Opinion

The pointless moaning about whether or not general manager Brian Sabean can build a winner in San Francisco has grown tiresome. There has also been whining about whether club ownership is willing to pay for the type of club that can actually succeed.

There's no reason to rehash every personnel transaction under Sabean's reign. The 2010 Giants, clearly, could use a power hitter—ideally one who can play the outfield.

17 years of futility and losing, and it will likely become 18—possibly 19.

Yet I am still faithful, and I am not embarrassed whatsoever about rooting for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Some people in Pittsburgh have moved on to larger-market teams such as the Red Sox and Yankees (I have been rooting for the Pirates and Red Sox since birth; I am not a bandwagon-jumper).

Coming into the 2010 Season, the Sacramento River Cats seemed destined to dominate. They were loaded with potent bats and talented pitchers.

Their 21-27 record as we near the end of May isn't exactly dominant, though. In general, the pitching has performed well enough, but it's the River Cat bats that are slumping, something fans are more used to seeing in Oakland in the Spring.

Dallas McPherson, a minor league free agent signing the A's hoped might regain health and power numbers has been sitting on the D.L.

Charlie Morton has not been exactly what you would call a "good pitcher" for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season.

In fact, Morton has been something you would call a "horrible pitcher that deserves to be sent to the minors" this season.

Morton, 26, was expected to become one of the Pirates' better pitchers this season after they acquired him in the Nate McLouth trade.

The Yankees apparently have a "plan" for Phil Hughes that will take effect in the coming months, allowing him to stay within his pitching limits this season, in other words the Joba Rules turned Hughes Rules.

Joe Girardi and Dave Eiland have it set up so that they could give Hughes an extra two weeks of days off over the next two months.

The Yanks do have four scheduled days off in June, and an additional five off in July. Add the All-Star break on top of that, then yes, the Yankees plan does schedule out correctly.

To call Max Scherzer’s first eight starts of the 2010 season disastrous would be an understatement.  When you are carrying a 7.29 ERA and 1.67 WHIP, there is no one word to succinctly describe just how bad you’ve been.

With close to 50 games in the bag, some player trends are starting to mold. There are some huge surprises on the list and many big names are missing. Pujols, Howard, Fielder, A-Rod, Teixeira are all guys that missed this list.

Here are your top 10 fantasy players thus far. Four are pitchers and 6 are position players. They are not necessarily in any order. Andre Ethier has been left off the list due to injury.

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The New York Yankees are expecting starting center fielder Curtis Granderson   back for Friday's game against the visiting Cleveland Indians. It will be a welcome sight to have Granderson back, and the Yankees could use his potential power bat back in the lineup. 

The NL East is easily the most competitive division this season, and can either be the most dominant or most overrated depending on your take (I believe the former). With every team right now playing .500 baseball or better, it is easily anybody's division to take.

Yet, in spite of this, there are teams that, on the inside, need help quickly if they're going to stay competitive. Likewise, there are others that are going to be fine.

By Eric Denton - LA Angels Insider.com

I must confess—I bought into the hype this offseason.

The Seattle Mariners, coming off an 85-win 2009 season, made some serious moves in the winter.

They traded for one of the best starting pitchers in baseball in Cliff Lee, giving them one of the more formidable one-two punches along with blooming superstar Felix Hernandez.