Opinion

Manny Ramirez is no stranger to controversy, and now is part of a new one that has gained popularity in recent days. Only this time, it is not his fault.

As everyone knows, Ramirez is currently serving a 50-game suspension for violating major league baseball's illegal substance policy. Ramirez's suspension will end on July 3, barring any rain-outs before then.

If the Cleveland Indians were a company on Wall Street, they would be looking for a bail out.

In business, as your company approaches the end of a quarter and earnings are set to report, often times you take an opportunity to perform a SWOT analysis.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. 

This is a continuous improvement exercise. I don't think anyone would argue that after two and a half months, the Indians are desperately in need of improvement.

With the mid-season hot stove heating up, here are 12 players that will likely be traded.
It's a possibillity that not all of these players will be traded, but its a safe bet that at least some of these players will be traded.
You probably won't agree with all my selections, and this slideshow is in no particular order.

Trevor Hoffman has received immense praise for his work this year, and rightfully so. He has 16 saves in 17 chances this year with a 1.31 ERA, and he is very likely to make a return trip to the All-Star game next month.

But Hoffman would attribute much of his success to four players that usually go largely unnoticed to most fans. Without the great play of Seth McClung, Todd Coffey, Mitch Stetter, and Mark DeFelice, the Brewers' season would have a much different feel than it currently does.

Maybe if the Marlins had not spent two weeks in first place fans would have a little more patience with manager Fredi Gonzalez.

Expectations were set high after the Marlins started the season five games up on their division opponents after two weeks. That lead disappeared quickly as the Marlins played like the Nationals for an entire month. Fans looked for someone to blame, and Fredi Gonzalez received much of it, but for good reason.

Even as the Marlins have climbed their way back into the thick of things I still have a problem with the way Gonzalez is managing.

I've written 22 articles on Bleacher Report in about 14 months on the site, and I just realized that I've never really stated what I thought about the A's. Obviously they're my favorite team, but I really haven't remarked on their state of affairs. Oddly enough, I've written articles on how bad (at the time) teams like San Francisco and Texas should change their rosters, but never the A's.

So here we are.

The following took place during the 2008 winter:

Once upon a time there lived a young boy. He wasn’t so young. In fact, he was 26. His name was Fernando Alexis Nieve, and he was a pitcher that had been buried in the Houston Astros’ organization for almost 10 seasons. He had glimpses of time in the big leagues, but nothing substantial.

Since being signed as an amateur free agent in 1999, Nieve had pitched just 25.1 innings at the big league level. His ERA was above six, and the future looked bleak.

But then something happened.

Atlanta Braves and Oakland Athletics

Braves send Jeff Francoeur, Kris Medlen, Jo-Jo Reyes, and Kelly Johnson to the Athletics for Matt Holliday and Adam Kennedy

The A’s and Braves have made trades before. This deal gets the A’s three major league-ready young players for a pair of one-year veterans. The Braves are desperate to unload Jeff Francoeur (.246/.281/.336), and maybe the A’s philosophy of OBP being very important could help Francoeur fix his approach.

Since the Yankees are over .500, I’m feeling the pinstripe bandwagon right now. Let’s talk about someone who doesn’t get enough credit. That man is Derek Jeter.

BY MICHAEL GANCI

EDITOR

The Mets were beaten by Joel Pineiro and the Cardinals tonight by the score of 3-0. Livan Hernandez pitched well once again, allowing just three runs in seven innings, but Pineiro was just better. He pitched to contact, and his sinker was working with perfection. The Mets just simply had nothing to answer him with.