 2.5 games back in the division, trailing only the Rangers and Angels through the first half of the season. 

Fans cannot look at just the negatives surrounding the ball club. With the negatives there are also many positives following the Mariners into the second half of the season.

One of the many things going the Mariners way is their starting pitching.

As the Major League Baseball season is creeping towards the halfway point, division standings are becoming more important by the day.

With the mid-season hot stove heating up, here are 12 players that will likely be traded.
It's a possibillity that not all of these players will be traded, but its a safe bet that at least some of these players will be traded.
You probably won't agree with all my selections, and this slideshow is in no particular order.