Opinion

It has been a banner season for the Cincinnati Reds organization, as very few people forecasted this type of success.

With the success comes raised expectations, however.

With just a few weeks left, the Reds aren't playing very good baseball at the moment, and it's a bit concerning.

Going 5-5 in their last 10 games against teams like the Pirates, Diamondbacks, and Astros just fuels the fire for the Reds' critics who claim we are tired and have already peaked.

With less than 20 games left in the season, the NL MVP talks always begin to heat up. This season is one of the most difficult choices in many years. 

Will Albert Pujols sit atop the throne once again and win his third straight MVP award? Will his fellow all-star players knock him off the top?

Here is my list of MVP's in each division.

Sorry for the long wait! Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Joey Votto, nor any of the Cincinnati Reds, needed a hit to cut their magic number to seven on Monday afternoon as the St. Louis Cardinals were shut out by the Florida Marlins in a make-up game played due to an early August rain-out.

Lucky seven.

Yankee fans and management had been growing uneasy recently, as the state of the starting rotation heading into the final weeks of the season has helped to create as many question as it has answered.

The prospect of heading into the post-season with a starting rotation led by CC Sabathia, followed by Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett, and Javier Vazquez or Ivan Nova was enough to shake the confidence of even the most ardent supporter of the team.

Via Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated:

Joe Girardi will probably stay with the Yankees rather than go to the home state Cubs (he’s from Peoria and went to Northwestern). But if he leaves, Bobby Valentine likely would be one candidate to replace him in the Bronx.

What will it take to force Major League Baseball to finally outlaw maple bats? A player losing an eye…a brain injury…or even worse?

In Sunday’s Cubs game against the Marlins, Cubs rookie outfielder Tyler Colvin was punctured in the chest by a piece of a broken maple bat that just narrowly missed puncturing his lung.

Starting in Feburary, when spring training begins, MLB experts and fans begin their preseason predictions by selecting Division, MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year winners.

But there are many twists and turns during an MLB season.

Most of the time these predictions go sour (unless you're me who correctly predicted all four AL playoff teams and at least two NL playoff teams—once in a while a person gets lucky with these things). 

With just over a week remaining in the season, here are five storylines MLB experts and fans didn't see coming.

Tonight marks the first of four games, between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays in the Bronx.

Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto will have season-ending surgery on his right shoulder, according to MLB.com. Soto, 27, was baseball's best offensive catcher when healthy this year, and will be ready for spring training nest February. 

During the team's final two weeks, however, backup Koyie Hill will see the bulk of the playing time, according to Cubs manager Mike Quade. Here enters the controversy.

I have long believed a manager and his coaches know their players better than any fan second-guessing lineups and decisions.

One of the things that boggles my mind about the Mets coaching staff is their seeming inability to see what every fan sees.

Ask any Mets fan if David Wright should bat cleanup in the lineup and I’ll guarantee you most will say no. Wright seems to tighten up when batting fourth. He also seems to go into slumps and strikeout more from the four hole.