This morning on The Baseball Show, Clint Evans of Diamond Hoggers and I discussed the following:

– Carl Crawford to the Red Sox. Ramifications of having too many starting outfielders?
– Jay Bruce‘s contract extension
– Mark Reynolds to the Orioles–is this the beginning of the end?
– Carlos Pena to the Cubs
– Possible landing spots for Derrek Lee
– I talk about my work on Prep Baseball Report
– As always, much more!

• As a Chicago White Sox fan, I am still in total shock over the signing of Adam Dunn, as well as the re-signing of A.J. Pierzynski.  What makes the news even better is the fact that they both accepted back loaded contracts so that the organization may still potentially re-sign Paul Konerko.  Furthermore, it appears that Kenny Williams and the White Sox are finally shaking up the bullpen after non-tendering Bobby Jenks and trading Scott Linebrink. [Scott Merkin]

• The baseball world lost a true legend this week, as Ron Santo passed away at 70-years of age.  His lasting impact on the game, the Chicago Cubs organization, and city of Chicago goes above and beyond anything that you will read in a newspaper or on a blog.  Ron Santo will forever be at the heart of Chicago Cubs baseball and he will be sorely missed.  Thanks for all the great memories, Ronnie. [New York Times]  *Be sure to also read ‘Pat Hughes reflects on 15 years with Santo,’ which was published in the Chicago Tribute.

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In 2010, Starlin Castro finished 10^th in the National League with a .300 batting average while playing in 125 games for the Chicago Cubs.  Yet, what made the feat even more impressive was the fact the rookie shortstop did it as a 20-year old.

Ranked by Baseball America as the 16^th best prospect in baseball headed into the 2010 season, Castro was called up by the Cubs on May 7 after posting slashes of .376/.421/.569 in 26 games at Double-A Tennessee.  In his first Major League game, not only did Castro crack a three run, opposite field homer in his first at-bat, but he also ripped a bases clearing triple to notch six RBI in his MLB Debut.

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ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick eloquently details the heartbreaking story of the death of Trevor Correia, and the subsequent grieving process of his brother, Kevin.  “I would quit baseball right now to have [Trevor] back.  Nothing will be able to compare to that,” said the Padres starting pitcher.  Without a doubt, this is one of the best articles that I have read in some time. [Jerry Crasnick, ESPN]

With all of the ongoing hoopla regarding Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees, the folks over at Climbing Tal’s Hill decide to take a look at four different Astros players who spent their entire career playing for the organization. [Climbing Tal’s Hill]

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Since its commencement, I have never considered, nor wanted, this site to be a forum for the endless criticism and public humiliation of other bloggers and baseball writers.  Every writer or website has its flaws; nobody’s perfect.  Still, as both a writer and general baseball obsessive, I can always look past any petty grievance that I may have and appreciate the analysis and creativity at the heart of someone’s work.  It’s like when you are a pitching and one of your fielders makes a costly error behind you: it’s not like the guy did it on purpose.  At the same time, when a player isn’t giving a wholehearted effort, it’s painfully obvious.

That might be why I was astonished at the blatant lack of thought and effort that Chicago Tribune sportswriter, Phil Rogers, put into his Saturday column.  Rogers, who covers the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox for the Tribune, wrote an article titled, “Here’s a not so modest proposal for Chicago baseball,” that suggested the Cubs and White Sox should not only swap General Managers, but also execute an 11-player trade between the two organizations.

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