Opinion

Let me begin this piece by stating the obvious: I am not on the Jim Hendry Bandwagon.

Hendry is the absentee General Manager of the Chicago Cubs, who now gets the privilege of answering harder questions that end with the word "Peavy" than the those he answered in March.

He failed in an over-publicized attempt to land the ace of the San Diego Padres, and decided to instead sign or trade for a bunch of players that have successfully made the team less competitive than they've been in four seasons.

Albert Pujols has been the model of consistency in Major League Baseball for the last decade. Regarded as one of the best hitters of his generation, Pujols is an amazing offensive talent—a great slugger who also hits for contact and rarely strikes out.

Combine that with good defense as a first baseman and you have one awesome baseball player.

He is a solid postseason player too, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series twice (2004, 2006) and winning once (2006).

Is it possible for a ballplayer to hit his prime at age 33? History would say no, but Marco Scutaro would answer yes.

Scutaro, shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays, is currently 33 and yet is somehow playing the best baseball of his eight-year MLB career. How is this possible? Well, to figure out how he is doing this you first have to look at what he is doing differently.

If you're a Cardinals fan, then April was awesome.

And if you're a Cardinals fan and thought April was awesome, then May is the exact opposite of April.

The phrase "Cardinals Fever...Catch It" should be something closer to "Cardinals Fever...Penicillin's Your Best Bet."

Everyone (especially the talking heads in New York) seems to be yapping about how every tradeable player is going to end up with the Mets or Yankees in about 15 minutes, including Mark DeRosa.

Not so fast.

With Omar Infante being lost for two months with a broken metacarpal bone in his left hand, the Braves have a major hole for a utility player who can play multiple positions in the infield and outfield, hit lefties, and produce in Atlanta.

Enter ex-Brave Mark DeRosa.

Where do we draw the line?

How do we decide when people are being too easily offended or when someone is being too offensive?

With Major League Baseball's decision to replace Cleveland's July 4th hats last year (pictured above) with a star-spangled "C," it brings to light once more the whole issue with the Indians and their mascot.

Jack Hannahan is not an all around major league baseball player.  He does one thing well and that is defense.  Unforunately for Hannahan, he plays a position that demands that you not only to be a solid defender, but a good hitter as well.

Hannahan has proven time and time again that he can't hit major league pitching. So, why is he even on the Oakland A's roster?  Injuries have played a part of it, but there's a solution to the problem.

Put Bobby Crosby in at third base everyday, so he isn't concentrating on what position he has to play defensively.

One year and fourteen days. 

That was how long it had been since Rich Hill's last start in the Major Leagues. 

Until this past Saturday. 

Prior to recording the win in his start in Kansas City on Saturday, his last start was on May 2, 2008, with the Chicago Cubs.  In that game, he gave up fewer runs (one) than he did in his impressive Orioles debut. 

Through all the hoopla about David Ortiz finally hitting his first homer of the season (319 players have hit at least one home run before him), there was Brad Penny tossing one of his best games of the season.

He had 6.2 innings pitched, two earned runs, and nine hits allowed. He only struck out two but only walked one.