R.A. Dickey Traded to Toronto

It's official: the Mets never want to be relevant again.

R.A. Dickey had a great season in 2012 with that Knuckleball fooling many batters across the majors. It got him a 20-6 record with a 2.73 ERA, 230 K's, and the NL Cy Young Award. He became a sensation across the majors for both his achievements and his life story. Everything that happened in 2012, however, didn't seem to be enough for the Mets to keep the 38 year old right hander.

The Toronto Blue Jays acquire R.A. Dickey through a trade with the Mets and after agreeing to a two year contract extension with Dickey worth $25 million. The Mets in return get catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud, Class A right-hander Noah Syndergaard, and 18-year-old outfielder Wuilmer Becerra from the Jays. Dickey becomes another piece added in a off season and major additions for the Blue Jays.

This move along with the others are clear signs that Toronto is going all in. The pitching rotation could be great with R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, Brandon Morrow and Ricky Romero. Though Romero and Johnson needs rebound seasons for this to work, the Blue Jays might have a postseason shot if the rotation works out. Their hitting looks alright with Jose Reyes, Jose Bautista, and Melky Cabrera (provided that the PED's weren't doing most of the work) but it will have to be R.A. Dickey and Toronto's pitching carrying them to October.

P.S. As for the Mets, who cares. They certainly don't.

Melky Cabrera DQ's Himself From Batting Title

Melky Cabrera's season with the Giants has had it's highs and an incredible low. That low was when he got suspended for 50 games for PED use.

Ever since then, the Giants have been on a roll creating a huge buffer between them and the Dodgers. Meanwhile, baseball has been faced with the possibility that Melky Cabrera could win the batting title with that .346 batting average. It would be a PR nightmare for baseball itself if a player proven to have used PED's that very season were to win a pretigiuous award for his efforts. Melky then stepped in and decided it was a problem for him as well.

Not wanting to win the award under this cloud, Melky asked baseball and the union to disquilify himself from winning the batting title. He was thus disquilified from winning the title in a one-season-only change in the rules. Melky said about the decision "To be plain, I personally have no wish to win an award that would widely be seen as tainted, and I believe that it would be far better for the remaining contenders to compete for that distinction."

A good gesture froom Melky Cabrera even if for his own PR benefit. I'm not sure what the future holds for Melky when it comes to the future but I'm sure he will land something good. Seeing how this has played out, MLB will likely try to add a rule saying that players can't win an award or title if they have been linked with PED use that season and suspended for it.

As for who will win the batting title, Andrew McCutchen leads the way now with a .339 avg. followed by Buster Posey with a .335 avg. Maybe a Giant will win this thing after all.

Bartolo Colon Suspended for PED Use

Victor Conte, the man behind BALCO, said recently after Melky's suspension that drugs are still a major problem in baseball guessing almost half the players use some sort of PED. This new story doesn't help dispute that statement.

Bartolo Colon of the Oakland Athletics has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for Testosterone. The 39 year old starter will miss the remaining 40 games of the regular season and also the first 10 of the postseason (provided the A's make the playoffs) and serve the remainder next year if needed. Colon apologized as result and accepted responsibility for his actions. This comes a week after Melky Cabrera, another Bay Area player, tested positive for Testosterone.

Can anyone check to see if there is another absurd website featuring some weird skin cream? Now Colon might not be the best player for Oakland but he was still having a good year by his standards going 10-9 with a 3.43 ERA. It hurts the A's chances to get into the postseason as they are only a half game in front of the Orioles for the 2nd Wild Card Spot.

After hearing about this positive test, I start to think about what Victor Conte had said. What if drugs are still a major problem in baseball? Does that mean there will be less Hall of Famers being inducted than there are right now? I also wonder if Conte does know of any players today that are taking PEDs. Let's get another wasted congressional hearing right away. It's not like there is an election going on, right?

Melk Gone Bad

The Giants this year have been in it but like the last few years, their bats have been lacking. One of the moves they made during the off season was a trade that brought Melky Cabrera to the team. Melky has certainly showed he was worth it having 159 hits which leads the majors and batting a .346 (2nd in the majors). He even made the All Star game where he named the All Star Game MVP. Just makes the fall from grace more tragic.

Melky Cabrera has tested positive for testosterone and has been suspended under MLB's drug policy for 50 games. That means Melky will miss the rest of the regular season considering that there is only 45 games left. If the Giants make the playoffs, he will miss up to five games in the postseason. If there is any games left over after all of that, it will carry over into next season. Melky is the first big player to be suspended since Ryan Braun's suspension which got overturned by appeal earlier this year.

"My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used," Melky said in a statement. "I accept my suspension under the Joint Drug Program and I will try to move on with my life. I am deeply sorry for my mistake and I apologize to my teammates, to the San Francisco Giants organization and to the fans for letting them down."

Now this one hurts. The Giants already have problems scoring runs and one of there best hitters is out for the remainder of the year with the Dodgers just passing them today by a half game. Worst time for something like this. There is no doubt the blame goes to Melky for taking this drug but it hurts the Giants a lot heading down the stretch. Those Dodgers are playing well as of late and we might not be able to keep pace with them.

Despite this loss, you still cannot count out the Giants. Buster Posey is hitting well, Pablo just came back to the lineup, and Hunter Pence has to stop slumping soon... right? The Giants still have a shot for the playoffs but they are definitely not favorites and their lineup will have to start picking up the slack.

A Giant of an All Star Game

Hope you guys got the chance to miss the All Star game. Still boring to me and hate the World Series implications. But if you did manage to see it, then you got to see Giants among the Stars. Melky Cabrera, Pablo Sandoval, and Matt Cain all had great nights in front of a national stage. Sandoval was 1 for 2 as he hit a bases loaded triple. Matt Cain had two shut out innings to start the game for the NL. Last, but certainly not least, Melky Cabrera went 2 for 3 and hit a 2 run HR in the 4th inning. Melky was actually named the All Star Game MVP as the NL won it, 8-0.

A Giant blowout for this year's All Star Game and some deserved attention to the San Francisco Giants. Hearing about this outcome almost made me regret missing it. Thank goodness mankind has invented sitcoms to fill the void for meaningless games. Though I hate the event, I'm glad that Melky and the Giants dominated the game. It's certainly something that will help with some momentum for their own team.

The break is almost over and the 2nd half of baseball is about to begin. You know what that means: TRADE DEADLINE SPECULATIONS!!! How is that more exciting to me than the All Star game? I need to reevaluate my life.