Horsehide Chronicles

When it comes to the World Baseball Classic, I sometimes think of Michael J. Fox's climatic monologue from The American President. 

"They're so thirsty for it, they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage," Fox says, "and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand."

Thanks to drug-testing procedures and penalties that were put in place in 2005, Major League Baseball is likely cleaner now than it's been in some time. You can tell by the change in the offensive numbers.

...Or can you?

Rafael Soriano's long ordeal on the free-agent market has come to an end.

As reported by Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, the veteran closer is signing with the Washington Nationals:

Source: Rafael Soriano agrees to two-year, $28M deal with Nationals. Deal contains vesting option for third year. Story coming on Y! Sports.

San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Sabean has made sure his 2012 World Series championship team will stay together for the upcoming season and beyond.

In recent years, MLB has gotten tougher on steroid use. 

After instituting mandatory testing in 2004, baseball followed that up by imposing severe penalties for players caught using performance-enhancing substances.

The Boston Red Sox entered this offseason with an impossibly long checklist. They needed a new manager, for starters, and then they had to go on a scavenger hunt for talent.

The New York Yankees have conducted business during this offseason under a mandate from principal owner Hal Steinbrenner. The team's payroll must be under the $189 million luxury tax threshold for 2014.

If ever there was an excuse for the Boston Red Sox to walk away from Mike Napoli, a trade for Washington Nationals slugger Mike Morse is it.

What would make up the "perfect" Baseball Hall of Fame player? 

Someone like Barry Bonds will be a Hall of Famer because of his tremendous power. Roger Clemens will be induced into Cooperstown because he won so many games and struck out so many batters. 

Just how confident are the Los Angeles Dodgers and general manager Ned Colletti in their projected lineup for 2013?