Dear Dallas-Fort Worth Sports Fans,

Hey it's us, your first place Texas Rangers.  Yes, that's right, go check, we are in first place in the AL West. 

We have the fifth best record in the majors at 41-28.  We have won nine of our last ten games and our best player, Josh Hamilton, has found the swing that made him famous two years ago at the HR derby.

He's batting .337 with 16 HR and 52 RBI.  All three of those stats are at least in the top four of each category in the AL.

Last year's NL Cy Young competition was quite the horse race. Chris Carpenter, Tim Lincecum, and Adam Wainwright all received significant votes from the BBWAA as well as vocal and passionate support from fans.

While this year's race is far from unanimous, there is one obvious favorite who would win hands-down if a vote was held today.

Need proof?

After a slow and often frustrating start, the Sox have won 11 of their last 13 to climb back to the .500 mark. The previously struggling pitching staff has caught fire, allowing more than three runs only four times during that stretch.

The optimist would say that the pitching is finally performing to expectations and that the Sox are on their way to contention in the AL Central. Every player in their rotation has turned in some solid starts and with the emergence of Sergio Santos the bullpen looks solid.

A quick look at Week 11's Fantasy Baseball top performers and least owned players on the waiver wire. Justin Smoak is smoking the ball and Max Scherzer dominates twice. Can they really keep it up for another week?

Check out who's a Must or a Bust.

SWINGERS

If you read this article posted back in March, you know why it’s important to keep an eye on your league’s waiver wire as save opportunities get shuffled around major league bullpens.

As of Monday, the New York Yankees have moved ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East, while the Boston Red Sox (who a month ago were 8 1/2 games back) now currently sit in a virtual tie with Tampa, and are one game back of the Yankees. 

Since it's ladies first, I will start with the Yankees.

Asher Chancey and I are both Featured Columnists covering the Philadelphia Phillies for Bleacher Report.

As we quickly learned upon meeting one another and becoming acquainted with each other's perspectives on the Phillies and sports in general, there is very little we agree on.

From Ryan Howard to the Phillie Phanatic, to Mike Schmidt to Richie Ashburn, ask these two guys a question, and chances are we'll disagree.

In honor of our bipolar views on the world of sports, we present the second installment of The Philadelphia Feud, a weekly feature in which we face off to debate hot topics fro

The open of the 2010 season had many fans of the New York Metropolitans up in arms.

Earlier this month, the man to the right became the poster-boy, if you will, for an MLB Instant Replay system.

My name is James Yaeger. I am 16 years old. I shoot video for my local cable access station. I'm a junior in high school and I occasionally write some articles here for Bleacher Report. In addition, I have been an ASA Certified Umpire for three years.

As Major League Baseball steams toward the All-Star break, the Atlanta Braves find themselves in first place in the NL East, and holding the best record in the National League.

That's no misprint. For a group that was picked to finish fourth in their division, the resurgent Braves have found success from some unlikely sources, and a familiar process.

First, the unlikely.