Opinion

Despite the ups and downs during his time as manager in Cincinnati, Dusty Baker deserves to win the 2012 National League Manager of the Year.

After narrowly missing out on the award when he led the Reds to the NL Central title in 2010, Baker should receive some recognition for his work with the team this season. 

The New York Yankees were supposed to see a familiar face out on the mound on Tuesday night for the first time in a couple of months, but Mother Nature had other plans.

Ryan Howard's highly anticipated return following his devastating Achilles tear was the talk across Philadelphia for quite sometime, but once Howard took to the field, it was clear that he was not same player he once was. The injury has definitely left a hitch in Ryan's step and the Phillies are left with a player they owe a lot of money to in the coming years.

On Tuesday, the Toronto Blue Jays agreed to a two-year player development contract with the Buffalo Bisons of the International League (AAA). The players will leave Las Vegas and begin playing baseball in Buffalo as soon as next year. The contract runs through to 2014.

The Miami Marlins signed Heath Bell in the offseason as part of their expensive and aggressive push to win in their new stadium for 2012.

If anything has gone over worse than the dancing Marlins statue in center field, it has been Heath Bell's first year in Florida.

As recently as a couple weeks ago, nobody could touch Seattle Mariners ace righty Felix Hernandez. In 12 starts between the end of June and the end of August, King Felix compiled a 1.42 ERA and pitched five complete-game shutouts. One of those, of course, was the 23rd perfect game in MLB history.

When August turned into September, King Felix looked like he was a shoo-in for his second AL Cy Young Award in the last three years. All he had to do was keep doing what he had been. Not exactly a whole lot to task given his track record.

Aside from the Pittsburgh Pirates actually being in a wild-card race, there wasn't much of interest in Monday night's Chicago Cubs game. Well, aside from the super fan getting super inappropriate behind home plate. 

If you were the Texas Rangers and had a choice between OF Josh Hamilton and SP Zack Greinke, who would you choose? This is the dilemma the Rangers could have in the coming 2012-2013 offseason.

In an ideal world, Texas would be able to re-sign Hamilton and still sign free-agent ace Greinke. The Rangers do have a payroll of about $120.5 million in 2012, and success in the playoffs would bring in more revenue.

Prior to blowing out his elbow in 2010, Kris Medlen was 5-0 as a starter. Since his return to the starting rotation this year, Medlen is 6-0 in seven starts. An 11-0 record over the last two seasons as a starter is pretty impressive. But, just how impressive is Kris Medlen?

Most free agents who sign with the New York Yankees arrive in the Bronx to find a red carpet and a troupe of trumpeters awaiting them. Those who forsake their old teams in favor of pinstripes tend to be treated as royalty.