MLB

It was definitely a big week for the league’s corner infielders. The names of Youkilis, Glaus, Konerko, Rolen, Kouzmanoff, and Cabrera were on the tops of all the statistics. The guardians of the baseline spoke with their bats and ruled the diamond.

Photo credit: Gallery 2 Images

The Oakland A's are currently in a battle between two other teams for the American League West title. The A's have some things that they need to work out to even consider being in contention for the division.

So, here are the seven things the A's must do in order to win the American League West division.

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The first round of the 2010 MLB Draft has just ended and Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos decided that his minor leagues weren't playing with a full Deck.

Last name pun, I swear.

The first round (including supplementals) of the 2010 MLB Draft is in the books. There were a few surprises (at least based on the mock drafts I saw), with Cal State Fullerton SS Christian Colon (4th Royals) and Texas RHP Barrett Loux (6th Diamonbacks), going higher than projected. Middle Tennessee State outfielder Bryce Brentz, The Citadel’s RHP Ascher Wojciechowski and LSU’s RHP Anthony Ranaudo going lower than expected.

The Chicago Cubs have a history of reaching for draft picks in the first round.  They did so again this season when they took Hayden Simpson, expected to be a second to fifth round pick, with the 16th pick of the first round.

Hayden went 13-1 in 15 starts for the South Arkansas Muleriders during his junior season.  He also had a 1.81 ERA and struck out 131 batters compared to just 35 walks in 99 and a third innings.

Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken compared Simpson to major league stars Tim Lincecum and Roy Oswalt, which is big praise for D-ll pitcher.

I'm hoping that Ollie Perez decides to walk (pun intended) away from baseball to open a hair salon so he can carve fancy lightening bolts in my sideburns, like he does with his.

He could charge $36 million dollars for a haircut.  And the same way he struggles repeating his delivery, he'd also forget how to cut hair in the middle of each cut, upon which a back-up barber would come in to finish the job.

The Colorado Rockies have a good problem.

The current talent in Major League Baseball rivals that of any era. Stars are both being born and resting, such as Ken Griffey, Jr.

Of the Hall of Fame hopefuls, here are 11 players whose names you can expect to see enshrined in Cooperstown, NY—the ultimate accomplishment in baseball.

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As the Giants prepared to finish their three-game series in Pittsburgh yesterday, 54 games were in the book. Their record was 29-25, and at the one-third point of the season, it's easy to do the math. If they continue to play at this pace, they can expect to be 12 games over .500, or 87-75.

Much like last year.

Which is to say good ... but not good enough.

In an NL West now characterized by the surprising Padres, the resilient Dodgers, and the Ubaldo-led Rockies, 87 wins will fall short of first and will probably not lead to a wild card spot.