Opinion

Hardly a day goes by when I am not fully engrossed in baseball at this time of the year. Such was the situation once again last Wednesday night, when I settled down to watch Wednesday Night Baseball before the Giants-Dodgers game. It happened to be a Steven Strasburg start, which got me excited. However, I found the game to be rather ruined by the announcers, who were singing the praises of Strasburg to the effect of a host of elderly grandparents ogling over the beauty of a newborn child. I felt this similar sense of disgust this Saturday night while watching baseball tonight.

After splitting the first two games in Cleveland against the Indians, the New York Yankees have shortened their lead in the AL East to just two games over the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays are on fire right now. Starting pitcher Matt Garza pitched the franchise’s first no-hitter on Monday night against the Tigers and Tampa followed it up with another win. The Rays have won their last four in a row.

Houston Astros general manager Ed Wade may feel like he’s the only one frustrated surrounding the Delino DeShields situation and the fact the team’s No. 8 pick has yet to sign a contract.

But he's far from being alone, and fans have every reason to be worried as well—especially if history repeats itself.

With baseball's trade deadline fast approaching, rumors are swirling about potential deals, as they are every year in Boston.

The Red Sox Sox currently sit 5.5 games behind Tampa Bay for the wild card spot and 7.5 behind the Yankees in the AL East.

The gap is by no means insurmountable, and the Sox would sure benefit from a big bat or depth at, well, virtually every spot on the roster.

The word on the street this morning is that the Nationals would remove first baseman Adam Dunn from the trade market if he would give the team an informal agreement about a contract that could be hammered out over the next few months.

It's just past the Major League Baseball All-Star break. Here's a roundtable featuring five columnists that are fans of each team in the American League East division.

The writers are Stephen Meyer (New York Yankees), Jonathan Slotter (Tampa Bay Rays), Amanda Bruno (Boston Red Sox), Jeff Wahl (Toronto Blue Jays), and Zachary Ball (Baltimore Orioles).

*Note that the stats are through two weeks ago.

1. Who has been the best player in the AL East?

SM: Robinson Cano.

The Washington Nationals scratched Stephen Strasburg from his start tonight at home against the Atlanta Braves, when Strasburg couldn’t “get loose” in the bullpen before the game. 

The people in attendance at the game booed loudly when the decision to pull Strasburg was announced, which isn’t surprising when you consider that one-third of the fans likely bought tickets for that game only because Strasburg was scheduled to start.  Nonetheless, it was absolutely the right move for the Nationals to make.

If you haven’t already heard, young Marlins star Chris Coghlan may require surgery after he tore the meniscus in his left knee while applying a shaving cream pie to the face of teammate Wes Helms during a postgame TV interview.  Here’s the video .

The only thing positive you can say about this injury is that at least it isn’t a cover-up for even stupider, more reprehensible cause of injury.

Jason Heyward has been under intense scrutiny since the moment he set foot on a major league field. This intensified one at-bat later, when he hit his first major league home run.

He got off to a good start, but as pitchers began to learn that he would chase a low breaking pitch, he cooled off a bit. He made the appropriate adjustments, however, and was National League Rookie of the Month for both April and May.

Joe Girardi has been a name thrown around the Chicago Cubs organization like a visiting team's home run at Wrigley Field. 

And with the Cubs always looking for the big name rather than the right choice, it wouldn't surprise anyone if they were to get him as the skipper for 2011.

There is just one problem.

Girardi is one of the most overrated managers in all of baseball. He will not only cost the Cubs a pretty penny, but wins as well.

But he won manager of the year four years ago...