Preview/Prediction

On Wednesday, the Atlanta Braves completed a four-player deal with the Chicago Cubs to bring first baseman Derrek Lee to Atlanta.

Atlanta gave up three pitchers in the deal to a pitching-deficient club; two were righties, and one was a lefty.

The trade beckoned a question within the minds of the Atlanta faithful: What about Troy Glaus?

Both the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates will have something to play for as the teams begin a three-game series tonight in Pittsburgh.

The Mets, of course, just want to win two of three in order to win an NL road series. They haven't done that this season, nor have they won consecutive NL road games.

The Pirates just want to win, period. Pittsburgh enters tonight's game with a record of 40-81, the worst mark in the majors. Their next loss will clinch them their 18th consecutive losing season dating back to 1993.

The Boston Red Sox agreed to terms on deals with draftees Anthony Ranaudo and Brandon Workman days before the deadline on Monday.  This is very big news, as a deal with Ranaudo was in question for most of Monday.  

The Red Sox selected Ranaudo 39th overall in June's draft, which was considered to be a steal by many.  The six-foot-seven former LSU pitcher was thought of as a top prospect coming into his junior year, but his season was marred by elbow issues, which dropped him to 39th.  

In sports or life, as an individual or as a team once you become a champion is beyond satisfying.

After many failures through dedication and hard work the sense of relief must be surreal.

New York Yankee fans have been waiting patiently for Curtis Granderson to figure himself out and it was well worth the wait.

Presently, the hardest stretch of the regular season is well underway for teams in contention, making the Yankees timing for heading into crisis-mode a serious concern.

The Boston Red Sox will have quite a few issues to address this off season.  While their offense has been a nice surprise this year, they still need to improve if they want to compete with the Yankees and Rays in the East. 

The strength of this team was supposed to be their pitching staff however, it has been very inconsistent.  This rotation was expected to be the best in baseball, but in reality, it has been average.  Not to mention the bullpen has been a complete disaster.

HOUSTON: The Mets will continue their four-game series in Houston tonight, seeking to win back-to-back road games. The last time they accomplished the feat was June 17-18 against the Indians and Yankees.

More importantly, the Mets need to win two more games in this series to secure their first NL road series win of 2010. Yes, that's right, they have only won two Interleague road series this season.

Fresh off an unacceptable loss to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon, the New York Yankees arrived back home to face the Detroit Tigers for a four-game set.

Instead of keeping the Tampa Bay Rays at bay, the Yankees lost to the Tigers 3-0, but that is just the icing on the cake.

With the playoff races heating up, and everything starting to take shape, I am here to put in my opinion on who will win each MLB division, who will win each pennant, and who will win the Fall Classic.

The only division in the MLB right now with possibly a clear outlook is the AL West, but anything can happen.

I'll keep it short and sweet, so here we go.

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Jon Niese hasn't gotten much run support lately, and the Mets will try to turn that around tonight.

Each of Niese's last two starts have been identical: pitch great ball, and get a no-decision for the effort. In both starts against the Phillies and Rockies, he went seven innings and allowed one run.

Both times the Mets bullpen blew a one-run lead in the eighth. It hasn't only been Niese not getting run support lately, but he's been the biggest culprit. He's only 7-5 this season and he should have at least 10 wins if not more.