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Stephen Strasburg Shutdown Day is quickly approaching. Mike Rizzo, GM of the Washington Nationals has drawn a line in the sand at 160 innings pitched for Strasburg this season. Many people in the baseball world have applauded and jeered this decision. Many Washington fans are concerned as this is the first time since 1933 a Washington team will make the playoffs. The Atlanta Braves have to be excited being only 5 games back. Sitting a dominant pitcher like Strasburg will give them a golden opportunity to make up some ground.

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• Category: Fantasy, Free Agents, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as Jordan Zimmermann, Josh Johnson, Kerry Wood, Mike Rizzo, Stephen Strasburg

June 8th, 2010 is a date that baseball fans should circle on their calenders and remember for a long time as a pair of phenoms are set to make their major league debuts this evening. Stephen Strasburg (RHP) of the Washington Nationals and Mike Stanton (OF) of the Florida Marlins are both set to make their highly anticipated debuts for their respective clubs this evening. Both men come with much fanfare as they currently are viewed as the consensus top pitching and hitting prospects in all of baseball. Last June, the Nationals selected Strasburg with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft where he was viewed by many as the best amateur pitcher of all-time with a fastball [...]

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• Category: Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, Teams, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as Jason Heyward, Mark Prior, miguel cabrera, Mike Stanton, Stephen Strasburg

There are rumblings of an alarming trend that could mean a fiscal nightmare among many MLB teams this coming year. There have been several teams in the last week who have set the record for all time low attendance.

• 3 Comments
• Category: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Rumors, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as attendance

Baseball is like no other sport in terms of its fans embracing their favorite teams young talent making an impact in the big leagues. Already in this brief season, Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves and Ike Davis of the New York Mets have sent their teams fans into a frenzy over their successful debuts. Later this year, we should see even more highly anticipated debuts as such names as Stephen Strasburg, Aroldis Chapman, Justin Smoak, and Starlin Castro are expected to make the jump to the big leagues. I am just like most baseball fans and love to see young talent succeed in the big leagues and with that I decided to compile a list of the top 25 [...]

• 3 Comments
• Category: Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Fantasy, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Teams, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as Adam Jones, Alcides Escobar, Andrew McCutchen, Aroldis Chapman, Asdrubal Cabrera, Austin Jackson, Billy Butler, Cameron Maybin, Carlos Gonzalez, Chris Coghlan, Chris Davis, Colby Rasmus, Cristian Guzman, Curtis Granderson, Delmon Young, Dexter Fowler, Elvis Andrus, Evan Longoria, Everth Cabrera, Gordon Beckham, Ian Desmond, Ike Davis, Jason Heyward, Jay Bruce, Julio Borbon, Justin Smoak, Justin Upton, Kyle Blanks, Matt Wieters, Pablo Sandoval, Reid Brignac, Sean Rodriguez, Starlin Castro, Stephen Strasburg, Tyler Colvin

On November 19, 2006, I received a text message from my friend Dan that read “What do you think about the Cubs getting Soriano?” I thought to myself, Alfonso Soriano…the guy that just went 40/40 for the Washington Nationals…my favorite player? As a Chicago Cubs’ fan this was hard to comprehend as the organization does not have a history of going after high profile free agents–let alone getting the best free agent on the market.  I quickly checked ESPN for confirmation of this exciting, yet ambiguous text and was overjoyed to find out that the Cubs were indeed set to sign Soriano. The deal was $136 million over 8 years. No big deal.  Sure, we have “The Fonz” under contract until 2014 and the Cubs will be paying him $18 million [...]

• 1 Comment
• Category: Chicago Cubs, Fantasy, Teams, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as Alfonso Soriano, Barry Zito, Derrek Lee

Whether you like him or hate him, I think we can all agree that the Yankee’s Alex Rodriguez is the best third basemen in baseball. I think we can also agree that Rodriguez is going in the top 5 picks in most fantasy drafts. If you are planning on drafting a third basemen in the first several rounds of the draft, you do have some options (and I recommend that you do, as it is a fairly weak position this year). Four amateurgm.com analysts break down who they feel is the 2nd best fantasy option below. Andrew Swanson (Evan Longoria) – Evan Longoria is one of the best third basemen around. In just two major league seasons Longoria has averaged 30 HR, [...]

• 6 Comments
• Category: Arizona Diamondbacks, Fantasy, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Teams, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as Alex Rodriguez, Aramis Ramirez, ARod, Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford, David Wright, Derek Jeter, Erin Andrews, Evan Longoria, Mark Reynolds, Pablo Sandoval, Ryan Zimmerman

The National League prides themselves on on being more defense oriented. Where pitching and fielding are more highly regarded then with their DH/pound you into submission younger siblings in the AL. The NL East has plethora of different management strategies. The Mets spend money like it is going out of style and the Marlins are such tight wads that both MLB brass and the MLBPA forced them to loosen up the purse strings in the coming seasons. So who is doing it right? Which team has spent their money wisely on their pitching and which ones are just using their dollars as kindling? Philadelphia Phillies: Historically the Phillies are one of the least successful organizations in baseball with dubious honor [...]

• 0 Comments
• Category: Atlanta Braves, Fantasy, Free Agents, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Teams, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as Anibal Sanchez, Chien-Ming Wang, Chris Volstad, Cole Hamels, Derek Lowe, Fernando Nieve, Garrett Mock, Greg Maddux, Hisanori Takahashi, J.A. Happ, J.D. Martin, Jair Jurrjens, Jamie Moyer, Jason Marquis, Joe Blanton, Johan Santana, John Lannan, John Maine, Jon Niese, Jordan Zimmermann, Josh Johnson, Kenshin Kawakami, Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, Phil Neikro, Ricky Nolasco, roy halladay, Scott Olsen, Sean West, Steven Strasburg, Tim Hudson, Tommy Hanson, Warren Spahn

Earlier this week, I took a look at Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com top 10 prospects for 2010. Today, I want to highlight Keith Law of ESPN.com and his list of top 10 prospects and how it compares to Mayo’s list. While most of the prospects find their names on both top 10 lists, there are a few that find their names on this list only. Let’s get to Law’s list with the prospects ranking on Mayo’s list in parentheses. ESPN.com’s 2010 Top 10 Prospects 1. Jason Heyward (OF) Atlanta Braves (1) – The consensus overall No.1 prospect on both lists. Braves fans should be excited for the arrival of this 5 tool talent in the near future. 2. Stephen Strasburg (RHP) [...]

• 0 Comments
• Category: Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Fantasy, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Teams, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as B.J. Upton, Buster Posey, Carl Crawford, Carlos Santana, Chris Davis, Desmond Jennings, Dustin Ackley, Jason Heyward, Jesus Montero, Johan Santana, Jorge Posada, Justin Smoak, Mark Teixeira, Martin Perez, Mike Stanton, Stephen Strasburg, Victor Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero

As the Hot Stove season starts to come to an end with pitchers and catchers due to report to camp within a few weeks, it is now time to start taking a look at the 2010 season. Last week, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com and Keith Law of ESPN.com released their top prospects list for the 2010 season. Both Mayo and Law do a great job of talking to scouts and team personnel to compile their lists. Many prospects find their names on both lists, however, Mayo and Law present contrasting analysis of their top 10 prospects. Here is a breakdown of Mayo’s list. MLB.com’s 2010 Top 10 Prospects 1. Jason Heyward (OF) Atlanta Braves – The 20-year old outfielder is [...]

• 3 Comments
• Category: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Fantasy, Miami Marlins, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Teams, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as Bengie Molina, Brian Matusz, Buster Posey, Cliff Lee, Desmond Jennings, Frank Francisco, Jason Heyward, Justin Smoak, Madison Bumgarner, Mark Prior, Mark Teixeira, Matt Cain, Mike Stanton, Neftali Feliz, Pedro Alvarez, Stephen Strasburg, Tim Lincecum

Congratulations to Andre “The Hawk” Dawson on the announcement of his induction into the Hall of Fame. Dawson is the lone player in the 2010 class to be selected to enter into Cooperstown on July 25 as he received 77.9 % of the necessary 75%  votes needed to be inducted.  It was a long-awaited call for Dawson, as it was his ninth time on the ballot. For his career, Dawson was a five-tool player who possessed power, speed, average, and Gold Glove defense. His arm was one of the best of any outfielder in his era, as not many players would test him. He is one of only three players all-time to hit at least 400 HR and have 300 [...]

• 9 Comments
• Category: Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, Teams, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as Andre Dawson, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays