Opinion

After joining the league in 2010, Dillon Gee has quietly developed into one of the most reliable pitchers on the New York Mets.

With the 2014 MLB first-year player draft behind us, it's time to set our full attention on the upcoming July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

This is, after all, when teams put their full focus on improving the current roster via trade in hopes of reaching the postseason. And with 20 teams within three games of .500 heading into Monday, the potential trades are nearly endless.

Some clubs will be looking to add depth or to fill a hole on their 25-man roster. Others will look to get a slew of top prospects in return for a star. 

Let's travel back in time to 2011 and ponder what was then known about Edwin Encarnacion.

Having posted a .787 OPS two years in a row and holding a career .789 OPS, the Toronto Blue Jays slugger looked like a good, but not great, hitter. Heck, given Encarnacion's .453 career slugging percentage and 2008 high-water mark of 26 home runs, the term "slugger" barely applied.

The Los Angeles Dodgers added several players to their farm system over the past few days through the MLB draft.

Most of those selected are still years away from becoming impact prospects, and only the team's first-round selection cracked last week's Top-10 list.

Cleveland Indians third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall isn't a household name among most baseball fans. After a once-in-a-generation performance to cap off an early-season breakout campaign, that distinction could soon change for the former top prospect.

When the San Francisco Giants inked Tim Hudson to a two-year, $23 million deal in November, they wanted him to do two things: Stay healthy and pitch better than his old Oakland Athletics rotation-mate, Barry Zito, whose albatross contract with the Giants was finally expiring.

The Pittsburgh Pirates already have two homegrown talents in their outfield in Starling Marte and 2013 National League MVP Andrew McCutchen.

Now here comes a third. At long last, the Pirates are calling super-prospect Gregory Polanco to The Show.

The news was first reported by Polanco himself, who sent the word out via Twitter:

For those who have felt forced to wear your sunglasses at night, breaking UV news: It’s now safe to actually look at the Houston Astros as they play baseball without fear of severely damaging your retinas.

George Springer and Jon Singleton are the best things to come along since Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio...or, at least, since the mothballing of those funky 1970s rainbow uniforms (which, like the recent batch of abominable baseball in Houston, also caused lots of folks to break out their shades).

Accurately predicting a draft in any sport for any team is difficult, but when it comes to the San Francisco Giants in the 2014 MLB draft, the task becomes even more challenging.

Lloyd McClendon has had a relatively successful first 57 games as manager of the Seattle Mariners, leading the club to a 29-28 record, including its first winning month since July 2013.