Fan News

Dustin Pedroia won the 2008 AL MVP.  Based on that victory, Robinson Cano should run away with the AL MVP this year. 

It's important to compare Cano's year to Pedroia's and expose some truths about baseball, position scarcity, and the real value of players.

Only July 21st of this year, the Philadelphia Phillies lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis. The loss was the sixth in seven games for the Phils, and dropped the team to just two games over .500 and 7.0 games behind the Braves in the NL East.

The season looked to be all but over for the Phils, who weren't playing particularly well in any facet of the game.

Now, on September 9th, less than two months later, the Phillies have the best record in the National League.

81-60. That is the best record in the National League to date and it is currently boasted by the 2008 and 2009 National League Champions and 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies.

What is it that led the Phillies to back-to-back NL championships and has now led them to the National League's best overall record with only 21 games left in the season? The answer is sheer toughness.

The Mets recently announced that they would be giving away free tickets to fans who had purchased a ticket plan earlier in the year. Fans will get tickets to one of the remaining home games.

While this is a great gesture, when one looks deeper, it appears that the Mets have ulterior motives as well. 

We have finally reached the payoff portion of the fantasy baseball season: the playoffs! It’s been a grueling 22-week season, but if you’re lucky enough to still be reading fantasy baseball articles, now is the time to really ramp it up.

This is the point in the year where one hot bat could decide your season—or a dead-armed pitcher could ruin it no matter how well his team has done thus far. Below are ten guys who are either destroying your championship dreams or carrying you to the promised land.

Trevor Hoffman earned his 600th career save on Tuesday night, making him the first player in Major League Baseball history to accomplish that feat.  

Here's a look back at Hoffman's long road from minor league shortstop to the most prolific closer of all time.


Trevor Hoffman's 600 Saves Timeline

April 29th, 1993 - 1st Career Save - Florida Marlins def. Atlanta Braves

The first week of July the New York Yankees nearly landed Cliff Lee in a deal with the Mariners in exchange for a package surrounding top prospect Jesus Montero.

One of the reasons, if not the reason, I got into baseball writing was to challenge conventional wisdom. Challenging conventional wisdom is what we learned from Bill James and from Billy Beane, and it is the reason we tend to speak unfavorably of Joe Morgan.

The Kansas City Royals have numerous players who are capable of being dubbed their Fantasy Baseball Minor League Player of the Year, but ultimately it is hard to give the honor to anyone but Mike Moustakas.

The third baseman split time between Double and Triple-A, posting the following amazing line:

478 At-Bats
.324 Batting Average (155 Hits)
36 Home Runs
123 RBI
94 Runs
2 Stolen Bases
.371 On-Base Percentage
.636 Slugging Percentage
.316 Batting Average on Balls in Play

Jimmy Rollins is either the most unlucky guy on the planet, or he doesn't do nearly enough work during the offseason and throughout the regular season. Muscle pulls can, of course, be freak things, but three times in one year leads me to believe he simply doesn't train hard enough.