KSaw

I dunno. Indianapolis, northern New Jersey and Portland would probably top their list. Montreal is a possibility. Moving the Rays probably happens before any expansion though.

Pitching has caught up to all the expansion. MLB added the Marlins, Arizona, Colorado and Tampa Bay pretty quickly. Add that to more specialized relievers and better scouting and this is the result. Expand by 2 teams and increase rosters to 26 and the Ks will go down.

Many GMs value power and speed. Those 2 players are frustrating but carry value. I'd run both out of town if I could buy one man's garbage is another's treasure.

Well I think that every GM in baseball would trade 1 prospect, no matter how good, for a 26-year old established Major Leaguer who is one if the best young catchers in the game. It's a no brainer. Don't over-value prospects, especially ones who are out with injury and are still in A-ball.

Bite your tongue. I'd rather see Thole have a huge game with Dickey on the mound, almost forcing Gibby into giving him another start.

That would be a bonus. Just get this club to 56-58 wins by the end of July and look out!

Interesting piece but the writer should have done a little more research. 1987s Nitro Ball season was also the first year of Rawlings making baseballs with lower and tighter seams. Also at the time Wilson made all the balls for the minor leagues and those balls had big raised seams. This was a nightmare for pitchers, especially rookies. It's not so much the ball was juiced. It was just harder to make break. It took pitchers time to adjust and they served up some meatballs along the way.

As of Monday I'd go to the All-Star Break with EE at 3b, Lind at 1b, Melky at DH, Rajai in LF and Izzy at 2b. It would keep Bonifiasco off the field, would help Melky heal and would be a short enough time span to not expose EE to too much 3b and throwing his way into E5 form. With Lawrie on the DL, why not?

It's injuries. Right quad and left hamstring. The quad will heal first. Right now it has to be hard for him because he can't overcompensate to either leg because both are injured.

Have to? Why? 6-4 would be just fine. Hitting the ASB even 2 games over .500 would be good. They start a 10-game home stand out of the break with 4 v Houston. Things are starting to look good. Every game isn't life and death. Just a reminder, the 1989 Jays that climbed out of a 12-24 hole to reach .500 at 36-36 and go on to win the division did drop 4 straight to drop to 36-40 after reaching .500.

I had them going 13-8 to finish off June to get back in it and they've gone 8-2 with a rain out so far. 6-4 from here on would be just great.

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?content_id=51126724&fext=.jsp&partnerId=as_mlb_20130620_9025584&sid=t422&vkey=news_t422&ymd=20130619

They've essentially announced that Reyes will be activated Monday. The Bisons announced that they have Reyes for 3 games and are using it in their marketing.

And a career of reminding scouts of Daryl Strawberry and/ or Lloyd Moseby but just not quite there. So much talent! Would love to see him put it all together.

McCowan got fired and replaced by Mark Hebscher twice. First on radio and then by Global TV. His act was wearing thin. He was also the original PA announcer for the Blue Jays and lost that gig too.

And idiotically the Baseball Canada interpretation is that the ball is alive if all runners have advanced at least a base at the time the ball is picked up. They don't want time called until all action has stopped on a continuing play. They would allow the RF to throw that runner out at 3b because he was trying to advance past his awarded base. It's really really stupid actually. It's like someone in Quebec translated the rules and didnt understand them.

The answer for the first one is tricky. He is actually awarded home even though his last legally touched base is 1b. However, if the player tags up at 1b during the dead ball, which he is still obligated to do, he is then re-awarded 3b. The reason for this is that umpires are not allowed to coach and by awarding 3b initially it is technically coaching the defense and letting them know that the runner is still in jeopardy. On the balk you are correct but for the wrong reason. The ball is not dead until a fielder has possession of the ball. It is still live because the balk was called with the ball in flight. In pro baseball the ball becomes dead the moment a fielder picks up the ball and the award of 2b is given. In theory it is possible for a fielder to attempt to pick up the live ball and accidentally knock or kick the ball out of play, perhaps into the dugout. If this occurred the runner would receive the greater reward and could advance beyond 2b. In international tournaments (international rules) the runner would get the base to which he had actually advanced to beyond 2b at time the ball is possessed by the defense.

Alan Farina. Yep, once upon a time he was an organizational top 10 prospect and a supposed sure bet as the future closer. Well, he just returned from his 50 game pot smoking suspension that came in the heals of a minor injury that occurred right after he returned from Tommy John Surgery. Yikes! Anyway, he is now 26 and is firing lightning bolts for Dunedin. He is on pace to move up to AA in 2 weeks and then to Buffalo before the end of July (if all goes well). Not that we need another reliever but it looks like we will have one anyway.

Remember the projected opening day lineup, the one that was going to be so common that it would rip Gibbons out if his historical batting order tinkering habits? Reyes Cabrera Bautista Encarnacion Lind Lawrie Rasmus Arencibia Izturis To date we still haven't seen it.

Melky is too talented not to find a hot streak (again). His legs will get better too. He is a classic #2 hitter.

Reyes.

You have to understand that the Astros are like 5 years away. Accumulating prospects is what they are looking to do. The more and the better chance of success. They actually even like Thon and I have that on good authority. It makes sense considering the club's and the city's history with his father.

Shuffle the pieces, whatever. JPA does have value, though I don't see it and so does Bonifacio who is for whatever reason easily flippable to Atlanta or Philly or Pittsburgh or a few others.

Lol. I'll give you another question. I'm looking for the pro baseball interpretation here. Ignore Baseball Canada... Runner on first. Pitcher from the rubber balks as he is throwing to first base. The balk is called after the ball is released so time has not been called yet. 1. The ball is overthrown and rolls down toward the outfield. The runner is at 3rd base when the right fielder picks up the ball. Place the runner. 2. The ball is overthrown and rolls down toward the outfield. The runner is a step away from 3rd base when the right fielder picks up the ball. Place the runner. 3. The ball is overthrown and rolls down toward the outfield. The runner has crossed home plate when the right fielder picks up the ball. Place the runner.

Arencibia + Nolin + Cardona + Bonifacio and done! Toss in Deck or Sierra if needed. No biggie. Houston is one of the few teams that could take on that many 40-man roster players in a deal and the value would be there for them considering how far away they are from contending.