"There has to be a mixture of competitiveness. It's not 'Let's put an All-Star team together and the All-Star team wins. It's finding that balance of a team that has a little bit of grit and will fight you."

Kyle Boddy takes a look at Kazmir at Hardball Times.

Hearing Jon Heyman write about us as the worst fans in baseball makes me a little sick to my stomach. I really hope fans start turning out sooner rather than later. It bums me out just seeing the attendance each night, let alone hearing a wanker like Jon Heyman addressing it.

Salazar #2 Lindor #9

Not sure if anyone has already posted this in one of the other discussion threads, but in case you missed it, FanGraphs has an analysis of Roberto Hernandez's rising K rate. SSS, but Woodrum points out that he has shown this through 8 games (4 ST and 4 regular season). Also, a substantial increase in K rates against lefties and an improved, but slower, slider.

Hoyne's says gun was messed up in Ubaldo's last start. Kyle Boddy calls BS.

The NL West usually gets neglected by me and it's hardest to keep track on that division. Here's one Padres fan with his documentary on the team. It's pretty cool and fun to learn about a franchise that is very off the radar to us.

This article gives an interesting look at each baseball team's owner and how they made their money. This is from Mother Jones so, it comes with a liberal perspective, but it's a good insight in to how the owners made their money and how active they are in politics. They don't really have anything to say about the Indians' owners other than they need to get rid of the Chief Wahoo logo. I think the Dolans made their money in cable television and they don't seem to be very active in politics.

Looks like the PDs headed for the corporate ICU. I give five years tops.