Fan News

With the weekend series between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers coming to a close last night, the MLB and its fans are finally ready to move on with the post-Joe Torre Yankees.

While Torre may not be as loved and cherished by New Yorkers as he was once was, there is no denying that he brought the Yankees from a mediocre team to becoming the premiere franchise in all of professional sports.

This is what his starters would look like, if Torre selected individuals from his tenure with the Yankees and put them together on one team.

Sunday was one of those days that Tampa Bay Rays’ OF B.J. Upton would rather soon forget. Not only did he go 0-for-3, but when he did get on base with a walk, he got picked off. Then he flew out to end the game. But the worst thing that happened to Upton, was that he and Evan Longoria got into a heated argument in the dugout.

The Philadelphia Phillies have made a mid-rotation starting pitcher their top trade deadline priority, according to a tweet by ESPN's Buster Olney .

The two-time defending National League champions, who find themselves two and a half games back and in third place in the NL East division, will look to supplement a rotation that already includes the dominant Roy Halladay and a pair of strong left-handed hurlers, in the ageless Jamie Moyer and 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels.

When Braves phenom Tommy Hanson struggled in his last outing, the Braves hoped it was a fluke.  Lasting just 3.2 innings against a middle-of-the-road White Sox team, the Braves figured to see Hanson bouncing back against the Tigers.  They didn't get their wish.

Hanson, who again lasted just three and two thirds innings and gave up six runs (five of them earned), was chased from his second straight start.  I think Hanson will be thrilled to see interleague play end.

There can be no doubt about it: the cream of the Philadelphia Phillies minor league crop is none other than Domonic Brown. A potential five-tool star at the major league level, Brown was recently promoted from Double-A to Triple-A and will probably get a September call-up with an eye towards making the Big Club in 2011.

But Brown isn't the only reason to get excited about the Phillies' minor league system.

Let's have a look.

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The Boston Red Sox All-Time Starting Rotation

Imagine you are responsible for selecting a fantasy starting rotation and pitching staff to represent the Boston Red Sox. Your staff would have to face the fantasy staffs of all the other major league teams. Who would make your rotation? Who would you select for back up and relief roles?

July is just around the corner and while baseball fans are gearing up for the All-Star game, fantasy owners are looking at who to buy and sell for the season's second half. Using Yahoo!'s rankings based on the last month's worth of numbers, let's look at June's hottest hitters and figure out who is for real.

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So far this season, the Mets have played 75 games. They are currently .5 games out of first place. The Mets have been able be competitive despite that fact that they have had Carlos Beltran, a perennial All-Star, play exactly 0 games for them.

When Beltran does return to the Mets, he will be a major asset. There is no way to deny that. Despite playing only half a season last year, Beltran was able to bat .325 with 10 home runs and 48 RBI. That production would be very helpful for the Mets.

In sports and competition, sometimes adrenaline and frustration can combine for an ugly mix. Many times players just take out their frustrations on the water cooler. Other times, players take it out on each other. The result? Dugout blowouts caught by the cameras for everyone to see.

We saw two examples of that over the weekend as a pair of teammates in Chicago and Tampa Bay hashed out their differences in a less than cool manner.

The term "Batting Average on Balls In Play" (BABIP) has become one of the most popular stats among fantasy managers in recent years. 

To put it simply, BABIP measures the number of batted balls that fall safely for a hit (excluding home runs).

According to The Hardball Times Glossary, the exact formula for BABIP is: (H-HR)/(AB-K-HR+SF).