As a senior on the Deerfield High School baseball team in 2004, I had the opportunity to watch Jason Kipnis first-hand as my shortstop counterpart for rival Glenbrook North High School in the northern suburbs of Chicago.  Amongst my teammates, he quickly earned the reputation as one of the most impressive hitters in the conference, and with good reason.  Kipnis ultimately garnered All-State honors – we were actually the two All-Conference shortstops in the Central Suburban North – and went on to have a tremendous high school career.

Although I graduated from high school a year before him, the strong impression that Kipnis left fueled my interest to track his career.  After all, it’s not everyday that a player who directly intertwined with your own career reaches the Major Leagues.

Continue Reading ‘Former rival Jason Kipnis continues to produce’ >>

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This week the Cleveland Indians signed former first round draft picks Austin Kearns and Travis Buck to one-year contracts. Kearns, who posted a .746 OPS in 461 plate appearances for the Tribe and New York Yankees in 2010, signed to a tune of $1.3 million and figures to be the team’s fourth outfielder in 2011 behind Shin-Soo Choo, Grady Sizemore, and Michael Brantley.  A former first round pick of the Reds in 1998, Kearns, now 30, has never panned out to be the well-rounded hitter that was supposed to complement Adam Dunn in the Cincinnati lineup. In fact, he’s been the exact opposite.

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The 2010 Major League Baseball trade deadline has come and gone and once again ended with GMs shouting out deals back and forth as frenetically as Wall Street floor traders. The two biggest names dealt before today’s deadline were pitchers Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt. Lee has turned into quite the vagabond as of late, heading from Cleveland to Philly to Seattle and finally to the Texas Rangers all within the last two seasons. Seattle got switch hitting first baseman Justin Smoak and three minor league prospects out of the deal.

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