Fan News

At SeatGeek.com recently launched pages that analyze average MLB ticket prices in the secondary ticket market on a weekly basis and provide a ranking of all 30 teams, with the ability to drill down by team (i.e. for Yankees ticket prices here).

Looking at the MLB standings today, I couldn’t help but notice just how strong the AL East is so far this season. Even the fourth place team, the Toronto Blue Jays, are seven games above .500, and the only bad team in the division is the Orioles.

I thought it might be interesting to see what the differences are when an AL East team is playing in its division as opposed to playing teams in other divisions. 

Here are the results with in-division records first:

New York Yankees: 26-18, .591 winning percentage; 43-24, .642

The Yankees offense didn’t show up yesterday as they lost 2-1 to the Boston Red Sox thus splitting the four-game weekend series. Phil Hughes was on the mound and struggled through the first two innings before settling down and giving a strong performance.

The Cubs placed Geovany Soto and Derrek Lee on the 15-day disabled list and the bereavement list, respectively, on Tuesday. In their stead will be 23-year-old Welington Castillo and 30-year-old Micah Hoffpauir from Triple-A Iowa.

The San Francisco Giants have finally begun to start pulling away from the pack of wolves in the NL West. The Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers are falling behind in the standings, and it is fast becoming a two-horse race between the Giants and the San Diego Padres.

Brandon Phillips of the Cincinnati Reds has had his fill of the St. Louis Cardinals.  When asked about his health after fouling a ball off his leg, Phillips had this to say.

Let's call the American League West for what it is, over. Pull out the white flag, hook it up, and raise it to the top of the flag pole and let it fly proudly.

That's the note that I would write to the front office of both the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It's time for these two teams to call it a season, pack it in, and start planning their off season capabilities.

Gio Gonzalez was a first round draft pick in 2004, so his road to fantasy relevance has been slow to develop.  Finally, at 24 years old (he’ll turn 25 in September), he’s achieved it, putting up a solid 2010 season with these stats:

10 Wins
141.0 Innings
3.51 ERA
1.32 WHIP
114 Strikeouts (7.3 K/9)
62 Walks (4.0 BB/9)
.287 BABIP

The question is whether Gonzalez is a pitcher worth owning, or whether his success has been an aberration.

Yes, it was better than a loss, but it was ugly. Bruce Bochy's statement after the game was an exercise in understatement.

"We left some men on base, but after a tough trip to Atlanta, it's nice to get a win to start this home stand. We grinded hard to win that game."

The San Francisco Giants are a gritty, gutsy team, which just might be enough, but they were extremely fortunate last night against the Chicago Cubs.

In the mile-high city, there is an outfielder having the best baseball season you haven't heard about. 

His name is Carlos Gonzalez, and he has been a menace to National League pitching this season.

Carlos Gonzalez, 24, is a tall, lean lefty with a sweet swing. 

Originally from Venezuela, Gonzalez is in his second full year with the Colorado Rockies.  He came to the Rockies in the Winter of 2008 when the Rockies dealt Matt Holliday to the Oakland A's.