1B/3B COLIN MORAN, NORTH CAROLINA  Player Profile: Position:  3B/1B Height:  6-3 Weight:  215 Bats/Throws:  L-R Birthdate:  Jan. 28, 1992 College:  North Carolina Projected Draft Round:  1 Scouting Grades: Hitting: Present 55 – Future 55 Power: Present 55 – Future 60 Speed: Present 40 – Future 50 Fielding: Present 50 – Future 50 Arm Strength: Present 60 – Future 60 2013 Season Colin Moran had a collegiate slash line of .347/.439/.522 heading into the 2013 season. [...]

It must have been fate that I happened to be in my car at 1:00 pm yesterday. After listening to WFAN’s Mike Francesa, I see the other side to this Valdespin issue – in fact it goes beyond Valdespin. I only was in the car long enough to hear his opening monologue, but you know what? He was dead on. Look, Valdespin is a jerk – he’s an immature bench player who constantly finds himself [...]

I’m going to jump on my own bandwagon here.  Last season while contributing for HardballChat.com, I wrote an article about the second wild card spot which was created for each league. I felt it would benefit the teams who maybe in any other season would be considered out of the hunt but could now focus on playing hard and getting in the playoffs. A year ago today the Mets were 18-13 and tied for the lead in the [...]

A member of the SABR once said, “There are 499 ballplayers. And then there’s Willie Mays.” It was way back in the summer of 1973. Camera Day. I was a few months shy of turning 8 years old. My dad nudged me closer to the railing along the third base line so no grown-ups would block my view. Mets players walked around the warning track, stopping every few feet to smile for the cameras. My [...]

The concept of fault lines in the media is something we all witness on a daily basis, but rarely recognize. Fault lines are a tool that help shape the perception of ourselves, others and events around us. The ones most are familiar with are culture and gender, but they can also contain factors of age, socioeconomic status and geographical location of the subject. Some of these categories can help us in understanding the enigma that is Jordany [...]

For those of you that missed it, there was a strange play that took place during the Detroit Tigers’ 7-5 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night. Quite frankly, I’ve never seen anything like it before. Here’s what happened along with the accompanying video from MLB.com. During the third inning with the Tigers trailing 4-2 and base runners Prince Fielder on third and Victor Martinez at second, Jhonny Peralta lined a single to [...]

Last night, while watching the highlights of the Mets game, I saw the comebacker that struck Jon Niese on the right leg and caused him to leave the game. He was later diagnosed with a contusion, which for the Mets sake is good news. At the moment of impact on his right leg, I thought to myself that something needs to be done to protect the pitchers. The mound to home plate is 60 feet [...]

If you paid $10 to see 42, and you expected to see the story of anyone other than Jackie Robinson, one of two things likely happened: You went to the right movie, but for the wrong reason You missed a great movie … and that’s a shame Maybe, both. Coincidentally, sports media reporter Ed Sherman fell victim to both of those circumstances. In a column for the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana University Sherman [...]

ADD DESTROYING CRIMINAL EVIDENCE TO A-ROD’S RAP LIST? On Friday afternoon, Michael Schmidt of the New York Times broke the story and identified Alex Rodriguez as the player who allegedly purchased documents from a former employee of Biogenesis of America in an attempt to destroy evidence linking him to the anti-aging clinic’s distribution of performance-enhancing drugs. When the Miami New Times broke the story in January, I remember saying “this is the White Whale. This is the [...]

Team News and Notes Atlanta Braves (6-1) The Braves currently sit in first place in the NL East, and new addition Justin Upton is a major reason why. The 25-year-old has batted .423/.448/1.192 to start the season, with six bombs and eight RBI. The other half of the Upton brothers, B.J., has struggled to hit himself out of a barn batting just .120 to date. On the mound, the wily veteran Tim Hudson is back [...]

Conor Glassey of Baseball America did a very interesting Q&A session with Mets Scouting Director Tommy Tanous. Tanous had some cool insights into the world of scouting, touching on how technology, statistics, amateur showcases, and more have changed the world of scouting. Here is just a little bit of what he said: Scouting is based on opinions, and it’s always said that you can’t properly evaluate the success of a draft until about five years down [...]