The $200M pitcher is coming, But who?

With the news breaking yesterday on Felix Hernandez's big 7-year, $175M megadeal that he received from the Seattle Mariners making him the highest-paid pitcher in the game. The question raises, who going to be the first pitcher to hit the $200M mark?  Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, and David Price. No matter who, its coming.

With all 3 pitchers coming close to becoming free-agents, (Verlander/Kershaw in 2014 and Price in 2015), the time for these pitchers teams to be able to get a deal that both sides can agree on only has so much time to get done. The fact is that one these pitchers is going to get a $200M deal, so who's it going to be?

If or when Clayton Kershaw becomes a free-agent after the 2014 season he'll only be 26 years old, and if he's still pitching like the games top pitcher at that point in time, it would be way to easy to see him getting a deal worth top dollar.

Kershaw has shown interest in getting an extension done but there haven't been any recent talks between the Dodgers and their star pitcher. From the Dodgers point of view, now might be the best time to get a deal done with the price for top-tier pitchers going up after the Mariners raised the bar with the Hernandez signing yesterday.

Besides, its not like Kershaw doesn't deserve a large deal in his 5 seasons for the Dodgers he's 61-37, and has a career ERA of 2.79 with his Cy Young in 2011.

Since David Price has been in Tampa Bay, he's been the franchises best pitcher and he's also been one of the leagues top pitchers. If theres any pitcher in baseball that could get a deal like King Felix, its David Price.

But lets be honest, the Tampa Bay Rays don't have the type of money to gives Price the amount he deserves. The Rays recently gave Evan Longoria a massive 10-year, $100M extension in November, but I just don't believe Tampa is capable of giving Price such a large contract.

So really their only options are to trade him, or let the 2012 Cy Young winner walk in a couple years and let another desperate team show him the money.

Justin Verlander has been arguably the games most dominant pitcher over the last couple of years. If any of these pitcher get the next megadeal, its Verlander. The 2011 Cy Young and MVP winner has thrown over 25,000 in his career, more than any other pitcher. He of all the pitchers has the best chance to get the deal he wants from his current team.

In the end, I believe the safest best might just be Kershaw. He's only 24, has the lowest ERA of the three pitchers, hasn't thrown too many innings so he's still time a lot a time left in his arm. Also Kershaw has shown he can pitching the big markets like LA. And he's capable of throwing a lot of innings to earn his money.

The $200M pitcher isn't just coming. He's already here.

Matt Harvey Was Made For These All-Star Game Moments

In baseball, there's no bigger stage than pitching a Game 7 of the World Series. For Matt Harvey, starting for the National League in Tuesday night's All-Star Game will mean the same thing.

Harvey will be the first pitcher since Roger Clemens in 2004 to start the All-Star Game in his own ballpark. The city of New York will certainly be backing him up as he delivers 100 mph pitches to some of the game's top sluggers.

The lineup he'll be facing could simply be known as possibly the most dangerous lineup every assembled in the history of baseball.

With Mike Trout in the leadoff spot, he's followed by Robinson Cano, Miguel Cabrera, Chris Davis, Jose Bautista and David Ortiz. It's a one through six that no man on earth would want to face.

But Matt Harvey is like no other man. In his mind, this is exactly the kind of lineup he wants to face.

While the All-Star Game may just be an exhibition, Harvey isn't the type of pitcher to take that term seriously. He want's to compete, he want's to win and he most certainly wants to show the entire baseball world that he's got what it takes to be here for a long time.

"It's not an exhibition game for Matt Harvey tomorrow." Said Mets manager Terry Collins. "You can bet on that."

If there's anything I can bet on with Harvey, it's that he'll come out in the first inning Tuesday night and he'll give it all he's got to set down the game's best hitters. He'll show off the sizzling fastball, his commanding changeup and his sweet sweeping slider.

Harvey has been one of the very few bright stories for the New York Mets this season. He's a great pitcher with a very promising future as a big-league pitcher, and as an ace for the Mets.

And I have no doubts that he'll put on a show for the first couple inning Tuesday night.

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James Loney Has Revived His Career In Tampa

James Loney broke out as a potential star with the Dodgers in 2006. After a couple of good seasons his star power began to fade. He was traded to the Red Sox in the mega deal the sent Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and Josh Becket to the Dodgers. He signed in Tampa this past off-season and he's been worth every penny.


When the Rays signed Loney over the winter I thought it was nothing much. I figured, they need a 1st baseman and Loney fit the part. I didn't know that Loney could potentially be an American League all-star.

Loney's batting .342 for the Rays this season which is the 2nd best average in the American League behind only the great Miguel Cabrera. Apart from Even Longoria he's been the teams best hitter. So I set out to find what he's doing differently in Tampa.

One thing that many people noticed with Loney is that he seems to have introduced a higher leg-kick in his swing. Last year with the Red Sox he would use more of a little toe tap when the pitch was delivered. He kept his hands out more over the plate.

With his new swing, Loney goes with not only the high leg kick, but he also has his hands more towards his body as the pitch is delivered. He's taking pitches that he would normally roll over on and is instead driving across the ballpark.

Now this leg kick can be traced back a few years, but that along with having his hands back is what I mainly notice when looking at his swing from this year and last year. What ever the main reason for success may be, Loney is having a great season in Tampa. And the Rays are getting what the Dodgers had hoped for.

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The Los Angeles Angels Are Finally Heating Up

One of the biggest high price blunders this season has been the Los Angeles Angels. After snagging Josh Hamilton this off-season, he and the team spun out of the gates to a very slow start. Things have started to turn around.

The Angels are one of the hottest teams in baseball. They've won 7 straight game, Hamilton has been hitting better lately and they're close to getting back Jered Weaver.

Over the last 7 days, Mike Trout is batting .440 as he continues to show why he is one of the best players in the game.

The Angels have win 7 in a row.

Trout has drove in 7 runs, with 2 homeruns, 2 triples, and even became the youngest player to ever hit for the cycle, Tuesday night against the Mariners.

During the month of May the Angles have had the 5th best ERA in the American League. Jason Vargas has been the most solid piece of the Angels rotation this month.

In 5 May starts Vargas is 4-0 with an ERA of just 2.25. That's the best ERA of any Angels starter this month. Although C.J. Wilson is 2-3 in his last 5 starts, his ERA still stands at a reasonably low 2.62.

"These guys feel good because we're playing the type of baseball we had hoped to play in the first month." Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia . It's here now and guys are comfortable playing our game and having other teams try to stop us."

The Angels have put on a run to be only 5 games under .500. Yet they still trail the Rangers by 10 games in the West. I think they can make a run as long that they don't hit anymore rough patches.

I think we all knew the Angels wouldn't play like this all year. They're a team built with a lot of guys who know how to win. They didn't spend a ton of money so Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton could struggle.

Eventually Pujols will be completely healthy and Hamilton will start hitting like he did during the 1st half of last season in Texas. And when they do the rest of the league certainly will need to watch out.

Nobody predicted that a lineup with Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, and Mark Trumbo wouldn't hit. Every big league hitter goes through slumps. Pujols went through it last year and now Hamilton is doing this year.

But when all of these players start firing on all cylinders at the same time, with Weaver back in the rotation and a healthy bullpen. Then the Rangers need to watch out, because the Angels are coming.

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Fernando Rodney Is Blowing Up In The Late Innings

Last season Fernando Rodney blew two saves in 50 chances. His 0.60 ERA set a major league record. But in 2013 Rodney has already blown 5 save chances in 14 attempts and his ERA is a staggering 6.05.

Saturday night against the Yankees Rodney blew a 2-run lead in the 9th inning. The Yankees went on to win the game, 4-3, in 11 innings.

The biggest issue that Rodney faces is his command. He's already walked 18 batters this season. He walked 15 all of last season. He walked Lyle Overbay with 2-outs in the 9th on Saturday that kept the Yankees alive for them to tie the score.

We all knew that Rodney was going to be able to repeat
the historic season he had in 2012. He led us to believe that he could with his dominating performance in the World Baseball Classic. Appearing in 8 games, he tossed 7 1/3 innings, while striking out 7 and walking 3.

It seems like he may have left his dominating stuff in his Dominican uniform. There's no doubt that his performance in the WBC was good but why hasn't it translated over to the 2013 major league season?

Joe Maddon told reporters last Friday that he doesn't think that Rodney needs to change anything with the way he pitches, instead he needs to focus on the mental side of things.

"For my money, from watching it, it's more what he's thinking right now," Maddon said. "There's little things we've addressed, different items with his setup, delivery and stuff that have gotten him pretty much where he had been last year already.

"I think the correction lies more in the mind more than it does physically. I'd rather we continue to support him and him work through his issues that way as opposed to try and give him all these mechanical panaceas to deal with. I don't think that's what he needs right now."

But like I said before, his biggest issue this season may be the fact that he isn't throwing strikes. Rodney has walked at least one batter in 7 of his last 10 appearances. May 16th against the Red Sox, Rodney blew a save while walking 4 Sox hitters.

"Everything is the same," Rodney said. "The only thing I saw that I can tell you guys, I think the fastball location is not exactly what I want, what I'm looking for. But it's going to be better."

Rodney threw 18 fastballs against the Red Sox that night and only 6 of them crossed the plate for strikes. He fell behind 5 of the 7 hitters he faced. You can't have success as a pitcher if you fall behind every hitter.

"Sometimes, I think, I feel I try to do too much and try to put the ball in the strike zone," Rodney said. "Maybe that's the point."

Whatever the issue is the Rays need to fix it quick. Tampa is six games back of the Yankees in the AL East and will try to defend being swept on Sunday. If the Rays are winning by one run in the 9th, can they trust Fernando Rodney to shut it down?

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What A Difference A Year Makes In Major League Baseball

Going through my daily check of the major league standing for all six division I decided to take a look back at what the standing looked like exactly one year ago. Let me just say, for the most part they don't reflect what teams look like now.

* At this moment the Houston Astros hold the 2nd worst record in baseball. On May 25th, 2012 the Astros were 22-23 with a .489 winning percentage. At that time they had a better winning percentage than the Tigers and Athletics. As we know, both of those teams won their divisions.

Playing in the NL Central the Astros were only 3 games back of the Reds for the division lead. Things never got better for Houston as they finished up their final season in
the National League with the leagues worst record of 55-107.

Now playing in the American League West, the Astros are still in last place with a 14-34 record. But at least they won't carry the worst record in the league. And here's why.

* Last season the Miami Marlins spent a ton of money to attract some of the biggest stars on the market. Through May 25th the Marlins were right in the thick of things in the NL East. With a 25-21 record, the Fish were 2 1/2 games behind the Nationals.

As the Marlins started to struggle they slowly fell out of the playoff race and began selling off players left and right. Though the major fire sale didn't happen until after the season, the Marlins still dealt away Anibal Sanchez and Hanley Ramirez.

After a 69-93 finish the Marlins began the full on fire sale as the traded off Heath Bell, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio, Mark Buerhle, and John Buck. They now stand as the worst baseball team in the major with a 13-35 record.

* With the Indians playing aw well as they did at this time a year ago, the Detroit Tigers occupied 3rd place in the AL Central. At 21-24 the Tigers were 5 games behind the Tribe for 1st place.

Cleveland couldn't hold their division lead as the 2nd half of the season rolled around and that brought the White Sox as the Central's leader for most of the rest of the season. But the Tigers went on a playoff run to overtake the Sox and claim the crown in the Central, finishing 88-74.

Coming off his triple crown season, Miguel Cabrera leads the Tigers in another hunt to return to the World Series as the Tigers currently hold a 0.5 game lead over the Indians. Cabrera is also on the hunt to win his 2nd straight triple crown, leading the league in RBI's and batting average.

*The Mets were lead by good starting pitching and a lot of timely hitting before Johan Santana fell apart after his no-hitter and that timely hitting stopped showing up. New York, 25-21, finished roughly at 74-88, and eventually traded away Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey.

The NL East was at this time the most competitive division in baseball. All five teams were about the .500 mark at this time with the Nationals leading the charge and eventually went on to win their East crown.

Five teams were over .500 a year ago, and now only the Braves and Nationals are have a positive winning percentage with the Marlins in last, the Mets are having a down year in 4th, and the Phillies are hanging around at 23-25.

It's always fun to look back at the past, but the present is still where all the fun is. I just can't wait to look at what things looked like May 25th, 2014. Who knows what we'll be talking about then?

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The Texas Rangers Aren't Losers Anymore

In the minds of baseball writers everywhere, the Texas Rangers were big losers in the past off-season. Failing to acquire the talent they set out for along with losing Josh Hamilton to the Angels, not many people believed they would compete in 2013.

Showing all the of baseball world that you don't have win the off-season to win in the regular season, the Rangers are currently sporting the American League's best record at 31-17.

The Rangers lead the AL West by 5 1/2 games over the Oakland Athletics and by 10 games over the divisions spring training favorite, Los Angeles Angels.

While Josh Hamilton sits in Los Angeles with a .222 batting average and 6 homeruns. Texas is showing the fans that they don't need him to win. Instead they have four players with more homeruns than Hamilton and 12 players with a higher batting average.

The biggest surprise to the Rangers success may be their pitching. Texas set out over the winter in hopes of acquiring a top of the rotation starter in that could help fill in with Yu Darvish and Matt Harrison.

The Rangers came away empty handed in an attempt to acquire James Shields or Zack Greinke from the Rays. But as the stats show, the Rangers are just fine without them.

Texas as a team ranks 1st in the American League in ERA and are 3rd in batting average against. Those numbers coming while Matt Harrison, Colby Lewis, and Neftali Feliz are all on the DL with injuries.

Even with the injuries to his supporting cast, Yu Darvish is having his best season since coming to America. Darvish is leading the league in strikeouts and is 7-2 with a 2.84 ERA.

To think that the Rangers pitching is already surprisingly good and come June they're going to get back the likes of Colby Lewis back as he continues to recover from elbow surgery last July.

The Rangers bullpen will receive a big boost to it when Joakim Soria and Neftali Feliz return sometime in July. Pitching was expected to be a weakness for the Rangers this season and as strong as it's been, it is expected to get better when the help arrives.

Texas has never been known as a team to have an issue scoring runs and they still haven't held that title in 2013. With Mike Napoli, Michael Young, and Josh Hamilton all gone from last years team, the Rangers are still 7th in the league in runs scored.

Ian Kinsler was placed on the DL a couple days ago with rib issues, and he takes his team leading .301 batting average with him. Kinsler has been a player on a slight decline over recent years and he's found his swing once again in 2013.

The Rangers may have missed out of trading for Justin Upton from the D-Backs, who's having a power power season, but they're still getting production from Nelson Cruz, who leads the team in homeruns (11) and RBI's (34).

Letting go of Michael Young was a risk that the Rangers had to take with the looming emergence of Jurickson Profar. Texas also gave Elvis Andrus a big contract extension this year to keep him in Texas for the long haul, as many people thought Andrus could be gone when Profar arrives.

To replace Hamilton the Rangers signed Lance Berkman and brought in A.J. Pierzynski to take the place of Mike Napoli. Both players are having reasonably well seasons in Arlington.

Just look at the Angles, Dodgers, and Blue Jays. They're prime example that show championships aren't won with the things that happen off the field. They're won with what happens on the field. And the Rangers are doing everything right on the diamond.

We always talk about the teams that won or lost the off-season. And like I said, many people would say that the Texas Rangers lost the off-season. But did they really, because last time I checked the Rangers are in 1st place and the Los Angeles Angels under .500.

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