Baseball general managers throw their millions around as if they were candy.

Sometimes the money is well spent and a team's front office is handsomely rewarded by a great season at a low cost.

More often, though, general managers quickly realize how much they overpaid for declining stars or uninspiring role players just to keep them away from rivals.

Then they try to compensate for their mistake by spending millions on reclamation projects.

Rookies are streaky.  It’s just something fantasy owners generally have to deal with.  You take the good with the bad, and hopefully, by year’s end, you get significant value for your investment.

Take Mike Stanton, for instance.  Big things were expected from him, especially in the power department.  That’s what happens when you hit .313 with 21 HR in just 192 AB at Double-A.

When the Arizona Diamondbacks drafted Barret Loux with the sixth overall pick in the 2010 MLB amateur Draft, many said the move was aimed at saving money: Loux was projected to go later in the first round, and was reportedly willing to sign for a smaller bonus than any other promising prospect Arizona could have had in the sixth slot.

There would only be one reason why I would sit down to watch a Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays game in the middle of September when both teams are completely out of it.

I wanted to watch the debut of top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek for the Blue Jays.

As I awoke to the splash of reality and the realization that Lee Mazzilli was not managing the Mets, flanked by Keith Hernandez as hitting coach and Ron Darling as pitching coach, I groaned and turned off my alarm.

Once the cobwebs cleared from my brain, so did the visions of Wally Backman coaching third, Tim Teufel coaching first, and Howard Johnson filling the role of bench coach.

Via Chad Jennings:

Making his first start in nine days, Phil Hughes was dominant for four innings. Perfect actually. He wouldn’t be perfect on this night. In fact, he wouldn’t even get his team a victory, thanks to Dan Johnson.

The Rays designated hitter who spent last season playing in Japan needed two swings to carry his team to their second win in three games against the Yankees.

Around 9:15 EST Wednesday night while playing the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Derek Jeter did something we have never seen him do, and might never expect him to do. Jeter has been an ambassador of the game and is known for being class act for throughout his career, but on Wednesday night...

He acted.

Twelve is the magic number the Reds have at the moment to garner the National League Central Division title, and with it their first playoff berth in—guh—15 years! And, with a 7-game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals, the Reds are in a good place..

Yankee fans were unhappy—to say the least—on Monday night, when the Yankees surrendered first place to the Rays for the first time since August 3. Tuesday night, the Yankees got first place back, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Amidst all that anger came an interesting thought: what if, by some chance, the Yankees didn’t win the division?