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I’ll be the first one to admit that I wasn’t buying the Atlanta Braves at the start of this season, but now that’s it July and they’ve found a way to stay atop the National League East I think I have to start looking at them as a serious playoff contender.

Atlanta currently has a 2 1/2 game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies and a 7 game lead over the team I thought would run away with the division the Washington Nationals.

The Braves four game winning streak did come to an end last night as they lost 8-5 to the New York Yankees. The Phillies where able to pick up a little ground as they beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 for their third win in a row, but the Nationals dropped their fourth game in a row 11-4 to the Boston Red Sox.

The Braves decided to start their rebuild after the 2014 season and they’ve made the fastest progress out of any of the teams that have torn down and rebuilt in the recent future, but are the Braves in position to win a World Series?

There where a few questions about the Braves offense coming into the season, but they have pretty much been answered. Ozzie Albies did go through a little slump, but all players do that. He is currently the team leader in home runs with 18. Ronald Acuna Jr. just returned from an injury that kept him out about a month. He is 7 for 22 with 2 home runs since returning from his injury. Nick Markakis has always been thought f as a solid hitter and this season he’s hitting .326 with 10 home runs and a team high 58 RBI’s. Of course you can’t forget Freddie Freeman who’s hitting .309 with 16 home runs and 56 RBI’s.

There are a few questions on offense though. The Braves have been using a the veteran combination of Kurt Suzuki and Tyler Flowers behind the plate. It seems to be working out so far, but there will always be questions thee. Dansby Swanson has been playing better than he did last season when he actually ended up back in Triple-A, but he’s still hitting just .246. The biggest question the Braves have is at 3rd base. Ryan Flaherty got off to a hot start, but has cooled down. Charlie Culberson has also had some moments this season, but has never been an everyday player, The Braves even took a look at Jose Bautista at 3rd base for a short period of time. Now it’s Johan Carmago who’s being given a chance to be the everyday guy there. Carmago took over at shortstop last season when Swanson was sent own and hit .299, but this season in 62 games Carmago is hitting .259.

Will the Braves try to upgrade at 3rd base?

Atlanta does have 20 year old Austin Riley in Triple-A, but he is currently on the 7-day disabled list. Riley sprained the posterior crucial ligament in his knee diving for a foul ball; so ay chance of him being the guy at 3rd base will probably have to wait until the 2019 season.

The Braves do have a strong farm system and could use some of those payers to upgrade at 3rd base if that’s the position they decided to go after. It is possible that the Braves add a pitcher instead of an offensive player.

Mike Foltynewicz and Sean Newcomb have shown they can pitch at the major league level. Julio Tehran does have an ERA of 4.21 this season, but has a resume that shows he’s a quality starting pitcher. After that there are some questions in the Braves rotation. Veterans Brandon McCarty and Anibal Sanchez have been filling out the starting rotation, but McCarthy is currently on the disabled list with right knee tendinitis. Sanchez has been a pleasant surprise going 3-2 with an ERA of 2.89 in 10 games; 9 of which have been starts. McCarthy is 6-3 in 15 starts, but has an ERA of 4.92 and has a history of injuries.

The Braves have tried some of their young starters at the back of the rotation with varying success. Matt Wisler, Luiz Gohara, Mike Soroka and Max Fried have all made starts for Atlanta this season. It looked as though Soroka was going to be the guy who held down a rotation spot, but he landed on the 60-day disabled list with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Fried now looks like the guy who could find a spot in the rotation. Fried has pitched in 6 games this season with the last 2 being starts. On the season he is 1-2 with an ERA of 2.55. In his 2 starts Fried has thrown 11 2/3rd innings giving up 1 earned run while walking 7 and striking out 17.

Do you see the Braves adding a starter?

Arodys Vizcaino has been a solid closer for Atlanta this season; he’s appeared in 30 games this season and is 2-2 with an ERA of 1.82 while converting 15 of his 17 saves chances. Vizcaino hasn’t pitched since June 17th as he was just activated off the disabled list yesterday. The Braves have some young set up men in front of Vizcaino that have had some success. A.J. Minter has pitched in 39 games and has a 2.75 ERA. Dan Winkler has appeared in 37 games and has an ERA of 2.34. Jesse Biddle has pitched in 26 games and has an ERA of 2.59 while Shane Carle has appeared in 35 games and has an ERA of 2.93. They’ve all done the job for the Braves out of the bullpen, but they’re still young pitchers. Minter is 24 years old, Biddle and Carle are both 26 years old with Winkler being the oldest of the group at 28 years old.

Do you see the Braves adding a bullpen piece?

If the Braves do decide to make a move or two there are going to be plenty of players available and with the Braves farm system they shouldn’t have any problem finding teams interested in dealing with them.

It’s difficult to get to this spot in baseball and there’s not guarantee that a team can get back. Atlanta has done a nice job of rebuilding their franchise and have managed to find themselves in contention earlier than I think they even though they would be. Do the Braves need to go for it? and move a top prospect or two to fill one of the needs they currently have? Or should they sit tight with their young players and continue to develop them?

You can listen to the Sports Tie Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is available for you to listen to any time you want at TuneIn.com.

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Will the Baltimore Orioles be the key team at the July 31st trade deadline?

By now everyone has heard the Manny Machado talk, but he’s not the only Orioles player a contender might be looking for at the trade deadline. Of course the main reason everyone thinks the Orioles will trade Machado is because he’s a free agent at the end of the season and they don’t see him resigning with Baltimore. Now Machado isn’t the only Baltimore player that is in the final year of their contract with the team and it’s possible that besides Machado we could see three other Orioles get moved if the team decides to clean house and rebuild.

Adam Jones is in the final year of his contract with the Orioles and while he’s not quite the same player he was a few years ago he could definitely help a contender. Jones will turn 33 this season, but he’s putting up solid numbers. He’s hitting .289 with 10 home runs and 31 RBI’s. Don’t forget that Jones is also a top defender and has won four Gold Gloves in his career. Jones will make a total of $17,333,333 million dollars this season; so it may not take a top prospect to land him depending on how much of his remaining salary a team would be willing to pick up.

With starting pitchers not working deep into games anymore just about every team in baseball needs bullpen help and the Orioles can supply that.

Even though he was hurt coming into this season there was still quite a bit of talk about Baltimore trading Zach Britton. He made his season debut on June 12th and has appeared in seven games this season. In six of those seven games Britton didn’t give up a run. He did struggle in an outing against the Atlanta Braves where he was charged with four runs in just 1/3rd of an inning. Britton will make $12 million dollars this season and is just 30 years old. As Britton rounds back into that closer form he could be a big add for a contender at the back end of their bullpen.

While the Orioles are working Britton back into the closing role Brad Brach has been the guy holding the job down. Brach has saved 10 of the 12 save chances he’s had this season, but has also been a quality set up guy. Brach has pitched in 32 games and has an ERA of 3.86. Brach could be a steal since he’s only going to make $5,165,000 million dollars this season; so it’s an easy salary for a team to take on while adding a good bullpen piece. Brach is 32 years old and has always been a high use bullpen; so a contender could get a lot of work out of a reliable set up guy like Brach.

Those are the four Orioles in the final years of their contracts that I think will draw a lot of interest on or around the July 31st trade deadline, but there are some other Orioles that could get dealt if teams where willing to meet Baltimore’s asking price.

Jonathan Schoop has one more year of arbitration before becoming a free agent in 2020. Could e draw some interests as the trade deadline nears. Schoop has battled some injuries this season and is off to a slow start hitting just .202, but he is coming off of a 2017 season where he posted career highs in home runs with 32 and RBI’s with 105. If a team believes that Schoop is more the 2017 player than the guy who’s had some issues this year there’s a chance that he could be an upgrade at 2nd base for a contender.

If there’s a contender out there looking to add some power to their line up maybe they’ll take a look at Mark Trumbo. Trumbo is signed through 2019; he’s making $12.5 million dollars this season and his salary goes up to $13.5 million next season. Those aren’t astronomical salary numbers in today’s game. Trumbo missed some time with an injury, but is hitting .268 with 8 home runs. While Trumbo’s best fit might be as a Designated Hitter he can play the corner outfield spots and even some 1st base. Trumbo hit a career high 47 home runs in 2016 and has only hit less than 22 home runs once in his career and that was in 2014 when he played in just 88 games.

Do you see the Orioles cleaning house and rebuilding? It’s not really something they’ve done before, but it seems to be the way baseball is going. The Orioles aren’t known for trading their top player either as their owner Peter Angelos has always been against it. Is this the year that General Manager Dan Duquette can convince Angelos to possibly move a player or two and see if they can get younger in return. With the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees looking like they’re set to contend for the next couple of seasons is this the right time for the Orioles to tear things down and see if they can get themselves back into contention in the AL East a few years down the road.

It was starting to look like Josh Donaldson was getting close to returning to the Toronto Blue Jays, but now it appears as though he won’t be returning until the second half of this season.

While fielding ground balls in Florida as part of his rehab program Donaldson had an issue with the calf that has kept him out since May 28th. An MRI was performed and it showed that Donaldson has a acute strain of that calf muscle. Toronto has shut Donaldson down and he’ll be reevaluated in three weeks.

Donaldson is in the final year of his contract that’s paying him $23 million dollars this season. Donaldson has been limited to 36 games an is hitting .234 with 5 home runs.

Before the injury there was some talk that the Blue Jays would entertain trade offers for Donaldson as their top prospect Vlad Guerrero Jr. is a 3rd baseman, but with the injury set back Toronto won’t have much time to showcase Donaldson as a trade piece. Of course the Blue Jays try to get Donaldson through waivers after the July 31st deadline, but will have to wait and see what the Blue Jays want to do with him once he returns from injury.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live o BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is available for you to listen to any time you want at TuneIn.com.

Look me up on Twitter @Burketime

It seems as though in the last week or ten days there’s been a coupe of prevalent  statements going around Major League Baseball and I don’t know how anyone came to these conclusions.

Now both of these talking points concern Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; so let’s look at these and see if they’re even possible.

Here’s the first one. We don’t talk about Mike Trout enough.

Now unless the networks are going to dedicate an entire show to Trout I’m not sure if there’s a way networks could talk about him more than they do now. I don’t know how they could talk about Trout anymore than they do right now, but for some reason someone got the idea that they’re not talking about him enough. I guess they don’t watch the other shows on the networks they work for.

Considering in the last six seasons Trout has won two MVP awards while finishing three times and fourth once and in the seasons he didn’t win these shows talked about him until their viewer ears bleed. I can still remember hearing multiple shows last season try to give Trout the MVP award even though he was injured and played in just 114 game and the Angels weren’t even in the playoff race.

If you thought that the various shows that cover baseball brought Trout’s name up a lot get ready to hear it even more.

Here’s the second one. Mike Trout is underrated.

Now since a lot of the shows that talk about Trout are televised from the East coast they’re off the air by the time Trout’s games are over. Now I don’t believe this makes him underrated, but it just puts him behind.

Trout is currently hitting .328 and is tied for the major league lead in home runs with J.D. Martinez at 23. Trout also leads the majors with 62 runs scored. He has also drawn the most walks in baseball so far this season with 67. That puts him 11 walks ahead of Bryce Harper who is second in that category.

Now with the big numbers Trout has out up so far tis season and especially the fact that he’s got big home run numbers there’s no way he can be considered underrated.

Now if either of these statements where considered true there is a way Trout could change them. Get the Angels into the playoffs. This is Trout’s 7th full seasons at the major league level as he just played in his 1000th game, but he’s only played in three playoff games and he didn’t perform well in them.

In 12 post season at bats Trout has 1 hit which gives him an .083 batting average. His one hit was a home run and he did draw 3 walks, but the Angels where swept in that series.

Trout is clearly the best player in baseball right now and is on track to end up in the Hall of Fame when his career is over. I actually like Trout as a player. It’s just the stupidity that the media shows around him that I get tired of.

Remember when the Los Angeles Dodgers got off to a 12-16 start the all of the baseball media wrote them off? Now the funny thing is they won’t remember this either and they’ll say that they believed in the Dodgers all along, but any fan who pays attention knows better than that. They talk about how it looked like the Dodgers window to win was closed after going to the World Series last season and there was even some talk about them looking into trading Clayton Kershaw.

I’m not a big believer in burying a team a month into a season, but I guess it gives the media something to talk about and then when or if the team comes back they can talk about how they never gave up on them and they knew they’d be back in the race. I don’t know what’s wrong with owning up to something you said, but I can pretty much guarantee that you won’t hear any of the talking heads on television admit that they said the Dodgers where done.

Speaking of those Dodgers they are now 38-35 and find themselves in 2nd pace in the NL West just 2 1/2 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks and Kershaw hasn’t pitched sine May 31st. Not bad for a team that was written off just a month into the season and now Kershaw is returning to the mound tonight.

Kershaw didn’t get off to the kind of start to the season that people expected and then he had a couple of injury issues.

Kershaw made 7 starts for the Dodgers and then went on the disabled list with bicep tendonitis on May 1st. Kershaw spent the entire month of May on the disabled list as he returned May 31st to make a start against the Philadelphia Phillies. After 5 innings in that start Kershaw was removed and landed back on the disabled list with back strain.

Kershaw has made 8 starts this season and while his record is just 1-4 his ERA is very good at 2.76. In three of Kershaw’s four losses the Dodgers have scored 1 run twice and 2 runs once; so you have to think with a little bit of run support Kershaw won-loss record would be respectable.

Now originally the Dodgers had scheduled Kershaw for a minor league rehab start tonight, but instead he will come right back to the major league team off of the disabled list and will start tonight against the New York Mets.

The Dodgers not only will get Kershaw back tonight, but Rich Hill returned from the disabled list on Tuesday. Hill pitched 6 scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs, but the Dodgers did lose the game 2-1.

Even with Kershaw and Hill back in their the Dodgers still have a couple of starters on the disabled list. Hyun-Jin Ryu was moved to the 60 day DL and isn’t expected to return until the end of July as he recovers from a groin injury. Rookie Walker Buehler was fantastic filling in while the Dodgers dealt with their injuries. Buehler went 4-1 in 9 starts with an ERA of 2.63 before landing on the disabled list with a microfracture to his ribs. Buehler could possibly return early next month.

The Dodgers where just one of a couple of teams that where written off very, very early this season. It appears as though they’re back in the NL West race and unless they get hit with another big round of injuries you have to think they’ll contend for a playoff spot. I guess those people on television did something my mother always told me not to do. It looks like they counted their chickens before they where hatched.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but the podcast is also available for you to listen to any time you want at TuneIn.com.

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We’re just about six weeks away from the MLB trade deadline and it seems clear that the one thing every team needs is bullpen help. No matter who I hear talk about which team they always mention how they could use another arm in the bullpen and it’s pretty obvious why this is. With the way starting pitchers are handle it’s no surprise teams are out looking for the best bullpen arms they can find; be it closers or set up men.

For some reason unless you are a bona fide top of the rotation starter you can’t go through the other teams batting order a third time. I’m not sure why that is, but that’s how managers are handling starters.

Think about this; if you’re starter has a rough inning or two, but doesn’t give up any runs there’s almost no chance that you’re going to get more than 5 innings out of that starter. Remember that this could also be a pitcher that hasn’t given up any runs, but just had to work out of some trouble. Now you’re bullpen has to cover up to 4 innings in almost every game. How are they going to do that without breaking down?

Besides the odd third time through the line up rule how many times have you been watching a game and heard the announcers say that the pitcher is coming up on 100 pitches and will need to be removed soon. Obviously if your starting pitcher is working out of trouble and has to throw high leverage pitches every inning by the time he gets to that magical 100 pitch number he might be ready to be taken out of the game. Now this isn’t the case all the time, but time and time again when we see a pitcher get close to or just over the 100 pitch mark there’s action in the bullpen.

Since this is what baseball has turned into look for teams to try and get their hands on as may relivers as they can before the July 31st trade deadline. There was a trade earlier this week that should be the start of us seeing relievers starting to move.

On Monday the Kansas City Royals sent their closer Kelvin Herrera to the Washington Nationals for three minor leaguers.

In exchange for Herrera Kansas City receives 21 year old Class-A outfielder Blake Perkins, 23 year old Double-a third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez and 17 year old right handed pitcher Yohanse Morel. Morel has pitched just one game in the Dominican Summer League since Washington has signed him.

Herrera is in the final year of his contract and will be a free agent after this season. As part of the trade the Nationals agreed to pick up the remainder of Herrera’s contract for the 2018 season.

Herrera is just 28 years old, but is in his seventh major league season. He was a set up man on those Royals teams that went to back to back World Series before taking over as closer full time in 2017. Herrera was 1-1 with an ERA of 1.05 with 14 saves for Kansas City before being traded. He made his first appearance for the Nationals last night working a 1,2,3 inning in his debut.

The addition of Herrera to the Nationals bullpen gives them four guys down their with closing experience. Herrera joins Sean Doolittle (19 saves), Ryan Madson (3 saves) and Brandon Kintzler (2 saves) will be the fourth when he returns from the disable list some time next month. It’s unclear right now what role Herrera will fill in the Nationals bullpen, but he’s had success as both a closer and a set up guy; so manager Davey Martinez will have some flexibility with him depending on what he needs at the time.

This deal actually worked I two ways for the Nationals. Like I said every team needs help in their bullpen and the team the Nationals are chasing the Atlanta Braves where said to be interested in Herrera. The Nationals are currently 3 1/2 games behind the Braves in the National League East.

You also have to wonder how much interest the Philadelphia Phillies had in Herrera. The Phillies are in 3rd place in the NL East 4 1/2 games behind the Braves, but just a game behind the Nationals.

On Monday the Phillies sent their closer Hector Neris to Triple-A after posting a 6.00 ERA in 30 games this season. Neris did have 10 saves for the Phillies, but he blew three saves and with the high ERA Philadelphia decided to go another way.

Phillies manager Gabe Kapler hasn’t named a new closer and has said that he won’t. It appears as though the Phillies will be going with the dreaded closer by committee situation.

23 year old Seranthony Dominquez has picked up 3 saves while 24 year old Jake Thompson has 2 saves. Is it possible that one of these two young pitchers could take over the closers role on a Phillies that looks like it’s a contender for a playoff spot.

There could be a couple of closers on the trade market. Could you see the Phillies making a deal for Zach Britton of the Baltimore Orioles, Shane Greene of the Detroit Tigers or possibly Brad Hand of the San Diego Padres. You have to think that they’ll look to add some type of relief help by July 31st.

The Houston Astros came into last nights game against the Tampa Bay Rays on a 12 game winning streak and with Justin Verlander on the mound it looked like there was a good chance they would get that 13th win in a row.

Blake Snell made the start for Tampa Bay opposite Verlander. Snell did have some struggles and walked 7 guys over his 7 innings, but he did limit  very good Astros offense to 3 hits and 1 run. Snell also added 6 strikeouts over his 7 innings. Verlander may have even pitched better than Snell as he went 6 2/3rd innings giving up just 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 10.

Matt Duffy led off the 8th inning with a double off of Hector Rondon. Jake Bauers made the first out of the inning on a ground out to 2nd base with Duffy moving to 3rd. Wilson Ramos singled to leftfield to drive Duffy in and give the Rays a 2-1 lead.

Ryne Stanek worked a 1,2,3 bottom of the 8th inning for Tampa Bay. Brad Peacock held the Rays in check in the Top of the 9th; so the Astros had one more chance to continue their winning streak. Jose Alvarado started the 9th inning and got the first out before giving which led to Sergio Romo coming out of the Rays bullpen. Romo did give up one hit, but no runs in route to picking up his 4th save of the season as the Rays ended the Astros 12 game winning streak with a 2-1 win.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is also available for you to listen to any time you want at TuneIn.com.

Feel free to look me up on Twitter @Burketime

Is it time that we look into the possibility that injuries are going to derail Clayton Kershaw’s career.

This season alone Kershaw has missed 30 days do to bicep tendonitis. He returned from that injury this past Thursday to take the mound against the Philadelphia Phillies. Kershaw pitched 5 innings throwing 62 pitches.  He gave up 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 5 and walking just 1. Kershaw got a no-decision in a game that the Phillies ended up winning 2-1.

It appears as though it was just another first start off of the disabled list. A pitcher throws a certain number of innings on a pitch count and the team looks to stretch him out in his next start. Sadly for Kershaw and his Los Angeles Dodgers this wasn’t the case.

After the game the Dodgers placed Kershaw back onto the disabled list with what is being called a strained back. This is the second time Kershaw has dealt with this injury as it caused him to miss some starts last season. As of no there is no timetable for Kershaw’s return.

Kershaw’s first season was 2008 where he pithed in 22 games starting 21 of them. Then from 2009 to 2015 Kershaw made 30 plus starts in six of those seven seasons and threw 200 plus innings in five of those seven seasons. He also won three Cy Young awards and MVP award over that time period.

Now the past three seasons Kershaw has made 21 starts in 2016, 27 starts in 2017 and just 8 starts this season.

Even without Kershaw the Dodgers have found a way to hang around in the NL West race, but is there anyone out there that believe the Dodgers are a contender without Kershaw in their starting rotation?

Kershaw has been considered the best pitcher in baseball for quite some time now, but you don’t hear that phrase associated with his name anymore. There are still some people who call him the best left handed pitcher in baseball, but is that even true now?

Looking at Kershaw’s career numbers he’s truly been a fantastic pitcher. His career record is 145-68 with an ERA of 2.37. His winning percentage of .681 is the best of any active pitcher in baseball today and it ranks 7th all-time. As far as ERA again he has the top ranked active pitcher and overall he has the 24th lowest ERA of all-time. Those are very impressive numbers, especially the ERA since Kershaw has pitched in an era where home runs are a priority and there have been questions of juiced baseballs.

This is the first time Kershaw has ever had back to back injuries and you have to wonder if the 2018 season is going to lost for him. Besides just dealing with the injuries there are some other questions that will have to be addressed.

Kershaw is making $35,571,429 million dollar this season and he has two more years on his deal. Next season his salary is $34,571,429 million dollars and then in 2020 Kershaw’s salary goes back to the $35,571,429 million dollar he making this season, but there is an opt out clause in Kershaw’s contract after this season. Looking at the situation Kershaw is in right now you’ think he’d stay with the Dodgers, but if he was to return this season and he should if he goes out and has some Kershaw like starts there would be teams lining up to pay him this off season.

I’ve always been a fan of players spending their entire careers with ne team, but we all know in todays baseball that is difficult to do. Do you see Clayton Kershaw playing his entire career in a Dodgers uniform? Or is there a chance that he opts out and is wearing a different uniform in 2019?

Hanley Ramirez is officially a free agent. The Boston Red Sox designated Ramirez for assignment giving them 10 days to either trade or release him. Now it was no surprise that the Red Sox couldn’t find a trade partner for Ramirez. Ramirez was under contract for $22 million dollars this season and had a vesting option for another $22 million dollars if he gets another 302 at bats this season. I’m sure the Red Sox looked for deals involving Ramirez, but there wasn’t a team out there that was willing to take on that contract in a trade.

Now that Ramirez has been officially released by the Red Sox those contract provisions go away. He will still be paid the balance of his $22 million dollar salary by the Red Sox for this season minus the pro rated league minimum by which ever team signs Ramirez. The vesting option applied to the Contract that Ramirez had with the Red Sox; so when he signs with a new team they will not be responsible for that vesting option.

The Red Sox officially asked for release waivers on Ramirez on May 30th. It took 48 hours for him to clear waivers; so as of June 1st he is eligible to sign with any team.

Ramirez came out of the gate swinging the bat. He hit .330 in April and show no signs of the shoulder problems he had last season. When the calendar turned to May Ramirez seemed to stop hitting. Since May 1st Ramirez was hitting just .163 and ended his career as a Red Sox on an 0 for 21 streak.

Ramirez is a former Rookie of the Year and has been named to 3 All-Star teams. Ramirez has also won 2 Silver Slugger awards and back when it meant something he won a batting title; he also has a career .290 batting average.

Through his career Ramirez has played Shortstop, 3rd base, Leftfield, but the last three seasons he’s only played 1st base or Designated Hitter. At 34 years old it would be difficult to see Ramirez paying anything other than 1st base or being a teams DH.

Depending on what a team thinks it needs might be the deciding factor on where Ramirez ends up. He has 20 games of post season experience and has a .380 career post season average. could he bring some of that experience to a young team that thinks they’re in the race? Or is it more likely that a team with a lot of veterans adds Ramirez as a bat off the bench and part time player?

Do you have a landing spot for Ramirez?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is also available for you to listen to at time you want at TuneIn.com.

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