Opinion

There was a time when Jonathan Papelbon was considered one of the elite closers in baseball, among the likes of Mariano Rivera, Joe Nathan, and Francisco Rodriguez.

Between a mid-90s fastball that could hit 98 MPH, a plus splitter, a solid change-up, and a slider of the same description, Papelbon had a deathly arsenal that he could unleash at will on opposing hitters.

In his first full year in 2006 as the Red Sox closer, Papelbon was brilliant. He threw 68.1 dominant innings, striking out 75 and walking only 13 en route to a 0.92 ERA and an All-Star selection.

The Seattle Mariners are owners of the third worst record in baseball this season, and typically when a team performs as badly as the Mariners have this season, someone has to pay for it.

In the case of the Mariners, the wrong people have paid for it. After turning the Mariners around from a 101 loss team in 2008 to an 85 win team in 2009, Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu and his coaching staff were fired Monday.

Back in the day, there was a pro wrestler who went by the moniker of The Genius. You may remember him.

As you could guess, The Genius' entire shtick was centered around his (supposed) immense level of intelligence. He wore a academic cap and graduation gown to the ring and mocked the audience with derogatory poems about the area in which their civic arena was located.

Throughout the season, the Mets bullpen situation has certainly been a sticky one. Even its formerly reliable names have not come through for the team this year.

A bullpen is comprised of pitchers who can come into a game in various situations to provide a reliable effort to help hold down the fort. The Mets haven't seen nearly enough of that this year.

Before the season started most analysts would have predicted that Lyndsey Lohan would have won an Oscar, before the NL West race would come down to the Giants and the Padres, but here it is—August—and San Francisco and San Diego were all set to square off in an NL West showdown.

It’s been about eight months and 114 games now.

Raise your hand if you’re over Curtis Granderson.

To those with arms unraised: what on earth are you waiting for?

Curtis Granderson, the smiling cherub now with the evil New York Yankees, isn’t coming back. So stop the pining.

Everyone has perfect 20/20 hindsight. I know I do.

Some think the sweep job the Cards did was in retaliation to Brandon Phillips' name calling and some are in agreement that he should have kept his mouth shut.

If he is attempting to become public enemy No. 1, he took the correct fork in the road. After his "hulkish" posturing after leveling Nationals catcher Will Nieves, he drew the ire of Pudge Rodriguez and many Washington fans.

With the news breaking on Thursday that Chipper Jones was done for the 2010 season and, potentially, his career with a torn ACL, the Braves found themselves without some sense of certainty at the hot corner for the first time in nearly sixteen years.

Mark Twain once said: "A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away.  He must have time to modify his shape."

Here is a potential opportunity for Cubs GM Jim Hendry to take advantage of a first-place team by tempting them with an injury-prone and overpaid third baseman who may interest a team like the Braves, who are trying to win a World Series in manager Bobby Cox' last season.

We all know that Hendry needs payroll flexibility and while Ramirez has had an awful season, his track record, assuming he's healthy, could actually interest another team.

Ryan Doumit is not the X-factor that the Pirates want him to be. It is that plain and simple.

Doumit is serviceable with his bat when he is a catcher. He is a defensive nightmare this year at catcher though.

They decided he should try the field and put him at first base. His .257 average, eight home runs, and 34 RBI are very average for a first baseman.