Kuzul

The population of third basemen in Major League Baseball is talented and getting increasingly young, and with the promotion of Manny Machado and impending ascension of top prospects Anthony Rendon, Nick Castellanos and Mike Olt (if he stays at 3B), the position is getting deeper and becoming even younger..  With that said, it should be understood the position has several question marks among the top echelon of players (ie, health issues, consistency issues), so in consideration of the depth of the position it may be advisable to wait until the middle rounds to make a selection if you do not get one of the top three or four options. Of course, even in the middle rounds there will be some questions that attach to your selection, but if you're going to select a third baseman with some questions it would be better to gamble with a fifteenth round pick than a fourth or fifth round pick. ...

The Boston Red Sox have been suffering from an identity crisis. Yes, this is in part referring to the fact that they finished in the basement of the American League East this season, a feat they had not accomplished since 1993. In 1993, Boston still managed to post a record of 80-82, something Sox fans would have been more accepting of instead of the 69-93 record they “earned” this season. That equates to a cool .426 winning percentage. The last time the Red Sox had a worse winning percentage was in 1965, when the team went 62-100 for a .383 winning percentage. Dwight D. Eisenhower was in office. The Bay of Pigs invasion had not even taken place yet and Elvis Presley was back from war, making music once again. In other words, it’s been awhile since the team has been this bad. These are the Boston Red Sox after all, aren’t they? The problem that exists with the identity of this ...

Mike Trout will, in all likelihood, win the 2012 American League MVP Award.With just 118 games under his belt in his rookie season, Trout leads the American League with a .328 batting average and 45 stolen bases. He owns a .393 OBP which is third overall in the AL, second in OPS with .963 and his .570 slugging percentage is third behind Josh Hamilton and Miguel Cabrera.Needless to say, the kid is in good company.Beyond that, he has 27 home runs, 23 doubles and six triples in his 158 hits.According to Fangraphs, he has a 8.6 WAR rating, while Baseball Reference puts him at a 10.2 WAR.The evidence is there. Trout is very deserving of the MVP award. However, there are other players that have been playing incredible baseball this season in the AL that should not be overlooked.Here is a tip of the cap to those players.Begin Slideshow

The race for the 2012 American League Most Valuable Player award looks to be a close one. Among the top candidates are familiar names you might expect. But this season, we also have a breakout rookie superstar who changed the race as soon as he was called up to the majors. Bleacher Report's MLB Lead Writer Ian Casselberry and Pop Culture Lead Writer Gabe Zaldivar name the top candidates for the AL MVP and make their picks for the eventual winner. Who is your choice for AL MVP? Do you disagree with our picks? Did we snub anyone from the list? Sound off in the comments section below. Follow Gabe Zaldivar on Twitter @gabezal Follow Ian Casselberry on Twitter @iancassIf you like what you see, click here for more from Bleacher Report Productions. Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The 2012 MLB All-Star Game rosters will be released on Sunday. Fans are eager to see which of their favorites will make the Midsummer Classic and third base in the American League is one of the more interesting position battles.A fan poll on ESPN.com shows third base is one of the most competitive battles. Miguel Cabrera is leading, followed by Mark Trumbo. But Adrian Beltre is a distant third at third base.The fans are getting this contest wrong.I have no intention of taking anything away from Cabrera or Trumbo. Both are great players having good seasons. However, Beltre is putting up the offensive numbers he needs to pair with his Gold Glove defense to earn the starting spot.While playing with the Seattle Mariners, Beltre's offensive output suffered. His best season produced a batting average of just .276 and 26 home runs.However, his strong defense at the hot corner helped fans overlook ...

Josh Hamilton hit for the "cycle" Tuesday night against the Baltimore Orioles. But when the ball flies out of the park, they don't let you stop at first, second or third.Hamilton hit four two-run home runs against the shell-shocked Orioles. He finished a perfect five-for-five with eight RBIs.  He now sits at 14 homers on the year with 36 RBI and appears to be steam-rolling toward another MVP award.The first two long balls came at the expense of Orioles starter Jake Arrieta, who was coming off eight shutout innings against the New York Yankees in his last start. Hamilton's third came off Zach Phillips and the fourth off of Darren O'Day. It's somewhat surprising the O's lost by a final tally of only 10-3.Hamilton also set a new American League record with 18 total bases in one game and he set a personal best with those eight driven in. He also ...

Saturday was not a good day to be an All-Star third baseman in Major League Baseball. Ryan Zimmerman, Adrian Beltre and Kevin Youkilis either did not start or were pulled from their games due to injuries.The Nationals' Zimmerman was the first third basemen to fall victim when he was scratched from the lineup due to mild right shoulder inflammation. According to William Ladson, there is no structural damage to the shoulder.The Nats have a day off on Monday, so they might opt to let Zimmerman have a long weekend of rest in hopes to reduce the inflammation.Beltre of the Texas Rangers was the next one to go down on Saturday. He came up lame on a double in the second inning and was removed from the game. Jeff Wilson reported that Beltre is day-to-day with a strained left hamstring.Beltre told reporters that he does not think the hamstring injury is as severe ...

As the Hot Stove season continues through Christmas, I thought it would be interesting to look back at the best one-year rentals in history.Namely, players who, whether by free agency or, more likely, trade, ended up on a different team for one season before ultimately peacing out from that team at season’s end (usually via free agency).Looking at every position, here are the best one-year rentals in MLB history.Begin Slideshow

With the American League Championship Series under way and the National League's edition starting up next week, some of the best-hitting teams in the league are squaring off against each other. So I thought I'd look at ten players who are likely to make an impact on the batting side of things.Three things are looked at in this: traditional performance, 2011 Regular Season performance, and 2011 Division Series performance.Begin Slideshow

We now know that cheating was a part of baseball for the last two decades. There are legitimate reasons to believe between 50 percent and 80 percent of players were using some form of performance enhancing drugs. For many, the improvements flew under the radar, preventing suspicion.But in a few belligerent examples of perceived immunity, players exploded for other-worldly numbers. These are a few of the most glaring examples of such seasons.  Begin Slideshow