Opinion

The Los Angeles Angels' Albert Pujols has been many things in his brilliant MLB career: a three-time MVP, a 10-time All-Star and two-time world champion.

Now, he may be adding another, far less flattering label: albatross.

Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez or Nick Castellanos—one of them has to sit. Who's it going to be?

A month ago, that would have been an easy question. Martinez and Cabrera are the veteran backbone of the Detroit Tigers offense. Castellanos, at age 24, is a formerly hyped prospect who made positive strides last season but is thin in the track-record department.

There is no rule in baseball—unwritten or otherwise—that precludes two teams from making a trade before Memorial Day. Lest we forget it was only last year that Atlanta and San Diego agreed to a seven-player swap involving All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel the night before Opening Day.

It's hard out here for an ace.

Taijuan Walker made his MLB debut in 2013. But as the Seattle Mariners entered the 2016 season, they were still waiting for him to arrive.

By that, we mean arrive in the big-picture sense—as in, deliver on his considerable promise and start making opposing hitters look foolish.

The Washington Nationals have decided to count on a guy who's traditionally been hard to count on.

They could be glad they did.

CHICAGO — Imagine if there were a way, on every New England Patriots possession, to prevent Tom Brady from throwing the football. Or if, somehow, a defense could find a loophole in basketball’s rules that ensured Stephen Curry couldn’t touch the ball on every offensive possession.

Both would be sound strategies. But such strategies would also hurt the appeal of those sports.

We want to see the best play. Watching opposing teams prevent that doesn’t make for great theater.

Finally, over the weekend, the New York Yankees generated a little excitement. Finally, Yankee Stadium had some life in back-to-back wins over the Boston Red Sox.

You'd have thought Aroldis Chapman was on the mound.

For 10 big league seasons, Ryan Braun has worn uniforms that said only "Milwaukee" or "Brewers" across the front.

Before the 2016 MLB trade deadline slides past, that could change.

Yes, it's a little early to talk trades. Chances are that even clubs with zero shot at the playoffs and assets to unload will wait until the heat of summer to wheel and deal.

They don't hand out trophies in early May.

No one understands that truism better than the average Chicago Cubs fan. A 107-year-and-counting championship drought is bound to feature more than a few hot starts.