Kuzul

We all thought the Pirates and Marlins were in dire need of financial help.

We all were wrong.

A few weeks ago, documents were leaked pertaining to the Pirates and Marlins financial situations.

With the news, fans from Florida and Pittsburgh were outraged, and shock waves were felt around the MLB community.

What appeared to be two unprofitable teams simply trying to survive, are anything but. It is yet to be scene if the MLB is in trouble, as another strike is possibly looming.

As I present,10 reasons MLB is facing a labor dispute, we can only wonder what is next for baseball.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Let’s play ball. 

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Of all the major team sports, baseball is, uniquely, a game of great matchups and showdowns. Mostly, it’s a game of individual showdowns within the construct of team ball.

While postseason baseball already brings us to the edge of our seats, there are certain pitcher versus batter showdowns that take us out of our seats altogether.

Think about it:  When an Albert Pujols is in the batter’s box versus a Roy Halladay, he doesn’t have an offensive lineman blocking for him or a power forward setting a vicious screen so he can get a free look.  It’s top batter versus ace pitcher—one of the quintessential beautiful truths of our national pastime.

And then there is the allure of the great starting pitching matchup—a mano-a-mano  so compelling that fellow major leaguers would pay top money just to be in the stands. (Of course, they can afford it more than you or I, but you get the point).

We have team-versus-team rivalries, heightened by fan bases that just don’t like one another.  We may not see Yankees-Sox this October, but the Yankees and Rays are already building a great rivalry. 

What about players or managers facing their former teams?  Just last year, many fans were looking forward to seeing longtime Yankees icon Joe Torre managing against the dynasty he helped to create in the Bronx.  Oh yeah, it also would have been the first World Series battle between the Dodgers and Yankees since 1981.

If it weren’t for the Phillies successfully defending their NL title, we would have seen that.

With all this drama as our backdrop, let us preview the 5 Best Matchups We Could See in October.

Will Mr.Yankee, Derek Jeter, make our Top 5?   Stay tuned.

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Another wacky week of baseball. The ever-annoying Nyjer Morgan decided to slam into the Marlins catcher one too many times.

After being thrown at, Morgan decided to charge the mound and MLB‘s second brawl of the season occurred.

More violent than Reds vs. Cardinals, Morgan got in a few head shots before getting knocked down by the entire Marlins team.

Aroldis Chapman of the Reds made his major league debut this week. He arrived in a blaze of glory, hitting 103 on the radar gun multiple times.

He already owns the two fastest pitches in MLB since ’06. He has thrown three scoreless innings in a middle relief role. It will be interesting to watch how Chapman will be used down the stretch.

In other news, the Padres are in the midst of a predictable collapse, losers of 10 in a row.

The Yankees continue to stomp the AL while the Rays follow their lead. the Reds are still rolling as the Cardinals fade to black.

The Phillies are breathing down the Braves neck and the NL Wild Card is still up for grabs.

The ’10 baseball season has been fun, but the stretch run should provide even more excitement.

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We are now into September, and by now the Cy Young Award winner tends to be clear, or we are at least between a couple players.

Last year at this time, Zack Greinke and Felix Hernandez were battling it out, the 13-8, 2.32 ERA against the 13-5, 2.77 ERA respectively. Both players had great Septembers that year, as neither player lost a game.

In the National League, it was down to the wire between Tim Lincecum, Chris Carpenter, and Adam Wainwright, and it ended up being an extremely close vote as a result; I’m expecting that again this year for both leagues.

In 2008, Cliff Lee was declared the winner already at this point, and Tim Lincecum’s 15-3 record received similar treatment, though Brandon Webb’s 22 wins took some votes.

This year, it is anyone’s game. In the National League, it is realistically between six players, with the top three in a deadlock.

In the American League, there are many players that can take some votes. Sabathia had a great August and has risen up the rankings, while King Felix is out to prove that wins are not everything. Lee’s struggles have made him no longer an automatic front runner, and Mariano Rivera will probably take a couple votes, even with this starting pitching.

There are 12 to 13 people that could win the Cy Young if they have stellar Septembers, including a couple that you have probably never even heard of! Such is the beauty of this race, though it’s a pain for those that dare rank them.

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In a year of stunning rookie performances, Cuban defector and Reds uber-prospect Aroldis Chapman made his major-league debut on Tuesday, facing three batters in one inning of work. The 22-year-old was electric, hitting 103 mph on the radar gun.

More importantly, because Chapman was called up on August 31st, that means that he will be eligible for the postseason roster. If the Reds make the playoffs, Chapman will have the chance to become the latest in a glorious line of rookie call-ups who have had an impact in the postseason before they had a chance to have an impact in the regular season.

Here is a by-no-means exclusive look at some of the most memorable rookie call-ups who have contributed in the postseason in recent years.

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When Buck Showalter was named the Orioles’ 17th full time skipper on July 29th, it signaled the completion of the American League East’s stranglehold on the title of Division with the Best Managers.

With Joe Maddon in Tampa Bay, Cito Gaston in Toronto, Joe Girardi in New York, Terry Francona in Boston and Showalter now in Baltimore, the AL East boasts a talented lineup of managers. Between them, they hold five World Series rings as skippers and four Manager of the Year Awards.

Let’s take a look at all their achievements.

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In today’s game of free agency and rebuilding sell-offs, it’s extremely rare for a player to stick with a team for much more than about a decade. Stars come and go, and the team’s is the only name that lasts through a fan’s lifetime.

But some players leave behind legacies that continue to capture the hearts of their fans long after they hang up their cleats.

Last week, Bleacher Report’s MLB Featured Columnists completed our hardest poll yet: picking the top players in the history of each NL franchise (for the AL results, click here).

Each voter was asked to name the top three players for each team, scored on a 3-2-1 basis. The greats were then ranked by points, with the number of first-place votes (in parentheses next to the vote totals) as a tiebreaker.

Some of the results were pretty predictable—I don’t think saying Hank Aaron and Willie Mays won for the Braves and Giants is much of a spoiler. But some of the winners were harder to see coming, and how the rest of the lists filled out was fascinating.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Note: I sent this survey only to the Featured Columnists who have been active in previous polls. If you are a new FC or you have changed your mind about wanting to participate, send me a message and I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop for next time!

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Winning a Triple Crown is one of the rarest feats in all of baseball. Very rarely do we even see one player contending for the average, home run, and RBI titles.

And you’re telling me that there are three contenders in the National League this year?

Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez, Cincinnati’s Joey Votto, and St. Louis’s Albert Pujols are all in the hunt for the Triple Crown. And if none of them wins the honor, it will be one of them that keeps another from winning.

All season long, these three have been hitting absurdly for average and power.

Do they even have a chance? Can it really happen for the first time since 1967?

Here is a look at each contender’s chances at the Crown.

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October is creeping closer and closer as each day passes, which means the postseason is on the horizon.

We are in the Dog Days of summer, as many great baseball pundits like to call August. This is the point in the season when teams step up and make a push or crumble under the pressure.

Whether a team will falter down the stretch or rise to the occasion will generally come down to how good its manager is. This season a lot of the top managers in the game have their respective teams in the playoff hunt.

Without further ado, let’s get rolling.

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Since the days of Walter Johnson, the fastball has been a pitch that, when mastered, can blow hitters away.

Many pitchers enjoy looking at the radar gun on their fastball, but here are the ones that really come in at high velocity.

These are the top 10 flamethrowers of 2010 so far …

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