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As we near the July 31 MLB trade deadline, a handful of top starting pitchers look to be available for playoff contenders to pick up.

But which of these pitchers will be the most dominant in the second half and make the biggest difference in the AL and NL playoff races?

MLB Lead Blogger Ian Casselberry and Pop Culture Lead Blogger Gabe Zaldivar each discuss which pitcher will be the best pick-up for a contending team and who might have the most influence on the playoff races.

You can read more from Gabe at his B/R page and follow him on Twitter @gabezal.

More from Ian is available at his B/R page, and he can be followed on Twitter @iancass.

Be sure to sound off and let us know what you think in the comments below. If you like what you see, click here for more from Bleacher Report production

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Since Sunday’s MLB All-Star teams were revealed, there’s been quite a bit of griping over which players were voted or selected to the American League and National League rosters. But ultimately, we’re talking about an exhibition, one that should provide baseball with a showcase. 

Ideally, that means the best of the best—not necessarily the most popular—should be on the field during the All-Star Game. But the game also presents an opportunity to pay tribute to some of the sport’s longtime stars, those who have become legends before their playing days have ended. 

So, MLB did the right thing in naming Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones to the NL All-Star team, regardless of whether or not he won the Final Vote for the last spot on the roster.

The fans were getting this one right anyway, as Jones was the leading vote-getter among the five finalists. He’s put in 19 years as a major leaguer. He’s 40 years old now. Why make the man sweat out those final voting results?

This way, baseball can give Jones the final bow he deserves while ensuring that one of its younger stars also has a place in its midsummer spectacle. (This also makes the NL Final Vote more competitive until balloting closes Thursday afternoon, compelling more fans to keep clicking votes online.)

It’s not perfect. Based on the latest voting results, neither Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Aaron Hill nor Braves outfielder Michael Bourn will win that last spot on the NL roster. Either of them is probably the more deserving All-Star. 

If you really wanted to nitpick, you could say that Jones doesn’t really deserve to be on the All-Star team, playing in 45 of the Braves’ 79 games going into Tuesday night’s play. Yet his six home runs and 29 RBI still put him among the top-10 third basemen in the NL. And his .828 OPS ranks him fifth among major leaguers at his position. 

Season numbers aside, Jones’ career is merit enough for this honor. Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson said it succinctly to The Washington Post‘s Adam Kilgore: “Chipper should be on it, period.”

Besides, the fans already made it alright for third basemen who have played only 45 games to be named to the All-Star team when they voted the Giants‘ Pablo Sandoval into the starting lineup. This isn’t about putting a team of the best players together. It’s about giving the fans the players they want to see. If Sandoval is going to Kansas City, why not Chipper?

As my fellow B/R colleague Zach Rymer wrote earlier on Tuesday, Jones deserves the same sort of sendoff Cal Ripken Jr. received in the 2001 All-Star Game. Ripken’s numbers that season may not have warranted an All-Star selection, but his career most definitely deserved one last moment in the national spotlight. And the fans got to watch a memorable performance from Ripken in that game. 

Go ahead and take issue with several things baseball does. We do it here most everyday, whether it’s the umpiring, rules, All-Star selections or instant replay. But putting Jones on the All-Star team and providing him with a national curtain call is what baseball does so well. The sport knows how to pay proper tribute to its best.

Jones is even excited to play in Kansas City. When is the last time you heard that from a player?

“So it’s the one ballpark I haven’t played in in my career and how fitting is it, that my last All-Star game gives me the opportunity to do that,” Jones told David O’Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Looking forward to playing in a new ballpark or at least taking batting practice in a new ballpark.”

The 2012 All-Star Game just became that much more compelling. Well done, MLB.

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The New York Yankees and marquee trades are synonymous. This franchise just knows how to make waves with a key acquisition.

This season will be no different, we think.

The only thing that differs is the big spending will move away from big bats into the realm of big arms, or at least it should.

I join Ian Casselberry to break down all the rumors and trade innuendos occurring at the moment.

Injuries and inconsistency make pitching a priority of the highest order for the perennial World Series hopefuls. Here is where we separate fact from fiction.

Some have us percolated and others leave us yawning from the lack of validity. Of course, we would love for you to sound off with who you think are prime candidates to end up in pinstripes by summer’s end.

Follow Gabe Zaldivar on Twitter @gabezal

Follow Ian Casselberry on Twitter @iancass

Be sure to sound off and let us know what you think in the comments below. If you like what you see, click here for more from Bleacher Report Productions. 

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After beginning the season as one of the most disappointing and chaotic teams in the American League, the Boston Red Sox are back in playoff contention.

What moves should general manager Ben Cherington make to catch up with the New York Yankees? What areas of the team does he need to upgrade?

MLB Lead Blogger Ian Casselberry and Pop Culture Lead Blogger Gabe Zaldivar discuss where the Red Sox could improve and which players they could pursue leading up to the trade deadline.

You can read more from Gabe at his B/R page and follow him on Twitter @gabezal.

More from Ian is available at his B/R page, and he can be followed on Twitter @iancass. 

Be sure to sound off and let us know what you think in the comments below. If you like what you see, click here for more from Bleacher Report Productions. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

On Sunday, MLB will announce the rosters for the 2012 All-Star Game. Along with the starting lineups, reserves and pitching staff, we’ll also get the five Final Vote candidates for the last spot on each of the American League and National League All-Star squads.

And yet, after the 34 players are selected (well, 33 and the five Final Vote candidates), we will still have several deserving players who won’t have been selected for the All-Star teams. The snubs. It’s the first thing discussed after the rosters are announced and will be a major topic of discussion on Monday. 

Which players will get screwed over in the All-Star selection process? We’ve chosen 10 that seem likely to be snubbed. Remember that some of these players will end up on the team due to injury. Some pitchers who pitch the Sunday before the All-Star Game will be unavailable and need to be replaced.

However, as CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman reports, commissioner Bud Selig plans on making sure selected players don’t skip All-Star festivities because they don’t feel well. 

One player that I believe would have been snubbed is Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier. But with Matt Kemp’s injury, I think Ethier will end up being named to the team. 

But that still leaves plenty of guys who will get four undeserved days off during the second week of July. Here are 10 NL players that should be making the trip to Kansas City but won’t be. 

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Those who frown upon National League baseball often point to the pitcher hitting as a reason why the game isn’t as appealing as its American League counterpart.

The pitcher batting ninth tends to be an automatic out. With little ability (or interest, as it sometimes appears) to make any sort of contribution at the plate, pitchers are usually asked to bunt. If pitchers are going to make an out anyway, managers figure they may as well move along a baserunner. 

But some pitchers take the responsibility of hitting seriously and are quite good at it. Miami Marlins pitcher Carlos Zambrano has hit respectably in the past. In three of his 12 seasons, he’s actually hit .300. Dontrelle Willis hit so well with the Marlins and Cincinnati Reds that whenever he struggled as a pitcher, many suggested that he should be moved to the outfield. 

Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg has become a threat with the bat as well. This season, the Nats’ ace is hitting .348/.375/.652 with four doubles, one home run and two RBI in 25 plate appearances. Those four doubles are more than some players with eight times the number of at-bats, including Orlando Hudson, Justin Smoak and Marlon Byrd. 

With Strasburg pitching through his first full season since undergoing Tommy John surgery, it’s been generally understood that the Nationals will impose an innings limit on their ace.

According to Kevin Kaduk of Yahoo! Sports, general manager Mike Rizzo disputes reports that Strasburg’s season will be capped at 160 innings. But that number may have been considered without a division title run in mind. With the Nats leading the NL East, that innings limit may get pushed up a bit, depending on how Strasburg looks as his workload increases. 

But considering how Strasburg has been hitting, should the Nationals still try to make use of him once he’s reached his innings limit and is shut down for the season?

Not too many teams can bring a bat off the bench with a .348 batting average and .652 slugging percentage. Strasburg could be a valuable pinch-hitter at the end of the season, or maybe even during the postseason. 

Even better for manager Davey Johnson, Strasburg could be especially effective against left-handed pitching. Yes, we’re talking about a sample size of only eight plate appearances. But Strasburg is hitting .571 (4-for-7) against lefties this season. He hit his home run off Baltimore Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen. 

Would Johnson consider bringing in Strasburg to face, say, Aroldis Chapman in the late innings of a playoff game between the Nationals and Reds? Maybe the stakes are too high there. And Johnson would probably opt for a veteran like Mark DeRosa, or perhaps someone with some pop like Tyler Moore if a pinch-hitter were needed in such a situation. That’s the safer move. 

It’s probably worth mentioning that Strasburg began his major league career batting 1-for-30 with 12 strikeouts. Did something just click for him at the plate or is Strasburg’s true ability as a hitter somewhere in between that terrible beginning and his current success?

But if there were no better options than Strasburg, why not use him off the bench? If he keeps hitting the way he has, he might be the best option.

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Whatever you do, don’t ask us to root for any of the following Major League Baseball players.

The thought works on the gag reflex and causes us to forget everything we love about this hallowed game.

Here is a brief breakdown of the ballplayers who are just too damn hard to root for.  Sure, they may deliver with talent sometimes, but their egos, production and decisions make them some of the least likable athletes in the MLB.

Of course, we could be wrong in our assessment. Stick up for the players we have called out for being unlikable tragedies, or deliver some of your own suggestions. Which players are the hardest to root for? Sound off in the comments section.

You can read more from Ian Casselberry at his B/R Page. 

You can read more from Gabe Zaldivar at his B/R Page.

You can Follow Ian on Twitter @iancass

You can Follow Gabe on Twitter @gabezal

Be sure to sound off and let us know what you think in the comments below. If you like what you see, click here for more from Bleacher Report Productions. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The latest update of MLB All-Star voting results was just released on Tuesday afternoon. In the National League, there isn’t much change from the last wave of voting totals. Virtually every player who led at his position continues to do so.

The one change was in the NL outfield, where the Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun leapfrogged over Melky Cabrera of the San Francisco Giants for the third starting spot. 

However, the lead at every other position looks pretty solid. Barring an amazing surge in voting at two or three positions, the starting lineup for the NL looks to be in place. 

But let’s take a look at each position and see which ones might still be up for grabs until online voting ends on Thursday. 

First Base: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds

This is the absolute lock. Votto is the leading vote-getter among NL players and holds a lead of nearly three million votes over Lance Berkman. Would anyone care to argue this outcome? Votto is the best player in the NL right now.

Second Base: Dan Uggla, Atlanta Braves

Uggla leads Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips by just over 770,000 votes, according to the latest results. That lead is not going to be overcome in the next two days. Going solely by performance, it’s pretty close between the two. Phillips has a higher batting average, but Uggla is ahead of him in OPS. 

Third Base: David Wright, New York Mets

How many votes can Giants fans stuff the ballot box with over the next two days? Wright leads Pablo Sandoval by 464,549 votes, which is probably going to hold. And it should. Wright is the best third baseman in the NL, and among the top two players in batting average, on-base percentage and OPS. 

Shortstop: Rafael Furcal, St. Louis Cardinals

With a focused campaign by Rockies fans, could Troy Tulowitzki overcome a deficit of almost 260,000 votes? It’s irrelevant with Tulowitzki injured and unavailable to play. Among the top five vote-getters at shortstop, the Cubs’ Starlin Castro is probably most deserving, but he trails Furcal by almost one million votes.

Catcher: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants

Here’s a position where it could get interesting. Posey leads the Cardinals’ Yadier Molina by a little over 215,000 votes. I don’t know how many votes can be cast in two days, but people can click their mice a lot. Molina is the more deserving starter, but Posey winning the vote is hardly a crime.

Outfield: Carlos Beltran, St. Louis Cardinals

Outfield: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers

Outfield: Melky Cabrera, San Francisco Giants

Matt Kemp is the leading vote-getter among NL outfielders and received the second-most votes of any NL player, with approximately 4.12 million. But as the Associated Press’ Janie McCauley reports, Kemp isn’t going to appear in the game unless he can play in a regular game beforehand. 

So will Melky Cabrera get Kemp’s open slot, since he has the fourth-highest vote total among NL outfielders? Cabrera also leads the next closest outfielder, the Dodgers’ Andre Ethier, by more than a million votes. 

Braun passed Cabrera in the latest round of voting and now leads him by over 120,000 votes. If not for Kemp’s injury, we might have a tight race for that third starting OF spot. But Kemp’s injury kills the suspense. 

The Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen, seventh among NL outfielders, would be a nice fit in the starting lineup. Not only are his numbers deserving of the honor, but he’s a natural center fielder. Such things don’t really matter in an All-Star game, though. Otherwise, why wouldn’t we vote for each outfield position? 

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The past week wasn’t a good one for a few leading contenders for NL Rookie of the Year.

Maybe it was the final week of interleague play. Maybe it was the hot weather that roasted most of the country. Or maybe it was just a bad week for a handful of players that have been playing well and were due for a bit of a slide.

Whatever the reason, the struggles among the players at the top of our rankings allowed for those in the lower spots to make a move up. It’s not a radical reshuffling, but one player is beginning to look like he could give Bryce Harper a serious run for postseason honors. 

Here are this week’s five leading contenders for the NL Rookie of the Year award.

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These are desperate times at Coors Field. 

The Colorado Rockies have allowed more runs than any team in baseball. Consequently, they also have the highest team ERA in the majors.

That pitching staff may well have driven manager Jim Tracy to madness. At the very least, it can’t be said that he’s not trying to be creative in fixing his team’s massive pitching deficiencies. 

As reported by the Denver Post‘s Troy Renck, the Rockies announced that they’ll be going to a four-man pitching rotation. Jeremy Guthrie—who’s been abysmal in his past six appearances—is being moved to the bullpen, and the four remaining starters will be on a 75-pitch limit to compensate for one less day of rest. 

“I felt we had to do something non-conventional,” Tracy told reporters. “I was given the opportunity to tweak this. We are going to see what transpires as we move forward.”

Well, this definitely qualifies as unconventional. The fact that it’s Jim Tracy messing with the conventions of the game is a bit difficult to comprehend. If Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon was doing this, we’d probably be clapping our hands at his desire to zig when everyone else is zagging. Tracy probably felt he had nothing to lose with his “indefinite” contract.

However, Tracy’s grand experiment is already showing some leaks. He says the Rockies are going to a four-man rotation because his bullpen is throwing too many innings. And he’s right. Josh Roenicke’s 41 innings are more than any other big league reliever has pitched. Matt Belisle isn’t far behind him with 36. 

But how exactly will strictly limiting the pitch counts of his starters and asking them to pitch more often going to curb the number of innings the bullpen pitches. Won’t the Rockies relievers actually end up pitching more because of this scheme?

Purple Row’s Andrew Fisher also points out that the Rockies don’t have an off-day until the All-Star break. Not great timing here. 

The puzzling aspect of Tracy’s decision is that it doesn’t seem like he had to resort to such drastic measures. The Rockies have plenty of young pitching that should get a look right now. Why isn’t Drew Pomeranz with the big league club?

Christian Friedrich and Alex White are already in the rotation. Josh Outman is tailor-made for this 75-pitch limit as he stretches out from reliever to starter. Juan Nicasio is working his way back from a knee injury. Surely, the Rockies will go back to a five-man rotation once he returns. 

Yes, you could say that if those prospects had pitched well, the Rockies wouldn’t be in a position to try something so wacky. But this season is lost. Colorado holds fourth place in the NL West, 16 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. They’re 9.5 games back in the NL Wild Card race.

The Rockies’ best player, Troy Tulowitzki, is on the disabled list, and could be out for a while as doctors try to determine the extent of his groin injury. It would be a shame to waste an excellent season from Carlos Gonzalez and solid numbers from Michael Cuddyer. But if the Rockies can’t hold down the opposition, it won’t matter how well those two hit. 

Yet as wacky as this idea by Tracy is, with the trainwreck fascination it’s creating, it’s something different. Fans often suggest that teams who can’t find a fifth starter should try going to a four-man rotation. Manager sometimes contemplate going to a six-man starting staff. This usually gets shouted down as crazy, maybe stupid. And that’s probably because such ideas are crazy and stupid.

This more than likely won’t work for the Rockies. It could blow right up in Tracy’s face and possibly cost him his job. But it certainly beats sending Jeremy Guthrie (or Jamie Moyer before him) out there every five days to get beaten like pizza dough. That would be the definition of mediocrity. 

It’s little consolation to fans (or those dumb enough to pick Colorado to win the NL West), but if the Rockies are going to stink, at least they’re going to make it interesting. 

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