Fan News

It's starting to become a distinct possibility that by the time the July 31st MLB trade deadline rolls around, the Angels will be in the seller, and not buyer, position. And to be completely honest, it might be in the franchise's best interests to be sellers.

With five games remaining before the All Star break, the Halos will play one more in Chicago and then fly into Oakland to face the always tough Athletics. Texas, on the other hand, will play today in Cleveland and then finish up against the Baltimore Orioles.

It's the same conversation, just a different year.

Every season, virtually every Major League roster has players deserving of All-Star selections that get left on their sofas for the weekend.

This year, the Padres pitching staff may be the most distinguished of the All-Star snubs.

The Padres have the best record (49-34) in the National League and boast the best team ERA (3.05) in the NL by a long shot (St. Louis is next at 3.28), yet couldn't command enough respect to land a pitcher on the roster.

In the 2010 MLB All-Star Game, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier will be starting in his first ever All-Star Game. For Ethier, just being selected is, no doubt, a thrill, and being chosen as a starter probably doubles his excitement.

Perhaps Andre Ethier will one day be on this list of the players who have the most All-Star Game starts, by position, in National League history.

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When pinch-hitter Rusty Ryal struck out to end last night’s game, it seemed rather appropriate. After all, the Arizona Diamondbacks lead the planet in strike outs. Looking at the latest season statistics on MLB.com, the Diamondbacks have five position players in the top 20 for strikeouts in the National League.

Six participants for the 2010 Home Run Derby were announced yesterday: David Ortiz (DH, Boston), Corey Hart (OF, Milwaukee), Matt Holliday (OF, St. Louis), Miguel Cabrera (1B, Detroit), Robinson Cano (2B, New York Yankees), and Vernon Wells (OF, Toronto).

All told, it's not a terrible lineup.  There will be two more participants announced before the Derby, but you've already got old-school power hitters in Cabrera and Ortiz and some new blood in Cano and Hart.

Where would the Yankees bullpen have been last season without Alfredo Aceves? Probably right about where they are right now without him. And LHP Manny Banuelos is one of the top pitching prospects in the organization.

What do these two players have in common? The Yankees signed both of them out of Mexico.

They actually have a third player they signed out of Mexico, and he could do for the bench what Aceves did to the bullpen.

The fantasy season is more than half over, and by now you are probably either panicking in the streets, or petitioning for the rights to the nickname, "Talented Mr. Roto ."

For the ones sitting pretty, good job. Keep up the good work, but don’t get comfortable. Make sure to realistically assess your players’ performances up to this point and don’t sleep on the waiver wire. You can always make you team better. Always.

But it’s the managers mired in mediocrity that I’m here to help.

Terror gripped Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas when a fan fell 30 feet from the upper deck while trying to catch a Nelson Cruz foul ball Tuesday night.

Eyewitness accounts of the fall, which was not caught on video, say the middle-aged Texas fan fell from the Club Concourse section. As he fell, he tried to grip the railing of the Suite Section one level down before finally landing on the field level section below.

During his pre-game interview on Tuesday, Dusty Baker made the statement that the Reds and Mets are very similar ball clubs.

He elaborated by saying both clubs have the ability to score a lot of runs in a hurry.

They also play "all 27 outs." This took me a second to realize he was actually speaking about an entire series, which I felt was a nice compliment.

I can't believe I am actually going to write this, but Dusty actually made me stop and think for a second.

Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long shook his head at the news that Robinson Cano had agreed to take part in Monday's Home Run Derby in Anaheim.

"I would prefer he's not involved in it, but that's not my decision," Long said, as reported by Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

Now, if this is the showcase event for Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, why would anyone associated with the game prefer his player not participate?