MLB

Major League Baseball is only 30 games into its season, but we already have seen interesting—and, in some cases, controversial—story lines pop up.

We all know the big headlines have been Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez being caught with performance-enhancing drugs.

But that isn't the only good—or bad, depending on your affiliation—news we have around the league.

The AL East, AL Central, and AL West have had some surprising divisional leaders up to this point.

So who is the big winner?

If you have been waiting on the return of players like Ervin Santana and Chris Carpenter, your wait is almost over.

There are a number of good pitchers who will soon be coming off of the disabled list to help out your fantasy teams. Most of them are probably owned, but if not, you can be the first to the waiver wire to place your claim on them.

Here is a list of starting pitchers who will soon be activated by their respective major league clubs:

Ervin Santana (SP, LAA)

The Monday Night Baseball game on May 12 (in which the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets) reminded me of a couple things.

Derek Lowe can pitch like an ace when needed, even if he doesn’t strike people out; he can get so many grounders it is ridiculous.

Jerry Manuel is a terrible manager. Pedro Feliciano is a lefty specialist, and Matt Diaz is a platoon player who destroys lefties. The bullpen gets the blame, but this one was on Manuel.

Over the past few years, we've learned a few things about how to handle steroid allegations in baseball.

For the sake of this argument, I'll go with my gut and assume all mentioned steroid allegations are true.

What Not To Do

Deny. Don't do it.

Baseball fans are smart and our intuition can go a long way. As a professional baseball player, your entire career has been documented by statistics and photographs.

The Pittsburgh Pirates' Barry Bonds appears pre-pubescent in comparison to the San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds.

Now that the Manny shock-waves have settled down, the latest buzz around Major League Baseball surrounds the closer for the White Sox. Bobby Jenks has freely admitted to throwing behind Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers, causing a surprisingly sharp debate on how Bud Selig and company should punish the closer.

Having watched the majority of the season series between the Sox and Rangers, I was not surprised at all by Jenks' message to the Rangers pitchers. Afterall, the Rangers pitchers had made it a point to pitch inside and hit a few Sox hitters in the process.

In October of last year, the Phillies defeated the Dodgers to win their first National League title in 15 years. You know the rest of the story.

Tonight, the Dodgers will begin a three-game visit to Citizens Bank Park, their first trip to Philadelphia since last year's NLCS.

Obviously, it's not the playoffs, but for the Phillies, it might as well be. Los Angeles comes to Philadelphia sporting a 22-11 record, good enough for the best in baseball. Meanwhile, the Phillies are mired at a game over .500 with a 15-14 record.

Prior to the season it was a foregone conclusion that David Price, unanimously considered one of the top two prospects in baseball, would be up and contributing to the Tampa Bay Rays by June.

The team was just going to send him down to the minor for a little more seasoning, despite already showcasing him on the grandest of stages. What they have, however, is a pitcher struggling at Triple-A making it nearly impossible for the team to recall him right now. 

His 2009 line is as follows:

Well, not only can the Baltimore-Washington area lay claim to cultural diversity, great seafood, and the heart of American government, but it is also home to three of the worst owners in professional sports.

Peter Angelos, Ted Lerner and Daniel Snyder (not surprisingly) - are the worst owners in all of pro sports as compiled by Sports Illustrated.