Opinion

It's no secret the Miami Marlins were in heavy pursuit of free agent slugger Albert Pujols this past offseason and dangled nearly $200 million for 10 years to get him signed, sealed and delivered to sunny South Beach. 

When Major League Baseball finalized its decision to incorporate a second wild card berth into the league's postseason format, everyone realized that things were going to be very different going forward.

The second wild card is already starting to make its presence felt. We're still many weeks away from seeing teams lock up postseason berths, but we're really not that far off from MLB's trade deadline. The existence of the second wild card is going to make things even crazier than usual as we get closer to July 31.

The Yankees bullpen is not looking too good right now.

First, Joba Chamberlain with the dislocated ankle. Then, Mariano Rivera with the torn ACL,

Although the Boston Red Sox have won their last four games, they currently sit in last place in the AL East with a 16-19 record. Many pundits have counted them out for the season and expect they’ll finish around .500 or below.

The reality is that while the Red Sox have gotten off to a slow start this season, they will be competing for the top spot in the division well into September.

Manny Ramirez's 50-game ban from the MLB has almost run its course, and the enigmatic slugger is on schedule to return to the field, as a member of the Oakland A's, on May 30th. 

Jane Lee, Oakland A's beat reporter for MLB.com, tweeted out the info:

Release says Manny "is scheduled to play his first game with the A’s May 30 in Minnesota."

It's been a struggle for Los Angeles Angels ace Dan Haren this year. His fastball velocity is down, and his ERA is up. He just hasn't looked like himself all season.

It doesn't help that the Angels have had a hard time scoring runs with Haren on the mound this season. In fact, they've been shut out in each of his last three starts, and they've scored three runs or fewer for him in seven of his eight starts.

The New York Yankees may have left spring training with questions about their starting rotation, but the bullpen was considered a strength.

How many teams could afford to have Rafael Soriano, who saved 45 games for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2010, as their seventh-inning go-to guy?

The Tigers are 17-18, so it's time for the armchair-general managers to come out of the floorboards and call for the heads of Jim Leyland, Lloyd McClendon, David Dombrowski–-you name it.

Raul Ibanez has been a pleasant surprise so far for the New York Yankees.

Many fans thought Ibanez would be an automatic out entering the regular season, as his spring training left much to be desired.

Those fans couldn't have been more wrong.

After Tuesday night's two home run performance against the Rays, Ibanez now has five home runs and 16 RBI on the season.

Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton became the 16th player in Major League Baseball to hit four home runs in a single game on Tuesday night. The assault by Hamilton came against the Baltimore Orioles and was a majestic display of his power—similar to his performance in the Home Run Derby a couple seasons ago.