There is much more to professional baseball, along with every other pro sport, than just the action taking place on the field. While it is the accomplishments and exploits between the foul lines that fans want to see, it is the out of site front office operations that are actually driving the billion dollar industry of baseball. An organization’s success is now determined as much by its balance sheets as it is by its box scores, and the recent happenings of the Texas Rangers provide a perfect example of when on and off-field performance can become mutually exclusive.

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Apparently Yadier Molina didn’t appreciate Brandon Phillip’s comments from Monday, and he wasted no time displaying his discontent with the Reds’ second baseman.  Like any respectable baseball player would do, Molina confronted Phillips after he tried acting all “buddy-buddy” with him as he stepped up to the plate, in his first at-bat on Tuesday.  All hell broke loose, the benches cleared, and Jason LaRue is in some pain today.

The bigger story here is that Chris Carpenter finally got to throw down.  For those who have watched him pitch this season, Carp has been at the center of several confrontations and skirmishes, but nothing that had materialized into a bench clearing brawl.  Thus, it comes as no surprise that he was one of key players in Tuesday’s brawl- he’s been itching for this for the past 4 months.  Here’s some videos from the Reds/Cardinals fight from Tuesday:

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After watching Alex Rodriguez roll on the ground for what seemed like an eternity, I would have expected him to have had a broken leg, or at least a fractured hoof.  However, A-Rod was able to postpone a trip to the glue factory for one more day, and was in the starting lineup on Sunday.  Yesterday, ProRumors published the story that Joe Buck might have been the reason that A-Rod took the line drive to shin- apparently their exchange of greetings distracted A-Rod just before being struck with the batted ball.  While he has denied that he was distracted by Buck, I don’t think that alone should exonerate him.  Personally, I think we need to examine a different angle in this story- Joe Buck’s undeniably ginormous head obstructed A-Rod’s view of the ball.

The Connie Mack World Series is always littered with draftable talent, and first-rounders are in the Series annually.  This year has been a little different, though.  The first round of this year’s CMWS has seen potentially four first round picks and a handful of guys who should eventually land within the top few rounds (or at least be paid like it).  Let’s look at East Cobb’s Daniel Norris, Arizona Firebird Jake Cole, Midland Redskin Dillon Howard, Florida Legend Luke Jackson, Farmington Cardinal Jake McCasland, and DBAT Mustang Dylan Bundy.  All seven of these guys were starters in the CMWS opening round, which took place Friday through Sunday.

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If you could use one word to describe Adam LaRoche, what would it be?  For those that have had him on their fantasy team, I’m sure that you chose the correct answer, “streaky.”  For the record, I would have also accepted “hack-taker,” as well as “pain-in-the-ass,” and of course, “brother.”  To those fantasy owners who are unfamiliar with the LaRoche, he can be summed up like this: when he’s hot, he’s hot, and when he’s not, he’s…absolutely brutal.  Year after year, LaRoche’s M.O. remains the same: a slow starter who has a mediocre first half, followed by a blistering July and August, and ultimately finishes with respectable statistics.  Similarly, year after year, those familiar with the Diamondbacks’ first baseman are left asking, what if?  What if LaRoche finally rakes for an entire season?  What if he finally cuts down on the strikeouts?  As somebody who has extensively watched him play this season, I have realized that there will always be recognizable potential in a player who gets his hacks in.  That is why there always seems to be a surprising amount of fantasy owners, who target LaRoche as an ideal, late-round sleeper.  This year, I was one of them.

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