Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Clayton Kershaw had a rough audition for a major league call-up on Monday, allowing five runs on five hits in 3.1 innings at Double-A Jacksonville. A quality outing, and Dodgers brass wouldn’t have been able to resist calling Kershaw up for a start on Saturday. Instead, he’ll stay in Jacksonville, continue to work on his change-up and await a call sometime by the end of the month.

In fantasy, this may end up being a good thing in the long run. Kershaw was told to throw more change-ups in the start and didn’t have a good feel for the pitch, according to the Dodgers official site. So, rather than promote Kershaw, Torre has indicated that either Hong-Chih Kuo or Chan Ho Park will start Saturday, says MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick. Read more »

This bullpen situation could culminate in the end of manager Ned Yost’s tenure in Milwaukee. Every night is a mad scramble to the finish, and every night Yost presses the wrong buttons and costs the team ball games.

Eric Gagne, after a 24-hour demotion, is his closer, but no one else in the bullpen seems to understand what his role is. Gagne was unavailable on Wednesday night, and Yost put his trust in Guillermo Mota, who stumbled in the ninth to blow a 4-3 lead. Read more »

The debate can rage on about whether New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain’s post-strikeout celebrations are excessive. He’s made it perfectly clear to Goose Gossage, David Dellucci, and whoever else is listening that he’s not changing for any of them.

To harp on the subject seems like a waste of time, a circular argument that leads to one conclusion: today’s players are different, for better or worse. It is true that today’s players play more for the name on their backs of their jerseys and less for the logo on the front. We are coming to terms with that. Read more »

As the fantasy season wears on, owners are now aware of the problems that their squads face; unless they just drafted very poorly, most owners will realize that they’re lacking in one or two categories that are causing problems week after week.

While the problems may be obvious, the solutions are usually frustrating; most of the players remaining on the waiver wire won’t help much, and other owners may either be irrational or tentative to trade ideas (or even worse, inactive). Read more »