MLB

If the Tampa Bay Rays have a hard time making contact against Chelsea Baker's knuckleball, there's a good chance that her high school opponents don't stand much of a chance.

It wasn't even close. At all.

ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian was thoroughly embarrassed Monday night after deciding against his better judgment to participate in the Milwaukee Brewers Sausage Race (click here for video).

Third in an 11-part series examining the vagaries of awards voting.

It's time for the latest edition of America's favorite baseball-related game show, "Contender or Pretender."

The way it works is simple: We take a broad look at our 30 contestants, primarily focusing on their offense and pitching staffs, and come to a conclusion as to whether they are legitimate playoff contenders or merely pretending to be.

If there's one thing that year after year proves itself to be true about the playoff races in MLB, it's this: You can't contend if you don't have quality pitching.

On Tuesday, Reds fans look to the standings and finally see a winning baseball team. It took 70-plus games, but there is no denying the difference Reds fans have witnessed since the team got healthy. 

The MLB July 31 non-waiver trade deadline is less than six weeks away, and the rhetoric is quickly reaching a crescendo.

The quagmire in the standings is slowing, giving way to an established set of clubs that have legitimate chances of reaching the MLB postseason. As such, the number of rumors over the past seven days grew considerably from the week prior.

Here are three MLB trade scenarios based on actual need and published rumors from the week ending Sunday, June 22. 

With less than two weeks until the 2014-15 international signing period is set to begin July 2 (J2), teams are currently doing everything in their power to reach an agreement with one (or in some cases many) of the top amateur prospects in this year’s class.

Last year, both the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers willingly exceeded their respective bonus pools in order to sign some of the best-available talent. This time around, the New York Yankees are preparing to take things to a new level.

From where David Price will end up to what will become of Bud Selig, there are a lot of storylines to keep track of as the second half of the 2014 MLB season approaches. 

What follows are 50 predictions for how the rest of the MLB campaign will shake out. We'll take a look into the future to see which dark horse will win an MVP award and which club will take home the 2014 World Series title. Now, it's time for the forecast. 

Cincinnati Reds fans will have now seen 30 percent of this list in live action following the debut of Carlos Contreras last Saturday. The young right-hander had a great outing in a low-stress situation.

Billy Hamilton has been scorching hot, and Tucker Barnhart continues to climb his way back up in batting average, in case he's ever needed again.

The rest have had mixed results.