Fan News

The playoffs, whether fair or not, determine a lot in terms of historical value for both baseball fans and writers alike. Why should it not? It is obviously the most important games a player can play in, the nation is watching, and a great performance can turn any mediocre player like David Eckstein or Don Larsen into a folk hero.

Eric Surkamp and Aaron King .

Not exactly pitching prospects that jump at you like Madison Bumgarner or Zach Wheeler.

Cubs fans, we should look at the Cardinals agreement with second baseman Felipe Lopez as an insult. With no sure-fire, proven starter at the position, why wouldn't Cubs GM Jim Hendry at least consider signing this guy?

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com tweeted that Lopez only got $1 million in base salary with easily obtainable bonuses that could take the deal to $1.2 million.

In this two part series, I will rank the top players in the National League East. The rankings were made through the analysis of statistics such as batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, and on base plus slugging percentage.

Several other factors were also taken into consideration such as age, injury, and defensive ability.

There are some situations where the players are so closely ranked, it is nearly impossible to decide between.

Back in 2008, I was scratching, clawing, and doing everything I could to win my fantasy baseball league. That league was and still is a total points league and my buddy Odie and I were fighting it out to the end.

I was picking up guys like Ryan Raburn, Juan Uribe, and Mike Aviles. That’s how desperate I was to win. I actually won that year by one point and the real star for me down the stretch was Aviles.

This article is a mere excerpt. If you would like to see the article in its full entirety, you can find it here at the BEV.

Sitting and watching a heavy snowfall, I am angry with the Cleveland Indians.

For a guy who lives within 50 miles of Lake Erie, I am not a winter person. I don't know about where you live, but where I live it's more than cold and snow; it's slate-gray skies, day after day after day. The lack of sunshine weighs on me and by February, without holidays to distract me, I am going crazy.

Check out the rest of our draft preview here .

Imagine your co-worker, the company's best employee,  moving on to a better position at a better company. That's what it feels like at the third base position. For the second straight year, an elite hitter has left third base for better and bigger things with this year's permanent vacationer being Miguel Cabrera . (Ryan Braun left for the outfield last season).

Cases already heard:

Sandy Koufax won the Cy Young Award for the third time in 1966.

He won 27 games for a Los Angeles team that was offensively challenged, and compiled a 1.90 ERA+, which was the best of his career. Koufax was at his peak.

Los Angeles, led by Koufax and Don Drysdale, won the pennant, but the underdog Baltimore Orioles swept the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series.

It was a tremendous upset that only Frank Robinson and Orioles' manager Hank Bauer thought could happen.