“That was a lot of fun. You just keep pounding balls into the gap. The one thing you don’t want to do is hit a home run. That’s a rally-killer.” — Jeff Francoeur, following the Mets big win over the Braves, continuing to fail to understand even the basic rudiments of baseball.

With an advanced approach at the plate and excellent speed, Elvis Andrus is a great option at shortstop for an affordable price.

The latest in the business of baseball.

NBC buddy Matthew Pouliot thinks the Royals are playing service time games.

Sure, to the extent there was any bad blood it was 100% manufactured by the media and the Mets’ blogosphere, but Cain and Wright bury the hatchet all the same: Two days after a scary beaning that put him on the disabled list with a concussion, David Wright returned to Citi Field on Monday and […]

Well, to Arlington. He was already in Texas: Ivan Rodriguez is returning to the Rangers to be a backup catcher. The Rangers completed a trade with the Houston Astros on Tuesday to reacquire the 14-time All-Star catcher for two players, according to multiple sources. The Astros will receive a Minor League player and a player […]

Joel Sherman on the draft: I know people demonize Scott Boras for making huge demands for his players. But the person who finishes first, say, at Harvard Law is not told which law firm he must work for, nor is there a ruling authority pressuring that law firm to stay within certain financial parameters. So […]

In which we witness the unloading of some very big lumber near the Lake Erie shore.

Aubrey Huff, that is, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Brett Jacobson. According to Morosi, “In a statement, Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said he liked Huff’s versatility and ‘ability to play numerous positions.’” Does DH and 1B — the only positions he’s played all year — count as “numerous?” Sure, he played a bit of […]

The Yankees signed first round pick Slade Heathcott for $2.2 million. I don’t particularly care about that. I post this mostly to register my surprise that “Slade Heathcott” is a ballplayer’s name and not the name of, say, a rakish dandy with ulterior motives attempting to woo a wealthy widow in late Victorian England.