Fan News

Late last week we learned through a report by Ben Badler of Baseball America (h/t MLB Trade Rumors' Steve Adams) that another high-profile Cuban hitter, outfielder Yasmani Tomas, had defected in order to pursue a career in Major League Baseball.

Things haven't been nearly as bad in Houston as many expected they would be, with the Astros looking very much like a team that has finally taken a big step back towards respectability after years of being the laughingstock of the game.

General manager Jeff Luhnow has done a remarkable job in recent years of unloading his veterans for younger, less-expensive talent, and the current roster doesn't have much in the way of valuable trade chips to peddle at the trade deadline.

Kansas City's stay atop the American League Central standings last month may have been fleeting, but it was a sign that the Royals may finally be ready to break a nearly 30-year absence from postseason baseball.

The Los Angeles Angels weren't going to wait for the calendar to flip to July before making a move, trading their own disappointing closer, Ernesto Frieri, to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for another disappointing closer, Jason Grilli, toward the end of June.

While things haven't exactly gone as anyone associated with the Minnesota Twins would have liked in 2014, things aren't all doom and gloom.

One thing that can be said about the 2014 Chicago White Sox is that they have certainly been more fun to watch than they were last season, but then again that's not saying much.

In 2013 the White Sox were one of the worst offensive (or most offensive, depending how you look at it) teams in all of baseball, which made for some long days at U.S. Cellular Field. This ineptitude led general manager Rick Hahn to desperately start searching last off season for somebody, anybody, who could come in and help reignite the stagnant offense.

Despite the loss of All-Star catcher Matt Wieters and a starting rotation full of underachievers, Baltimore finds itself in the thick of the American League playoff picture, sitting within a game of first place in the AL East and 1.5 back of the two available wild-card berths as of June 31.

Those expecting the New York Yankees to sit back and wait for the nearly $500 million that they spent in free-agent additions over the winter to begin paying off simply haven't been paying attention to how things work in the Bronx.

If the price is right, one of the game's most dominant left-handed power arms could be on the move well before Major League Baseball's July 31 trade deadline. But what's the right price for a division rival to scoop him up? And what if that rival is the Evil Empire, the New York Yankees?

Less than five weeks remain until the MLB July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

What happens during this time can turn a moribund franchise around or take a contending team from the brink of greatness and put it over the top. Now is when general managers can set their franchise back or forever cement their legacy as the architect of greatness.