Opinion

Late Monday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers proved once again that they mean business.

Several months after signing star center fielder Matt Kemp to an eight-year, $160 million contract extension, the Dodgers came to terms with right fielder Andre Ethier on a five-year extension worth $85 million.

For the Minnesota Twins, things are stating to look up. With their win over the Cubs on Saturday, they won their fourth consecutive series—an impressive feat considering they have only one seven-series all season.

Adding a pitcher before the trade deadline can be the difference between a playoff berth and an offseason of disappointment.

There are plenty of teams in the league that will need a starting pitcher if they want to make the postseason in 2012. Fortunately for those teams, there are a few starters on the trade market who would be able to step in and make an immediate impact on the playoff race.

Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers is the best pitcher in Major League Baseball, but that doesn't mean he's a complete player.

Yes, Verlander has a filthy menu of pitches that consistently makes opposing hitters look foolish, but it's the mental aspect that continuously gets the best of him. 

Yankee fans all over the world have been waiting anxiously for the return of Brett Gardner from the disabled list.

Unfortunately, they will have to wait even longer for his return, as Gardner suffered a setback from his rehab assignment, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, feeling pain in his elbow following a minor-league game on Friday night.

The most diminutive player on the field for the Chicago Cubs is showing them where the future of the organization needs to be headed. When Theo Epstein took the job, he already had a plan in place.

The only guesswork was how do you win playing at Wrigley Field? Tony Campana has provided him with the answer.

In the past two MLB drafts, quite a few college players from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) have heard their names called.

Last year, 45 NAIA athletes (including 33 pitchers) were lucky enough to get drafted, something many baseball players can only dream of. This year, 44 players from 28 schools were drafted by 24 of MLB’s 30 professional organizations. 

After being shellacked in his May 21 start at Baltimore, Clay Buchholz looked like a pitcher better suited for the International League than the American League.

Now, after a string of excellent performances, he looks much more like the pitcher who was an All-Star and finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting in 2010. His improvement has also launched the Sox right back into contention.

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Jake Arrieta has thrown just one good game over the course of the last month and a week.

Considering that Arrieta was the Orioles' Opening Day starter, and that the young man was supposed to step up and take on the role of being the club's ace this year, that's pretty pathetic.

Remember back in May when Josh Beckett was embroiled in a PR snafu that involved an ill-timed golf outing?

He was supposed to be resting a sore lat muscle but hit the links instead. The worst part about it was that he missed a start.