Excepting a climb from Tony LaRussa and the consistent Cards, the top of this week’s power rankings remains relatively unaltered. The Rays and Red Sox continue to, literally, battle atop the AL East, while unproven pitching has slowed the Marlins and Astros.

Bottom dwellers like the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds are beginning to show promise while preseason favorites Seattle and Detroit have fizzled. Read more »

The First-Year Player Draft is not always an exact science. In fact, it’s never an exact science. Top draft choices are not slam dunks to have long, illustrious major league careers, just as late draft choices aren’t necessarily destined to be journeymen with little chance of reaching the majors.

While the same amount of uncertainty exists in the NBA and NFL drafts, for example, baseball is a more extreme case. For starters, just the sheer number of players that go off the board dwarfs all of its professional sport counterparts. Baseball players are also generally less prepared for professional careers than other athletes, often requiring several years of development before warranting a callup. Read more »

Rafael Soriano is officially the Atlanta Braves’ closer, taking over the job when it was announced that John Smoltz would have season-ending shoulder surgery. While just returning himself from an elbow injury, Soriano will have to perform to hold off Manny Acosta, and potentially Mike Gonzalez, to stay in the ninth-inning role.

Effectiveness has never been the problem for Soriano, who has pitched to a 2.90 ERA and 257 strikeouts in 251.0 career innings. Health, however, has been. Soriano had season-ending elbow surgeries in 2004 and 2005, so how his arm holds up will dictate how he fares as a stopper. Read more »