Kuzul

How much of an impact do early season trades make? They occur infrequently and usually do not involve big-name players.The MLB trend is to anticipate the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline and strike a deal on or before that date. It's one of the most exciting days during the baseball season, as contending teams look to land a player for their playoff push while cellar dwellers dump stars for prospects.So why aren't there any titillating transactions in April? For one, most teams craft their rosters in the offseason, and it may take more than a few weeks in April to step into the rhythm of success. Also, with such a small sample size of games, determining the problem that a trade would solve is not always possible.Plus, those non-contending teams who could provide a worthy veteran or power bat are not willing to raise the white flag on a young season, ...

Once the Cardinals finish up their West Coast swing through Arizona and San Francisco, they'll find themselves smack-dab in the middle of a duel against their fiercest competition for the NL Central crown, the Cincinnati Reds. Over the last few seasons, this has developed into a bitter rivalry.  David Schoenfield of ESPN said in 2011 the Cardinals and Reds has become the best rivalry in baseball.   There have been some tense and exciting moments over the last few seasons between these two teams. From Brandon Philips igniting the fire with his inflammatory remarks over Twitter a few years back to the infamous brawl that ended backup catcher Jason LaRue's career, this rivalry has taken on a life of its own. Now fast-forwarding to 2013, the NL Central race will most likely come down to the Reds and the Cardinals.   The Cardinals have not started off the 2013 campaign the way they had hoped.  Ace ...

After a disappointing 5-2 loss to Mexico (box score via MLB.com) in its World Baseball Classic opener on Friday night, Team USA needs Brandon Phillips and Giancarlo Stanton to step up in order for the team to advance.Before the team takes on Italy on Saturday, there needs to be some adjustments made by the players. Ryan Vogelsong is slated to take the mound in the second game, but it's the offense that needs to get ready to go.Jimmy Rollins, Joe Mauer and David Wright all recorded multi-hit games in the opener, but the bottom third of the lineup went 0-for-10 with two walks.Things will get better, but the team can't wait around too long before the bats wake up. The middle of the order showed up on Friday, but it was tough getting rallies going when there was no production out of the bottom of the lineup.It will be important for ...

The Cincinnati Reds are heading into the winter meetings, coming off a disappointing finish to an otherwise great season by all other accounts.The team's pitchers turned in one of the best performances of any MLB pitching staff in 2012, and the bullpen in particular was a key component in the Reds' success last season.Mat Latos proved to be worth every bit of the package the Reds sent to San Diego, and Johnny Cueto turned in a season worthy of Cy Young consideration.In addition to the success of several starters and the overall good play of the bullpen, the emergence of Aroldis Chapman proved to be the most exciting part of the Reds 2012 season. Though the team is looking to make him a starter for 2013,  The offense sputtered, at times. but there were bright spots in the offensive production put forth by the team. Todd Frazier came through with ...

The Reds came into the playoffs as a division winner, drawing the San Francisco Giants in the first round of the MLB playoffs. Many predicted a tight series, but thus far the Reds have dominated the Giants.The Reds are now shaping up for Game 3 tonight and have an opportunity to sweep the series on their home field. I'm sure it's still difficult (no matter how good the Reds are) for people to comprehend them sweeping the Giants.It's going to happen.The Reds have won six of their last nine games dating back to September 27th, Joey Votto is starting to find his swing again and Brandon Phillips is pacing the team out of the leadoff spot.Additionally, the pitching staff has almost never looked better.Following the loss of Johnny Cueto in Game 1 after just 10 pitches, the Reds pieced together Sam LeCure, Mat Latos, Sean Marshall, Jonathan Broxton and Aroldis ...

Update: Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 4:45 p.m. ETPhillips said he resolved things with Hughes today, via Cincinnati.com:We reached out, and me and Mr. Hughes had a great conversation before I came to the stadium today. It was the best thing that ever happened, just talking to him about what happened, talking to him about things that I heard and stuff.Phillips also noted, via Cincinnati.com:It was just a big misunderstanding. When you say certain things in the heat of the moment, you really don’t mean it. You forgive people. He forgave me. I forgive him. It’s the baseball family. I love him as a brother.Update: Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 4:19 p.m. ETThe back-and-forth between Phillips and Hughes has come to an end, with Andrew McCutchen as the mediator, according to Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Hughes, Phillips talked it out on phone. #pirates #reds Both sides put issue to rest. McCutchen ...

Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips didn't get off to the hot start he hoped for in 2012, but as May turned to June something seemed to click for the two-time All-Star.After recording only five home runs and 25 RBI through May 30, Phillips has been on an absolute tear this month, clubbing four home runs to the tune of 15 RBI in just 51 at-bats.Even more importantly, the 30-year-old Silver Slugger is batting .353 in June and has finally given the surging Reds a legitimate clean-up threat behind Joey Votto. For the majority of the season, opposing pitchers have been able to dodge Votto's red-hot bat, pitching around the former MVP in order to limit his run-producing potential. Now, however, Phillips' improved play has all but eliminated that option, allowing Votto—and the team as a whole—to explode offensively.Additionally, with third baseman Scott Rolen set to rejoin the club in the days to come, Phillips ...

Tuesday night's victory over the Atlanta Braves proved to be an encouraging sign for the Cincinnati Reds.Two of Cincinnati's struggling players, starter Mat Latos and second baseman Brandon Phillips, performed well in the 4-3 win. Latos pitched seven solid innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts, while Phillips chipped in with two home runs and three RBI.Latos had especially come under fire after the past offseason trade in which Latos was acquired from the San Diego Padres in return for Yonder Alonso, Yasmani Grandal, Edinson Volquez and Brad Boxberger.Prior to the game, Latos had a 2-2 record and a mediocre 4.63 ERA—nothing close to what Cincinnati expected when GM Walt Jocketty pulled the trigger on the offseason trade. Latos' ERA has been steadily dropping after a very poor start to the season, which saw his ERA balloon to an enormous 8.22 in April.Entering the season, Phillips received a contract extension ...

Last month, Scott Hutchinson wrote an article about how the Brandon Phillips for Cole Hamels trade rumors were absurd. By now you all know about Joey Votto's contract extension and, in light of this event, I'm going to have to disagree with Mr. Hutchinson's assessment of the Phillips for Hamels swap. Don't get me wrong, I love Brandon Phillips and he's arguably my favorite player on the team. However, all of a sudden a trade for Cole Hamels is starting to make a great deal of sense to me. As you read this article, try to think strictly about the trade, and not about how much you like or dislike Brandon Phillips and/or Cole Hamels. In my opinion, the Reds will not extend Phillips past the 2012 season. I think he wants a few too many years and maybe a little too much money for the Reds to re-sign him.I ...

It would be misleading to characterize second base as a position of scarcity in 2012.Yes, there are no certifiable facsimiles of Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, Rickie Weeks, Chase Utley, Ben Zobrist, Brandon Phillips or Dan Uggla after the first 60 picks of a 12-team, mixed-league draft.But the entire Top 30 list is also chock-full of 25-and-under potential dynamos (Dustin Ackley, Jemile Weeks, Jason Kipnis, Jose Altuve, Gordon Beckham) and veteran stalwarts (Aaron Hill, Neil Walker, Kelly Johnson, Marco Scutaro, Sean Rodriguez) who are still in their prime years—and could break out with just a little good fortune, here and there. 1. Robinson Cano, Yankees Skinny: A lead-pipe cinch for 25 HRs/100 runs/105 RBIs/.305 BA over the next five seasons.2. Dustin Pedroia, Red SoxSkinny: The reasonable choice for fantasy owners who value power, speed AND high batting average.3. Ian Kinsler, RangersSkinny: My personal favorite for this position—and that was before he racked up 121 runs last season.4. Dan Uggla, BravesSkinny: Fantasy owners in Round 4 are praying for 30 homers...and anything above .260 in hitting. 5. ...