Horsehide Chronicles

With approximately two months to go in the 2012 season, has the NL Rookie of the Year race come down to a two-man competition?

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Wade Miley and Cincinnati Reds infielder Todd Frazier look like the current favorites for the award. But we may have been able to say the same thing about Bryce Harper in June, as early in the season as that was. These things can obviously change quickly.

In the first half of the 2012 season, Chicago White Sox lefty Chris Sale was as dominant as any pitcher in baseball. He went into the All-Star break with an ERA of 2.19 and an opponent's batting average under .200.

Sale has been a different pitcher thus far in the second half, and not in a good way. His velocity is down, his stuff is flat and he hasn't missed many bats. In three starts since the break, he's seen his numbers take a hike.

As a result, Sale has gone from being an AL Cy Young favorite to being a guy on the fringe of the race.

The trade deadline was minutes away from becoming a blown opportunity for the Chicago Cubs, team president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer.

Major League Baseball's non-waiver trade deadline has come and gone.

If you missed it, it suffices to say that it was a doozy.

The trades started to come fast and furious late on Monday night, and the madness only intensified in the final hours leading up to the deadline. All the while, rumors were plentiful.

The New York Yankees have some pretty bad contracts on their hands these days. Alex Rodriguez isn't coming close to earning his $30 million salary, Mark Teixeira isn't worth his $23 million fee and even Derek Jeter is overpaid at close to $16 million.

Thank goodness for CC Sabathia. The Yankees are paying him over $24 million this season, but Sabathia is somehow managing to give them their money's worth.

Ready for one of those overused "What if I told you..." lead-ins?

Very well. Here it is: What if I told you before the start of the 2012 season that Albert Pujols would not be the best hitter in the Los Angeles Angels' lineup by the time we got to mid-June?

With several surprises and disappointments, the 2012 MLB season has been a compelling one to watch thus far. 

However, something that has made the game less fun to follow is the number of superstar players that have suffered significant injuries. Yes, sometimes new players can emerge when established veterans go on the disabled list. Look at Bryce Harper with the Nationals or Freddy Galvis for the Phillies. (Unfortunately, Galvis has joined the ranks of the injured.) 

Late Monday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers proved once again that they mean business.

Several months after signing star center fielder Matt Kemp to an eight-year, $160 million contract extension, the Dodgers came to terms with right fielder Andre Ethier on a five-year extension worth $85 million.

After a miserable April in which he batted .217/.265/.304 with no home runs and four RBI, Albert Pujols rebounded in May, looking more like the hitter we've been accustomed to seeing in his previous 11 major league seasons.

Manny will soon be Manny again.

Any day now. Maybe. Possibly.

OK fine, nobody except Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane has any real clue when Manny Ramirez might be ready to join the big club, thus ending a lengthy absence from Major League Baseball made up of a sudden retirement in 2011 and a 50-game PED suspension this season. Beane will know when Manny is ready when his scouts say Manny is ready.