So here is Strasburg, early 20’s, going under the knife to dare I say….save his career? This guy was the second coming of Jesus…or better still…Doc Gooden just two and a half months ago. Now, he may be nothing more than Mark Prior’s shadow.

There is a striking lack of context here, for those who want to read into the Pirates making profits while losing.

Now that the dust has settled and the 2010 Major League Draft is behind us, time to take a look at what transpired in the days leading up to the draft itself, as well as some post-draft ramifications and gossip.
In the days leading up to the draft, most thought eventual first overall pick Bryce Harper, [...]

Even with last night’s win, the Yankees are slumping. No doubt about it. They can’t hit lately and are losing games they should be winning. But as you knew it would, the Yankee Universe is calm, assured that waiting this out is the sane course of action.

Just kidding, the Yankee Universe is losing their mind.

Tale of the Tape:
Age: Wallace, 23, turns 24 on August 26th. Moustakas, 21, turns 22 on September 11th.
Height/Weight: (listed), Wallace, 6′1″, 245. Moustakas 6′0″, 195.
Bats/Throws: Both players are lefty, righty.
Position(s): Wallace was a third baseman in college and his first two seasons as a professional. He has since been moved to first base. Moustakas was [...]

Jeter’s O-swing percent—percentage of pitches a batter swings outside the strike zone—is the highest of his career…by a long shot at 28.9%. And the second stat is that Jeter’s pitch per AB is the second lowest of his career. Which, to put it succinctly, means that Jeter is swinging at more pitches, and a lot of them are pitcher’s pitches, not hitter’s pitches.

To think…if it weren’t for Steve Bartman, the Cubbies might have finally won the National League pennant in 2003. But Steve Bartman just had to interfere with a nearly uncatchable foul ball, and then proceed to make an error at shortstop, surrender several baserunners, leave himself in the game for far too long and then [...]

By now we should all be familiar with the Arizona Fall League, a development and proving ground for the top minor league prospects which has, to date, over 1800 alumni who have gone on to play Major League Baseball.
While the players get most of the attention, and rightfully so, it should be remembered the AFL [...]

As if we’re not all confused enough on how it worked up until now, the Baseball Hall of Fame has once again decided to change the electoral process of the Veteran’s Committee.
Announced the day after this year’s Induction Ceremonies and effective with the December, 2010 ballot, the VC will now consider all candidates, from three [...]

Most pitchers have a middle ground. Some days, they are lights out awesome and no one can touch them. Some days they just don’t have and get shelled.
And then their are some days when a pitcher might not have his best stuff—he can’t quite hit his spots or one of his pitches is flat—but he [...]

Hitters have always held a home field advantage, but this year that advantage is approaching historic levels not seen in more than thirty years.

John Bowen looks at the best seasons for the Athletics since they moved to Oakland in 1968, while wondering if they’ll ever be called the San Jose Billybeanes.

Last year I introduced the Runs Created version of the Whisnant Rankings. Offensive and defensive values are determined for each statistical number that enters into the Runs Created formula (i.e., AB, H, 2B, 3B, HR, BB, IBB, HBP, SF, SH, SB, CS, GDP and SO) by a best fit to actual game totals for all [...]

Right before the season started, Dugout Central readers and staff were challenged to predict the number of wins for each of the thirty MLB teams. We take a look at the standings at the end of July.

New York’s other team. They’ll have a tough time making the playoffs this year but at least they won’t lose 120 games!
Starting Lineup
Catcher: Mike Piazza, 2000
The game’s greatest offensive catcher, Mike Piazza was the driving force between back-to-back NLCS appearances after a decade of missing playoffs. The New York catcher hit .324 with a [...]