MLB

As I write this, the Houston Astros are enduring yet another typical night.

Wandy Rodriguez, who's on-again, off-again pitching deserves its own theme song (Jerry Reid's When You're Hot, You're Hot, and When You're Not, You're Not ) left tonight's game against the Cincinnati Reds after getting shelled for eight runs and eight hits over three-and-a-third innings.

We like to think he mistakenly thought he was pitching batting practice.

Scott Rolen has that look of a veteran. The third basemen sports a scruffy beard, receding hairline and an experienced look in his eyes.

That experience is exactly what the Cincinnati Reds have needed since his arrival late last season. On top of that, Rolen has given the Reds an unexpected boost on the offensive end with 11 home runs this season.

The New York Yankees are considered the preppy jerk of Major League Baseball.

They expect to win a championship every year simply because they are the Yankees.

This obviously puts tremendous pressure on the players, especially the high priced free agents the Yankees always pick up.

But if any entering Yankee wants to succeed in the Big Apple, here's really all he has to do.

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Ever since the Tampa Bay Rays became legitimate playoff contenders in 2008, there have been talks of division restructuring throughout the MLB (or at least in each league).

The A.L. Wild Card has gone to a team in the AL East in all but one season in the past seven.  

The problem, however, is that for most of those years the Rays were not a contender.

Now that the Rays have an elite team, there will be, at least for the next few seasons, three teams in the AL East, all deserving of the playoffs: the Rays, Yankees, and Red Sox.

The Cubs have an interesting situation on their hands.

Carlos Marmol, Sean Marshall, James Russell, and now Jeff Stevens are all pitching well coming out of the bullpen. In the rotation, each of Ryan Dempster, Randy Wells, Carlos Silva, Tom Gorzelanny, and Ted Lilly's seasons have been solid overall.

At the moment, Dempster and Lilly are coming off of really good outings while Gorzelanny and Wells are coming off pretty bad outings. Silva's due to start on Saturday.

Roy Oswalt? Cliff Lee? Jake Westbrook? Why not throw Ubaldo Jimenez's name into the media frenzy?

It's only the end of May, and already there's endless speculation coming from all directions as to what movement the Los Angeles Dodgers will make when the MLB trade deadline arrives on July 31.

Okay, so maybe Jimenez isn't going anywhere.

But seemingly, whenever there's the faintest hint of any player being put on the market, especially a starting pitcher, the Dodgers quickly elevate to the top of the list of teams interested.

I previously wrote a scouting report on Eduardo Nunez, a young shortstop with great batting, speed and occasional power.

Nunez is currently in the New York Yankees Triple A system, the Scranton Wilkes Barre Yankees. 

I, myself, and others think that he will one day soon replace Derek Jeter at short when he retires. 

But with the injury bug infecting the Yankees, Nunez's number might soon be called up to the big league level. 

Javier Vasquez was acquired by the Yankees this offseason. 

There were many arguments involving this trade because of the struggles he had as a Yankee back in 2004.

There were two sides.

One said that he can't pitch in the American League, and is not worth the salary he is getting paid.

One said that he was injured when he struggled in 2004, and did above average with the Chicago White Sox.

Looks like the first side wins.

The Texas Rangers led the AL West by 1.5 games going into action on Friday, May 28th. It is clear that this team has plenty of all-star caliber players, but which ones really deserve to play in the 2010 summer classic?

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The pointless moaning about whether or not general manager Brian Sabean can build a winner in San Francisco has grown tiresome. There has also been whining about whether club ownership is willing to pay for the type of club that can actually succeed.

There's no reason to rehash every personnel transaction under Sabean's reign. The 2010 Giants, clearly, could use a power hitter—ideally one who can play the outfield.