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If you are a Philadelphia Phillies fan, you have to be excited about the prospect of Darin Ruf smashing home runs in Citizens Bank Park in the near future.

He had an outstanding year with Double-A Reading as he hit .317 with 38 home runs and 104 RBI.

This was really a breakout year for him in terms of power production as he more than doubled his career home run total.

Developments like this have earned him high praise from around Major League Baseball, and one scout had this to say about him when he spoke with Jayson Stark of ESPN.

He might be Matt Holliday. … I saw him eight or nine games. And I saw him hit everything… And defensively, I actually thought he was better in the outfield than he was at first base. He’s an interesting guy.

As a matter of fact, when you look at Matt Holliday in the minor leagues, he also took a while to find his powerful swing. For Holliday’s power breakout came when he was 26 and playing for the Colorado Rockies. He hit .326 with 34 home runs and 114 RBI.

Ruf obviously put up a very similar stat line in Double-A, so even though it is somewhat hard to compare performance between the different levels in the organization, at least the numbers are similar.

Conveniently, Ruf could also fill the void that the Phillies have in left field. Even though he has been primarily a first basemen throughout his minor league career, Ruf has spent some time in left field this past season. Obviously, the pathway at first base is going to be blocked for a long time with Ryan Howard, so if the Phillies want to use him, they will need to help him discover another position.

If he develops into Matt Holliday, the Phillies will have hit the jackpot. Even if he doesn’t become quite that good, it seems as if he is going to be a very productive major league bat who will hit for a lot of power and produce runs. Nobody would complain about that either.

Whether you think I know everything or nothing about Major League Baseball, you should follow me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook and keep in touch. I love hearing what you all have to say!

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Wow! Just like that, all of the drama surrounding a Roger Clemens comeback has come to an end. Or has it?

Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun is reporting on Twitter that Roger Clemens said of his potential 2012 MLB comeback, “I don’t see it happening.”

That should close the book on this interesting chapter in the crazy career of Roger Clemens. Even though he was one of the best pitchers of the 1990s, he apparently doesn’t want to try to become at least an adequate pitcher for a month in the 2010s.

Connolly also noted that Clemens said that his entire comeback was about “just having fun.”

While he may have simply been enjoying himself with the Sugar Land Skeeters, he certainly turned the celebrity spotlight back on himself one more time. And after he turned in a strong performance in his first start out of retirement, we all began to wonder even more: Did he still have what it took to be a Major League Baseball player.

When he announced that he was going to start a second game, I have to admit that I was a total believer in the comeback. Normally, whenever there is a publicity stunt, it happens once and never again. But Clemens was going to step on the mound for a second time. It seemed like he had another motive.

Given what he told the press, though, and assuming he doesn’t decide to all of a sudden pull a complete turnaround, it appears that Roger Clemens is not going to pitch in Major League Baseball in 2012.

Whether you think I know everything or nothing about Major League Baseball, you should follow me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook and keep in touch. I love hearing what you all have to say!

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Major League Baseball rosters are about to expand, and we are going to see many highly anticipated prospects getting their first crack at the highest level of professional baseball.

However, even though several fanbases are excited to see their new prospects in action, some of them might be called up for different reasons.

Some of them might be called up to audition. If they perform well now, they will have more trade value over the winter.

Here are 10 of these call-ups who might actually be able to enhance their value and could be on the market this winter.

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A few days after trading for left-handed starting pitcher Joe Saunders, the Baltimore Orioles went out and signed another left-handed starting pitcher in the veteran Randy Wolf, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Wolf has not had a great 2012, as he is only 3-10 with a 5.69 ERA. These problems stem from the fact that he is allowing far too many players on base. Before he was released by the Milwaukee Brewers, he led the National League with 179 hits allowed. Obviously, this is one category that you don’t want to be the best at.

However, with all of that being said, this is a solid acquisition for the Baltimore Orioles.

For one thing, they didn’t have to give up anything to bring him in. As a free-agent signing, there is really limited risk.

When you combine that fact with the moderate reward that Wolf has provided for much of his career, the situation looks pretty good. He has won at least 10 games for the past three seasons, so even though he won’t reach that mark this year, it is not as if the Orioles brought in a pitcher who has never tasted any success.

Also, he has thrown the best baseball of his career in September and October, according to Baseball Reference. Overall, during those two months, he is 22-14 with a 3.52 ERA.

Of course, past success isn’t necessarily indicative of the future, but he does seem to get stronger as the season goes on and surely the Orioles will be hoping for the same thing.

The Baltimore Orioles made a nice acquisition here. Randy Wolf has been a quality pitcher throughout his career, and even though 2012 has not gone the way he most likely imagined it, he is coming into what are traditionally his strongest months.

For such little risk, there is quite a bit of potential reward.

Whether you think I know everything or nothing about Major League Baseball, you should follow me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook and keep in touch. I love hearing what you all have to say!

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Mark Prior has been released from the Boston Red Sox, according to Brendan McGair of the Pawtucket Times.

Ever since Prior has returned to the game of baseball in 2010, he has had a decent run of success as a minor-league reliever. For example, while he was with the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox this season, he appeared in 19 games and went 1-0 with a 3.96 ERA.

However, what is much more impressive than all of that is the fact that he has 38 strikeouts in only 25 innings. Part of that might come from the fact that he is a veteran and has pitched enough to know how to outsmart the young hitters.

The other part that might come from the fact that he really is getting some of his stuff back. Originally, Mark Prior flew onto the scene at a 21-year-old rookie with the Chicago Cubs. Although he only went 6-6 that season, he posted a 3.32 ERA and averaged 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

That set the stage for his phenomenal sophomore season when he went 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA. His strikeout rate went down a tiny bit to 10.4 per nine innings, but nobody was complaining. In fact, he came in third place in Cy Young voting that year.

He did pitch two more strong seasons with the Chicago Cubs, but 2006 saw his career start to tumble. He hasn’t been in the major leagues since, and even though he has had a decent amount of success in AAA for a few different franchises, he hasn’t made the breakthrough.

Bullpen help is at a premium, so there is an outside chance that someone might want to pick up Prior. It is definitely a risk, but some teams might be willing to take that chance.

He was brilliant at one point in his career, and he is only 31, so maybe he can carve his way back into a major-league role.

Whether you think I know everything or nothing about Major League Baseball, you should follow me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook and keep in touch. I love hearing what you all have to say!

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The Major League Baseball trade deadline has come and gone, and some big-name players will be wearing new uniforms for at least the rest of the season.

However, who was the most important player traded? Who will have the biggest impact on the tight playoff races that are already developing?

Those are both huge questions.

While it is impossible to know the future, it is possible to look at past performance and potentially forecast how certain players will enhance their new teams. Without further ado, here are the 10 best players who were on the move at the trade deadline. By “best,” I mean the player who helps fill a deficiency in his new team and makes them a better overall unit.

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The Philadelphia Phillies are “eager” to trade Hunter Pence, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

If Pence is truly going to be on the move, the Cole Hamels situation could end up being quite a bit more interesting.

On one hand, trading Pence would be indicative of an oncoming fire sale. The Philadelphia Phillies haven’t had much offense this year, but Pence does have 17 home runs on the year. Trading away a large piece of their offense so far this year would definitely not do very much to help the Phillies compete right now.

If this trade would really indicate a sale, it would make sense that Shane Victorino and Hamels would be on their way out as well. If you’re going to sell one important piece, why not go all the way and worry about dominating next season?

However, there is another reason the Phillies might be trying to trade Pence.

As almost everyone knows, the Phillies are trying desperately to keep Hamels in Philadelphia for quite a bit of time. In order to do that, they obviously need to pay him a ton of money, and they can free up a lot of money by trading Pence.

Again, this move wouldn’t necessarily help the Phillies win this year, but it would definitely help give them the financial flexibility to keep one of their star players in town.

Trading Pence would probably be an unpopular move, but if either one of the reasons I’ve mentioned is true, it does make a lot of sense.

In one week, it will be the trade deadline. A lot is surely going to happen before then.

Whether you think I know everything or nothing about Major League Baseball, you should follow me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook and keep in touch. I love hearing what you all have to say!

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The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have interest in Tampa Bay Rays right-handed pitcher James Shields, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports. He noted that the Detroit Tigers have scouted Shields as well.

Of course, this trade would have huge implications around baseball.

One thing it very well could mean would be that the Rays are somewhat selling. Shields has been underachieving this season at 8-6 with a 4.39 ERA, but he has been the Rays’ ace for the past few seasons.

Without him, it is definitely possible that the Rays could slip down in the American League East. That entire division is capable of pouncing on any weakness.

The other obvious impact would occur in the American League West. With the Cole Hamels rumors swirling, acquiring Shields would take the Angels out of that particular race.

However, they would have an excellent consolation prize. Hamels may never even become available, and if he doesn’t or at least doesn’t end up with the Texas Rangers, grabbing Shields would be a great addition that would outweigh anything else Texas might do.

Obviously the Rays are still competitive, so they might not want to move this drastically yet, but dealing Shields to the Angels would do a lot to a few critical playoff races.

Whether you think I know everything or nothing about Major League Baseball, you should follow me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook and keep in touch. I love hearing what you all have to say!

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The Baltimore Orioles made the deadline and have announced an agreement with first-round pick Kevin Gausman, according to Keith Law of ESPN.

This is a very important move for the Orioles and definitely the right move in this situation even though they had to pay him a tad more than his draft slot would suggest (he was given $4.32 million instead of the suggested $4.2 million).

Gausman himself is incredibly talented, so that is part of the reason that this is a good decision.

According to an article from the Baltimore Sun that was written by Dan Connolly when Gausman was drafted, his fastball sits in the mid-90s but can hit 98, his two-seam fastball hits the low 90s and he has a very strong changeup. His curveball and slider are coming along, but he is still only 21 years old, so there’s plenty of time to worry about that.

He dominated at Louisiana State University this year, and he should continue to have that success in the minor leagues.

There is a bigger issue here, however, that makes this an important acquisition.

If you look at the Baltimore Orioles right now, they’re being carried by prospects that they developed. While they do have some money, Baltimore is definitely not New York, Boston or Philadelphia. They succeed when they have players that come through the farm system.

With this selection and signing, they have added a very strong prospect to that system, and it may pay off in the long run.

While he is still a prospect with risk attached, Baltimore made a solid decision to give him a bit more money to continue a strong pipeline to a team that has renewed life this season.

Whether you think I know everything or nothing about Major League Baseball, you should follow me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook and keep in touch. I love hearing what you all have to say!

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The Philadelphia Phillies have not yet indicated that they are going to be selling at the trade deadline, but according to Buster Olney of ESPN, if Juan Pierre became available, the Cincinnati Reds would be interested.

Pierre has been a pleasant surprise amidst an incredibly disappointing season in Philadelphia.  He is hitting .317 and has stolen 20 bases in 23 attempts.

This is all coming from someone who was not even supposed to be an everyday player.  He really only became a starter because John Mayberry Jr. was extremely ineffective for the duration of spring training.

This move obviously makes a lot of sense if the Phillies are going to indeed sell.

Pierre is 34 years old, so he would not be a piece of the distant future. Since his entire game is based around speed, as he gets older, age will catch up to him more quickly than others. When that happens, his trade value will obviously decline.

Therefore, it makes sense for the Phillies to trade him while his value is high.

Another good reason to trade away Pierre if a fire sale really does take place is because it would open up his roster slot. Perhaps John Mayberry Jr. could have another opportunity to regain his spot as the everyday left fielder. Perhaps Domonic Brown could even come up and take some of that playing time as well (I don’t think that that should happen, but that could easily be the topic of another article).

In either situation, they would have a potential part of their future gaining experience.

If the Phillies do decide to sell, it makes a lot of sense for Juan Pierre to be one of those pieces on the move. However, if they decide that they want to stick in until the end, it would be somewhat surprising to see Pierre going anywhere.

Whether you think I know everything or nothing about Major League Baseball, you should follow me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook and keep in touch. I love hearing what you all have to say!

Follow @spinkickers

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