Opinion

Limited to only 44 games last season after suffering an ankle fracture in his second professional game, Anthony Rendon resuscitated his prospect stock this spring with an excellent showing in major league camp.

It's not even May yet, but the Los Angeles Dodgers' once-deeper-than-deep starting pitching staff is down to a small handful of able bodies. 

That's their excuse to go out and make a big splash. Round up the usual suspects!

Actually, let's slow things down and get on the same page first.

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced today that right-handed starting pitcher Chad Billingsley will be going back on the DL with a season-ending elbow injury. This time, it will require Tommy John surgery, which is likely to keep Billingsley out for 12 months.

Mothers are always right.

Fighting solves nothing and unfortunately for the Los Angeles Dodgers, they are learning that the hard way. 

Imagine Miguel Cabrera not in the blue and orange of the Detroit Tigers, but in the red and white of the Los Angeles Angels.

It could have happened.

Baseball is in the midst of a golden age of pitching. While many fans chide the mere notion of pitch counts for young arms and "babying" prospects as they fondly remember the days of complete games thrown with regularity and 300-inning seasons from starters, those days are gone.

Coming off two World Series wins in three years and bringing back most of their major contributors, the San Francisco Giants have to live up to lofty expectations.

With the return of all five members of the rotation, several key bullpen members and All-Stars Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval, the Giants were expected to make a run at the West. 

Imagine a Major League Baseball trade deadline where the New York Yankees are in Miami Marlins mode: Everything must go.

If there ever was a year for it to happen, it's this year.

...Not that I'm counting on it, mind you.

Like, oh, pretty much everyone else, I had my doubts about the Bombers heading into the season. With guys like Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez out of commission, the Yanks went into Opening Day looking like a collection of pinstriped impostors.

Yes, it may be early in the 2013 season, but Cubs fans can already see where it appears to be headed:  down the drain.

It is no surprise, really, that the Cubs are as bad as they are.  This was expected.

Simply because a prospect is deemed ready for the major leagues does not mean they’re guaranteed an everyday role with their respective organization.

If only it was that easy.