Fan News

Right now, the only things casual baseball fans probably know about Chase Whitley are that he is a part of the New York Yankees farm system and that his name is sort of close to Chase Utley. 

At the very least, they should (hopefully) know the latter.

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp had a stellar 2011 season.  He hit .324 with 39 home runs, 126 RBI and 40 stolen bases.  Along with winning the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, Kemp was runner-up in the National League Most Valuable Player voting to Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers, despite having more home runs, RBI and stolen bases.&n

Yasiel Puig can do no wrong.

At least that's what some folks in the media and Los Angeles Dodgers fans thought when he broke into MLB.

But now one has to wonder if the Puig honeymoon is over, and if he'll start to be seen as someone who may not be the next greatest thing.

Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn can permanently extinguish the last vestiges of belief that Kenny Williams is still the arbiter of South Side fortunes over the next seven days.

Not only is the White Sox’s 25-man roster awash with veteran talent, but Hahn has second- and third-year players under team control for some time that he could move if the return is high enough.

A couple of well-timed, prospect-driven trades would go a long way for Hahn and the White Sox.

With the MLB trade deadline fast approaching, we thought we'd let our experts weigh in with their own thoughts on the biggest time of the year for baseball.

Tune in to the video above to see what Dennis Eckersley and Cal Ripken Jr. have to say, and make sure you sound off with your own opinions in the comments section below!

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Pittsburgh Pirates closer Jason Grilli was placed on the disabled list, but his absence won't derail the team's playoff chances.

While baseball award predictions are usually thwarted by hot Septembers, cold Septembers and injuries, one cannot deny the fun of it.

The 2013 NL Cy Young race is a particularly interesting debate, since they are a few very good hurlers taking the mound every fifth day, but no clear-cut favorite.

There are so many good NL pitchers this season that I knew I would insult a couple candidates by narrowing the field down down to five contestants.

Jordan Zimmerman, Jason Grilli, and Cliff Lee were my final cuts.

When I heard the news that Major League Baseball had finally suspended Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun for using performance-enhancing drugs, forcing him to sit for the remainder of the 2013 season, my first reaction was, "Huh, that really sucks for the Brewers, I guess."

While some may feel a sense of accomplishment or an overwhelming feeling of karma catching up to a guy who cheated and defiantly lied about it time and again, I felt, "Huh." Apathy. 

With less than 10 days until the trade deadline, the New York Yankees continue to hover above .500, but are seven games back in the AL East and 3.5 games behind the Orioles for the second wild card spot.

Pitchers are fragile and should be handled with care, which is why you'll see workloads decrease in the second half and very few pitching prospects called up to the big leagues for the stretch run. That doesn't mean you should stop paying attention to what's going on down in the minors.

Here are some pitchers, two from each level, that have either been really bad or really good as of late. 

Triple-A