Jonah Keri launches a new column today with a look at the collapse of the Diamondbacks. Hint: “launching” played a role in their season.
Dayn Perry takes a look at the rest of the prospects traded at last weekend’s deadline. Young guns under the microscope include Jose Bautista, Justin Huber and Scott Kazmir.
The insider set ranted and raved over the weekend about how Hee Seop Choi was a guy who couldn’t handle good pitching. How much truth is in that statement? Joe Sheehan and Keith Woolner present some information.
Sometimes, a minor injury can be an opportunity to get a player some rest. Will Carroll finds the silver lining in Steve Finley’s pants, and updates the conditions of Joe Mauer, Andy Pettitte and Pat Burrell.
Since the advent of three-division play, the average distance between first and second has risen from 6.4 to 8.2 compared to the two-division era. Percentage-wise, about a quarter of the races come within 2.5 games when the season is done, which is also about what it was during the two-division era. Grudgingly then, I must concede that the raw number of close finishes has gone up because–obviously–25% of four division races is less than 25% of six. However, it is undeniable that the number of blow-out finishes has gone up as well, and not just because there are more divisions. Fully a third of the divisional races since 1995 have gotten way out of hand, up from about 25% in the 1969-1993 era. If teams like the Phillies, White Sox, Red Sox, Cubs, Padres and Giants don’t watch out, that trend will be maintained this year.
When teams rush to pull off a big trade at the deadline, does it really end up helping their chances? Steven Goldman takes a look back at previous trades to sort out what the results really were. This time, the Minnesota Twins.