Opinion

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This week saw The Milwaukee Brewers drop former first baseman prospect Brad Nelson in favor of uber prospect Mat Gamel. Why is this so important? Well, because the Seattle Mariners front office picked up Brad Nelson pretty quickly.

You might be thinking that we do not need any more first base (or yikes…outfield?) “prospects” sitting in AAA. Chris Shelton, Brian LeHair, Mike Carp, and now Jeff Clement are already manning that bag in Tacoma among the left field and designated hitter positions.

It’s officially time to fear the Texas Rangers, although it has taken almost the whole decade. There is not a single reason why the Rangers are in first place right now, it’s a combination of everything. That’s the sign of a winning team, and a team to fear.

Pitching is the most important thing in baseball. No fan would disagree with that. Everyone loves to see the long ball, but the long ball doesn’t matter if the other team scores.

This article originally appeared at the Baltimore Sports Report.

Finally, after many weeks of watching and waiting for the left field dilemma in Baltimore to subside, we watch as youngster Nolan Reimold rushes out onto the field. 

On May 5 of this year, the New York Yankees were hurt badly when they lost starting catcher Jorge Posada to injury. Posada already had five homers and 20 RBI and was looking good as new.

This injury wasn't a surprise, though, because Posada has been banged up for a while. 

But there was no need to worry, as the Yankees had a dependable backup in Jose Molina. 

And for two days, Molina started until he went down himself with a quad injury on May 8.

The carousel of Red Sox shortstops have not stopped since 2004. 

When whining Nomar Garciaparra was shipped out to Chicago, in the most daring, yet greatest trade in the Theo Epstein era, the Sox have never solidified the position. 

The Sox got in return Orlando Cabrera, who revitalized the Sox and sent them their first World Championship in 86 years.  Cabrera's defense, range, and overall great clubhouse demeanor was pivotal to the Sox.  But, he was a free agent and the Sox let him go.

Since then, the Sox have seen the likes of:

Before the 2009 season began and when there was hope that Noah Lowry would pitch this year, I wrote a column comparing which pitcher, Lowry or Jonathan Sanchez, would be the better option for the fifth starter spot.

With Lowry missing the previous year because of arm injury after arm injury, it would be a serious accomplishment for him to not just win the final spot in the Giants' rotation, but to just put up a serious fight for it.

I’ve heard some pretty terrible excuses in my day: “I forgot;" “The devil made me do it;” and “Baby, I was drunk.”

But to blame an umpire review on an injury? That, my friends, is a first. And it’s total crap.

New York Yankees reliever Brian Bruney cursed an 8 1/2-minute intermission during an umpires’ video review for causing a strained flexor muscle in his right elbow.

White Sox and Astros players are bundled up to the point where no part of their skin can be seen. What can be seen, however, are their nerves with each breathe they take blowing into the air.

Before each batter steps to the plate he rubs his hands frantically and with each crack of the bat a player's painful grimace can be see as he scampers toward the bases.

The Chicago White Sox are playing really bad baseball right now.

Their offense is as bad as it gets in the majors right now. As a team, they rank 26th in baseball in batting average (.246), on-base percentage (.315) and slugging (.391). They rank 27th in runs scored (136) and total hits (303). Through 37 games, they've been held to two or fewer runs 15 times. They have been shut out six times.

There is only one player on the entire roster, no matter the number of at bats, that is hitting over .300 (Paul Konerko, .316).