One recent Saturday afternoon in Seattle, Justin Verlander was protecting a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning when he landed in a jam: runners on second and third, one out. So the Houston Astros’ 39-year-old still-ace turned to his full catalog. Verlander threw sliders at the Mariners’ belt buckles, curveballs over their shoelaces and a […]
This is a week of big decisions for nearly every general manager in baseball. Ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline, front offices need to figure out exactly where their teams stand in the playoff race and just how much risk they’re willing to tolerate in the name of making a run this year, versus selling off […]
In recent years, the Baltimore Orioles have generally been synonymous with historically bad baseball. The team had a nice five-season run from 2012 to 2016, averaging 89 wins a year and making three playoff appearances, but things fell off quickly as stars aged and franchise cornerstone Manny Machado was traded before he could hit free […]
As the calendar flipped from May to June, the Philadelphia Phillies looked absolutely dead in the water. Despite boasting MLB’s fourth-highest payroll and a World Series-pedigreed manager in Joe Girardi, Philadelphia was 21-29 on June 1, eight games under .500 and 12½ games back in the National League East. In a recurring problem, its bullpen […]
Back in May, it seemed like the Los Angeles Angels were headed for big things. But life, somehow, is never that simple for this team. Just as the Halos were looking like they’d finally deliver on their long-promised potential, the team promptly lost 14 straight games. Then-manager Joe Maddon, who expressed little concern for what […]