To say this is my favorite time would be an understatement.
I’m not talking about the approaching March Madness or the incessant NFL draft conversation (although I’ll be weighing in on that later this Spring), I’m talking about the most glorious words any snow-covered East coast dweller can hear: Continue reading “Major League Baseball 2014: 5 Early Spring Training Storylines To Keep An Eye On”
I want to point some things out that Ryan Dempster might have forgotten last night.
Your team is 8-9 in August and 15-14 since the All-Star Break. You, personally, are three games under .500 with an ERA approaching five (4.77). Most importantly your team is only one game up in an American League East that is home to the talented Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles; both of whom are eager to avoid a Wild Card fate.
This was before the Yankees took two of the three games from you over the weekend (in Fenway) and suddenly find themselves in the midst of playing their best baseball of the season (winners of seven of their last ten).
So why on earth would you allow Alex Rodriguez to get under you skin?
For me its pretty simple: Dempster, at that moment decided he wanted to take it upon himself to get more involved in the theatrics of it all than actual baseball. I guess that’s what happens when you haven’t been involved in too many pennant races in-season in recent years. Still, as a player rep, a veteran, and a guy the Red Sox brought in for a lot of money you should know better. No matter how maddening the situation with Rodriguez is or how mush of a moral stance you decided you were going to take you did it to the detriment of your team.
These Red Sox didn’t deserve that. Not with crucial upcoming series against Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Baltimore.
What happens if this gives the Yankees the chip on their shoulder they need to make up the 7.5 games in the division they need? What happens if they stay hot behind the motivation and erase just the six games separating them from a Wild Card spot? Sure this is all speculative, but do not forget the Yankees have one starter (Phil Hughes) who has pitched poorly, and their lineup is starting to get healthier around, well that man again.
I’ll tell you what needs to happen from this point forward. Dempster needs to pitch like a man more concerned with getting his team back to the playoffs than a man concerned with Alex Rodriguez and his exploits. His teammates had better pull him aside and let him know that it isn’t their focus this season.
And Dempster had better listen, or the story will be a lot different for him than he anticipated.
As the races in major league baseball march on we are starting to see some teams in situations they may not have foreseen when the season began. Continue reading “Pittsburgh Pirates Are Surging, Others Withering In The Heat Of Summer Races”
All-Star week in Major League Baseball usually means there isn’t much going on in the sports world (except the ESPY’s of course). But for some, this is the best time to set up their fantasy baseball teams for the stretch run. Continue reading “Fantasy Baseball 2013: Five Second-Half Tips To Get You Over The Hump (Or Back In The Race)”
Yes it has been a few weeks since I last posted this and I apologize (mainly to my mom whose my most avid, yet sports clueless reader). I’m back on it though so I won’t waste time. onward! Continue reading “The Week (Er…Weeks) That Were In Major League Baseball (5/24/2013)”
Another week, another set of fun things that went on in this wonderful game called baseball. Lets get on with it! Continue reading “Major League Baseball Week That Was (4/24/2013)”
I know it has only been a week, but how exciting is it to have baseball back? So many things happened opening week it will be hard to put it in one list. Lets give it a try, eh? (the “eh” is for all my Blue Jay fans out there) Continue reading “Major League Baseball 2013: Happenings From Opening Week In The Bigs”
There isn’t much debate which team in the American League East has the best chance to navigate its way to the division title. Continue reading “The Locker Major League Baseball Preview 2013: American League East”
$5.9 million dollars.
To me, that sum of money would change lots of things. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t think I was done working or anything, but I will say it would make a lot of things a tad easier. Continue reading “Major League Baseball 2013: Bobby Bonilla Logic And How It Encompasses A Decade (And More) Of New York Mets Misery”
**Update (9:36 p.m., 2/7/2013): Reports have the agreement between Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners as a five-year extension (beginning in 2015) worth $135.5 million dollars ($27.1 million dollars annually will make him the highest annually paid pitcher in baseball history)**
For the sake of the article lets assume that Jack Zduriencik, general manager of the Seattle Mariners, is a smart man.
While I personally do not understand what he is doing with this franchise, lets all assume that the reported seven-year, $175 million dollar deal they have with Felix Hernandez was necessary for them as a team and that it will be good for them in the long run. Continue reading “Seattle Mariners Deal With Felix Hernandez Will Set Off Major Free Agent Movement For Young Pitchers”