Vladimir Guerrero, one of the most dangerous hitters of the late-1990s and 2000s, has retired, reports Hector Gomez of Listen Diario (Spanish link).

Guerrero had this to say on the difficult decision (via Gomez): 

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Friday that the San Francisco Giants have started negotiations with impending free-agent right fielder Hunter Pence.

Few awards in baseball are as overlooked—and disrespected—as the Gold Glove.

Its critics will claim that the award is meaningless, that defense cannot be evaluated by statistics and that the voting, by-and-large, is nothing more than a glorified popularity contest.

To be sure, past winners have an advantage over those who have never one before. History has proven that voters tend to favor those who have won before over a player looking for his first Gold Glove, even if the numbers show the newcomer having a better season than the old guard.

Every baseball season has its surprises. Whether it’s rookies emerging into stars, stars playing like duds or earth-shattering injuries, a baseball season always throws fans a curveball.

The New York Yankees once again will be footing the highest luxury tax bill in baseball, this year at $29.1 million.

Tired of waiting for the season to conclude? Want to know how this will all play out? Well, we have you covered.

Join MLB Lead Writer Zachary Rymer and MLB Contributor Gabe Zaldivar as they give you the brackets for each league heading into the postseason.

At least, that’s how we think they will finish.

As we all know, there is any number of things that can happen in the final few weeks of what has already been a magical season.

While there are obvious winners in several divisions, there is still plenty to discuss as the final games get played.

After three full months on the DL with a shoulder injury, Clay Buchholz returned to the Boston Red Sox rotation Tuesday night. He had a pretty good performance too, pitching five scoreless innings with three hits and six strikeouts against the Tampa Bay Rays.

One of the things that separates Major League Baseball from other professional sports in this country is the exclusivity of the playoffs. Yet this September is highlighting the benefits and detriment of the still relatively new second Wild Card in each league. 

But does having one race that means everything and another that has been decided for weeks make Bud Selig's master plan better or worse for the postseason race?

The Minnesota Twins are well on their way to their third straight October off, and the fans in Twins Territory are not happy.

With the trade of Justin Morneau to the Pirates and with Joe Mauer's slow recovery from a concussion, there doesn't seem to be much hope for the team as they trot out a lineup in which Brian Dozier is supposed to be their main source of power.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have endured two decades of losing seasons, but even with plenty of games in hand for the remainder of the 2013 MLB season, that unenviable streak has come to an end.