Opinion

Obviously, you're not surprised to see "Mike Trout" and "most valuable" in the same sentence. Trout was the runner-up in the American League MVP voting in 2012 and 2013 before winning the award in 2014. His name and "most valuable" have appeared together a lot over the last three years.

And yet all that now looks like little more than a prolonged warm-up for what Trout is doing in 2015.

For much of the day on Monday, the New York Mets story du jour was the three-year anniversary of Johan Santana's 2012 no-hitter. That is to say, the flavor of the day was that of bittersweet nostalgia.

But then Jacob deGrom took the mound and seized the spotlight for himself.

Even if the Cincinnati Reds don't get back into contention, they are going to be a team that has a big impact on the pennant race.

Why? Because the team has plenty of attractive trade chips.

The proverbial window appears to be closing on this Reds squad. Some of the key players are entering the final year(s) of their contracts, which will force the club to make some tough decisions. Keeping those players would certainly help the club stay relevant, but trading them would help the organization in the future.

With the calendar set to turn over to June, we are roughly 50 games into the 2015 MLB season.

While there is still a ton of baseball to be played, things are starting to take shape as far as who will be in a position to contend and which teams will need to address certain shortcomings when the trade deadline rolls around.

There are also a ton of questions left to be answered, and that is the focus here, whether it be on individual players, teams off to a hot start or what we might expect once the trade market heats up.

See if this sounds familiar: A young power pitcher has a career year for a division-winning National League club. The next season, however, his performance drops off precipitously, injuries bite and the hand-wringing begins.

In a time when power hitting is more of a scarce resource than ever, teams are starting to value it more than ever. As home run totals dwindle, the players who can hit for power stand out that much more.

Baseball babies are probably the gnarliest babies.

Not that there's anything inherently better about baseball, but babies at baseball games so often seem to unwittingly find themselves in wild situations.

We're through roughly 50 games of the 2015 MLB season, and the biggest surprise in baseball might be in the American League East.

It's funny to call the New York Yankees a "surprise" when they're succeeding, but given their recent history and roster limitations, not many figured they'd be leading the AL East at this point.

The reasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ recent retooling are plentiful. 

In case you hadn’t noticed, the Detroit Tigers offense has had its struggles this season.