Chicago Cubs
Hitters: C-. OK, I can't completely pan the Cubs offense, despite them having the third fewest runs in the NL. Bryan LaHair has been AWESOME at first base, hitting ten homers and OPSing 1.020 in his first extended stint in the major leagues. There is a little bit to be afraid about with him, notably the 30% strikeout rate and .405 BABIP. Starlin Castro is doing his thing at the top of the order, but absolutely doesn't walk at all. The rest of the lineup....uh, yeah. Alfonso Soriano has a .291 OBP. Aside from LaHair, the next highest homer total on the team is four (Soriano and Ian Stewart). Only LaHair and bench players Joe Mather and Jeff Baker are walking over 10% of the time. This is not a pretty offense aside from LaHair and Castro.

Pitching: B. The Cubs rotation has actually been pretty damn good. Jeff Samardzija's transition to the rotation has been a complete success, as he is striking out a batter per inning, walking under three per nine, and has an ERA of 3.00 on the dot. Ryan Dempster has a 2.28 ERA and is striking out close to a batter per inning. Matt Garza has been worse than both Samardzija and Dempster, but has still been solid. Chris Volstad and Paul Maholm though...yeah. The bullpen has been largely ugly, Carlos Marmol lost his closer job after walking more than a batter per inning, and new closer Rafael Dolis has walked more hitters than he's struck out this year. The Cubs have also used 18 pitchers this year, which seems wacky.

Intangibles: C. Coming into the year with a new regime in place, Cubs fans expected this to be a rough year. It hasn't affected attendance, which is static from last year. New manager Dale Sveum has earned his share of criticism from fans due to his erratic managing style. Some moves the team made coming into the year have worked great, like starting Samardzija in the rotation and giving LaHair a shot at first base. But others, like not trading Marmol, bringing back Kerry Wood, and using Volstad and Maholm to fill out the rotation, have flopped.

Overall: C-. It's odd that I'm giving the Cubs an average grade despite them having the worst record in the league, but I'm sure many expected them to have no bright spots whatsoever, as opposed to the couple that they have so far this year.

Last week, I wrote about how Dan Haren couldn't buy a win for the Angels, despite being one of their most effective starters. Last night, Haren only got three runs of support, but he threw the team on his back and earned his second win of the season. Haren threw a complete game shutout against the Mariners, and in typical Haren fashion, was dominant. He allowed four hits, didn't allow a walk, and struck out 14. His game score of 93 is in the top five for the year for all pitchers, and is just two points behind Jered Weaver's no hitter against the Twins a couple weeks ago.

Game of the Night: Phillies 10, Cardinals 9. This was crazy. Joe Blanton and Jake Westbrook were both coming into this game with solid numbers, and both got shelled, combining to throw eight innings and allow 18 hits and 13 runs. Yeah, one of THOSE games. After five, the slate was essentially clean with a 7-7 score. The Phillies took a 9-7 lead in the sixth, and the Cardinals cut it to 9-8 in the seventh. Philly got an insurance run in the eighth to make it 10-8, and the Cardinals answered with one of their own to make it 10-9. But the Cardinals couldn't break through against Jonathan Papelbon, and that was a wrap. The teams combined for 33 hits, and perhaps more amazingly, the Phillies only had one homer. They had a .459 BABIP on the night. Yeah.

Pitching Line of the Night: Haren was pretty much the only amazingly good pitcher on the day. I'll give some love to Justin Verlander (as usual) who went eight in Cleveland, and allowed two runs on six hits, walking one and striking out seven. 

Hitting Line of the Night: Justin Morneau has risen from the dead, going 3/5 with three runs, three RBI, a double and two homers. Melky Cabrera continues his great year, going 3/5 with three runs, four RBI, a pair of doubles and a stolen base. Yadier Molina went 4/5 with three RBI and a homer for the Cardinals.

Spotlight Series: New series writeup coming...today!

Other Games: The Indians edged the Tigers 2-1 to complete a sweep. The Reds beat the Braves 6-3 to finish off a four game sweep. The White Sox bats went nuts and they beat the Twins 11-8. The Padres had a rare offensive breakout in an 11-5 win over the Mets. The Giants offense went bonkers, and they beat the Marlins 14-7.

Today's Games: Jason Hammel starts for the Orioles against the Royals. Ryan Dempster and AJ Burnett will duel in Pittsburgh. Johnny Cueto goes for the Reds against the Rockies. Brandon Morrow and the Blue Jays takes on the Rangers. Tim Lincecum and Josh Johnson will go at it in Miami. Ross Detweiler and Tim Hudson will duel in Atlanta in the battle for first place in the NL East. Cliff Lee takes on Kyle Lohse in St Louis. Ervin Sanatana starts against the Mariners. Clayton Kershaw will face off against the Astros.

Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.

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FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi are reporting on Twitter that the Baltimore Orioles are close to inking outfielder Adam Jones to a long-term deal. While the terms of the deal are not known, Rosenthal believes that they will be "well north" of the free agent deal Miguel Tejada (6 years, $72 million) and Nick Markakis (6 years, $66.1 million) signed. 

Jones is earning $6.15 million this year and has another year of arbitration available before becoming a free agent in 2013.

Jones is in the midst of a career year, hitting .311/.357/.958 with 14 home runs in 196 plate appearances. Before this season, his best year was arguably 2009 when he hit 19 bombs and had an OPS of .792. That year, he had a slash line of .344/.398/1.005 with 11 home runs through the first two months of the season, but he hit just .229 the rest of the season.

I don't think there's any doubt that Jones is a guy the Orioles want to lock up long-term, but it's likely Jones' recent hot start is hurrying the O's into an investment of a player who may never materialize into a star like his early numbers might indicate. Solid player and fun to watch, but not a star. We'll obviously know more once the deal is done, and it is close. 

We're coming up on the First-Year Draft in a few weeks, meaning that the month of June will see a great change amongst minor league teams with a new influx of talent. Players will be moved up and down, play in their various All-Star Games and get promoted and/or demoted, with certain players being leaned upon to deliver more in the second half of the season than the first. For the Red Sox, one player that will be someone to keep an eye on is this week's Low-Level Highlight.

19-year-old shortstop Xander Bogaerts is one of a twin set of Red Sox minor leaguers, with his brother Jair playing mostly in the rookie leagues at first base. But Xander posseses most of the talent between the twins. Many people see him on a simliar level as Cleveland's top prospect Francisco Lindor, who is currently tearing up the Midwest League and was covered in this feature a couple weeks ago. But Bogaerts, who is of similar age and talent level, is currently doing well at a level ABOVE Lindor, as he currently sits at .277/.352/.426 with three home runs for Salem of the Carolina League. 

Now, the one thing that Lindor has over Bogaerts is his ability to stick at the position. Bogaerts is a good athlete but is listed at 6'3" and 175 lbs. Since he still has room to grow, there's a good chance a move to third base or the outfield is in order, with his athleticsm and arm profiling well. Will Middlebrooks is currently holding down the hot corner for Boston and looks to stay there, meaning that with Jose Iglesias pegged to be a glove-first shortstop, Bogaerts could profile well in right field when it's all said and done.

He ceiling is that of a hitter with easy power to tap into, giving himself 30-homer talent at the big league level. He's probably a .260-.280 hitter at the Major League level, but he's not a suckhole at the plate when it comes to swinging and missing, and he has a good eye and strikes out only twice as much as he walks. He hit 16 homers as an 18-year-old last year in only 72 games, meaning that he has a good chance to see that power manifest over an entire season as he moves up the ranks.

The Red Sox have said that he will stay at shortstop for the time being, but at some point soon, he will have to take on a position change. Once that happens, his path to the Major Leagues could truly be that of the proverbial shooting star. The Red Sox have lacked potential game changing talent in the last few years, and their core is aging relatively quickly. Someone like Boegarts could be a very good piece to build around, where he could be a Major League fixture as soon as 2014. 

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Arizona Diamondbacks

Hitters: F. The D'Backs slugged their way to an division title last season, but that hasn't been the case this season.  No Arizona player has more than 5 homers.  Even Justin Upton has been affected by the team-wide power outage as he currently sits with a puny .373 slugging percentage.  Injuries have certainly played a role in their struggles as Stephen Drew still has not yet returned from last season's gruesome ankle injury and All-Star outfielder Chris Young missed several weeks of the season.  But even considering that, Arizona has problems at several positions.  They've gotten such poor production from their third basemen that Oriole castoff Josh Bell was just recalled to see if he can't plug the hole.  Across the diamond, Paul Goldschmidt has been a major disappointment and started ceding playing time to Lyle Overbay.

Pitchers: C. On the mound, Arizona's fortunes have only been slightly better.  Ian Kennedy has failed to come close to the Cy Young-caliber level he pitched at last season.  However, Trevor Cahill has been solid and Joe Saunders is having one of those inexplicable Joe Saunders seasons where he looks awful but ends up with an impressive ERA.  The biggest surprise though has been Wade Miley and his 2.14 ERA.  The good news for the Snakes is that Daniel Hudson is set to return this week, which will resolve the issues they've had with the final spot in the rotation.  The D'Backs have gotten great work from everyone in their bullpen except for closer J.J. Putz who has an ERA over 6.00, but also has locked down nine of his eleven save chances, so it hasn't really hurt the team much... yet.

Intangibles: B-. Arizona has a treasure trove of pitching prospects waiting for their turn to get called up.  If they just throw enough arms at their rotation, they should be able to patch up any remaining issues  in their rotation.  The same cannot be said for their position player issues, unless they decide to start dealing some of those young pitchers for some proven talent to come in and help get the lineup back to the level it produced at last year.  If all else fails, Kirk Gibson can probably just scowl at the players long and hard enough that they'll start hitting out of fear.

Overall: D. With Chris Young and Daniel Hudson healthy again, the D'Backs are set to get a shot in the arm that they have to be hoping will get them headed back in the right direction.  Even with those two, this club seems like it is only ever going to go as far as their two stars, Upton and Kennedy, take them.  In both cases, you have to think that both will start playing a whole lot better in the very near future, but we are also late enough into the season to start wondering if maybe something is wrong with one or both of them.  Even if both of them flip the switch starting today, it might be too late since they have already fallen 10.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West.

The Angels aren't dominating the AL West like everyone assumed they would, but they're turning up the jets here at the end of May. At 12-10 this month, the team has the best record in the division for the month. After being nine games out of first at the end of April, they've cut the deficit to seven back right now, and they're just a half game behind the Mariners for third in the division, and a game and a half behind the A's for second place. The team's -5 run differential is second in the division, behind just the Rangers. The team has a .704 OPS this month, up 54 points from April, and the team has cut their ERA by over a run, down to 2.99 this month.The Angels are finally starting to wake up...thank god.

Game of the Night: Indians 4, Tigers 2. The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the sixth off of Cleveland starter Zach McAllister, driving in their runs courtesy of an Andy Dirks double and a Prince Fielder groundout. The Indians immediately answered in the bottom of the inning, with Travis Hafner tying the game up on a two-run homer off of Doug Fister. The Indians took the lead in the eighth, on a Hafner groundout and a Carlos Santana sac fly. Chris Perez threw a perfect ninth to preserve the win for the Tribe.

Pitching Line of the Night: Cole Hamels flirted with a no-hitter, and shut out the Nationals through eight innings on four hits and three walks, striking out eight. Chris Sale of the White Sox continues to thrive, throwing seven shutout innings (albeit against the Twins) while allowing two hits, two walks, and striking out six. Jered Weaver allowed just one run over eight against the A's, allowing three hits, two walks, and striking out four, and was stuck with a no-decision.

Hitting Line of the Night: Nick Johnson of the Orioles went 2/3 with two homers, three RBI, and a walk. Alex Rodriguez went 2/4 with two homers and three RBI. Troy Tulowitzki is starting to heat up, going 2/4 with two runs, four RBI, a double and a homer. 

Spotlight Series: The Rays beat the Blue Jays 5-4 in 11 innings and took the series. Jose Bautista started the scoring in the first with a solo homer, and the Rays scored the next four, highlighted by a two-run double by Drew Sutton in the first inning. The Blue Jays rallied back, with Yan Gomes bringing in a run with a sac fly in the fifth, and Edwin Encarnacion tying the game in the eighth with a two-run homer. The game would go to extras, and after Rich Thompson was hit by a pitch, BJ Upton doubled him home to win the game for the Rays. James Shields had a great start for the Rays, allowing three runs (two earned) over seven 1/3 innings, walking one and stirking out ten. His counterpart Ricky Romero was terrible, allowing four runs over six innings, on just two hits, seven walks, and seven strikeouts. Jeez.

Other Games: The Red Sox edged the Orioles 6-5. The Mets beat the Pirates 3-1. The Brewers routed Barry Zito and the Giants 8-5. The Angels beat the A's 3-1 in 11 innings. The Phillies beat the Nationals 4-1. Alex Liddi hit a grand slam in Seattle's 5-3 win over Texas. A Todd Frazier walk-off homer gave the Reds a 2-1 win over the Braves. The Rockies knocked off Carlos Zambrano and the Marlins 8-4. The Yankees beat up the Royals 8-3. The Astros swept the Cubs after a 5-1 win. The White Sox shut out the Twins 6-0. The Cardinals beat the Padres 6-1, and Lance Lynn is 7-1. The Diamondbacks put a ton of runs on the board, and beat the Dodgers 11-4.

Today's Games: Only a half slate of games today. Justin Verlander takes on Justin Masterson in Cleveland. Dan Haren starts in Seattle. Ryan Vogelsong and Anibal Sanchez will duel in Miami. Joe Blanton vs Jake Westbrook in St Louis is a good looking matchup.

Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.

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Atlanta Braves
Hitters: A. The Braves team OPS has risen from .695 last year under old hitting coach Larry Parrish to .737 this year under brand new hitting coach Greg Walker. The major improvements include Michael Bourn, in a career year, posting an .815 OPS with three homers and 13 stolen bases, and Martin Prado, fully healthy this year and OPSing .864 behind Bourn at the top of the order. Chipper Jones has been an offensive force while healthy, with an .857 OPS and five homers in just 28 games. The only below average regular on offense is rookie shortstop Tyler Pastornicky, who has a .643 OPS primarily out of the eight-hole.

Pitching: B-. Typically a huge strength for the Braves, their pitching staff this year has struggled outside of Brandon Beachy, who has a 1.77 ERA to stabilize the rotation. Beachy's strikeout rate is down 3.5 batters per nine innings this year though, as he's pitching more to contact. Tim Hudson has been his usual solid self in five starts (3.03 ERA), and Tommy Hanson has pitched well in nine starts (3.31 ERA). The rest of the rotation hasn't been great though, as Jair Jurrjens was demoted to AAA (where he's getting clobbered) after posting a 9.37 ERA and walking more hitters than he struck out in four starts. Mike Minor hasn't been as on point as he was this spring, and currently has a 6.96 ERA. And then, there's rookie Randall Delgado, thoroughly uninspiring at the back of the rotation. The bullpen hasn't been as good either. Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters are still dominant, and Kris Medlen has thrived despite a 4.88 strikeout rate, but Eric O'Flaherty has been a disappointment, and Chad Durbin has just been flat-out bad.

Intangibles: B. Fredi Gonzalez isn't a very good in-game manager at all, but I can't think of him specifically costing the Braves any games this year. The Braves have also been a very healthy team this year, only using 13 pitchers and 14 hitters this year.

Overall: A-. This team has been clicking on all cylinders so far this season. They've won series in St Louis, Los Angeles, and Tampa Bay, and they really look like the best team in the NL East this season.

After eight starts that ranged from good to mediocre, and coming into Tuesday night's game with an ERA approaching 6.00, Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals put his foot down in his return from Tommy John surgery and made a statement, albeit in Petco Park against the Padres. Wainwright threw a complete game shutout, allowing just four hits and one walk, and striking out a season-high nine hitters. Going into last night, Wainwright had finished the sixth inning just three times on the season, and had allowed three or fewer runs just three times. While this doesn't tell us a ton because of the opponent, it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Game of the Night: Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 7. The Diamondbacks led this game 6-1 after six innings, putting it on Dodgers starter Aaron Harang. But then, Trevor Cahill left the game and the Dodgers offense was awakened. Neither Brad Ziegler or Craig Breslow got an out, and five runs came across in the seventh to tie the game. A Lyle Overbay solo homer in the eighth gave the Diamondbacks a 7-6 lead, but in the ninth, JJ Putz walked a pair and allowed a two-run, two-out double to weak-hitting shortstop Ivan DeJesus to give the Dodgers an 8-7 lead. Arizona put met on the corners against LA closer Kenley Jansen in the ninth, but Jason Kubel grounded into a game-ending double play.

Pitching Line of the Night: There were some good performances aside from Wainwright's game. CJ Wilson allowed just one hit in eight shutout innings against the A's, walking two and striking out seven. PJ Walters of the Twins threw a complete game versus the White Sox, allowing two runs on five hits, walking two and striking out eight. RA Dickey of the Mets dominated the Pirates, allowing one run over seven innings on five hits, striking out 11 without a walk.

Hitting Line of the Night: Michael Bourn of the Braves went 3/4 with a double and a pair of solo homers in his contract season. In the same game, Brandon Phillips of the Reds went 2/4 with three RBI and a pair of homers. Lyle Overbay rose from the dead in Arizona with a 4/4 game, scoring three runs along with doubling and homering.

Spotlight Series: The Rays won the game against the Blue Jays 8-5, but led 6-0 at one point. The Rays blitzed Toronto starter Drew Hutchison over the first four innings, capping their scoring with a monster three-run homer by Carlos Pena (leadoff hitter!) to dead center field. The Blue Jays got four in the fifth, with two coming off of a Jose Bautista single and two scoring on a Sean Rodriguez error. That chased Matt Moore before five, to prevent him from getting a win. The Rays picked up their seventh run on a Chris Gimenez single, and the teams traded homers by Yan Gomes and BJ Upton to get to our 8-5 final. Bautista is starting to heat up for the Jays after a 3/4 game, while the Rays pounded out 14 hits against the Toronto pitching staff.

Other Games: Brian Matusz had a great start, and the Orioles beat the Red Sox 4-1. The Nationals beat Roy Halladay and the Phillies 5-2. The Tigers couldn't solve Ubaldo Jimenez, and the Indians won 5-3. The Mets edged the Pirates 3-2. The Yankees just got by the Royals and won 3-2. The Reds used another homer barrage to beat the Braves 4-3. Ricky Nolasco became the Marlins all-time wins leader as they beat the Rockies 7-6. The Twins scorched the White Sox 9-2. JA Happ was great in Houston's 2-1 win over the Cubs. The Angels shut out the A's 5-0. The Giants beat the frigid Brewers 6-4. The Rangers beat the offensively deficient Mariners 3-1. The Cardinals shut out the Padres 4-0.

Today's Games: Daniel Bard vs Jake Arrieta is a solid, potential based matchup in Baltimore. Ricky Romero vs James Shields in Tampa Bay is solid. Edwin Jackson vs Cole Hamels in Philadelphia is your matchup of the night. Jered Weaver of the Angels takes on Jarrod Parker of the A's. Doug Fister starts for the Tigers in Cleveland. The surprising Carlos Zambrano starts against the Rockies. Jeff Samarzija takes on Wandy Rodriguez in Houston. Scott Diamond and Chris Sale will duel in Chicago. Lance Lynn starts against the Padres. Ted Lilly and Joe Saunders are both having surprising seasons, and will go at it in Arizona.

Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.

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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Hitters: D+. This is a subject area that the Angels were expected to ace, but instead they are bringing up the rear in the class with the second-fewest runs scored in the American League and have been shutout a league-leading eight times.  The epic struggles of Albert Pujols are well documented, but several other Halos are having horrible seasons at the plate as well.  Erick Aybar has the second-worst OPS in all of baseball (for qualified hitters), nominal starting third baseman Alberto Callaspo has a sub-.600 OPS as does Peter Bourjos, who has fallen so far from grace that he is riding the bench so that Vernon Wells can play everyday.  Yes, that Vernon Wells.  The only reason that they don't get a big fat F is because last year's AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Mark Trumbo has learned to control the strike zone and developed into a monster, sporting a .370/.427/.640 slash line.  Oh, and it doesn't hurt that uber-prospect Mike Trout was called up and immediately began putting up superstar numbers.

Pitchers: C-. The Angels were supposed to have lights out pitching, but that hasn't proven to be the case thus far.  Fresh off a no-hitter, Jered Weaver is holding up his end of the bargain and C.J. Wilson has proven to be the one free agent signing the Angels aren't regretting thus far, but Ervin Santana and Dan Haren have gotten off to slow starts, though both seem to be slowly coming around.  Oddly enough, the weak link in the rotation was supposed to Jerome Williams, but he has been something of a revelation instead.  The real issue for the Halos though has been their bullpen.  One could say that their relievers have provided no relief at all since they have combined to blow six saves versus five successful saves, not to mention the second-worst bullpen ERA in the AL.  The recent acquisition of Ernesto Frieri and naming Scott Downs as closer seems to have settled things down a bit, but the relief crops remains the team's Achilles heel, which is saying something since the Halos can't score a run to save their lives.

Intangibles: B+. That's something of a pity grade, but if there is one thing you can give the Halos credit for the first quarter of the season it is that their front office clearly isn't going to sit idly by and watch this ship sink.  New GM Jerry Dipoto has already released Bobby Abreu, who was becoming a clubhouse cancer, called up Mike Trout, traded for the aforementioned Frieri and fired much-maligned hitting coach Mickey Hatcher.  The big concerns that remain here are that Dipoto has already used up all his tricks and that his frantic activity have given some the impression that revered manager Mike Scioscia might be on the hot seat.

Overall: F. The bottom line is that the Angels were a very popular pick to win the World Series but now they are just fighting to try and keep themselves out of the basement of the AL West.  Expectations matter, so this final grade is on something of a curve.

Oakland Athletics

Hitters: D. Nobody expected the Oakland lineup to anything more than below average, but they still can't be happy about having the lowest-scoring offense in the American League.  Last year's rookie sensation, Jemile Weeks, has gotten off to a rough start yet continues to leadoff despite a .291 OBP.  Depth has been an issue for Oakland too as they have had a revolving door at third base ever since Scott Sizemore was lost for the season during the spring.  Things are so bad that they claimed Brandon Inge off waivers and then were actually upset when they lost him to an injury.  It hasn't been all bad though for the A's.   Off-season acquisition Josh Reddick has been a pleasant surprise with 11 homers thus far, though that level of output seems unsustainable for him.  And then there is Cuban phenom Yoenis Cespedes.  Cespedes, who is currently on the disabled list, has shown flashes of his immense potential with some breathtaking homers, but he has also shown a lot of warts, like striking out 29 times through 28 games.  Still, Oakland has to be pleased that they might finally have a centerpiece to build their lineup around.

Pitchers: B. The Athletics can't help but produce quality young pitching, can they?  With a rotation already fronted by a very effective and very social media savvy Brandon McCarthy and the seemingly ageless inning (and other thing) eater Bartolo Colon, Oakland has once again dipped into their bottomless well of young arms.  Soft-tossing Tommy Milone looks like a definite keeper and top prospect Jarrod Parker has shown a great deal of promise in his first five starts.  The fifth starter slot has been a quagmire, but considering that they have been playing all season with Brett Anderson and Dallas Braden, the A's have to be pleased with their rotation thus far.  However, with Brandon McCarthy being placed on the DL this last weekend, Oakland's depth will be stretched even further and they may not be able to overcome that.  While the starters get all the press, Oakland has quietly gotten great production from their bullpen.  Grant Balfour lost his grip on the closer role already, but he wasn't exactly awful.  Meanwhile, rookies Ryan Cook and Jordan Norberto have been revelations in middle relief, outpitching their veteran mentors Balfour and Brian Fuentes.

Intangibles: D+. Through no fault of the players, there is a pall over the franchise.  Earlier this month, Commissioner Bud Selig all but killed the team's long-held plan of relocating to San Jose and then he basically dared the team to move out of the Bay Area altogether.  Sadly for Athletics fans, that looks like it will be their fate before long.  The team is next to last in attendance despite an overachieving record and several exciting young players on the roster.  The front office is still well-run under Billy Beane, but even the fans know that this team has no intention of contending until they can get to a market where they can actually generate some revenue.

Overall: B-. Most experts predicted nothing but doom and gloom for the A's this season, so hovering around .500 for the first quarter of the season has to be considered a victory.  If they can keep overachieving for another month or two, they might even be able to call up some reinforcements like Brad Peacock or Derek Norris and maybe even, wait for it, Manny Ramirez to give the team an extra boost to possibly compete for one of the Wild Card spots.

Seattle Mariners

Hitters: D-. The only surprising thing about the Mariners offense is that it isn't last in the league.  It really is a wonder how they score any runs as they have nobody on the team with an OPS over .800.  Dustin Ackley is experiencing a little bit of a sophomore slump, Ichiro continues to look old, Justin Smoak is cementing his "bust" status and Jesus Montero and his .291 OBP hasn't been anything close to the offensive savior that he was heralded as when the team traded for him.  The best news Seattle has gotten all season is that manager Eric Wedge finally pulled the decrepit Chone Figgins from the starting lineup.  When your offense is being carried by the likes of John Jaso, Kyle Seager and Michael Saunders, you can't afford to carry an out-machine like Figgins no matter what his salary is.  Above all, it says a lot about your lineup when Phil Humber can throw a perfect game against you.

Pitchers: C.  As always, the Mariners would be lost without King Felix taking the bump every five days.  Hernandez continues to be one of the best pitchers in the league despite his lineup seldom ever providing him with any run support.  It helps too that Jason Vargas has emerged and pitched like a solid #2 behind Felix to help ease the loss of Michael Pineda.  What is really shocking about the M's rotation though is that they pulled Kevin Millwood off the scrap heap this off-season and have him looking like a serviceable starter once again.  It really is amazing what pitching in Safeco Field can do for a guy.  In the bullpen, Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen have been adequate in the late innings, but the rest of the relief corps has left a lot to be desired.

Intangibles: D. This just seems like a team without a plan.  Despite having no shot at contending going into the season, the franchise allowed dozens of at-bats to be wasted on Chone Figgins even though Seattle has multiple young third baseman waiting for a shot behind him.  Similarly, the team has held back some of their young pitching prospects to give a rotation spot to the aged Millwood.  While Millwood has been a good investment, the team would still be better off trying to develop young talent rather than blocking it with talent in its mid-30's.

Overall: D+. It is hard to be too harsh on the Mariners since they entered the season with exactly zero expectations.  At the same time, it has to be disheartening to see so much of their supposed bright young talent like Montero and Ackley struggle so much.  For as many years as this franchise has been rebuilding, one would expect some signs of hope to be emerging, but there just isn't much of anything to get excited about in Seattle based on the first quarter of the season.

Texas Rangers

Hitters: A+. Let's see, they've scored more runs than any other team in the league by a significant margin and Josh Hamilton is channeling Barry Bonds circa 2001.  Yeah, I think they are doing OK here.  I suppose one could nitpick about the somewhat pedestrian numbers that Nelson Cruz and Michael Young have posted so far, but even that is offset by hot starts from Mitch Moreland, Craig Gentry and Brandon Snyder.  It really just isn't fair.

Pitchers: A+. It doesn't get any more fair to the rest of the league either as Texas also boasts the best ERA in the American League.  They made a lot of moves within their pitching staff this off-season and they have all worked out better than could be imagined.  Neftali Feliz has taken very well to his shift to the rotation while Joe Nathan stepped in at closer and seems to be recapturing his old form.  The biggest development, of course, is that Japanese import Yu Darvish has been every bit the ace that Texas was hoping he would be when they ponied up the big bucks to win his negotiating rights.  Matt Harrison is literally the only member of the pitching staff who isn't performing at or above expectations.

Intangibles: A. As if there out of this world run differential of +84 didn't tell you already, the Rangers may well have constructed a perfect roster.  They've dealt with a few injuries already and haven't missed a beat.  They even just lost Neftali Feliz for several weeks with an elbow injury and should be just fine with either Scott Feldman or Alexi Ogando available to fill in for him.  The only thing that isn't working for them yet is homefield advantage.  After dominating in Arlington last season to the tune of a 52-29 record, Texas has started the season at just 11-9 at home.  There is no way that will last long much longer, which has to strike fear into the heart of the rest of the American League.

Overall: A+. If not for the upstart Orioles, they'd have the best record in the AL and even though we are just a quarter of the way through the season, it already looks like the Rangers are going to run away with the division and probably cruise their way to another World Series appearance.  All they have to do is stay healthy.

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The Yankees lost last night, and fell to .500 on the season. It wasn't just that they lost, though. It was how they lost. The Yankees lost 6-0 last night...to the Kansas City Royals, owners of a 17-24 record that is better than only the Minnesota Twins in the American League. Futhermore, the Yankees lost to Felipe Paulino, making his fourth start of the year. Now don't get me wrong, Paulino has been a great pitcher since landing with the Royals, and has been great in his four starts this year, striking out 29 while walking only seven in 25 1/3 innings. At any rate, that has to be a tough pill for the Yankees and their fans to swallow at this point of the season.

Game of the Night: Giants 4, Brewers 3 (13 innings). The Giants took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a three run homer by Buster Posey, and then went into shutdown mode, hoping that Madison Bumgarner could hold the fort down. Well, he did, allowing just one run over the first seven innings. An error by Brandon Crawford prolonged the eighth though, and Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer to tie the game up at three. The game went into extras, and goose eggs were on the board until the 14th inning, when Giants backup catcher Hector Sanchez hit a solo homer to give the Giants the lead and eventually, the win.

Pitching Line of the Night: Mike Leake had a good day against the Braves, allowing one run over eight innings on just two hits, one walk, and six strikeouts. Houston's Bud Norris shut down the Cubs over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out eight. Gio Gonzalez dominated the Phillies, going six scoreless while giving up three hits, three walks, and striking out nine.

Hitting Line of the Night: Drew Stubbs hit a pair of solo homers for the Reds, and added a walk for good measure. Cardinals second baseman Tyler Greene went 3/4 with two RBI, two runs, a double, and an eighth inning homer that gave the Cardinals the lead (and eventual win) against the Padres. Jed Lowrie went 3/4 for the Astros with two runs and a solo homer.

Spotlight Series: The Blue Jays took game one against the Rays with a 6-2 win. The game was tied at two after five innings, but the Blue Jays put four on the board, starting with a Yunel Escobar solo homer in the sixth. The eighth inning came along, and the Blue Jays got two more on a Sean Rodriguez throwing error, and a third on an Edwin Encarnacion fielders choice. Jeremy Hellickson allowed five runs in his 7 1/3 innings, but just two were earned. Jays starter Kyle Drabek had a typical outing for him: two runs, six walks, and three strikeouts over six innings. 

Other Games: A late Red Sox rally gave them an 8-6 win over the Orioles. The Reds used four solo homers to beat the Braves 4-1. The Nationals beat the Phillies 2-1. The Pirates edged the Mets 5-4. The A's beat the anemic Angels offense 2-1. The Marlins shut down the Rockies and Jamie Moyer 7-4. Yu Darvish struggled, and the Mariners beat him and the Rangers 6-1. The Astros beat the Cubs 8-4. The Cardinals used a late rally to beat the Padres 4-3. The Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 6-1.

Today's Games: Jordan Zimmermann and Roy Halladay is a great matchup in Philly. The surprising James McDonald takes on the Mets. MLB ERA leader Brandon Beachy takes on the Reds. Matt Caiin and Shaun Marcum will duel in Milwaukee. 

Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.

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