When you see a hitter hit long balls year after year after year, you tend to evaluate the hitter's value based only on his power numbers.

Based on Manny's injury-riddled 2010 season with only nine home runs and 42 RBI, many have wondered if he has anything left in the tank. I think people may have overlooked his .298 batting average, which, to me, shows that he may not have his pop anymore, but he is still a very smart hitter and if he is placed in the proper position in the lineup as a DH, he will get on base and drive in runners.

The Tampa Bay Rays will need another star to team with Evan Longoria in an effort to spike up the ticket sales. My guess is that he'll come cheap and will be very productive for the Rays, a team who despite losing a lot of players still has one of the best rotations intact.

Here's hoping Rays fans.

Throughout the entire hot stove season, all that people heard about Cliff Lee was the Yankees and Rangers.

Lee will go to New York because of the money; Lee will stay in Texas because of the familiarity with the organization and how close the state is to Little Rock, AR.

But what about returning to the Phillies?

It was in Philly where the whole Cliff Craze first occurred. When the Phillies acquired Cliff Lee in a trade with the Cleveland Indians for players nobody has ever heard of, no one could talk about him without including World Series and/or free agency.

When you're a top free agent, you always have the New York Yankees as your de facto top choice. But what happens when you join a team with an already terrifying pitching rotation?

Now with the return of Cliff Lee, the pitching rotation of the Philadelphia Phillies goes from scary to just plain traumatizing.

Opposing teams best bet to beat Philly is to hope for the fifth starter, though even he would essentially be the third starter in 65 percent of the league or to just hope to face the bullpen before the ninth inning.

When faced with an elite closer, like the Phillies have, it becomes an eight-inning game for the other team. With a rotation like the Phillies, the only hope for opponents to score is by luck or shaky bullpen relief.

Just look at the top of the rotation: Roy Halladay pitched the most complete games in the majors last season and Cliff Lee has pitched the second most. Opposing teams are playing zero inning games with Lee and Halladay for sixteen games.

Unlike the Miami Heat of the NBA, Philly's super-star starting pitchers do not need to learn how to play with each other; they just need to learn how to play with catcher Carlos Ruiz, something that isn't really a problem.

The New York Mets look like a joke compared to Philly and the major moves of Dan Uggla to the Atlanta Braves, Jayson Werth to the Washington Nationals and Javier Vazquez to the Florida Marlins mean nothing now.

The Philadelphia Phillies will dominate the NL East.

But like the Miami Heat, the Phillies still have to beat the champs. Playing the role of the Boston Celtics of the National League, the San Francisco Giants still have their Fantastic Four of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner along with an improved lineup.

This will be great for baseball, as new powerhouse rivals are formed, diverting the attention of the media and fans away from the never-ending rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.

It was a tale of two pitchers who were drafted out of college and went straight to the big leagues. 

One pitcher makes his major league debut before his minor league debut. He started the season under the radar and when he started to pitch well and win starts people were surprised to hear that he his a rookie and never pitched an inning in the minor leagues.  

The other pitcher was viewed as the LeBron James of baseball ever since being drafted. He has performed legendary in the minors and was called up in June he performed well until he injured his arm and required Tommy John Surgery.  

They are Mike Leake or the Cincinnati Reds (8-4 4.23 ERA 138.1/91IP/K 1.50WHIP) and Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals, (5-3 2.91ERA 68/92IP/K 1.07WHIP) Two pitchers who were drafted in 2009 and pitched in the majors in 2010. 

Mike Leake is known as a ho-hum rookie. Stephen Strasburg is so big in the national eye that former major league pitcher and Nationals broadcaster Rob Dibble was fired for saying that Strasburg should suck it up and pitch. He said that before anyone knew that Strasburg needed Tommy John Surgery. 

However, if anyone should be Stephen Strasburg big is Cincinnati Reds' Cuban scorcher Aroldis Chapman. He is the most exciting pitcher I have ever seen. In two career innings he has destroyed the radar gun with 100, 102, 104 and 105 mph pitches. Plus a surprise slider!

Hey Chapman! Stand Up! Your the real MLB rookie phenom.

Mark Prior is back and well put together. After pitching well for the Orange County Flyers of the independent Golden Baseball league, (home of my Tucson Toros) he signed a minor league deal for the Texas Rangers.

Now before Mr. Ranger fan starts hopping up and down in delight there is something that he should know.

Its past the deadline for players to be eligible for playoff rosters.

This is obviously a move for 2011 and beyond. Prior is 30 years old and if healthy has a lot of baseball left in him. If you look at his numbers in independent ball, he pitched 9 games, 11 innings, striking out 22 batters and not allowing a single run. He exhibited a 92 mph fastball and a sharp breaking ball as well.

The Rangers clearly signed Mark Prior to be a reliever for them next year. He'll be in triple-A Oklahoma City for the rest of the season and then likely report to Surprise, AZ for instructional league baseball. 

Picture presented via baseballdeworld.com

Up until the trading deadline, it seemed that nothing was going to change for the hapless Diamondbacks. But once the made the moves necessary,  things started looking up.

The Arizona Diamondbacks finished August with a 16-13 record, first winning month of the year  (little too late however) under the leadership of manager Kirk Gibson. The best part is that their young talent is playing like they belong in the big leagues.

Danial Hudson, acquired by the Chicago White Sox in a trade that sent Edwin Jackson (6-10 5.16 ERA 134.1/104 IP/K) packing. has been everything the Arizona brass wanted and more. Whenever Hudson (4-1 1,85 ERA 43.2/42 IP/K) is on the mound, Kirk and the gang are as secure as Joe Madden of the Tampa Bay Rays is when he has David Price on the mound.

Kirk also gets that same feeling the next day when his other young star Barry Enright (6-2 2.45 ERA 73.1/41 IP/K) takes the field for his start. In each of his 12 career starts, Enright has allowed 3 runs or less. Now that is the kind of consistency that the Diamondbacks have been looking for.

Like Hudson, Brandon Allen was also acquired by Arizona from the White Sox. With Adam LaRoche being the most productive first basemen in Arizona history, Brandon would need to switch positions. Since no one was producing with the bat at left field, it only made sense to trot out Allen and see what happens. All he did was serve up a web gem and hit a grand slam in his first start of 2010 when Arizona swept division leading San Diego.

This sort of phenomena has happened before last year when the San Diego Padres pulled a late season surge out of their hat, and look at them now. If the same thing happens in Arizona this year, the Diamondbacks' future will be so bright that it might end monsoon season.

Its pretty clear that the Tampa Bay Rays are going to make it to the postseason. It is also clear that they can beat any other playoff team in the AL.

But after seeing the Philadelphia Phillies make a run and take the NL wildcard lead, I started to have visions of a 2008 World Series rematch. So I ask the question to all Rays fans.

Who wants revenge?

If it were to happen again, I believe that the Rays will have the advantage this time around.

1) The Rays are faster and have nearly perfected small ball

2) Replace Scott Kazmir and Edwin Jackson with David Price and Jeff Niemann and things would be much different.     Even if the Phillies have Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt now.

3) In 2008 three consecutive games in Philadelphia did them in. Not this time. Thanks to the NL winning the All Star Game it is the Rays who will have a stretch of three straight home games.

Since the beginning of August, I predicted a Rays vs. Reds World Series but I've started to pull for the 08 rematch.

Its almost September and the pennant race has never been more exciting. Except for the teams that are out of contention.

Hey if your party sucks, go ruin some other guy's party.

In the American League there are five teams in contention which means there are eleven teams looking to screw them over. But only few teams have the cajones to throw a molotov cocktail at the ballroom of the Yanks, Rays, and Twins.

1. Baltimore Orioles

Ever since Buck Showalter became manager, the Baltimore Orioles has shown that they are not the same team that got David Trembley fired and made Juan Samuel look like a lame duck. This month the Orioles have a 12-10 record mostly against teams in playoff contention. It is obvious that the players don't wont to piss Showalter off with their bad play. The pitching has improved and they still have home run threats in Luke Scott (25), Ty Wigginton (20), and Adam Jones (17) and a base stealer in Cory Patterson.

2. Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics are currently 62-62 and are out of contention, but that doesn't mean they can't spoil the fun for someone else. They play every AL contender except the Tampa Bay Rays. They have a lot of speed in outfielders Coco Crisp (22) & Rajai Davis (37) and shortstop Cliff Pennington, (20) plus a very solid pitching staff with every starter not named Ben Sheets recording an ERA under 4.

3. Toronto Blue Jays

See #2, then add a truck load of power. Everyone but  Fred Lewis & Yunel Escobar have double digit home runs and their pitching is also solid. They have three starters with double digit wins and an ERA in the 3's. Brandon Morrow doesn't, but he leads the team with 165 strikeouts while pitching 137.1 innings. They will have a say in the AL East race and have a chance to ruin the Minnesota Twins' playoff berth at the last minute.

Last September, Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing tested positive for a fertility drug and received a four game suspension by the NFL effective at the start of the season.

Fertility drugs are used to deal with hormonal imbalance.The primary function of performance enhancing drugs such as steroids is to increase testosterone, the hormone responsible for stimulating bone and muscle growth.

Cushing denies taking any drugs. Instead he explains that his positive test was caused by what he calls overtrained athlete syndrome.

"I think that's the final diagnosis we came up with, and a lot of doctors have supported why this has happened."He said.

According to Rice University, hard training causes muscles to break down while appropriate rest rebuilds and strengthens the muscles. This adaptation is in response to maximal loading of the cardiovascular and muscular systems and is accomplished by improving efficiency of the heart, increasing capillaries in the muscles, and increasing glycogen stores and mitochondrial enzyme systems within the muscle cells. During recovery periods these systems build to greater levels to compensate for the stress that you have applied. The result is that you are now at a higher level of performance.

However, lack of rest means lack of muscle regeneration, causing athletic performance to decline. "Overtraining syndrome"  (AKA overtrained athlete syndrome) is the name given to the collection of emotional, behavioral, and physical symptoms due to overtraining that has persisted for weeks to months.

Symptoms include fatigue, becoming moody, depressed, easily irritated, have altered sleep patterns, lose the competitive desire and enthusiasm for the sport. Some athletes will report decreased appetite and weight loss. Physical symptoms include persistent muscular soreness, increased frequency of viral illnesses, and increased incidence of injuries.

Clinical studies have been done on athletes with overtraining syndrome. Exercise physiologic, psychological, and biochemical laboratory testing have also been done.

Findings in these studies have shown decreased performance in exercise testing, decreased mood state, and, in some, increased cortisol levels -- the body's "stress" hormone. A decrease in testosterone, altered immune status, and an increase in muscular break down.

Brian Cushing claims that overtraining syndrome cause him to test positive in a drug test, but why would he be tested positive for a condition that resulted in a decrease in testosterone?

"Every individual is genetically different," he said. "I had a unique situation where something like this occurred and we have the science to back it up. It's taken months. It's really beyond what we ever thought and it's beyond the regular medical doctor.

He maybe right about having overtrained syndrome but if anything it makes the idea of him taking a fertility drug more sense because the drug would take care of the hormone imbalance due to the condition.

After making the San Francisco Giants feel small, Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez is now 3 wins away from the 20 win benchmark and 8 wins away from the 25 victory milestone.

Can he do it?

His remaining will likely be against the:

New York Mets: .251AVG 86HR 436RBI 93SB

Milwaukee Brewers: .261AVG 134HR 487RBI 54SB

Arizona Diamondbacks: .254AVG 121HR 474RBI 62SB (X2)

Los Angeles Dodgers: .258AVG 79HR 435RBI 66SB (X2)

San Diego Padres: .251AVG 83HR 437RBI 91SB (X2)

Cincinnati Reds: .273AVG 125HR 518RBI 65SB

St Louis Cardinals: .265AVG 108HR 453RBI 61SB

Ten more starts will give him the opportunity of a 27-2 record. He can only afford 2 loses or no decisions if he is going to win 25.Taking on the NL West rivals 6 times can potentially be a speed bump in Ubaldo's road to 25 wins but its the foes of the NL Central that are the biggest threat to his quest.

As far as the Cy Young is concerned, winning 20 games can be enough for him to win the award and 25 wins is virtually impossible to dispute, but as long as Florida Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson (10-4 1.96ERA 147.0IP 151SO) has an ERA below 2, Ubaldo Jimenez is no lock for the Cy Young award.

After getting pounded by the San Francisco Giants, Aaron Cook is now 4-8 with an ERA of 5.34.

Whats the deal with Cook? It wasn't long ago when he was a winning pitcher (16-9  3.96 ERA in 08 & 11-6 4.16 ERA in 09) on a winning ball club. The team maybe struggling but they are still above .500.

There was a time when Aaron cook came to spring training in Tucson Arizona looking slim and with a full head of hair. His secret to dietary success was cutting out sweets, but since the transformation, he was 0-2 with an 8.15 ERA in Tucson and is currently 4-8 with a 5.34 ERA during the regular season.

My advise to Cook would be to pick up the skittles and get on a hot cinnamon flavored streak before its too late.

But does it matter?

Since the Rays were first knocked out of first place by the New York Yankees in late June, its been a two horse race and now it is clearly evident that both teams will make the playoffs and its likely that they will face off in the ALCS. So does it matter who wins the division?

If you are a Yankee fan, you really shouldn't care. The only thing that matters to NYY fans is winning the world series so if they were to just get the wild card, its no big deal as long as they win the pennant. 

If you are a Rays fan, it is very important. The Tampa Bay Rays are in their third year as a winning ball club which means the more banners they raise the better. and the AL East is such a prize for the Rays that winning the division is an absolute must for Tampa Bay. 

Coming in a few weeks the Tony Capo & Matt Steitz Show will be coming to Tucson's 1570am KAMP radio. Tune in every week to hear the two talk NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and UA sports better than anyone you've listened to before. Matt Steitz is new to KAMP but Tony Capo will be entering his second year in the station. 

Here is a sample of Tony Capo's best quotes:

on the Wildcats victory over Rice:

"The last thing you want out of this team is a loss from a team named out of an Asian side dish."

on the Oregon Game: 

"You got a school who's mascot is Donald Duck, and locker room with a bigger wardrobe than Paris Hilton. They're the metro-sexuals  of the PAC-10"

When he was told that Lee Corso put on the TCU Horned Frog head:

"Thats what he's gonna look like in 20 years"

1. ARI trades Billy Buckner to DET for Dontrelle Willis. X

I was originally excited about the trade because I watched him when he was with the Marlins and became a fan of him. Its a shame that things didn't go well for the pitcher and he is now working his way up in the Giants farm system. The good news is that Arizona didn't give up much.

2. ARI trades Dan Haren to LAA for Joe Saunders and prospects.+/-

Its never a good thing when the ace of your team gets traded, but on the plus side they got a few pitching prospects and Joe Saunders who had 17 wins in 08 and 16 wins in 09. Hes cheaper and still has some upside but he needs to show something this year for there to be any confidence.

3. ARI trades Edwin Jackson to CWS for Dan Hudson and one pitching prospect.+

Besides the no hitter against the Rays, Jackson has been a bust for the Diamondbacks with stats similar to his 07 season with the Rays. Hudson has had a taste of the majors with the division leading White Sox and could be a good arm for the D'backs as they reload for 2011.

4. ARI trades Chris Snyder & Pedro Ciriaco to PIT for Ryan Church, Bobby Crosby and D.J Carrasco. +

I say that this is a good trade mostly because I like Miguel Montero over Chris Snyder.

Montero: Best Season 2009: 16HR 59RBI .294AVG 2010: 37 games 4HR 22RBI .311AVG

Snyder: Best Season 2008: 16HR 64RBI .237AVG 2010: 65 games 10HR 32RBI .231AVG

Montero has made Snyder expendable by proving to be the better catcher (and the one without the big contract).

What they got back from the Pirates is one solid bullpen arm in Arizona native D.J. Carrasco (2-2 3.88ERA 55.2/45 IP/K) an infielder in Bobby Crosby who as a full season starter musters up to 60RBI but is better off as a utility player. Crosby has played all four infield positions and even though his main position has been SS, he has been flawless playing the other positions. They also received OF Ryan Church who can challenge Gerardo Parra for the LF spot. Church is a solid .275 contact hitter where as Parra has hit only 2HR 18RBI .250AVG.

5. ARI traded Chad Qualls to TB for Whatshis Face. +/-

Plain and simple. The Rays were willing enough to take Qualls off the Diamondbacks hands. Its a good move for Tampa because believe it or not, Chad Qualls is a good pitcher in any inning other than the 9th. And although he has struggled in Arizona this year he might be effective in Tampa Bay.

All in all I like all the players that Arizona has received in this whole wheeling and dealing saga.

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 TC: Do you think it makes sense to trade Edwin Jackson?

MS: It makes total sense for the Diamondbacks to supplement their farm system while only having to trade away a guy like Jackson who isn't worth what he makes. His stuff can be electric at times (2009 season) but, his rising salary and lack of production this season make him expendable at this point.

TC: Yeah but then there is the argument that he is just having a bad fluke year like new Diamondback Joe Saunders.

 MS: Well it obviously hinges upon the prospects as well. A pitching staff of Webb,  Jackson, and Saunders next year looks pretty good IF Webb can get fully recovered,  Jackson harnesses his stuff and matures as a pitcher, and Saunders can continue to  win, plus he's coming from the AL to the NL ad we know that never hurts. And,  Saunders has been a consistent winner since he has been in the majors.  Management could definitely be enticed to keep these guys together and go  through a full season with them in 2011. With them being out of it this season,  that's a definite possibility.

 TC: So what do you think they should do in the off season?

MS:  Get Mark Reynolds healthy man, just work chris young on plate discipline, find a damn closer, I like the young offense and catcher Miguel Montero.

TC: Adam La Roche is playing on 1 year deal and have been solid lately, would you re sign him?

MS: Yes but only offer him a 1 year deal with a team option 2nd year. Depends on the free agents available at 1st, cap room, and farm system.

TC: You might have to better than that for La Roche

MS: know because he can and has been good in the past, especially his second half hot streaks that could definitely raise his value in the eyes on management and force them into offering a longer deal

 TC: I’d give him a moderate 3 year deal or let him go and sign Jorge Cantu.

 MS: I believe Cantu is the better player especially when offering a multi year deal too because in 28 in comparison to La Roche being 33.

By the numbers

# number of hitters with +.300BA: STL 1 CIN 1

# number of hitters with +10HR: STL 4 CIN 6

# number of hitters with +50RBI: STL 2 CIN 3

# number of hitters with +10SB: STL 1 CIN 3

# number of pitchers with +10W: STL 2 CIN 2

# number of pitcher with +100K STL 2 CIN 0

# number of hitters with ERA <4: STL 3 CIN 2

I took a deeper look in the numbers and on the hitting side of the game the Cardinals looks like they are only getting offensive production from Pujols and their outfield where as the Reds have power across the board lead by Rolan, Gomes, and Votto. The Cardinals pitching staff has a clear advantage over the Reds but the pitchers in cincy can hold their own. 

By the Schedule

CIN: ATL,PIT,CHI,STL,FLA,ARI,LA,SF,CHI,MIL,STL,COL,PIT,ARI,HOU,MIL,SD,HOU,MIL [5 vs playoff bound team]

STL: PIT,HOU,FLA,CIN,CHI,MIL,SF,PIT,WAS,HOU,CIN,MIL,ATL,CHI,SD,PIT,CHI,PIT,COL [5 vs playoff bound team]

The schedules look even mostly because these two teams are going to look like two fatsos in the diner table fighting for the morsels of the NL Central.

I've been rooting for the Cincinnati Reds this entire year and I still do, so I give the Reds the edge.

According to ESPN's Jayson Stark, the Chicago White Sox, Washington Nationals, and Diamondbacks are looking into the possibility of three team trade.  The reported deal would send slugger Adam Dunn to Chicago, pitcher Edwin Jackson to Washington, and a bunch of prospects to Arizona.

I say do it. Trade Edwin Jackson.

Right now Edwin Jackson is 6-10 with an ERA in the 5's. In 08 he win 14 games for the AL champion Tampa Bay Rays and in 09 he was an all star for the Detroit Tigers. His current stats are similar to his 07 season (5-15 5.76 ERA) with the 66-96 Tampa Bay Rays.

He is making 2.2M this year and it might rise next year, it just makes sense to trade him and see who Arizona gets. Brandon Webb is on his way back so right now its a smart move to start moving guys like Jackson and start building for 2011 because if they're gonna be good in 2011 with Krik Gibson as manager, the Arizona pitching staff must be rebuild and remodeled.

7/28/10 The LA Dodgers picked up OF Scott Podsednik in a trade with the KC Royals.

Prior to the trade Xavier Paul was playing left in Manny Ramirez's absence (15 day DL) and has hit only .252 with 11 RBI. Scott Pod makes a great pickup because one thing they lacked is speed. Rafael Furcal (16 SB) and Matt Kemp (15 SB) are the only base runners of the lineup with more than 10 SB, Scott Pod has 30 SB. He also hits .310, thats higher than everyone except Furcal and the injured Manny Ramirez.

He is exactly what the Dodgers need.

This weekend they ply the rival San Francisco Giants, who are the wild card leaders with a 3 game lead over the Dodgers.

8/25/10: The Arizona Diamondbacks traded Dan Haren to the LA Angels for Joe Saunders + 3 MILB pitchers.

If you saw this trade you think that Arizona was a seller and tanked the season. Haren is the more popular pitcher and carries the heavier contract. However if you look closer at the trade, Arizona got the better end of the deal.

If you look at pitchers like I do and give W/L more weight, than you would like Saunders. In Arizona (08-10) Dan Haren, went 37-26, during that time span Joe Saunders went 39-24. Take this year out of the equation, and its Dan Haren 30-18 Joe Saunders 33-14. Haren has the advantage on IP and K.

2010 has been a down year for the two pitchers but the trade can benefit them. AL pitchers usually thrive in the NL so Saunders can finish strong this year and can be the winner that Arizona is looking for. Haren has been good in both leagues and being in the pennant race will likely invigorate Haren and LA, who are currently 7 games behind Texas and is fighting Oakland for 2nd place.

Finance wise, this trade helps Arizona the most because they need the money they'll save from moving Haren's contract to fill some gaps in the pitching staff and spruce up the lineup. The Angles filled their Lackey gap with Haren and with Scott Kazmir in the DL, the Angels can make a run with their new ace combo.