Opinion

It all made perfect sense for Dodgers fans.

With new ownership on its way and an underwhelming pitching staff to begin the season, the presence of Roy Oswalt in free agency seemed too appealing to pass up. Having not found a place to pitch by opening day, Oswalt announced he would wait a couple of months before deciding where he would play in 2012.

The baseball gods are really testing the Los Angeles Angels' collective resolve this season.

First, the Angels had to deal with Albert Pujols' prolonged slump, which sucked the life out of their offense and was painful to watch from beginning to end. It also may or may not have cost hitting coach Mickey Hatcher his job.

One thing that the Toronto Blue Jays have shown this season is that they are consistently inconsistent.  On occasion they have looked like a team equipped to raise their play to a new level—only to follow it up with disappointing stretches against teams they should beat (teams worse than .500) or fall short against teams they are competing with for a playoff spot. 

They also haven’t been able to get on a roll.  As of May 23, they have gone on five winning streaks of two or more games followed by losing streaks of two or more games.

Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper are the future of the Washington Nationals. 

Strasburg will be the ace of a formidable starting rotation for years to come, and Bryce Harper will anchor the outfield and the lineup with his five-tool talent. The future is in good hands. 

Here are seven reasons why the Washington Nationals need to quickly sign both players to long-term contracts to ensure the successful future of the franchise.

As a devoted Detroit Tigers fan and follower, I probably should not be discussing the Cleveland Indians. But sometimes my love for the greater game of baseball takes precedence over my own biases.

Playing Rough

Something you hear a lot about from fans is the lack of an "old-school" mentality in the modern game of baseball.

When you throw a 97 MPH fastball, people pay attention.

Kyle Zimmer, a right-handed starting pitcher from San Francisco, throws gas and enters the MLB draft projected to go in the top-five picks.

Pretty incredibly considering he was a third baseman for the majority of his high school career and had logged just 21.1 innings on the mound heading into college.

I wish I had a dime for every article written about Tim Lincecum lately.  Needless to say, Giants Nation is in full freak-out mode and we're only one-quarter of the way through the 2012 season.  Well, I'm not writing about Timmy.  I've already made my predictions regarding Lincecum and I'm sticking to them.

Last year, Ike Davis played in 36 games before he suffered a freak ankle injury from a collision with David Wright.

That cost him the rest of the season.

Coming into this season, Davis was expected to put up high numbers. Thus far in 2012, he has done anything but that. 

Hitting just .161 in 137 at-bats, Davis is looking discouraged. A slow start is understandable, but it's late May already and Davis has shown very little, if any, signs of improvement.

The Cincinnati Reds have begun a resurrection of sorts.  

For the first month and a half, we watched a lineup that couldn't seem to hit when its collective life and the games, depended on it. The lineup was complemented by a starting pitching staff that seemed to only throw two decent arms out every five days.

But, if you have been watching the ol' ball club of late, you will have noticed a slight change.