Fan News

When you've got (arguably) the best team in baseball, the best manager in baseball and the best general manager in baseball, the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline would seem to be a rather irrelevant date on the calendar.

But if there's one thing that we've learned about the Oakland A's under the stewardship of GM Billy Beane, it's that the team rarely passes up an opportunity to improve, regardless of their place in the standings.

It's been difficult to get a grasp on the Seattle Mariners in 2014, given that the club hasn't been at full strength much of the season.

They only recently got prospect Taijuan Walker back into the rotation, while fellow youngster James Paxton remains sidelined by injury, robbing the rotation of two of its most talented and important pieces.

The Milwaukee Bucks selected Jabari Parker with the No. 2 overall pick in 2014 NBA draft, and to celebrate, he got the opportunity to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Milwaukee Brewers game.

On Saturday, Parker threw out the first pitch for the Brewers before their game against the Colorado Rockies. After throwing out the pitch, he made sure to give the ball to a young fan behind home plate.

After being removed from his role as the closer of the Pittsburgh Pirates one week ago, Jason Grilli was settling into his new role as a normal reliever.

Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is back at it again.

In the bottom of the third inning during Friday night's game against the Miami Marlins, Giancarlo Stanton began running for home after a base hit. However, Cespedes did what he does best, throwing a laser to home plate to somehow get him out.

The White Sox defeat the Blue Jays after a seventh-inning bomb from Dayan Viciedo.

Chicago improves to 38-44 on the season, while the Blue Jays fall to 45-38 and remain just one game ahead of the Orioles for the lead in the AL East.

Seventh in an 11-part series examining the vagaries of awards voting.

You could probably find at least one undeserved Gold Glove awarded every season. The vast majority of Gold Glove recipients are repeat winners, sort of making the award like a concussion—once a player gets one, it becomes progressively easier to get more.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander took a no-decision in Friday night's contest vs. the Houston Astros, leaving him without a win for the month of June and winless for the first time in any full calendar month of his MLB career, as reported by The Oakland Press' Matthew Mowery on Twitter.

Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu slugged two home runs in Friday night's contest against the Toronto Blue Jays to become the first player in MLB history with 25 homers through the first 67 games of his career, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The 2014 All-Star Game is still a few weeks away, but don't let that distort your vision of the 2014 season. By the start of play on June 30, almost every team in baseball will have reached its midway point. With 81 games in the books, ample time has been provided to determine buyers and sellers in the upcoming trade market.

In theory, at least.