MLB

It was one series that was guaranteed to finally bring fans into the seats at Rogers Centre over the course of this year.

In the year following Roy Halladay's move to Philadelphia, the Phillies were set to travel to Toronto for a three-game interleague set from June 25-27.

Expecting a total crowd of 90,000 for the series, the decision was officially announced today by Paul Beeston, President of the Blue Jays, as a result of the upcoming G20 Summit which is set to take place the same weekend in downtown Toronto.

Andre Ethier is a beast. That much we know. In a core outfield consisting of Manny Ramirez and Matt Kemp, Ethier is the one which shines brightest. Each season he continues to get better at the batters' box, and in what is his best season so far, he has many speaking of a triple crown bid.

At 28, Andre is at his peak and could pull a triple crown off. However, there has not been a triple crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

There is no rivalry in sports more storied than the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox—or so ESPN tells me, constantly—and with that type of long-term, history-laden rivalry comes some serious battle lines, right?

Literally hundreds of books have been written on the subject.

A lot of people today forget how the game was in the early 1990’s. The Cubs and Braves thanks to WGN and TBS respectively rivaled the Yankee’s in popularity. The Atlanta Braves held an advantage over the Cubs at the time because the Braves were the better team. In my home town every kid was a Braves fan, with a few Cubs fans scattered about.

At the 2006 trade deadline the Phillies, 49-56 at the time, unloaded mercurial OF Bobby Abreu to the Yankees. Not for a windfall of prospects but, to Phillies fans’ dismay, to simply unload an expensive player. Abreu was making $13.6M in 2006, and stood to make $15M in 2007. General manager Pat Gillick didn’t think Abreu was a piece of the puzzle worth the price, and in what Bill Conlin dubbed “the Great Gillick Giveaway”, he traded Bobby for a group of low-level prospects and a Triple-A lifer.

When Milwaukee Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio lent his ear to general manager Doug Melvin on the need for more pitching help, he listened.

So Attanasio, who guards his pocketbook with his life, reluctantly spent—I'd say overspent—too much money on pitching in the offseason.

He forked out $67.35 million on left-handed starter Randy Wolf ($29.75 million) and reliever LaTroy Hawkins ($7.5 million).  That also includes the $30.1 million extension the Brewers gave ace Yovani Gallardo over five years.

And don't even talk about Jeff Suppan. 

The New York Mets finally made an overdue roster move late Monday night, when utility man Frank Catalanotto was designated for assignment to make room for Chris Carter.

Carter came over from the Boston Red Sox in the Billy Wagner trade, and introduced himself to Mets fans during spring training when he had arguably the strongest spring of any offensive player.

The Baltimore Orioles have been struggling over the last couple of years.

The O's do have a reasonable excuse for some of their down years: they are in the toughest division in Major League Baseball which includes teams like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and the sometimes surprising Toronto Blue Jays. No team would want to compete in the American League East.

But is it good for the Orioles to be competing in the AL East?

It is, if the organization wants to develop their players over the years and keep the stars.

As it stands, the Dodgers are 15-17.

This is an appalling statistic for a team loaded with talent. Unfortunately the Dodgers are one dimensional and can't play with the mentality of always climbing uphill; mainly due to the fact that it isn't uncommon to be down five runs in the third inning.

The remedy would make for a story comparable to the Manny Ramirez trade. Eight letters encompass what the Dodgers desperately need: Cliff Lee.

Well, with 32 games now in the books, we probably have enough of a window to figure out exactly what this team is slated to be for the 2010 season. Approximately 20 percent, or one fifth of the season has come and gone, and the big question to ask is, are the New York Mets a .500 baseball team, masquerading as a contender?

After all, they are 17-15, and struggling to keep pace with the Washington Nationals, much less the Philadelphia Phillies, in the National League East.