Fan News

Yesterday’s transaction line for the Cubs showed a bit of an eye-opening move.

Cubs' GM Jim Hendry exchanged one youthful left-handed specialist reliever for a righty with so-so stuff in a move that sent Justin Berg down to Triple-A Iowa for Scott Maine.

Berg has been a very big disappointment in his first try in the majors, sporting a 5.77 ERA to go along with his 2.88 strikeout per nine innings ratio.

The announcement was made yesterday that Nationals rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg is once again heading to the disabled list with a forearm strain.

After going on the disabled list in late July with an inflamed right shoulder, Strasburg was making just his third start since returning from that injury when he was pulled with the forearm injury.

Stephen Strasburg, the Nationals’  “Baseball Jesus” has been placed on the disabled list for the second time this season, and the team’s management and fans are understandably quite concerned.

Some people say that it is normal for a pitcher to have some arm soreness, especially since this is his first year of professional baseball, and his body is merely adjusting to his new pitching schedule.

Ryan Howard cost the Philadelphia Phillies a game they desperately needed last night in the NL East playoff chase.

The Phillies are 2.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for first place in the division. With the Braves losing last night, the Phillies had an opportunity to make up a game on the division leaders.

Instead, Ryan Howard was ejected in the 14th inning while arguing a check swing that resulted in his fifth strikeout of the night.

Well, the Johnny Damon saga has ended here in Boston.

He is staying with the Tigers.

I, for one, am glad. Not for the fact that he’s staying with Detroit, but for the fact that I don’t need to hear about it anymore. The absolute foolishness of “Red Sox Nation” is absolutely staggering. It sometimes makes me ashamed to be a Red Sox fan.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to hiring a general manager for a Major League Baseball team: Either you hire a businessman or a baseball man.

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have gone the businessman route with Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein and have been successful.

The 2010 season has been kind to the Baltimore Orioles minor-league system.

This is great news, because the 2010 season has been a plague for the big league club, who aside from snagging manager Buck Showalter, has failed to incite any real excitement.

As such, the race for Orioles Minor League Player of the Year honors is heating up, and for the first time in a good long while, there are actually more than a few promising nominees.

Top Five Stories Yesterday

1. Sidney Rice reveals he had hip surgery on Monday and he may miss the first half of the 2010 season.

2. Texas evens its series with Minnesota coming from behind twice to beat the Twins 4-3.

3. Bobby Bowden revealed he was essentially fired at the end of last season by the administration at Florida State in promoting his new book.

I won't link you to the article which is the basis for this article, but I will give you a brief summary:

If you were to build a Major League pitcher, where would you start?

No, I'm not talking about Elmer's glue and popsicle sticks. I mean the best pitchers' control, velocity, and mental makeup. Look around the league—what would you take from who?

In this slideshow are the 10 body parts and attributes I would take from around the game, from arm and command to glove and pickoff move.