Maybe someone with Ph.D. after their name can shed some light, but it sure seems like the pro sports specialist has an affinity for—and pardon my laymen’s term here—playing his game of life with something less than a full deck.

According to Webster's Dictionary, the word leader is someone who leads, guides, or is the first and/or principal performer of a group. In other words, it is someone who takes charge. When scanning through the pages of history, we see countless examples of people who have qualified under this definition and have achieved great success.

MIAMI-- After a start in which Oliver Perez walked seven batters in 3 1/3 innings, blaming it on cold conditions, he had abolutely no excuse for this terrible outing.

Perez, who was given a vote of confidence by Jerry Manuel and was told that he was not pitching for his spot in the rotation, gave up four home runs in 3 1/3 innings as the Mets took a 7-2 loss.

It didn't start out too terribly for Perez as he struck out two in the first inning. Although he walked the first two batters to face him in the second, he bounced back with another two strike outs to escape trouble.

The Mariners' hitting is, to be blunt, very bad.

As an Indians fan, I think of my team's hitting, and think to myself, it could be worse. We could have the Mariners' hitting.

They are last in runs, home runs, and slugging percentage, and nearly last in batting average, hits, and other categories.

So the question is, how do we fix this?

Clearly, the Mariners are still in the hunt in a tight AL West, so they aren't out of it, and can afford to make some changes.

Welcome back to this running series on the Cleveland Indians titled, "The Problem," where we examine one issue surrounding the current club. Although there is probably more than one problem with the Indians, you have to fix one issue at a time.

Today's problem involves the club's biggest star, Grady Sizemore, and the lack of power production. Not only has the power not been there, Sizemore hasn't even been getting on base as much as the Indians had hoped.

Continuing our mailbox segment properly titled Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ Inbox, our Insider will answer a question posed by one of our loyal readers.

If you have a pressing question for the Insider, whether it be a trade proposal or a spot-start question, drop him a line: nick@fantasybaseballinsiders.com .

This may seem like a strange idea to think of in the land of the free (and the home of the brave), but the wide world of sports in America could be termed as the land of supporting Communism.

Could a country that is based on free market economics and laissez-faire attitude be equated to be the same as the dreaded “reds under the bed"?

With Josh Beckett sidelined for yet another start due to back issues, it’s time to take a look at 10 current pitchers in the majors whose backs SHOULD be hurting them.

Carrying the load for a MLB team can be a burden, and aces such as right-handers Zack Greinke (Kansas City Royals) and Roy Oswalt (Houston Astros) know that all too well.

Today, we’re going to quickly glance at 10 guys who are doing everything in their power to carry the team, but in most cases it’s to no avail.

And with the Astros leading the charge from the cellar, we’ll begin today’s slideshow

Remember last October when the Yankees swept the Twins in the American League Playoffs? This was after the Twins had clawed their way back to win the Central Division crown while the league-leading Tigers swooned. Impossible to forget.

Believe it or not, the Astros have won four games in a row; and three of those victories have come against the first-place Cardinals as Houston swept St.