Opinion

It should come as no surprise that recently acquired Chicago Cubs infield prospect Mike Olt is already looking forward to next season. Coming off a rough 2012, in which he was not only traded but battled vision problems, Olt sees the potential opportunity in front of him and is going to do everything he can to seize it. 

First you get the pitching. Then you get the power, and then you get the World Series.

As the cliche goes, good pitching always beats good hitting. Fans have heard it drilled into their heads year after year after year.

That wouldn't be the case if it wasn't true. Time and again you see great offenses felled by a couple of great hurlers.

On Friday night, Michael Wacha became part of baseball history.

Of all the ways the Los Angeles Dodgers could have pictured their 2013 season coming to an end, Clayton Kershaw getting rocked in a must-win game probably never crossed their minds.

As the Los Angeles Dodgers bowed out of the 2013 NLCS, the player that helped spark their remarkable run through June, July and August, Yasiel Puig, suffered through a difficult series at the plate, in the field and through the voices of critics.

It's understandable that even the best players go through their struggles at the plate, but did they really have to choose now?

Why can't everybody be like Justin Verlander? 2013 was actually one of his down years, leading some to believe he couldn't be counted upon as the ace of the Detroit Tigers pitching staff come playoff time.

Those fears have been unwarranted, as Verlander has given up just a single run in 23 postseason innings, striking out at least 10 batters in each of his three starts.

It's impossible to imagine the opening three games of the American League Championship Series playing out any better for the Detroit Tigers. And yet, it's impossible to imagine the outcomes being any worse.

Despite a third straight unequivocally dominant effort by a starting pitcher, the Tigers somehow trail the Boston Red Sox two games to one.

A funny thing has happened in the American League Championship Series that doesn't get talked about enough: Boston’s pitching staff is really, really good. 

The latest evidence of that came in Detroit on Tuesday with John Lackey matching Justin Verlander pitch for pitch over 6.2 shutout innings before giving way to the dynamic bullpen trio of Craig Breslow, Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara. 

The MLB playoffs are heating up with some incredible games going down in both the ALCS and the NLCS, and as things move closer and closer to the 2013 MLB World Series, one thing will be on the mind of baseball fans everywhere, especially fans whose teams have been eliminated: free agency. 

Here is a quick look at some of the best bats coming onto the free agency market this offseason.

The St. Louis Cardinals are an exemplary franchise, but are they on the verge of becoming a dynastic one?