This Week In The Show 5.11.16 #MLB

By Alex Hale, @DaSportsGenius7

As the Baseball season is entering the middle of its second month, my prediction from last month is starting to come to fruition.  When we saw a lot of unexpected things go down in the first month, like the emergence of Trevor Story and the upside down standings we currently have, we should’ve known more craziness would ensue in the month of May.  Well it hasn’t disappointed us and once again we’re going to go over some of those big stories around the MLB the past few weeks.  Once again I’ll talk about the topic and break down what I think about the situation.

Looming PED suspensions- According to multiple reports about a week ago, the MLB will be handing down multiple suspensions for PED usage.  That started with the suspension of Miami star SS Dee Gordon and as of Tuesday now included Kansas City Royals top prospect SS Raul Mondesi Jr.  It seems there’s either a lack of understanding what substances are on the list of banned substances or players are trying more than in previous years to use those substances.

My thoughts- Supposedly the Mondesi Jr. was suspended for some over-the-counter drug that he used that contained the substance.  First off that’s ridiculous, you can’t buy certain over the counter drugs?  I mean if Mondesi could get a doctor’s note or something his suspension should be gone.  I get a bad feeling the future announced suspensions will be for the same reasons.  Players and ball clubs don’t communicate to each the drugs they use and what is in them.

The Hollywood Injury Bug- The Los Angeles Angels were supposed to be a team that had enough offense and pitching to at least make a run at the postseason.  Suddenly the Angels have lost SPs Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney.  Then their prized trade acquisition SS Andrelton Simmons tore the UCL in his left thumb and is out for the year.  This has started crazy rumors of potential Mike Trout trades.

My thoughts- Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the worst run organization in Baseball, the Los Angeles Angels!  The Angels traded their Top 2 prospects for Simmons and were relying on Heaney and Richards to lead the rotation.  This is a wake up call Angels fans, TIME TO REBUILD.  I would trade Mike Trout, but I’d put OF Kole Calhoun, 1B CJ Cron, and even 1B Albert Pujols on the market to rebuild that farm system which has nothing in it.

The Tale of The Windy City- We all knew the Cubs would be a special team this year, but who saw the White Sox getting off to a hot start.  A big part of this has been the acquisition of 3B Todd Frazier who was a perfect fit to bat behind Jose Abreu and to also hit in Chicago’s hitter-friendly US Cellular Park.  What’s been more impressive is the 1-2-3 combo at the top of the rotation with Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, and Mat Latos.  Add Chris Rondon and a shutdown closer in David Robertson, the White Sox may be a contender this year.

My thoughts- The White Sox are for real.  Jose Abreu hasn’t hit his stride yet, and Chris Sale will keep his pace up and win the Cy Young.  The big question is can the White Sox rotation keep this up for a full season?  Latos has been known to be erratic, Quintana is a solid but not a great pitcher, and Rondon hasn’t hit his stride yet in the bigs.  Things will have to continue to go their way, but they’re off to a good start.

Strasburg is off the Market- In a stunning move, the Washington Nationals locked up Stephen Strasburg to a 7 year, $175 million contract.  In his 7 year career, Strasburg has amassed a 59-37 record with a 3.07 ERA and 959 Ks.  Washington now locks up the dynamic duo of Strasburg and Scherzer together for the next few years.  The next step for Washington will be to try to lock up OF Bryce Harper to a long term deal before he hits the market in the next couple of years.

My thoughts- This certainly makes the Trade market this year that much more interesting because Strasburg was the prized Free Agent this coming offseason.  After him the best FA SP probably will be either Rich Hill or Scott Kazmir, so there’s a significant drop in talent now in the FA market later this year.  Expect potential pitching trade targets to have a significant jump in value.  Bold prediction, this signing leads to the trade of Marlins SP Jose Fernandez.


Well we’re only in the middle of May and we can see this Baseball season is only getting crazier every month.  Now that the NFL Draft season is over, you can be sure all the biggest breaking news stories in the MLB will be discussed along with other big Indians stories will be posted here on TripleThreatCLE.  So enjoy the baseball season and more importantly the warm weather we have ahead. 

Also, one note to Indians fans, GO TO THE GAMES!