While I wouldn’t classify the Tigers’ moves as a “major” shakeup, the team did make a flurry of transactions that has an impact on fantasy owners:

Last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded away Tom Gorzelanny, then later signed Brian Burres as compensation. Friday night's game was the first test of the direct impact of the two moves. So how did the Pirates do?

Not so well. Burres pitched four innings, one less than Gorzelanny. And he gave up six runs, one more than Tom Gorzelanny. Clearly, the Pirates had given up something with this sequence of events.

Ubaldo Jimenez continues to roll.  Clayton Kershaw appears to have righted the ship.  Jose Reyes returned to the leadoff role and did as he always does.  Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

As a lifelong skeptic, I am the first person to downplay a small sample size of excellent statistics.

When Mike Sweeney tore through spring training and earned a roster spot with the Mariners this year, part of me said 'good, I'll take an able bat on the bench,' while another part of me said 'why are we wasting a roster spot on a non-fielding designated hitter and pinch hitter when we already have Griffey filling that role?' I was skeptical, but willing to give Sweeney a few weeks to prove me wrong.

The forecast is starting to look better.

The Mets got off to a very poor start this season. They were 2-6 and it looked like they were on their way to 100 losses.

Then all of a sudden they caught fire en route to a 9-1 home stand, eight straight wins and a 14-9 record. For a couple of days, they were actually in first place in the NL East.

Ever since that winning streak, they have gone 4-10 to drop to 18-19 and five games out of first place.

Brett Gardner is having a great season at the plate.

He currently ranks 8th in the American league in batting average at .333, and 2nd in stolen bases with 16, while being caught stealing only once.  His On Base percentage is good enough for 4th in the AL, at .411, and he ranks 2nd in runs, with 28.  He has also drawn 14 walks.

Gardner has done all this from the number 9 spot.

Baseball is America's pastime, and the Yankees are considered by many to be "America's Team."

With their history of success and a seemingly insurmountable mountain of hardware lining the organization's trophy cases, it is easy to see why this is the case.

But although they are, historically and statistically speaking, the "best" team, does that mean they are "America's" team? I propose that the Yankees personify many characteristics of America, the only problem is, they're all the wrong ones.