Korean All-star pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin has successfully landed the Major League Baseball (MLB), signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers in a dramatic transaction just before the league-mandated deadline, according to MLB’s official Web site on Sunday.

MLB.com said Ryu has made a contract with the Dogers for a six-year deal worth $36 million. CBSSports.com also reported that Ryu will have a signing bonus of $5 million.

A 30-day window to sign a deal were given to Ryu and Dodgers after the LA-based club secured the exclusive rights to negotiate with Ryu in November, and the deadline was 2 p.m. Pacific Standard Time Sunday. The Dodgers submitted a bid of $25.7 million in a league-wide silent auction, which was the fourth highest bid by a major league club for a foreign player.

As Ryu’s South Korean club, the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), accepted the Dodgers’ bid, the negotiation period started. The Korean club will take the $25.7 million bid as a transfer fee for Ryu.

The Eagles posted Ryu in November after he completed his seventh KBO season in 2012. Ryu will become the first South Korean baseball player to jump directly from the KBO to the majors when he is added to the major league roster.

This is not the first time for the Dodgers take in a South Korean player. Right-hander Park Chan-ho, who became the first Korean to play in the majors in 1994, used to play for the LA-based club.

Ryu, who was born in 1987, made his debut in 2006, becoming the first player to win both the Rookie of the Year honors and the MVP in the same season. He was 18-6 with a 2.23 ERA and a rookie-record 204 strikeouts. Since then, Ryu has been one of the KBO’s most dominant starters.

In his seven KBO seasons, Ryu went 98-52 with a 2.80 ERA and 1,238 strikeouts in 1,269 innings.

The lefty pitcher, who is 187 centimeters (about 6.1 ft) tall and 98 kilograms (about 217 lb), can reach up to 150 kilometers per hour (93 miles per hour) with his fastball, and can also throw a changeup and slider as his out pitches.

Ryu drew international attention when he participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, helping to secure gold for South Korea, and the 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) which South Korea finished runner-up behind Japan. However, it is expected that Ryu would miss the 2013 WBC in March next year as he takes part in the upcoming Dodgers’ spring training and tries to get ready for his first season in the United States.

Image Courtesy : Los Angeles Dodgers

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Kansas City, U.S.A. — As the Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Stars take the field the night of July 10 on FOX, Pepsi MAX is announcing an All-Star roster of its own – the fan-selected Pepsi MAX MLB Field of Dreams American League (AL) and National League (NL) teams comprised of some of baseball’s greatest legends.

Baseball fans across the country voted for their favorite MLB legends on the Pepsi MAX MLB Field of Dreams AL and NL ballots earlier this year at MLB.com/PepsiMAX to determine the rosters. From the ballots cast, two lucky consumers – Johnny Perotti representing the AL and Stephen Katchmark representing the NL – have been randomly selected to take the field with the MLB legends in an AL vs. NL match-up, and will campaign for votes to see who will have home field advantage for the Pepsi MAX MLB Field of Dreams Game.

To announce the Pepsi MAX MLB Field of Dreams AL and NL teams, actor Jay Mohr was on hand at the Pepsi MAX footprint at MLB All-Star FanFest earlier on July 10 with Cal Ripken, Jr. representing the Pepsi MAX MLB Field of Dreams AL team and Mike Schmidt representing the Pepsi MAX MLB Field of Dreams NL team.

The Pepsi MAX MLB Field of Dreams American League team includes:

• Catcher – Yogi Berra
• First Base – Frank Thomas
• Second Base – Rod Carew
• Shortstop – Cal Ripken, Jr.
• Third Base – Brooks Robinson
• Outfielders - Ken Griffey, Jr., Rickey Henderson and Reggie Jackson
• Starting Pitcher – Jim Palmer
• Relief Pitcher – Dennis Eckersley
• Designated Hitter – Paul Molitor

The Pepsi MAX MLB Field of Dreams National League team includes:

• Catcher – Johnny Bench
• First Base – Fred McGriff
• Second Base – Ryne Sandberg
• Shortstop – Ozzie Smith
• Third Base – Mike Schmidt
• Outfielders – Andre Dawson, Tony Gwynn and Stan Musial
• Starting Pitcher – Randy Johnson
• Relief Pitcher – Trevor Hoffman

“It’s exciting to be part of the Pepsi MAX MLB Field of Dreams program because it connects directly with the fans,” said Cal Ripken, Jr., Baseball Hall of Famer and Pepsi MAX MLB Field of Dreams AL shortstop. “The guys on the AL and NL rosters are some of the greatest players of all time, and it’s truly an honor to be chosen by the fans for their Field of Dreams Team.”

Perotti, a Rochester, NY resident and five of his friends will join five MLB Legends from the AL roster for a baseball game against Katchmark, who is from Washington D.C., his five friends and five MLB Legends from the NL team.

Now it’s up to the fans to decide which team will have home field advantage. Between now and August 15, 2012 fans can go to MLB.com/PepsiMAX to view videos from Perotti and Katchmark and vote for which hometown - Rochester, NY or Washington, D.C. – will host the Pepsi MAX MLB Field of Dreams Game. Once determined, Pepsi MAX will plan the baseball game in the winner’s hometown.

“Pepsi MAX is looking forward to creating a once-in a lifetime experience for Johnny Perotti and Stephen Katchmark,” said Heidi Sandreuter, Senior Director, Pepsi Sports Marketing. “It’s not every day that you get to take the field with some of the greatest players of the game and we are excited to find out which hometown will be hosting the Pepsi MAX MLB Field of Dreams Game.”
For more information on the Pepsi MAX MLB Field of Dreams program, visit MLB.com/Pepsi MAX.

Image Courtesy of Aspen Photo / Shutterstock.com

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New York, U.S.A. — Fan balloting for the 17 elected starting position players in the 83rd All-Star Game, to be played Tuesday, July 10 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, ended during June 29th night with the record-setting conclusion of the 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot on MLB.com and the 30 Club websites.

With many of the races undetermined entering the final week of online balloting, fans cast their votes at rates never seen before in the All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot program, including three of the four highest one-day totals ever set the final three days of voting (4.2 million ballots cast on 6/28; 3.9 million on 6/27; and 2.8 million on 6/26). Fans also set a new single day mark with 42.5 million votes cast yesterday.

Overall during the All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot program, 391.2 million votes from 34.9 million ballots were cast. Both figures were the largest totals recorded in the history of online balloting at MLB.com, surpassing the previous records established in 2011.

Final results will be unveiled on Sunday, July 1, when the American League and National League All-Star teams will be announced live on the 2012 MLB All-Star Game Selection Show presented by Taco Bell on TBS. MLB.com will feature complete coverage with video and analysis of both rosters.

Immediately following the announcement of the American League and National League All-Star rosters on Sunday, July 1, fans will begin voting to select the final player for each League’s 34-man roster via the 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote presented by Firestone. Fans will cast their votes from a list of five players from each League over a four-day period and the winners will be announced after the voting concludes on Thursday, July 5.

The 83rd All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International’s independent feed. Pregame ceremonies will begin at 7:30 p.m. (EDT)/6:30 p.m. (CDT). ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network, MLB.com and Sirius XM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.

Image Courtesy of  Ffooter / Shutterstock.com

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New York, U.S.A. - Two things immediately come to mind this time of year – baseball and iced coffee. Dunkin’ Donuts, America’s all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods, has all your bases covered this summer season. New York Mets Manager Terry Collins and New York Yankees Manager Joe Girardi will be featured in a two month campaign in the New York Metro area to promote Dunkin’ Donuts Caramel, Mocha and the new Mocha Almond Iced Coffee flavors.

Dunkin’ Donuts will showcase both managers through a multi-tiered promotional campaign. Collins and Girardi will be featured in the television and radio campaign, “Fuels Any Series,” which will spotlight the friendly rivalry between both managers, with Collins promoting Mocha Iced Coffee and Girardi promoting Caramel Iced Coffee.

Additionally, the managers’ likeness will be prominently displayed in Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants throughout the New York Metro area, including store standees, door decals and in-store POP. The “Fuels Any Series” campaign will also be leveraged through Dunkin’ Donuts’ various social media channels during the promotion.

“It is an honor for Dunkin’ Donuts to partner with both Terry Collins and Joe Girardi for this exciting promotion. Dunkin’ Donuts has a long standing relationship with both the Yankees and Mets and this partnership will be a fantastic way to highlight Dunkin’ Donuts’ leadership in the iced coffee category,” saidRuss Romeo, Field Marketing Director for Dunkin’ Brands in the Mid-Atlantic Region. “Whether you are a Yankees fan or a Mets fan, Dunkin’ Donuts is sure to fuel your summer!”

Collins was named the 20th manager in Mets history on November 23, 2010 and has led the Mets to a 31-25 record this season. He first joined the Mets in 2010 as a Minor League Field Coordinator overseeing all on-field aspects of the Mets’ Minor League Spring Training, mini camps and Fall Instructional League. Collins previously spent six years as a major-league manager leading the Anaheim Angels and Houston Astros to winning records and second place finishes.

Girardi became manager of the Yankees in 2008, and led the team to their 27th World Championship in 2009. Girardi led the Yankees to the post-season the past three years, and currently has the Yankees near the top of the American League East with a 30-24 record. During his playing career, Girardi spent 15 seasons as a catcher in the big leagues, winning three World Championships with the Yankees (1996, 1998 and 1999).

Dunkin’ Donuts has been at the forefront in developing an innovative process for brewing iced coffee, which has set the standard for the industry. The unique process, called double brewing, uses twice the amount of coffee when making the beverage to achieve consistent flavor and freshness that are never compromised at the expense of serving it cold. The result is a smooth, rich taste sensation–iced coffee that is never bitter or watered down.

Image Courtesy  of  jason aron / Shutterstock.com

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More than 50 seasons, an outrageously overdue 8,020 games, and virtually an entire lifetime later for the team’s first ever generation of young fans, Johan Santana threw the first no-hitter in the history of the New York Mets at Citi Field on Friday night.

The Mets defeated the defending World Series champions, the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-0, as Santana struck out eight and walked five in his second consecutive complete game shutout. And for the first time ever, the scoreboard read “0” under the hit column for a Mets opponent at game’s end.

If there really are baseball gods out there, they were certainly on Santana’s side during this outing. His former teammate, Carlos Beltran, hit a bullet down the third base line in the sixth inning that kicked up a significant patch of chalk, but was somehow still incorrectly ruled foul by third base umpire Adrian Johnson. Beltran would ground out to third baseman David Wright on the following pitch, keeping the no hitter intact.

Santana was the beneficiary of even more good fortune in the next inning. Mike Baxter, a 28-year-old who is ironically from Queens and grew up a Mets fan, made a miraculous catch in left field where he ran full speed and crashed into the wall, robbing Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina of what appeared off the bat to be a no-doubt double.

Baxter would then lay on the warning track in agony for several minutes. His left shoulder slammed straight into the padded wall and was badly bruised. He was immediately replaced by Andres Torres, who moved to center field after switching positions with rookie Kirk Nieuwenhuis.

“That ball that Baxter caught, he’ll go down in the annals of New York Met lore because of that,” said Mets starting pitcher R.A. Dickey.

But what made the historic performance by Santana even more captivating was that it was accomplished after a career-high 134 pitches by the same man who had missed more than an entire season following major shoulder capsule surgery.

When asked before the game, Mets manager Terry Collins said that he would limit his ace to somewhere between 110 and 115 pitches. His level of uneasiness visibly grew with each pitch after Santana finished the sixth inning with a staggering pitch count of 106. The last thing he wanted to do was jeopardize the two-time Cy Young Award winner’s health over one start.

However, Santana approached him after that very inning and told him that he was going to finish the game. After that, he felt that the decision was out of his hands, and he would go on to tell Santana that he was his “hero” during the seventh inning.

“I just couldn’t take him out,” said Collins during the post-game press conference, where the joy for his pitcher manifested itself into several emotional moments where he struggled to let out any words.

Nonetheless, his concern for the long-term effects was still present.

“I’m very excited for him, but in five days, if his arm is bothering him, I’m not going to feel very good,” Collins said.

Santana made a conscious effort to give his teammates just as much credit for achieving the feat despite the fact that he had just become the hero that completed what other great Mets pitchers such as Dwight Gooden, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Jerry Koosman, and several others were unable to over the previous half century.

“We did this together,” Santana said. “It is not just about me. We had a great, great game tonight. Everyone participated. We did the little things the way we were supposed to do it. And it worked out good. I thanked them because we as a team made history tonight.”

There were more close calls in the final two innings, including a soft line drive off Beltran’s bat that nearly resulted in a collision between second baseman Daniel Murphy and shortstop Omar Quintanilla to end the eighth and a ball off the end of All Star outfielder Matt Holiday’s bat that was nearly overrun by Torres to start the ninth.

After falling behind 3-0 to the 2011 World Series MVP David Freese with one out remaining, Santana fought back into the count and struck him out on the pitch that’s made him such a dominant force for all these years – his changeup.

SNY play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen then called it the way every Mets fan had felt for all these decades. The wait was finally over, and this was no dream.

“It has happened!”

Image Courtesy of  David W. Leindecker / Shutterstock.com

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Yankees fans can now breathe at least somewhat of a sigh of relief.

Closer Mariano Rivera – a 12 time All Star and the all-time saves leader with 608 over his illustrious career – announced late Friday afternoon that he will not retire after suffering both a torn ACL and partially torn meniscus in his right knee while shagging fly balls during Thursday’s batting practice in Kansas City.

“I am coming back,” said Rivera, a five time World Series champion. “Write it down in big letters…I’m not going out like this.

“I love to play the game. To me, going out like this isn’t the right way… I don’t think like that. With the strength of the Lord, I have to continue.”

The 42-year-old Rivera’s right knee buckled after he extended his reach for a fly ball near the warning track of left-center field in Kauffman Stadium, causing him to critically injure it. Unlike most pitchers, Rivera actually enjoys shagging fly balls during batting practice, and makes it a part of his daily workout routine.

Rivera publicly hinted at the possibility of this being his final season in the Majors just before the 2012 campaign got underway. With that in mind, everyone who loves/works for the Yankees organization was certainly apprehensive that the freak injury could ultimately be the final straw for the greatest closer to ever take the mound.

But according to Rivera, a decision to not call it a career was made last night after speaking with Dr. David Altchek – the same doctor who performed shoulder surgery on him back in 2008. They discussed a time frame, and Altchek told Rivera that he could return somewhere between three and five months.

“Dr. Altchek said I could be back in three, four, five months,” Rivera said. “He said, ‘You’re a fast healer.’ I will do my due diligence, my research. I will talk to whoever I have to. Yeah, it hurts me, I’m sorry that I let my teammates down, but at the same time, I’m positive. I’m positive. This is going to pass. This is going to pass.”

If the recovery process does work out as Altchek claims the possibility of Rivera returning before this season’s conclusion could be a reality.

The popular consensus is that Yankees manager Joe Girardi will slide setup man David Robertson into the closer’s role until Rivera makes his way back onto the field.

Most believe that Robertson will eventually become the full time closer once Rivera walks away from the game. He is yet to allow a run in 11 innings of work this season, and finished the 2011 season with an astonishing 1.08 ERA and his first All Star Game selection.

Rivera’s contract with New York expires at the end of this year, but he is not concerned about not returning to the team as long he proves that he is healthy and can still get the job done.

The one they called Sandman just smiled and said, “They will want the old goat.”

In nine appearances this season Rivera has posted a 1-1 record, a 2.16 ERA and has converted five out of six save opportunities after blowing one during the first game of the season in Tampa Bay against the Rays.

Image Courtesy of    Anthony Correia / Shutterstock.com

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All Philip Humber wanted in Seattle on Saturday was his first win of the season. It didn’t matter how it came, as long as he got that first one out of the way.

Two hours and 17 minutes and 96 pitches later, the stunned 29-year-old White Sox right hander dropped to his knees in front of the pitcher’s mound and shortly found himself at the bottom of an overjoyed dogpile, as he had just become only the 21st pitcher in Major League history to throw a perfect game, following a 4-0 win over the Seattle Mariners.

Not even a month into the 2012 campaign and baseball has already seen its first perfect game or no hitter of the season.

You’d have to look back almost two years to recall the last time baseball a perfect game took place – Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay on May 29, 2010 at Florida.

“I don’t even know what to say,” said Humber. “I don’t know what Philip Humber is doing in this list. No idea what my name is doing there, but I’m thankful it’s there.”

Humber, who was drafted in 2004 by the New York Mets with the third overall pick, finally lived up to one of the many high expectations that made him a key component in the 2008 blockbuster deal that sent two-time Cy Young award winner Johan Santana to New York. He is now the third White Sox pitcher to ever throw a perfect game, and the first since Mark Buehrle tossed his back on July 23, 2009.

The perfecto by Humber also gives the White Sox a grand total of 18 no hitters during their existence.

To say that it had been somewhat of a rough road leading up to this point for Humber might qualify as the understatement of the year. Tommy John surgery was necessary shortly after being drafted and a combination of significant Major League struggles and a number of trips between there and Triple A prohibited him from winning his first big league game until 2010 with the Kansas City Royals.

In his first full Major League season last year with Chicago he posted a 9-9 record with a 3.75 ERA in 26 starts.

Humber was absolutely dealing from start to finish. In fact, he did not encounter a three ball count until Mariners center fielder Michael Saunders was ahead 3-0 to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Regaining his composure, Humber came back to strike out Saunders for the first out of the inning.

John Jaso flew out to right for the second out, and before Humber knew it, he was just one batter away from perfection. The only thing that stood between he and baseball immortality was pinch hitter Brendan Ryan, who worked the count to 3-2.

The payoff pitch was a slider well off the plate low and away that Ryan attempted to check his swing at, but the home plate umpire made the call himself and ruled that Ryan had swung. The ball rolled past catcher A.J. Pierzynski momentarily, as Ryan argued the umpire’s call. Ryan was unable to make it halfway down the line by the time Pierzynski gobbled up the ball and lasered it down to first for the 27th out.

And then it was party time.

“I saw it get away from A.J. and saw the umpire ring him up and at that point, a ton of emotions and a lot of joy and excitement,” Humber said. “Most of all, just gratitude. Just thankful for where I’m at.”

With nine strikeouts on the day, a nasty slider like the final pitch was Humber’s bread and butter. Humber’s 96 pitches was the least thrown in a perfect game since former Yankee David Cone’s 88 on July 18, 1999 against the Montreal Expos.

“I was more nervous than I was in the World Series,” said Pierzynski. “There was no build up for this; it just happened. And you want it so bad for the guy on the mound and you want him to have that achievement forever and you want to have him remembered forever. It’s a special thing that Phil did.”

Image Courtesy of    White Sox

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Just minutes prior to taking the podium in front of a room jam-packed with members of the Miami media on Tuesday morning, the Miami Marlins announced that manager Ozzie Guillen had been suspended by their front office for five games following comments that he made earlier in the week regarding Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

“I feel like I betrayed my Latin community,” was the English translation of one of Guillen’s opening statements. Guillen spoke in his native Spanish for most of the press conference. “I am here to say I am sorry with my heart in my hands and I want to say I’m sorry to all those people who are hurt indirectly or directly.”

“I’m sorry for what I said and for putting people in a position they don’t need to be in. And for all the Cuban families, I’m sorry,” said Guillen. “I hope that when I get out of here, they will understand who Ozzie Guillen is. How I feel for them. And how I feel about the Fidel Castro dictatorship. I’m here to face you, person to person. It’s going to be a very difficult time for me.”

Bench coach Joey Cora will manage the club until Guillen’s return next week.

In what has become an infamous interview with Time Magazine a few days ago, Guillen stated, “I love Fidel Castro.” His immediate reason for the remark was Castro’s ability to remain in power after several decades despite the overwhelming hatred that Cuban citizens have for him.

This sparked immediate outrage from Cubans in Miami, who compose the city’s majority population, especially where the Marlins new ballpark is located, Little Havana. The last thing they ever want to hear is someone supporting the man whose tyrant communist practices have caused them and their families relentless suffering for years on end, forcing them to flee their homeland with zero intent of ever returning.

“Guillen’s remarks, which were offensive to an important part of the Miami community and others throughout the world, have no place in our game,” said MLB commissioner Bud Selig.

With an off-day in Philadelphia during the Marlins series against the Phillies, Guillen decided that it would be best to take a flight back to South Florida on Tuesday and apologize for his insensitive comments.

Along with multiple apologies to those he offended, Guillen repeated numerous times during the press conference that he does not have any admiration for Castro.

“The interpretation didn’t come out as I wanted,” Guillen said in defense of his controversial words. “I was thinking in Spanish and I said the wrong thing in English.”

No prepared statement in front of him, Guillen spoke directly from the heart.

“Everybody in the world hates Fidel Castro, including myself,” said Guillen. “I was surprised that he’s still in power. That’s what I was trying to say to the journalist. And that’s the first thing that came out of my mouth. I admit it. It was the wrong words.”

Much of the Miami community did not believe that Guillen’s apology sufficed, and a series of boycotts and protests outside of the stadium will take place once the Marlins return this Friday for the first of a three game series against the Houston Astros.

Despite many of these people wanting Guillen fired, Marlins president David Samson assured that the team never considered it.

Positive comments about Castro were also made by Guillen back in a 2008 interview with the Chicago Sun Times, but it was essentially a non-story because of the paper’s location.

“I will do everything to try to make things be better,” said Guillen. “I’m willing to do everything in my power, in the Marlins power, to do everything I can to help this community.”

“This is the biggest mistake of my life. When you make a mistake this big … I will learn from this,” he said.

Image Courtesy of  Keith Allison

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Star lefty Johan Santana finally made his return to a Major League mound on Tuesday afternoon for the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie, Florida, throwing two scoreless innings in Grapefruit League action against the reigning champs, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Sure, it wasn’t a game that bore any real significance, but after missing all of the 2011 season with a shoulder capsule injury that initially sidelined him at the end of the 2010 campaign, Santana’s return to the field was pure beauty to the organization and its dedicated fans. September 2, 2010 in Atlanta against the Braves – that was the last time that Santana had even faced a big league ball club.

“Finally I had an opportunity to go out there and finally get the first one out of the way,” said Santana. “… I was excited about today. Even as I was preparing myself prior to the game, I was anxious to go out there and do it. But at the same time, it was all about how I feel.

“I know it is a game situation and you have to do your job out there, but I was just focused on making sure I do the mechanics the right way and feeling good and not feeling anything in my arm. And that’s how I felt today. I felt good.”

Santana threw 29 pitches in his two innings of work. He appeared shaky at the outset, walking the leadoff hitter on just 5 pitches, but settled down and hit the strike zone on 16 of his final 24 pitches.

Not trying to be too cute coming back from a serious shoulder injury, 12 of Santana’s 13 first inning pitches were fastballs. His velocity was closely monitored and will continue to be throughout the season. He was consistently in the high 80’s and topped out at 90 on one early pitch.

Secondary pitches began to be incorporated in the second inning, one of which being his devastating changeup – the main putaway pitch that has turned him into a two time Cy Young Award winner and one of the game’s elite pitchers for the last several years. Santana had no strikeouts in the outing, but allowed no runs on just one hit and one walk.

“It was fun,” said Mets catcher Josh Thole, who was behind the plate. “I think it should be encouraging for the whole team. He went out there and it was kind of like he just left off where he was.”

Santana will once again be the ace of the staff. The four starters behind him will likely be R.A. Dickey, Jonathan Niese, Mike Pelfrey, and Dillon Gee.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/

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Major League Baseball made the expansion of its postseason format official on Friday by granting each of its leagues an additional Wild Card berth beginning this season. The move — which had been a hot topic going back to last season — means that ten teams will now participate in the always-incredible drama that is: October baseball.

This marks the sport’s first playoff expansion since 1994, when the first original Wild Card teams were added to the mix. However, due to the strike that cancelled the postseason that year, the change did not actually take place until the 1995 playoffs. The Players Association was required to sign off on the proposition before any changes were made, and it did so painlessly.

“I greatly appreciate the MLBPA’s cooperation in putting the new postseason format in place this year,” said Commissioner Bud Selig on Friday. “The enthusiasm for the 10-team structure among our clubs, fans and partners has been overwhelming.”

In the new system, the Wild Card winners in each league will face off in a one game playoff on Friday, October 5, opening postseason play. As long as weather does not become an issue, all four Division Series will begin over the following two days.

“I’m excited, because it leans more heavily on the integrity of a season than the other system and I think everybody felt the same way,” said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. “Hopefully, it leans on that integrity a little more heavily and I think that’s a good thing.”

The winner of the Wild Card round will also have an unusual advantage in this year’s Division Series. Because the 2012 regular season schedule was created before this agreement was finalized, time constraints did not allow for the customary two travel days that would be necessary in a five game Division Series.

The Division Series has always gone with a 2-2-1 format that favors the higher seed. However, since two getaway days won’t be possible, the league will go to a 2-3 arrangement that has the lower seed – one of two inevitably being a Wild Card team – hosting the first two games.

With the Division Series being a best three out of five, as opposed to four out of seven in the League Championship Series and the World Series, it is possible that a Wild Card team could advance to the LCS by playing just one road game beforehand.

MLB ensures that it will construct a schedule that never allows for this unfair competitive advantage to occur again, beginning in 2013. The LCS and World Series will continue to remain best four out of seven series with 2-3-2 formats.

Five Wild Card winners have hoisted the World Series trophy since baseball first allowed two more teams to crash the postseason party nearly 20 years ago — the 1997 and 2003 Florida Marlins, 2002 Anaheim Angels, 2004 Boston Red Sox, and just recently, the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals, who had a storybook ending after trailing the Atlanta Braves by 10.5 games in the Wild Card standings as late as August 25.

All it takes is a chance. St. Louis clinched the Wild Card and its opportunity to compete in the postseason on the final day of the 2011 season. New manager Mike Matheny believes that adding two more teams will be great for the sport.

“Everybody remembers day 162 last year and how exciting that was,” said Matheny. “We all see the benefit of how the Wild Card played out.

“There were a lot of people against it at the time and it proved to make some very meaningful games for some teams who otherwise wouldn’t have had anything going on. It will be fun to watch how it all plays out.”

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To the delight of all Milwaukee Brewers fans, yet simultaneously to the dismay of baseball purists, Friday brought news that Brewers left fielder and reigning National League MVP Ryan Braun had won his appeal against the 50 game suspension that Major League Baseball was poised to hand him following his failing of a performance enhancing drug test in October of 2011.

“Today is for everybody who has ever been wrongly accused,” said Braun at a news conference held at the Brewers training facility shortly after. “The simple truth is that I’m innocent. The truth is always relevant, and the truth prevailed.”

Braun, whose test results uncovered elevated levels of testosterone in his system that were made public in a December episode of ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” became the first player in baseball history to successfully appeal a drug-related sentencing. Braun vehemently denied ever taking any sort of performance enhancer from the beginning of this entire process and continued to echo that same sentiment on Friday.

“If I had done this intentionally or unintentionally, I’d be the first one to step up and say I did it,” Braun said. “I would bet my life this substance never entered my body.”

MLB officials were livid with the arbitrator’s ruling, considering that Braun’s winning case argued against the fashion in which the procedure was handled, as opposed to claiming wrongful tampering took place or that the test was simply incorrect. Two unnamed sources vouched for Braun, stating that the urine sample that he provided on October 1was not delivered by the collector to FedEx until two days later.

MLB’s drug testing policy requires that all samples make their way to FedEx the very same day. The sources identified the collector as Dino Laurenzi, Jr. and testified that he left Miller Park with the sample at 5 P.M. on Saturday, October 1. It was said to be in a triple-seal container.

Laurenzi, Jr. then allegedly decided to take the sample home and not deliver it to Fed Ex until 1:30 P.M. on October 3, feeling that it would not be sent out to the lab in Montreal until Monday anyway. He supposedly placed it in a cool, dry area during that time period, and the lab chief told ESPN’s Lester Munson that the sample had not been tainted in any way and that the positive test result was indeed valid.

However, Braun still focused on the delay of the process, referring to it as “fatally flawed,” and questioned what could have happened to the sample during the 44-hour window between pickup and delivery.

“Our program is not fatally flawed,” said MLB Executive Vice President Rob Manfred in a statement. “Changes will be made promptly to clarify the instructions provided to collectors regarding when samples should be delivered to FedEx based on the arbitrator’s decision.

Neither Mr. Braun nor the MLBPA contended in the grievance that his sample had been tampered with or produced any evidence of tampering.” Because MLB did not follow protocol the way that they should have, there was not enough sufficient evidence to rule Braun guilty.

“I’ve lived this nightmare every day for the last four months,” Braun said. “At the end of the day, the truth prevailed. I’m the victim of a process that completely broke down.”

Sources are now saying that MLB may look to appeal the ruling in federal court.

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Looks like Manny Ramirez’s playing days aren’t over just yet. The 39-year-old veteran outfielder, who immediately retired at the beginning of last season following his second known positive test for performance enhancing drugs over his career, signed a minor league deal worth $500,000 with the Oakland Athletics on Monday.

Ramirez had one hit in just seventeen at-bats and five games with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011 before calling it quits. He was well aware that with this being his second violation of MLB’s drug policy that he would have been required to miss 100 games, and therefore, decided to apparently walk away from the game on April 8.

At MLB’s winter meetings this past December, word got out that Ramirez had applied for reinstatement back into the league. The Commissioner’s Office granted it to him and decided to cut the original suspension he faced in half, down to 50 games, after considering the fact that he essentially sat out the majority of last season anyway, which was a punishment in itself.

Not many teams showed interest in Ramirez, but the A’s figured there would be no harm in giving him a low-cost minor league contract and an opportunity to make the Major League club. Oakland expects Ramirez to join the team at their spring training facility in Arizona this Friday. Manager Bob Melvin certainly supported the signing.

“I watched some video of him and saw the swing. It didn’t look any different, and it looked like he was in good shape,” said Melvin on Tuesday. “He’ll be ready to go with the position players, and we’ll see what he has to offer.”

Ramirez is easily regarded as one of the greatest offensive players of both his generation and of the entire modern era. Since beginning his career with the Cleveland Indians in 1993, the 12-time All Star, 9-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and 2004 World Series MVP has hit .312, driven in 1,831 runs, and ranks 14^th on the all-time home run list with 555 long balls.

“He is one of the best right-handed hitters I’ve ever seen,” said A’s general manager Billy Beane. “This is a guy who combines power with on-base percentage along with a high batting average. He’s a unique player.”

Ramirez is best known for his time in Boston with the Red Sox from 2001 to part of 2008, where he played a key role in the team breaking its 86-year World Series drought with a sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004, along with its 2007 World Series sweep of the Colorado Rockies.

The Red Sox front office and Ramirez no longer saw eye-to-eye by 2008, and he was subsequently traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He remained in L.A. until he was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 2010. He would sign with the Rays the following year. Despite all of the bouncing around during the latter part of his career, Ramirez believes he can still be a productive Major League player.

“I’m feeling really good, mostly on a spiritual level. I’m very confident with the shape I’m in heading to spring training,” said Ramirez in an interview on a Dominican radio station. “There were three teams interested, but I left God to decide, and that’s why I signed with the Oakland A’s. I’m only coming back because I always loved baseball, ever since I was little kid. I have a passion for the sport, and I know I can still play.”

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And the winner of the Yoenis Cespedes sweepstakes is… the Oakland A’s?

That’s right. According to mlb.com, the Oakland Athletics agreed to terms with the highly sought after 26-year-old Cuban outfielder on Monday. The deal is reported to be worth $36 million over a four-year span, but will not be officially announced until a physical has been passed.

“I am super happy because it’s been a dream of mine for a long time,” said Cespedes from the Dominican Republic. “To leave my country and play in the big leagues is what the goal was. My family is really happy, too. They are living their dreams through me.”

The 6-foot, 215-pound Cespedes had been at the top of the list for a number of Major League clubs once he was officially named a free agent on January 25 after recently making his way from Cuba to the Dominican Republic. Amongst this grouping of teams were the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, the Oakland A’s, and the odds-on favorite by many, the new-look Miami Marlins.

Given that Miami is both filled with Hispanic heritage and is pretty much just a hop, skip, and a jump from Cespedes’ native Cuba, the popular sentiment was that he would likely sign with the Marlins, who reportedly offered him a six-year deal somewhere in the neighborhood of $36 and $40 million, only a few days prior.

The Marlins have not shied away from spending the big bucks to bring in the best available talent this winter, as they have committed a total of $190 million in signing superstar shortstop Jose Reyes, veteran left-handed starter Mark Buehrle, and one of the more underrated closers in the game, Heath Bell. Miami also gave Ozzie Guillen a four-year, $10 million contract to be the team’s first manager in their brand new ballpark.

Even though he would not admit it, $9 million a year from the A’s might have been what caused the Marlins to lose out in the end. “It was a great process, training and working out for teams. It was a difficult decision to leave Cuba, but I’m really excited with how things worked out. I saw a bunch of teams, and they saw me, too, but Oakland was the best for me.”

Cespedes is a power-hitting center fielder that will easily be able to slide right into the middle of an Oakland lineup that – to say the least – struggled in that department last year, ranking 12 in the American League with a mere total of 114 home runs.

In the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Cespedes made a name for himself on an international stage, hitting .458 in six games. His 2010-2011 season, which was his eighth and final season playing for Granma in the Cuban League, certainly confirmed that he was the real deal, as he hit .333 with 99 RBI and a record 33 home runs in just 90 games.

“My first goal is to make the team and stay healthy all season, and little by little, I’ll make more goals,” Cespedes said. “I’ve been preparing every day for this, and I 100 percent believe that I am ready for the Major Leagues. I have a lot of international experience and experience at a high level. I’m very confident in my abilities.”

He continued, “Believe me, I’m going to give the best I have, and I’m going to leave it all on the field. I’ll do my best and show I deserve this opportunity. I know I can do it. I’m ready.”

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Los Angeles Dodgers LLC has reported that it has filed a motion to disallow all claims (the “Stow Claim”) asserted by Bryan Stow, Tyler Stow and Tabitha Stow against the Los Angeles Dodgers with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

On March 31, 2011, which was Opening Day for the Dodgers’ 2011 baseball season, Stow was injured during an altercation that occurred after the baseball game ended in Parking Lot 2, situated on the outer ring of the parking lots surrounding Dodger Stadium.  Stow subsequently filed a complaint in California state court against more than a dozen defendants, including LAD and other debtors.

Stow’s lawsuit, as against the debtors, was automatically stayed under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code when the debtors filed for bankruptcy protection on June 27, 2011.  Stow filed the Stow claim with the bankruptcy court on July 11, 2011.  Also in July, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested two individuals, Marvin Norwood and Louis Sanchez, as suspects in the altercation with Stow.

These individuals also attended the Opening Day game and sat on the opposite side of the stadium from where Stow was seated. Neither individual is part of the Dodger organization.  Norwood and Sanchez are currently in criminal custody awaiting trial.

The Dodgers have moved that the Bankruptcy Court disallow the Stow claim in its entirety because, as a matter of law, Stow cannot prevail in his claims against the debtors.

The debtors’ motion makes clear, among other points:

• As a matter of law, Stow cannot prove any link between the additional security related steps that Stow contends the debtors should have taken and his injuries;
• Stow cannot show that anything about the security personal staffing on Opening Day caused his injuries and, furthermore, the security staffing at the game greatly exceeded all requirements ofCalifornia state law;
• The Dodgers had no knowledge of any inappropriate conduct by Stow’s assailants prior to the time that Stow sustained his injuries and, as a matter of law, are not liable for failure to anticipate criminal acts of third parties;
• The California Court of Appeals has recognized that allegedly inadequate lighting cannot support a finding that a property owner “caused” an attack by a third party on its premises.  Moreover, Stow cannot show that inadequate lighting caused his injuries and, in fact, the Stow complaint alleges that the altercation “took place over a prolonged period of time and drew the attention of various other patrons,” which if true demonstrates that the assailants were unconcerned with concealing themselves from others;
• Contrary to Stow’s lawyers’ contentions, there was no “half-off” beer promotion at Opening Day and, thus, could not have had anything to do with his injury;
• The Dodgers cannot be held liable for failing to escort Stow and his companions through the parking lot; and, furthermore, neither Stow, nor anyone else in his party, ever asked to be escorted or for any other assistance;
• The Dodgers are not liable for the presence of persons who might be gang members and, in any case, there is no evidence that Norwood or Sanchez are gang members, or that the Dodgers had any knowledge of gang membership or prior criminal conduct by either of Stow’s assailants.

In addition, the debtors’ motion makes clear that, based on the material facts that are not genuinely at issue, and, as a matter of law, no basis exists for Stow’s claim for punitive damages.  Accordingly, Los Angeles Dodgers have moved that the bankruptcy court should grant summary judgment disallowing all punitive damage claims against LAD.

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On Thursday, the Detroit Tigers finalized a $214 million, nine-year contract for free agent first baseman, Prince Fielder.  Fielder, 27, is now in his prime and joins two of baseball’s biggest stars, Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander. “This is awesome,” Fielder said. “It’s kind of a dream come true. I’m excited.” Fielder’s father, Cecil, played for the Detroit Tigers from 1990 to 1996 and hit 51 home runs in 1990. Fielder recalls coming to Tiger Stadium to watch his father play.

There were some questions initially when the deal happened since the Tigers already had a hard-hitting solid first baseman in Miguel Cabrera.  However, reports said that as soon as power hitter, Victor Martinez, went down with a torn ligament in his left knee this off-season, the Tigers began pursuing Fielder.

Now with Fielder in the line-up batting fourth and playing first base, Cabrera has moved to third base and will be batting third. This is a solid, power-hitting line-up that is not built on speed.  It is a big move and one that will require a lot of off-season training for Cabrera.  Cabrera has not played third base since the 2008 season, where he played 14 games at third, making 5 errors during those 14 games.

They are getting offensive power, but Tigers manager, Jim Leyland, said, “Cabrera is not going to have the agility, most likely, defensively that Brandon Inge had. You give up a little something, but you get a whole lot in return.”  The Tigers are taking a risk, but Fielder has been durable his entire career and is in for almost a decade in his limited, no-trade provision contract.  He can be traded to 10 different teams before the 2017 season without his consent and does not gain the right to block trades until after five years with Detroit.

Detroit won the AL Central last year by a cool 15 games, but lost to the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship Series.  They have the power in the line-up, that’s for sure. The biggest issue is seeing if Cabrera can handle the move to third base, while Fielder keeps last year’s league leading errors by a first baseman (15) down.

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According mlb.com, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson claims that ace Johan Santana should be returning to the hill by the time the team reconvenes for Spring Training in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Santana is now three weeks into his usual offseason throwing regimen, which consists of flat surface long tossing on consecutive days.

“He’s in a normal progression for Spring Training,” said Alderson during a Thursday conference call. “We expect to see him in Spring Training, and he should be ready to go at that point.”

The two time Cy Young Award winner missed the entire 2011 season after a severe left shoulder injury, suffered in late 2010, which required anterior shoulder capsule surgery – a procedure previously necessary for pitchers such as Chien-Ming Wang and Mark Prior. The management was originally optimistic that he would be pitching at the Major League level by last season’s All Star break. This remains unfulfilled.

Mets fans have been hopeful for an end to this, though, aware that Alderson previously referred to Johan Santana returning for Grapefruit League action as “a question mark” as recently as a month ago. “I didn’t want to set off alarms the last time I talked about this, but we are talking about somebody who’s coming off a long rehab,” said Alderson. “I think ultimately the questions are going to be answered in Spring Training, not beforehand.”

Obviously the “questions” Alderson eluded to refer to Santana’s physical capabilities following shoulder surgery. Conclusions cannot be drawn regarding expectations until a radar gun determines if there is a dip in velocity. As noted over the last few years, shoulder operations have had this effect more often in comparison to Tommy John elbow surgery.

Santana’s absence was definitely felt throughout the 2010 campaign. Over three seasons with New York, he has gone an impressive 40-25, boasting a 2.85 ERA. Without him, the Mets entire starting staff went an abysmal 53-58 last season, combining for a much higher ERA of 4.17. Lacking a true ace, their best pitcher record-wise wound up being rookie Dillon Gee, who went 13-6 with a 4.32 ERA in 27 starts.

New York handed the ball to 9 starters during the course of a 77-85 season – Gee, Jonathan Niese, Chris Capuano, Mike Pelfrey, and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey making up the rotation most of the way. Of those 5, Dickey, Capuano, and Pelfrey were the only ones to make at least 30 starts each.

The other four players called upon were Chris Young, Miguel Batista, rookie Chris Schwinden, and D.J. Carrasco. Young, Batista, and Schwinden each made four starts, while Carrasco had just one.

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It is a shame to admit, but the Baseball Writers’ Association of America must revoke Ryan Braun’s MVP Award, following reports that he tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in October. The BBWAA’s awareness of that sentiment is exactly why they claimed just a few days later that they would not be taking such action. Voters are hoping that the situation will simply go away on its own – but this is not the case at all. Allowing Braun to maintain the award would first do a major disservice to Major League Baseball and the recent progression it has made in diminishing steroid use within the game.

A few years ago, when Commissioner Selig implemented extremely severe suspensions for policy violators, it was clearly a statement that cheating would not be tolerated even one bit. Well if it is that serious, then it would make no sense for the BBWAA to let Braun keep the game’s highest annual individual honor knowing that he was not 100 percent clean.

Even if Braun is being truthful and the synthetic testosterone found in his system did not come from an illegal performance enhancing drug, it should not make a difference. The fact would still remain that he took something that gave him an unfair competitive advantage. Doing so unknowingly really does not change much.

Another case to make against Braun involves the current struggles of former players like Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGuire. These two have obviously not been inducted into the Hall of Fame for the last few years because of their connections to steroid use. Now, the NL MVP may not be as prestigious as a spot in Cooperstown, but there is still one undeniable similarity between the honors. Just like getting into the Hall of Fame, winning the MVP of the league means that a player will always have their own special place in baseball history that will allow their name to live on forever.

That whole idea is very powerful when looked at closely. The circumstances may differ immensely when it comes to McGuire and Palmeiro, but the focal point is still the same. If they are being punished for cheating, then there should be no exception made for Braun. The baseball writers need to set a strict precedent so players will be more aware of both their actions and the consequences that will ensue.

We also definitely cannot forget about Matt Kemp. The Dodgers center fielder had the year of his life in 2011 and finished a close second behind Braun in the voting. He hit 0.324, stole 40 bases, scored 115 runs, had 195 hits, smacked 39 homers, and drove in 115 runs. Now, although Braun only beat him out in one of those categories with a 0.332 average, the award was still considered well-deserved. After all, he did play an intricate role in the Brewers winning 96 games and their first ever National League Central title.

Kemp’s Dodgers, on the other hand, only won 82 games. Suddenly, however, Kemp appears to be much more deserving. As far as we know, he was able to eclipse all of those numbers without the aid of a performance enhancer.

Meanwhile, the baseball writers should ask themselves a few interesting questions after news of Braun testing positive. Would Braun’s numbers have come close enough to Kemp’s without the synthetic testosterone? Would Milwaukee still have won the division? Would that even be a determining factor if Kemp’s numbers were substantially higher in comparison?

The BBWAA has to take all of these morals and possibilities into consideration and take the award back. Major League Baseball and its fans will be thankful in the long run.

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If you’re going to upgrade to a beautiful new home you might as well get some fresh furniture to put in it. That’s the exact philosophy that Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria has lived by this off season. Last month he moved his newly named Miami Marlins into a brand new stadium and this week he added considerable depth with the big free agent acquisitions of shortstop Jose Reyes, starter Mark Buehrle, and closer Heath Bell.

“Outstanding week,” said Marlins new manager Ozzie Guillen. “I’d never thought we were going to do it so fast, so quick. They [the front office] were very aggressive.”

The Marlins initially received most of their buzz for their strong interest in Albert Pujols, but their most recent signing of Buehrle late on December 7^th, was quickly followed by an end to those rumors. Pujols then agreed to a mega deal with the Angels the next day – ten years, $254 million.

Miami also lost out to the Angels for the top pitcher available, C.J. Wilson. Wilson also signed with them on December 8^th, agreeing to a five year, $77.5 million deal.

Yet although the Angels came out of the fair with the nicest prizes the Marlins still feel that they emerged as the Winter Meetings’ biggest winners. They came to Dallas known as a losing team that was never active when it came to highly sought after free agents – but they left with $191 million worth of prizes.

Loria’s desires to build a contending team that will bring this starving fan base hope began on December 5^th with the official signing of Bell to a three year, $27 million contract.

“It’s going to be totally different,” said Bell. “We’re now the Miami Marlins. People are going to be in the seats. It’s going to be loud and exciting. There’s going to be a buzz.”

When fans think of today’s best closers the list usually includes obvious names like Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, and Jose Valverde. But Bell has become one of the top closers himself over the last few years. Playing in the small market of San Diego since 2006 has made him somewhat of a hidden gem, as he is the only closer in all of baseball with at least 40 saves each of the last three seasons.

“We know firsthand how tough he is coming out to close in the ninth inning,” said Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest. With the all-important closer role taken care of, the front office then began focusing on acquiring a big-time position player.

And they did not waste any time in doing so. An appointment to meet with Reyes and his agent was scheduled the minute the free agent signing period began on November 3^rd – just one past midnight. The two sides agreed to a six year $106 million deal by November 7^th.

If anyone understood how much of a superstar Reyes was, it was the Marlins. Playing in the N.L. East had only made them firsthand victims of Reyes’ antics for the past decade. They knew the Mets could not afford to keep one of the game’s most dynamic players so they swooped in.

“We now have at the top of our lineup a four-time All-Star, a batting champion and one of the fastest men in the game,” said Beinfest. The signing has sparked a lot of controversy, however. The Marlins already have an elite shortstop in Hanley Ramirez. The plan was to move Ramirez to third base if Reyes was signed, but many are unsure whether or not he would be willing to do so.

Rumor now has it that front office may be shopping him if he does not cooperate with the team’s desires. Just hours after Reyes became a Marlin the team bolstered its weak starting pitching by adding Buehrle to the staff. The veteran lefty signed a four year, $58 million contract. No one was happier about this than Ozzie Guillen, who managed him for years during their time with the White Sox. Buehrle is 161-119 with a 3.83 ERA over his career.

“The Marlins know how much I love him,” said Guillen. “I know how much he can help us. If we have Buehrle, it can make my life a little easier.” This organization couldn’t be any happier with the new toys they just bought. “When we drew up our off season plan, and how we wanted our team look, we are in the A box right now,” said team president David Samson.

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No Angels fans, that was not a dream. And as far as the other 29 teams and their fans are concerned – sorry, but that was not a horrible nightmare. Thursday morning really did begin with news that the Angels not only signed pitcher C.J. Wilson, but Albert Pujols as well.

Veteran outfielder Vernon Wells was ecstatic when talking about the addition of his new teammates. “You’re adding two of the biggest pieces in the market, two guys still young and in their prime who can dominate. This gives us a legitimate chance to get to the playoffs and farther,” he said.

All the excitement definitely begins with the shocking acquisition of King Albert. The Angels were not mentioned as a contender for his services until just 48 hours before the deal took place. It was clear that Pujols was potentially the most talented player to ever hit the free-agent market. Contrary to rumors that had his overall contract estimated around $300 million over ten years the Angels were able to get him onboard for ten years and $254 million.

But, when hearing these circumstances, the situation should not be misconstrued. Pujols was not shortchanged by any means whatsoever, and the Angels were not given an easily affordable check to write. The two sides agreed to the second largest contract in Major League history.

Only Alex Rodriguez’s ten year, $275 million deal that he signed in 2007 with the Yankees has ever been worth more. Angels owner Arte Moreno had no doubt that Pujols was worth the nice chunk of change. “This is a monumental day for Angel fans, and I could not be more excited. Albert’s career performance clearly speaks for itself. He has proven to be the best player of his generation.”

And while Pujols’ star power was the big story of the day, the signing of Wilson should not be overlooked. Unlike Pujols, most people were aware that the Angels were strongly pursuing the lefty starter in Wilson. The 31-year-old grew up just 12 miles from Angel Stadium and did not reassure the Rangers and their fans that he desired to return for another season in Arlington.

His hometown team showed interest and made him a suitable offer. “At the end of the day, my family was a big player in this, and my friends and stuff back home,” said Wilson. “Going back to where you’re from is a difficult thing to turn down when you have an opportunity, and it works out really in every way.”

Although Wilson was regarded as the best starter available this offseason, he did not receive a $100+ million contract like many expected before this October. His lack of a power fastball and struggles this postseason were the contributors in the end. He went 0-3 with a 5.79 ERA in 6 starts during the 2011 playoffs.

Not only does adding Wilson give the Angels one of the top starting rotations in the league with Jared Weaver, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana, but it also weakens the Rangers rotation. Texas has won the A.L. West the last two years and gone to the World Series both times.

Now the Angels aim to get back to dominating the division the way they did in past years. In just one day’s worth of signings C.J. Wilson and Albert Pujols have also changed the entire landscape of the American League as a whole. Get your tickets now, Angels fans. They won’t be available for too long.

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The Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander would not be denied in 2011 – no matter what arguments the nonbelievers made against the 28-year-old flame-throwing right hander’s chances of winning the American League MVP, it’s only fitting that he still came out with the award on Monday.

“If you had told me at the beginning of the year I would be a shoe-in for the Cy Young, I would have been excited and ecstatic. I would’ve never even thought about the MVP,” said Verlander after learning that he had won the vote. The baseball writers gave Verlander 13 of the 28 first place votes, and he won with a total accumulation of 280 points, according to mlb.com.

The next closest player to him was Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who finished with 242 total points. As far as individual accomplishments for a starting pitcher are concerned, Verlander achieved practically all of them this year. He led the majors in both wins with a regular season record of 24-5 and 250 strikeouts.

He also led the American League with a 2.40 E.R.A., which effectively won him the league’s pitching triple crown. Let’s not forget that he threw a no-hitter in Toronto against the Blue Jays on May 7, the second of his career. The only thing really missing was a perfect game, which anyone could easily overlook.

All of these triumphs by Verlander earned him the Cy Young award last week. There was only one question to be answered: could this man actually be the league’s most valuable player? No starting pitcher had won the award since Roger Clemens with the Red Sox in 1986, and no pitcher had won it since Athletics Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley in 1992.

The debate lingered for months due to a number of peculiar circumstances. Verlander is not a position player and was not out there every day going to battle with his teammates over the course of a six month, 162 game regular season.

However, Verlander was nothing but absolutely dominating and overpowering nearly every single time he towed the rubber for Detroit. He may have only played in thirty-four regular season games, but he provided an old-school ace-like mentality supported by the most lively arm in the league, almost stating, ‘I’m the best and I know it, so here it comes.’

If there were any pitcher to fear in 2011, it was Verlander. His MVP campaign was strengthened by the fact that the Red Sox suffered the most monumental collapse in history, missing the postseason after blowing what was a nine game lead in the Wild Card on September 3. Ellsbury, was viewed as the favorite for the award until the end of September.

He posted career high numbers: he had an average of .321, 119 runs scored, 212 hits, 105 in RBI, and 32 home runs. Other players who gained much consideration for the award included Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson and Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista.

Granderson hit 41 home runs, drove in 119 runs, and led New York to the best record in baseball, but his .262 average was likely too low for the baseball writers to accept. Bautista batted .302 and led the majors with 43 home runs, but Toronto only finished at .500 with an 81-81 record.

Since no A.L. position player was able to run away with the award, Verlander began to gain a significant amount of interest as a potential winner.  The conversation will not end here, as many will discuss whether or not the proper decision was made. Nonetheless, Verlander had a pitcher’s dream season in 2011, and no one can take that or his MVP award away from him.

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Albert Pujols, nine-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove award winner, and three-time National League Most Valuable Player has finally hit the open market as a free agent, and the new-look Marlins are not wasting any time in being the first to enter what should be the largest bidding war in MLB history for his services. 

To baseball fans, Pujols’ availability could seem almost as attractive and massive as Miami Heat forward LeBron James’ free agency last summer. Just like James, it appears possible that Pujols could also end up “bringing his talents to South Beach” for years to come.  

The Marlins made the first move in their attempt to permanently bring Pujols there on Friday when he met with the organization at their brand new ball park where, according to si.com, they were the first team to make him a contract offer this offseason.

“Miami is a magnet – the city, the manager, the new ballpark, the players we have. We have a terrific core here. All of it put together is the magnet,” Jeffrey Loria, Miami Marlins owner.

This is the message that Loria was attempting to send Pujols on Friday when team officials had lunch with the man recognized as the greatest player in all of baseball. This occurred during a busy week when the team also met with free agents Mark Buehrle and Jose Reyes. 

They also gave Pujols his own personal tour of their new stadium, a modern-day ballpark with a retractable roof that they can call their own. They shared their previous stadium with the Miami Dolphins. Once they made their impression, they allegedly offered him a contract, although mlb.com reports that the Marlins will not confirm doing so.

If they did offer him a deal, one would believe that it has to be somewhere in the neighborhood of ten years and $300 million. The Marlins are looking to become serious contenders in the N.L. East – a division that the Philadelphia Phillies have won every year since 2007.  They also have not made the postseason since 2003, the year they won the World Series over the Yankees in six games.

“Now we look forward to a new era. It’s a new page. I’m excited. There are absolutely are no limits to try and see what can be done,” Loria said. Miami began making transitions towards building a new culture back in September when they acquired new manager Ozzie Guillen back in September in a deal with his former team, the Chicago White Sox.

Now the Marlins seek to continue by signing another big name like Pujols. Most people believed that Pujols would test free agency after not agreeing to a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals before spring training.

Well after winning his second World Series since 2006 with the club this past year and after seeing his future Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa retire shortly after, the popular belief seems to be that Pujols has every reason to not only test the waters, but to actually sign with another team. The Miami Marlins would certainly hope so.

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The St. Louis Cardinals managerial search has come to an end, and their new leading man is a former Cards’ catcher, Mike Matheny, according to MLB.com. 

Although the hiring might come as a surprise to most baseball fans considering the others who were considered for the job – Terry Francona, Bobby Valentine, Ryne Sandberg, and Jose Oquendo being amongst the list – this cannot come as a complete shock to the Cardinal faithful.

Matheny’s name was occasionally thrown out there when there was speculation concerning who would be the next manager, but it did not seem like a strong possibility given the fact that he has never previously managed in any realm of professional baseball. Matheny was certainly no superstar during his playing career, but was a spring training instructor for the club and also assisted general manager John Mozeliak as a special adviser before being hired.

The move is fairly similar to the one the Chicago White Sox made back in early October when they decided to replace former manager Ozzie Guillen with former White Sox infielder Robin Ventura. Ventura has no managing experience, but also remained within the organization as a consultant for general manager Kenny Williams before being hired.

The choice seems highly questionable and potentially regrettable when evaluating all of the proven talent that was interested in the position. Francona won two World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox back in 2004 and 2007 as their manager, Valentine led the 2000 New York Mets to the National League Pennant, and Oquendo was part of the Cardinal coaching staff when they won the 2006 and 2011 Word Series.

However, the reputation Matheny has earned as a great baseball mind and an even better man throughout the organization’s ranks during his five years as their catcher and his recent positions with the team influenced Mozeliak to give him his big break. Mozeliak exhibited nothing but confidence in both Matheny and the decision to hire him.

“Today we begin a new chapter in the history of the St. Louis Cardinals and trust the managerial duties to Mike Matheny. His leadership, his passion, his intelligence and his work ethic, all of these assets will lead to his success as manager of the Cardinals,” said Mozeliak.

Matheny is most certainly not the big name that many believed the Cardinals would choose to replace their former manager Tony La Russa, who retired after leading the Cardinals to an improbable World Series title back in October. La Russa also led the Cardinals to their 2006 world championship in his sixteen year run as the team’s skipper.

He won three World Series titles overall during his thirty-three years managing in the major leagues.  With all of that being said, Matheny is definitely prepared for the buildup that comes with replacing this true legend in a city that lives for its baseball team.

“I can’t tell [Cardinals fans] how excited I am about this opportunity. I know there is a high level of expectation, a high level of what has been known as the Cardinal way, and I plan to carry through with it,” Matheny said.

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U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff stated in an order last Wednesday that the owners of the New York Mets, in order to pay reprisal to investors in Bernard Madoff’s fraud, will be forced to pay noless than $386 million for turning a blind eye towards the ex-financier’s scheme.

The sum of money will cut more than $600 million from the $1 billion award requested in a lawsuit against the team for allowing the fraud to happen. Rakoff said, according to an article posted on Time magazine’s website, that $83.3 million of that money is the assumed profits collected by the Mets’ owners in the two years before a bankruptcy court filing occurred.

Also, the payment includes more than $300 million in principal that the Mets received during the two-year period. Rakoff also stated that Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee on the case, could only recover principal if it could be proven that the Mets’ owners knew about the fraud, and allowed it to continue.

This is because the lawsuit claimed the owners either knew or should have known that Madoff was operating this scheme. Lawyers for the Mets owners have said, on numerous occasions, that the defendants had no idea that Madoff was operating this huge scheme with the money that their organization invested.

Picard has filed more than 1,000 lawsuits in order to recover billions of dollars lost by investors in Bernard Madoff, according to Time magazine. Picard argued that some investors, like the Mets’ owners, owe large sums of money to other investors because they withdrew from them enough to make a larger amount of money at the expense of others.

Bernard Madoff, the 73-year-old ex-financier, is serving 150 years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges. He revealed the lengthy scheme in December 2008 after telling investors their money was worth as much as $68 billion. However, there was only a fraction of their $20 billion dollar investment left.

The New York Mets’ owners announced in May had agreed to sell a minority share to hedge fund manager David Einhorn for $200 million, but the deal fell through on September 1^st. The Mets said they would seek to sell shares of up to $20 million to family members and other potential investors without risking the possibility of losing a controlling interest.
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Baseball never disappoints. It came down to game 162, the final regular season game, to see who would be the last two wildcard teams in each of the American and National League. The Atlanta Braves were tied with the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League while the Boston Red Sox were tied with the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League.

In the event of a tie the teams would play game 163, a one game playoff, with the right to go to the postseason. The Braves lead the Cardinals by 8 ½ games with three weeks to play. The Cardinals played the Astros in Houston and the Braves would play the NL East Champion Phillies.

The Cardinals got it done early as they scored five runs in the top of the first inning. That was more than enough for their starting pitcher Chris Carpenter. After an up and down season for Carpenter, he was at his best when his team needed him most. He threw a complete game shut-out as the Cardinals won an easy 8-0.

The Braves had their best pitcher on the mound in Tim Hudson to start the game. He fought hard and came out of the game with his team leading with the score 3-2. Rookie closer Craig Kimbrel loaded the bases with Phillies in the top of the 9^th. With one out, Chase Utley hit a sac fly to drive in the tying run.

They would go to the 13^th inning where the Phillies Hunter Pence had a broken-bat RBI single to give them the lead. The weakness of the Braves showed as they could not buy a run. Rookie Freddie Freeman grounded into a double-play to end both the game and the Braves’ season.

Cardinals go on to play the Phillies in Philadelphia. The other two NL playoff teams, the Diamondbacks and Brewers, kick-off their postseason matchup in Milwaukee. The Boston Red Sox (who were favored by many to make it to the World Series!) lead the Tampa Bay Rays by 9 games at the start of September.

The Rays would play the AL East Champs, the New York Yankees. Boston would play the lowly but gritty Orioles to extend their season. The Red Sox and Orioles played a close game throughout. Boston was one out away from putting the Orioles away. Manager Buck Showalter’s team showed heart and played as if it was their World Series.

With two out and nobody on they rallied with back-to-back doubles off closer Jonathan Papelbon to tie the game 3-3. The next batter Robert Andino would drop a single in front of Carl Crawford for a walk-off to win the game. The Rays put themselves in an early hole by going down 7-0 with David Price on the mound.

Tampa would put together one of the most improbable comebacks. With only six out left in their season and still down 7-0 they would load the bases with nobody out. After a walk, hit batter, an out, and a sac fly out the Rays cut the lead to 7-3. Two outs and two on the Rays Evan Longoria bombs a homerun and cuts the deficit to one.

In the bottom of the ninth the Rays were down to their final strike and pinch-hitter Dan Johnson at the plate. He hit a game-tying homerun to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Rays were one out into the 12^th inning and Evan Longoria again at the plate. Just three minutes after it was declared that the Red Sox had lost, Longoria hit his second homer of the game to send Tampa to the postseason to play the defending AL Champion Rangers.

The Detroit Tigers visit the Yankees for their postseason matchup. Wednesday, September 28^th saw two of the greatest collapses in baseball history. The Braves were 9-18 in September while the Cardinals finished 23-8 in their final 31 games. Boston went 7-20 and the Rays were 17-10 in September.

The 8 ½ lead by the Braves and the 9 game lead by the Red Sox were the largest September collapses in Major League history. Baseball, there is nothing like it.
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And they’re off! The MLB season has entered the final month of a long marathon. There is still division, wildcard and pennant races to be decided. The National League seems to be wrapped up as the closest division race in six games. With less than 20 games to play, teams are focused on the magic numbers to nab a playoff spot. The stats of all the following teams and players come prior to Monday’s action:

NL East: The Philadelphia Phillies lead the division by 12 games over the Atlanta Braves. They also have the best record in baseball with 94-49. This is no surprise seeing that many picked this team to win the World Series, lead by the pitching staff of Cy Young candidates, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. The Phillies also have a potent lineup after trading for OF Hunter Pence before the trade deadline. Look for this team to go deep into the post-season.

NL Central: Leading the Major Leagues with the best home record at 51-22 is the Milwaukee Brewers. They lead the St. Louis Cardinals by six games and are carried by the three and four hitters Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder respectively. With the addition of Zack Grienke and Shaun Marcum in the offseason, to go along with team ace Yovanni Gallardo, the Brewers is looking to takes strides and be a serious contender. They have to quickly turn around their road woes if they hope to win it all.

NL West: The surprise team of the year resides here in the wild west. The Arizona Diamondbacks have shocked the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants and hold an 8 ½ game lead on them. Their ace is Cy Young Candidate, Ian Kennedy, who has an outstanding 19-4 record thus far. On the other side, Arizona is second in the NL in homeruns with 162 — 30 of which belong to MVP candidate Justin Upton. The D-backs, like their manager Kirk Gibson, are tough and won’t back down.

NL Wildcard: The wildcard leader is the Atlanta Braves and they lead the Cardinals by 4 ½ games for the final playoff spot. The Braves are strengthened by their bullpen and rookie closer Craig Kimbrel leads the way with a Major League leading of 43 saves. The Cardinals are still in the hunt and can’t be counted out with the great Albert Pujols. After a slow start Pujols has got it rolling, maybe in time to get his Cardinals into the playoffs.

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And they’re off – MLB has entered its final month of a long season, but there is still much to be decided in the final stretch. The division, wildcard, and pennant races are yet to be determined. With less than 20 games to play, teams are focused in on magic numbers to clinch a playoff spot. The stats of all the following teams/players come prior to Monday’s action:

AL East: The New York Yankees lead a tough division and are only 3 ½ up on the Boston Red Sox. The Bronx Bombers and Boston are one and two in runs scored, homeruns and RBI’s in the league respectively. The Yankees pitching staff is led by ace CC Sabathia and surprising rookie Ivan Nova.

The Red Sox are led by Jon Lester and Josh Beckett. Beckett is having a great bounce back season and holds an ERA of 2.49. These two will battle to the end of the regular season to see who gets home field advantage in the playoffs.

AL Central: Cy Young and even possible MVP candidate, Justin Verlander has been nothing but spectacular for the Detroit Tigers. He has been the reason the Tigers have built a 10 ½ game lead in the central. He leads the AL in ERA with a 2.44, in inning pitched with 229 and strikeouts with 232.

Verlander also has a no-hitter to his credit this season and a record of 22-9. If the Detroit pitching staff can somehow catch up with Verlander then they could make some noise in the playoffs.

AL West: The tightest division in all of baseball is between the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim. The Rangers lead the Angels by only 2 ½ games. Texas is all offense and improved their bullpen at the trade deadline by acquiring Mike Adams and Koji Uehara.

Los Angeles offense is anemic but their starting pitchers are keeping them in it. Led by Jered Weaver, Dan Haren and Ervin Santana they are trying to carry their teams hitting into the postseason.

AL Wildcard:  The race is really on with the Tampa Bay Rays climbing back in it after sweeping the weekend series against the Boston Red Sox. They sit only 3 ½ games back and the Sox are worried. Red Sox David Ortiz said, “Hell yeah, you’ve got to worry.” Boston was chosen by many to represent the American League in the World Series.

Let’s see if they can even hold off the Rays for a playoff spot. The two kick off a four game series starting Thursday  at Fenway.

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In one game the New York Mets have gone from somewhat injured to decimated by injuries. Both first baseman Daniel Murphy and shortstop Jose Reyes were placed on the DL today. The bigger story obviously being Reyes who is again on the DL for the same hamstring injury that landed him there in June.

This begs the question to be asked; was owner Fred Wilpon so off tilt with his comments in the New Yorker piece in May? In regards to whether Reyes would get ‘Carl Crawford money,’ a 7 year $142 million contract given to Crawford by Boston before this season Wilpon said, “He’s had everything wrong with him. He won’t get it.”

Originally when the comments were made they backfired and fans were in uproar over the owners comments compiled with his own money troubles. Reyes wasn’t helping Wilpon any as he was putting up MVP caliber numbers leading the league in many hitting categories and had no signs of injuries at all.

Fast forward to a second trip to the DL involving a hamstring and you have to begin to wonder whether or not Wilpon wasn’t just being a bitter old man. Reyes is considered a five-tool player, that is, a player who can hit for average and power, run the bases well, throw, and field.

Reyes doesn’t hit for nearly as much power as is average, but this year his OPS was as high as most power hitters and Reyes bats in the lead off spot. If his legs aren’t reliable, Reyes’s value is significantly less. He brings energy with his speed and quickness as he wreaks havoc on the base paths and any ball hit to the gap is potentially a triple for him.

This news is bitter sweet for the Mets. On the one hand Reyes being hurt again could scare away potential suitors willing to offer Reyes top dollar giving the Mets a chance to resign him at a lower cost or at all. Yet the other way to look at it is while they may be able to resign him if his injuries persist he won’t be as valuable to the Mets either.

There’s still time left in the season and while he is on the DL it’s more to free up roster spots than because of the severity of the injury. Reyes could come back in two weeks and have a great six weeks to finish up the season and still demand big bucks, but people around the MLB have got to be wondering.

If Reyes’s injuries are only going to increase as he ages will he be worth ‘Carl Crawford money’ this off-season?

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The July 31st trade deadline, came and went, without the Yankees acquiring the help they so desperately needed. The Yankees needed a major pitching upgrade before the trade deadline.

Why did the Yankees need an upgrade? — Put succinctly, because of their nemesis the Red Sox. If the postseason started today, you can bet all the marbles that the Yankees starting pitching staff would be outperformed by a superior Red Sox starting pitching staff.

If the currently constructed Yankees starting pitching staff faced the Red Sox offense today, a can of worms would surely be opened; The Red Sox have such a potent offense this year, and the way I see it, the Yankees really only have one reliable pitcher in ace C.C. Sabathia. Thus, the Yankees do not stand a chance with their currently structured starting rotation.

As Bob Klapisch pointedly writes in a recent article, “Truth is, there’s no one behind Sabathia the Yankees can trust in October. Not A.J. Burnett (a .500 pitcher forever prone to blow-ups), Phil Hughes (still searching for his fastball), Freddy Garcia (a fake-out artist whose margin of error is too thin for the postseason) and Colon (who hasn’t thrown this many innings since 2005).”

Klapisch also rightly points out that Colon has the best stuff besides Sabathia, but cannot be counted on as a No. 2 starter during the post season, due to his age (37) and his “vulnerability to breakdown”. Colon has already been on the disabled list once this year.

The truth of the matter is, the Yankee will most likely regret their decision to not trade for more pitching weather it be the starting rotation or the bullpen. Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos, the two prospects that Brian Cashman seems to be enamored with, will hopefully be as valuable as he thinks they will.

Hopefully, the silver lining that comes out of this deadline, will be the big league debut of both Betances and Banuelos. If it is any consolation, Cashman seems prepared to bring up the young minor league talent if needed for the final two months of the season. In a Wall Street Journal article by Daniel Barbarisi, Cashman is quoted as saying “Betances has got it.

Warren’s got it. Phelps has been on the DL but he’s got it. Noesi, Montero, Romine. There’s a number of directions that can be taken with a number of these guys. We’ll see in 2011 if some of them can play a part or not. I can’t tell you yet. We’ll just let it play out,”

If the Yankees decide to keep them in the minors for the next 3-4 years there could be dire consequences. The Yankees might see both players value drop and then not be able to trade for a player of star caliber. Cashman may have Kept Jesus Montero for too long. Did he make the same mistake with Betances and Banuelos? Did Cashman pass on the chance to sell, when their value might have been at its highest?

Despite all these unanswered questions, Brian Cashman sounds like a pretty confident guy. Cashman seems ready to do the unthinkable. Cashman, sound ready to do something that hasn’t been done since the core four (Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte) came up to the big leagues in 1996. Cashman sounds ready to really on prospects in the Yankees farm system.

As written in the Wall Street Journal article, Cashman says, “There’s some guys I feel we can rely on, and count on, if need be, as choices as we move forward, I think we’re getting deeper, We have a stronger system, so I don’t think we’re in a position as we have been in years past where we might have had to go out and do something no matter what,”

Maybe Cashman is taking the right approach after all these years.  After all, relying on heavily touted prospects worked for the Yankees during their triumphs of the late 90’s.

From the season of 96’ to the season of 00’, the Yankees won four World Series Championships. This remarkable five-year stretch was done with smart acquisitions and trades for a laundry list of veteran player. These veteran players included the likes of, Paul O’Neil, Tino Martinez, David Cone, Wade Boggs and Scott Brosius and Dwight Gooden. In addition to bringing in outside help the Yankees brought minor league talent up through their very own farm system. These players included the core four (as mentioned before) as well center fielder Bernie Williams.

This years Yankees could resemble the 1996 team. Currently the Yankees have lots of talent brought in from outside, but many talented players in the minors who could give this 2011 Yankees team a boatload of needed help. Having a mixture of outside help and homegrown help breads success. Like the Yankees of the late 90’s look at the Red Sox.

They have traded and acquired players like David Ortiz, Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, John Lackey and Carl Crawford yet brought up just as many prospects from their farm system including, Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester Kevin Youkillis and Clay Buchholz.

Setting up a roster with a balanced approach of, outside help and homegrown help is the key to success. This approach has proven to be the winning approach time and time again. Looking at history, it looks like Cashman played his cards right this time.

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Only a few things in life are certain; taxes, death and the New York Mets are a mess. With the Wilpons’ money problems stemming from the Madoff scandal and the remnants of Omar Minaya’s spend first worry later contracts coming off the books at the end of this season the Mets have already started there “rebuilding” process of trying to get this team to where it should have been in 2006, a World Series.

Sandy Alderson, the new GM, brings with him business and baseball savvy that the Mets have sorely missed over the past few years. Every deal that was made by Minaya never panned out as it should have no matter how big the free agent. Even the two that have payed off, Carlos Beltran and Johan Santana, still give Mets fans a reason to cringe.

Beltran outperformed the massive 7 year $117million dollar deal he received back in 2005, but if you ask any Mets fan and I’m sure they’ll tell you they remember the curveball from Adam Wainwright that froze Beltran like a deer in headlights. Santana was everything and more when he was signed, which was the best pitcher in baseball, but injuries and age are starting to catch up with this once prized-off season addition.

Alderson has trimmed away the fat left from Minaya and done it the right way. It started at the beginning of the season when Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez were simply released, though still under contract, so as to free up roster spots for other players. He continued this by trading once prized closer Francisco Rodriguez to the Milwaukee Brewers for two players to be named and getting another obnoxiously big not well thought through contract off the books.

Alderson kept the trend going by making a huge splash near the trade deadline by dealing Carlos Beltran to the San Francisco Giants for top pitching prospect Zach Wheeler. These moves should allow for enough wiggle room for the Mets to attempt to re-sign their high energy shortstop Jose Reyes who’s contract is up at the end of the season.

Alderson has got this team headed in the right direction. He’s looking ahead and planning for future seasons, while still attempting to put the best talent out on the field without breaking the bank to do so. With pitching prospects Matt Harvey and Wheeler, and prospect Brandon Nimmo who was taken 13^th overall in this years draft in the minors the Mets are looking a good core group of players to lead them in the coming years, hopefully alongside Jose Reyes and Jon Niese who is quickly becoming the most consistent pitcher in the Mets rotation. Alderson already knows what Minaya just couldn’t seem to figure out.

Spending the most money on talent doesn’t mean you will have the best team. Hopefully now with Alderson leading the helm Mets fans will finally have something to really cheer about, a contending baseball team.

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In the past, the dangers of being a baseball fan have mostly consisted of watching out for foul balls, broken bats and rowdy fans.  However, in the last year and more recently in the past few weeks, the baseball community has been faced with the tragedy of two Ranger’s fans dying from falling over the railings in front of their seats. How could this tragedy have happened, you ask? What can be done to prevent such things from happening again in the future?

The answer is as simple as it is complicated. These fans were just at the games, having a nice time with their friends or family and due to the lack of netting or high railings to prevent them from leaning too far over, their lives were cut short. Of course, one could argue that these people should not have been leaning over in the first place, but fans do this everyday trying to catch fly balls.

It is also probable that a person who is in the midst of a frenzy of people who are celebrating a great play, or going for balls themselves could be accidently knocked off balance and run the risk of falling over the usually modest railing.

Therefore, something has to be done. Taller railings, you say? Yes, that might work, but then you run the risk of impeding a fan’s view of the game. Then ticket sales might go down. Then the team goes bankrupt.

Alright, how about not letting people sit in the front row? Well, then what’s the point of having a front row to begin with? People in the next row up are still going to push and dive and fight for balls.

This is a dilemma, but one where the question of safety needs to be paramount. Here is a suggestion based upon some careful thought, and on the experience of one lucky guy who was narrowly saved from going over the edge.

During the Home-Run Derby a few weeks ago, a man on a high tier of the stadium leaned over the classically too short railing but thankfully, was grabbed in time by two friends. As he hung from the deck, the people around him (apart from his friends who were holding him as the other seats of the stadium loomed below) seemed unfazed and were clearly very focused on catching the ball. Thank goodness for that guy’s friends.

Therefore, it is clear that every fan is in need of the same kind of protection that those friends provided. No, I’m not suggesting that every stadium hire personal bodyguards for each fan who sits in front of a railing. Rather, I’d say that stadiums should seriously consider installing something along the lines of netting, whether it be basket type nets that could catch people who fall over from the upper decks or vertical and non-view obstructing nets (like the kind behind home plate) that would prevent people from going over all together.

This may sound like an idea to turn baseball stadiums into a giant man made spider-web of nets, but in the long run it, or an idea like it, would save lives that should never be lost.

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