Kuzul

Just blame it on the manager. In Major League Baseball, when a team that appears dominant on paper but underperforms on the field, managers tend to take the brunt of the fault. Often times, they’ll lose their jobs because of it even though they aren’t the ones playing. Through the early stages of the 2013 season there have been three teams that haven’t played like many expected to: the Toronto Blue Jays (15-24, 9.5 GB), Los Angeles Angels (14-24, 10 GB) and Los Angeles Dodgers (15-22, 7.5 GB). But should fans be blaming John Gibbons, Mike Scioscia and Don Mattingly for their respective teams' woes? And if so, who deserves the most criticism?  Is It John Gibbons’ Fault?The Toronto Blue Jays made a slew of offseason moves in order to attempt to make the postseason for the first time since 1993. Toronto acquired several Cy Young-worthy starting pitchers and a ...

The Boston Red Sox may need an additional starting pitcher down the stretch, and Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cliff Lee is one name that could come up in conversation. Lee is a name that the Red Sox have considered in the past but have never been able to acquire. This past December, Boston offered to send center field Jacoby Ellsbury to the Phillies in exchange for Lee, but the Phillies rejected it, according to Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly (h/t WEEI): According to multiple sources, the Red Sox approached the Phillies about a Jacoby Ellsbury for Cliff Lee deal and were told that Lee was not available, ... The Phils won’t break up their Lee-Cole Hamels-Roy Halladay trio. (Check back in July if the team is not in contention. It’s not July yet, but it’s not too early to start thinking about what could happen over the next two months. The ...

April results may not give Major League Baseball the big picture just yet, but it’s not too early to weed through which teams are contenders and which are pretenders. Some teams have had great starts that will soon fade, while others have had forgettable Aprils and will look to get back on track come May. Eventually, there will be 10 playoff teams—six division winners and four wild-card teams. Can we project those 10 teams now? No, but we can somewhat tell which will be in the playoff hunt down the stretch and which will focus on the 2014 season. October is still a ways away, but here are the teams you should keep an eye on as baseball’s second month gets under way, as well as the others that won’t play for much down the stretch. *All standings current as of 1 p.m. ET of Tuesday, April 30, 2013. All ...

Just because someone is an outstanding baseball player doesn’t necessarily mean that they get the opportunity to play Major League Baseball. There are, at times, obstacles to overcome which block that path. The two most prevalent examples of that have been racial segregation and top prospects not panning out. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1957, although many Negro Leagues players never got the chance to take a MLB field.Meanwhile, since the MLB First-Year Player Draft was implemented in 1965, many No. 1 draft picks have failed to play well through the minors and some never even got the call to the big leagues. There are plenty of players who could be on this list, but I’ve selected five who really stand out in my mind. For those who didn’t make the cut—pun intended—please place their names in the comments section below for a discussion. Let’s take a look at ...

The Jackie Bradley Jr. experiment will likely come to an end in the coming days once David Ortiz is healthy enough to return to the Boston Red Sox. Boston made the popular decision of promoting Bradley to the big leagues after his monster spring training and when it was apparent that a roster spot would be open due to the array of outstanding injuries. In 28 games, Bradley hit .419/.507/.613 with seven extra-base hits, 12 RBI and 13 runs through spring training. But while some may have felt that Bradley’s production would carry over once the regular season began, it hasn’t. Not even in the slightest. In the first three games of the season, playing the entire series against the New York Yankees, Bradley went 2-for-10 with four runs and three RBI. Since, over the course of seven games, he’s 1-for-21 with 10 strikeouts. Among all Red Sox position players, ...

In most instances, a manager will focus on the opposing team’s starting pitcher when filling out his lineup card prior to a game. But that may end up being the opposite of what Boston Red Sox manage John Farrell will do when he fills his out before Boston takes the field against the New York Yankees on April 1. It appears that Farrell will put more emphasis on his starting pitcher than New York’s, who is likely to be CC Sabathia. Farrell has yet to announce who his Opening Day starter will be, but as Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston writes, all signs point to Jon Lester. Lester has started Boston’s first game the last two seasons, but is coming off a terrible season.In 2012, Lester went 9-14 in 33 starts, posting a 4.82 ERA across 205.1 innings of work. Lester, however, has had a remarkable spring. In five starts, ...

There are some players in Major League Baseball who just won’t go down on strikes. These players are a pitcher’s worst nightmare—the ones who foul off pitch after pitch, battling until they find a pitch they can put into play. The batter might ground out, fly out or line out, but he definitely isn’t going to strike out. Oftentimes, players who don’t fall by way of the K very often see many pitches and walk frequently. If you think about it, this makes plenty of sense. The batter waits for the perfect pitch, and if he doesn’t see it before the pitcher throws two strikes, he’s going to do his best to work the count. As the pitcher throws more and more pitches, it becomes more likely that the batter watches four balls get called. But this isn’t about walking, it’s about not striking out. It’s about having a good ...

Shane Victorino was one of the lucky players to be selected to play for Team USA in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Victorino signed a three-year deal with the Boston Red Sox over the winter and departed from spring training early to go represent his country. In five games with Boston during camp, he went 0-for-11 with a pair of runs, four walks and three strikeouts. One of four outfielders on manager Joe Torre’s United States roster, Victorino played a variety of roles. Ryan Braun, Adam Jones and Giancarlo Stanton were more dangerous threats, so Victorino didn’t see much time in the outfield. He did get his fair share of playing time, though. Unfortunately for Victorino and Team USA, the Americans’ dream of winning the WBC came up short. The United States went 2-1 in Pool D play, but later lost two of three in Pool 2 and were eliminated ...

Missing “valuable” time will have another meaning for David Ortiz once the season begins in a couple of weeks. Over the winter, Ortiz signed a two-year, $26 million contract with the Boston Red Sox. Ortiz is expected to make a base salary of $14 million in the upcoming season and $11 million the following year. But that all could change due to a clause in the deal he recently inked.The clause states that Ortiz’s 2014 salary may increase to $13 million or $15 million based on the number of days on the active roster in 2013, according to Baseball Prospectus’ Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Ortiz will earn the additional $4 million in 2013 if he spends less than 20 days on the disabled list with a pre-existing Achilles injury. General manager Ben Cherington knew Ortiz might miss time with the nagging Achilles that allowed him to play in just 90 games ...

I know what you’re thinking, but trust me, it’s not going to happen. Spring training is a good time to evaluate players of all ages and experiences, throwing them onto a field together and seeing what they’re capable of. It’s the perfect strategy. Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington and the rest of the front office love this time of the year—it makes their lives a little easier with all the players being in one location. But one shouldn’t rely too much on spring training numbers. Sure, they mean something, but they don’t always tell the entire story. I shouldn’t have to explain it, but I will in short. Players are going up against an enormous pool of players that aren’t necessarily compatible. If a Triple-A pitcher gets rocked against major league hitters, well, that’s what we’d expect. Assumptions can be made on the futures of many players, but ...