Kuzul

The Los Angeles Angels signed Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson on the exact same day this past offseason in a stunning turn of events that generated headlines for weeks.Between the two of them, Pujols got all the attention at the time. He was the true superstar, and it was clearly going to be him who would lead the Angels back to the top of the AL West, and maybe to the World Series too.Yet here we are nearly three months into the 2012 regular season, and Wilson has been the better signing of the two.Like, by far.He hasn't gotten the attention he deserves, but Wilson is putting together one heck of a season. He currently has the best ERA in the American League, and he hasn't given up more than one earned run in a start since the middle of May.Wilson has steadily been moving up in my weekly AL ...

HIROKI KURODA vs. ERVIN SANTANA compared to C.J. WILSON vs. PHIL HUGHES: If you looked at Kuroda and Santana’s career stats vs. the active hitters prior to yesterday’s game, the Yankee win was already a lock. Not taking anything away from Kuroda, but no one foreseen a less than an inning away from a complete game performance considering his last and only two both took place in 2008. Kuroda also did have some success and experience against Angels Albert Pujols back when he was a Dodger, and that is advantage that the other Yankee starters don’t have. As for Santana, the majority of the Yankees bats have always whacked the heck out of him except for Swisher, he came into the game with a career .182 average against him. Swisher came into yesterday with a hot and confident bat, which proved lethal. Still, as a whole the Yankees had hit almost .300 against ...

Tampa Bay just signed slugging first baseman Carlos Pena to a one-year contract for $7.25 million. In the eyes of Jays fans, this is another transaction that will make people ask, “why not Toronto?”Alex Anthopoulos has been running the club for approximately 2.5 years and for the first time is beginning to hear the rumblings of impatient fans. All teams in the AL East have made significant improvements. The Yankees just traded for a possible No. 1 starter in Michael Pineda. They also gave up a future franchise superstar in Jesus Montero. The Red Sox, still rife with a powerhouse lineup, lost their All-Star closer, Jonathan Papelbon, but replaced him by signing Oakland Athletics closer Andrew Bailey. The Jays did make some waves by trading for Sergio Santos ...

I am talking about the new evil empire called the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who dropped a bomb at the MLB Winter Meetings with the signings of Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson.Pujols will be making $250 million over the next 10 years; while Wilson will be paid $77.5 million over the next five years.If the Angels' new pricey transports work out like the 2009 New York Yankees, the Halos are banking on being World Series-bound in 2012, literally.It must be a wretched day in St. Louis, Mo. My heart goes out the Cardinals fans who lost the face of their franchise today, as Pujols took money over loyalty and that hurts, no doubt about it.Pujols is the West Coast’s version of A-Rod, which would make him A-Jols?Need a better nickname than that, but you can’t fake the Yankees without an A-something, and the Halos got themselves an expensive one.Since Rangers fans have only been around for like three ...

With baseball's winter meetings poised to begin in Dallas on Monday, the rumor mill is already heating up. Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald is reporting that the Boston Red Sox have scheduled a meeting with agent Bob Garber. Garber is the agent who represents both C.J. Wilson and Roy Oswalt. Oswalt and Wilson are two of the highest profile free agent pitchers on the market this winter.The Red Sox promise to be among the most active of teams in the coming weeks. The recent hiring of Bobby Valentine as manager brings a final completion of the restructuring of the general manager and managerial position.With those positions filled, the Red Sox can begin the process of trying to find answers for the numerous questions raised both by the poor play last September and the spate of rumors involving clubhouse discord and apathy that emerged in the aftermath of the team's collapse. ...

For the second year in a row, the New York Yankees' main focus in the offseason will be starting pitching.There's a good chance that Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia won't be back with the team.Phil Hughes still can't be depended on.A.J. Burnett could be shopped around this winter in a trade.And CC Sabathia could opt out of his contract, although many expect the Yankees to re-sign him to another long-term deal.There has been a lot of speculation as to whether the Yankees will show interest and pursue Texas Ranger left-hander C.J. Wilson.Wilson finished 2011 with a 16-7 record, a 2.94 ERA with 206 strikeouts in 223.1 innings.A lot of the stories done here on Bleacher Report have Wilson's name featured as a guy the Yankees will definitely pursue. And many of you have advocated that the Yankees should indeed go out and sign the Rangers star.I am not one of ...

It's baseball time in Texas as the Rangers get home-field advantage and host the Detroit Tigers for the first two games in a series that determines who gets to play St Louis or Milwaukee in the World Series. Texas is coming off of a 3-1 series win over Tampa Bay while Detroit shocked New York by taking the series in five games.Will home field-advantage be a factor for the Rangers? The Rangers are 3-5 at home since 2010 and the Tigers only won one home game in this year's American League Division Series. This is the first ALCS appearance for the Tigers since 2006 where they swept the Oakland Athletics in four games. This will be the second straight ALCS appearance for Texas as they seek out another trip to the World Series. Texas Rangers Starter—CJ WilsonCJ starts Game 1 after a terrible ALDS performance where he gave up six runs ...

After a thrilling series with the Cleveland Indians, the Kansas City Royals traveled to Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers in a three-game series. This is the beginning of a six-game road trip that will end in Cleveland next week. Game 1 has Jeff Francis on the mound for the boys in blue taking on Derek Holland for the Rangers. This is just one of the games that Royals fans would like to forget. At least the Royals didn’t cave after being dug into a five-run hole. They fought back but were unfortunately bested by the power hitters of the Texas Rangers, who pounded out five home runs in the game. This was Francis’ worst game of the season by far, giving up nine hits and five earned runs in four innings. He picked up the loss, making his record for the season 0-2. It was nice to see ...

When players are on the final year of a contract, it's not uncommon for them to have some of the best years of their career. Whether it be because players are more motivated, are more focused on their performances or because they simply work harder, it always seems that the biggest seasons come when it's a walk year. In this article I will look into who are the best players, at each position, that are on a contract year. NOTE: Players that have options are NOT included on this list (regardless of whether their options are likely to vest/be picked up or not). Begin Slideshow

Flukes—it's a funny word to say, sounding more like a cereal than a sports reference, but it has a much deeper impact on sports than Wheaties. There has been a lot of talk about the Texas Rangers world series run last year being a fluke; not even Cliff Lee could take the Rangers seriously when he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. It's not hard to believe—after all there is reason to be skeptical. With only three previous AL West division titles, they were always seen as the ugly stepchild by a dominant Anaheim Angels squad, a Billy Beane Oakland A's team and even the Seattle Mariners have had some great years thrown in there. This is the old AL West. This year's division is almost a complete turnaround from last year's; that's why it's imperative C.J. Wilson of the Texas Rangers has to step up his game and dominate nearly every outing if the Rangers ...