Opinion

The New York Mets' Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey told the New York Daily News on Tuesday that they would in so many words welcome Seattle pitcher Cliff Lee with open arms.

Before the season I lamented time and time again about the lack of power in the Chicago White Sox lineup. After all, how can any batting order that on occasion features both Omar Vizquel and Mark Kotasy in the top five part of the lineup succeed?

Well, seeing is believing. And after these past 11 games, the White Sox have proven this Doubting Thomas wrong.

Before this stretch of games where the Sox have gone from sellers to possible buyers, they ranked fourth in home runs. Not just fourth in the American League, but fourth in all of baseball.

The time has come for the National League Central Division to hit the panic button. Matt Holliday is on fire, and there is no sign of the fire marshal. 

After signing the biggest contract in St. Louis Cardinals history, Matt Holliday got off to a slow and inconsistent start in 2010. 

On June 18, Holliday discovered his long-lost swing that had provided enough consistency and power to land him a $120 million contract. 

In his last four games, Holliday is 11-for-17 (.647 avg) with five home runs and 10 RBI. 

Stephen Strasburg is one of the most hyped pitchers baseball has seen in a long time. So far, he's shown his dominance in his first three outings, and seems to be living up to the hype. In fact, some columnists, such as MLB.com's Mike Bauman, are saying that Strasburg should be in the All-Star game on July 13.

The Boston Red Sox will return to the site of their last World Championship tonight to open a set with the Colorado Rockies, and they will do so without the services of J.D. Drew, who was apparently placed on the disabled list today after tweaking a hamstring last week.

Consider that “the other shoe.”

While Angels’ southpaw Scott Kazmir struggled with a 7.20 and 5.97 ERA in April and May respectively, the 26-year-old has seemingly salvaged his season with a deceiving June.

In 23 innings (four starts) this month, Kazmir is 4-0 with a 2.35 ERA. What most fail to see is his 1.35 WHIP and 13/15 K/BB ratio, both of which raise red flags.

It's almost impossible to explain the true essence of the authentic Los Angeles Dodgers fan. The average baseball follower around the league has a stereotypical opinion about a genuine Dodger supporter, but that average follower doesn't understand at all. True Dodger fans get hooked; there's a clean-cut, majestic wholesomeness about them. They Think Blue, Bleed Blue, and they'll talk until they're Blue in the face.

All that being said, that same Dodger enthusiast is impatient. Successful performance is a must.

The Yankees have a very inconsistent bullpen this year. Take a look at some of the main culprits.

Joba Chamberlain: 5.52 ERA 

Chad Gaudin: 6.89 ERA

David Robertson: 5.48 ERA

Chan Ho Park: 6.86 ERA

It is obvious that the Yankees weakest spot on the team is the bullpen, and that has to improve if they plan on going anywhere this October.

As I was taking in the hideous stylings of one Allan James Burnett last night at Chase Field, I thought it would be fun to gauge the A.J. Love on some sure-to-be completely rational New York Yankee message boards.

The struggling right-hander had allowed three homers and five runs through one inning against the last-place Diamondbacks. Burnett, I reasoned, would be a periphery topic at the very least.

It turns out that Yankees fans—even-keeled lot that they are—were not happy with their supposed No. 2 starter.

The marquee pitching names of the 2010 trade deadline seem to be all of the talk. The final destinations of starters Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt have been under the microscope for weeks now. The Mets seem to be in line to make a move on a starter to help solidify their rotation.

There is the criticism over a deal for Lee or Oswalt that the Mets would be dealing far too many prospects that have a future with club.