Opinion

Everyone has heard of Stephen Strasburg, the highly-touted first round draft pick of the Washington Nationals, but not as many people have heard about Mike Leake, the first round pick of the Cincinnati Reds who skipped the minor leagues and earned the fifth spot in the Reds’ rotation coming out of spring training.

On April 15, 1947, 28-year-old Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers broke baseball's color barrier and started a whole new trend for Major League Baseball.

Because of that, Jackie Robinson Day is commemorated every April 15. With the exception of Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, Robinson's No. 42 is retired throughout baseball and will never be worn again.

That is except for on April 15, when every player and coach on every team that plays wears the number on the back of their jersey.

Of those three gentlemen, one needs to make his way to the Queen City, and two need to hit the road. 

Since one is down on the farm and two are already with the big club, it's a question most third grade Reds' fans can answer correctly.

For the Cincinnati Reds to compete this season Aroldis Chapman must be brought up before his next scheduled start in Louisville. 

Aaron Harang either needs to come down with sudden a sudden arm ailment that lands him on the disabled list, be flat out released, or sent to the pen for mop-up duty...serious mop-up duty. 

Contemplate this hypothetical scenario from the perspective of a Major League Baseball franchise:

You have an athletic, switch-hitting shortstop with blazing speed and electric ability.

You have a franchise-type third baseman with Hollywood looks and a knack for wearing out left-handed pitching.

You have a proven, bona fide ace—and he's a lefty.

You have a switch-hitting, Gold Glove, center fielder with flair, grace, and a plus arm.

Sounds like a dream situation for a General Manager and staff, right?

Now, forget the "hypothetical" part...

Listed below, are the points and counterpoints about what the Reds should do about Homer Bailey:

Point: The Reds will give him the entire season and evaluate then.

Counterpoint: They may do that but a team that is serious about winning can't keep running Bailey out there.

P: They won't know what they have until September.

CP: It is obvious what they have. He is inefficient. He can't put hitters away.

P: He pitched very well at the end of 2009. 

There are so many transactions and trades that need to happen this season right now and before the July 31st Trade Deadline. Many of these trades and moves will all put the teams on top and become even better than they are and will cause them to pretty much guarantee to make the playoffs. Of course not all of these transactions will happen, and in fact most of them won't happen, but these are moves that should in fact be made and if made, then those teams would be put on top and be even better.

A perfect example of Reds starting pitcher Homer Bailey came Wednesday night against the Florida Marlins. The frustration fans have felt about this guy is back.

We all thought he had turned the corner. We all thought the former phenom finally "got it." We all thought the Reds had found a solid starter for the next 10 years.

Looks like we were wrong.

Sure, the season is still in its infancy, and the marathon is still in the first mile, but so far Bailey has shown he is still not there yet.

I love going to Yankee games. Love, love, love it.

My feeling is probably similar to how Hank Steinbrenner reacts when the Phillip Morris Convention rolls into town. Pure titillation.

So when my buddy Mark offered me a ticket to the Yankees' home opener against the Angels on Tuesday, you can guess that my schedule was quickly cleared.

Being your dutiful Yankee blogger, I felt it was my responsibility to do a couple of laps around the House That George Built and report on what I saw.

Please excuse my shoddy camera work.

Hope springs eternal. Alas.

Chicago Cubs fans are resiliently optimistic. They’re also habitually disappointed. More than a century after the Cubs’ last World Series win, the locals are still praying for a miracle in the Windy City—which would be better news if earthly prayers weren’t so apt to blow away in a stiff breeze.

Faith means believing that anything can happen.

Fatalism, on the other hand, means knowing that it usually doesn’t.

The baseball season is all of 12 days old and already we think a player is done for the year? What we have failed to realize is that the somewhat odd need some fans and members of the media have to jump on a topic and run with it. Apparently, the story of the week is David Ortiz's struggles.

This might be compounded by the fact all the talking heads in March decided that the Red Sox would rise or fall based on how Ortiz did. They also said the Sox would have a hard time on offense.