ESPN reports Astros payroll is down to $25M, less than A-Rod's $29M. Also it is possible A-Rod won't play this year.

With Coco Crisp, Josh Reddick, Yoenis Cespedes, Addison Russell and more...

Absolutely great article and interview on the art and history of base stealing with our own Coco Crisp, found at the consistently excellent Grantland.

I stumbled on this on You Tube while looking for an old Billy commercial... any of you that remember Super Dave Osbourne may enjoy.

Somehow, the editors at the San Francisco Chronicle thought their coverage of the Athletics needed an article with some pizzaz, but also wanted something relevant to Bay Area readership. What better topic than betting on baseball Win Totals? Even better, why not try to crush the hopes of your loyal readership by declaring TAKE THE UNDER IT'S A LOCK!!!1!!1! And so Vic Tafur declared: "A's under 84.5. Book it."

Well, an A has officially made news in the World Baseball Classic. After Team Canada bunts for a base hit with a 9-3 lead, Leon was publicly instructed to hit the next batter, which he promptly did on the 3rd pitch. Doesn't reflect well on Leon at all. Intentional plunking in this situation is just bad, and taking 3 pitches to hit a guy just makes it look worse.