Dodgers hurler Jason Schmidt -- trying to come back from a torn labrum and other shoulder injuries -- has conceded he will no longer be able to throw his trademark 98-mph fastball, but said he can still be effective throwing in the 80s. Readying for an outing against the White Sox on Friday, Schmidt...

Despite his Congressional transgressions, Miguel Tejada should be the Astro starting shortstop this season. Happy Valentine’s Day to all our readers. Today’s a good day to take a break from your sports viewing and take your wife/significant other out for dinner. Maybe you’ll even g...

Let me just say up front that I’m a fan of guys who get the most of our their ability. If you aren’t gifted with overwhelming tools and still find a way to succeed, unless you’re a complete jerk, I’m behind you. With that disclaimer out of the way, it should come as no surpri...

One of my new favorite personalities on twitter is Ron Aguirre (@xxldaddyo). Ron was the publisher of the short-lived XXL National Sports Daily in 2006, which was an homage to Frank DeFord’s old “National Sports Daily” from 1990. XXX National Sports Daily was a 150-paged daily PDF ...

Not much of a theme today. Just… whatever… Remember when we used to lust after Marcus Giles? This was in 2002 — years before he actually arrived and demonstrated an alarming inability to hit baseballs. We kinda had a thing for Jose Vidro and Bobby Hill back then, too. Don’t a...

Triple-A — Portland 4, Tucson 1 Matt Antonelli: 0-for-3, 2 BB Chase Headley: 1-for-4, 2B Brian Myrow: 0-for-4 Chip Ambres (CF): 2-for-3, 2 2B, BB Nick Hundley: 0-for-4 Michael Barrett (PH): 1-for-1, 2B Will Venable (PH): 0-for-1 Cesar Ramos: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 HR, 2 BB, 2 SO Carlos Guevara: 1 I...

The Astros were down 6-0 after the third against the Giant’s ace Tim Lincecome. 4 of the 8 position players’ BA were just barely above or below the Mendoza line. Tejada sat out. And yet, the Astros had yet ANOTHER come from behind victory. The guys hit, the bullpen held and the Stros won...

The Astros finished the road trip 4-4, better than their overall winning percent 13-16. The Crew ended their road trip on a positive note, defeating Kerry Wood in the 9th. The Stros ended their road trip on a negative note, being beaten by a starting pitcher hitting a PINCH HIT homer. Bet the kangar...

Well, so far, the season has gone just about the opposite way from everyone’s predictions. Welcome to baseball. - The starting pitching has been very good - even Wandy managed 5 innings in spite of his oblique pull, but he couldn’t throw the cuve for a strike (well, only 2 of 21) and he ...

Ken Rosenthal has some Spring Training odds and ends this morning. Rosenthal adds Mark Loretta as a possible third base acquisition for the Dodgers.  Given their desire for a relatively affordable guy who can also handle second, Rosenthal has linked them to Ron Belliard and Esteban German previ...