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sports.vice.com Matt Linder The Yankees, having been just one win away from reaching the World Series, have a lot to look forward to next year and the years to come.  They have a young core of extremely exciting and talented building blocks, including Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius and Chad Green.  That's not even counting the top prospects on their way to the Bronx in the near future.  Even with all of the young players expected to perform strongly again in 2018, there are still some question marks that the front office needs to answer before the 2018 season gets under way.   Many of these uncertainties stem from ownership's desire to get the team’s payroll under the luxury tax threshold of $197 million.  I will look at the Yankees roster going into next season, where they are set and where they may need to reinforce.  But first, I want to examine the team’s salary situation heading into 2018. Let’s sta...

six managers with varying success signaling the volatility of that franchise." /> Patrick Zeng USA Today For a couple of years now, the Washington Nationals have been the most head scratching team in all of Major League baseball. They have had four 95+ win seasons in the last six years yet only have seven postseason wins in that same period. Most surprisingly, none of those wins have come outside the Division Series. And on Friday, they let Dusty Baker go, a man that had amassed a an average of 96 wins over his two years in charge. In the last ten years, the franchise has had six managers with varying success signaling the volatility of that franchise. So thus another off season of searching has begun for Nationals. Not only searching for a new manager, but for what is the secret to getting over the hump, and why can this team not accomplish that. This past year should have been the one. This was the year where the Nationals were going to have success not just i...

Patrick Zeng @Roundtripper891 NBC Sports This is not the first you've heard of Bryce Harper and Mike Trout, and it certainly won't be the last. But every so often we all need a reminder of the what we are actually watching. Last night was a stark reminder of the incredible nature of both these players as their careers continue to and forever will be linked to each other. On a first pitch breaking ball from Miami's Odrisamer Despaigne, Bryce Harper destroyed his 29th home run of the season and 150th of his career. In doing so he became the third fastest active player to 150 dingers in terms of games played. Harper reaches the milestone in his age 24 season, becoming the 14th player in baseball history to do so. He joins an elite list that includes the names of Eddie Matthews, Jimmie Fox, Alex Rodriguez and current stars such as Giancarlo Stanton, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout. Harper has already surpassed his home run totals from last year and leads the nation...

Patrick Zeng @Roundtripper891 Southsideshowdown.com Brian Cashman is one of the best general managers in all of baseball. He might even be one of the best general managers in all of professional sports. With some great moves in his back pocket, Cashman was out to make a deal that would help spark a sputtering Yankees team that has the worst record in the MLB since mid June. Last night the Yankees acquired David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle as well as Todd Frazier from the White Sox for Blake Rutherford, Tyler Clippard and two other solid prospects, but don't expect it to be season saving. The Yankees biggest needs have been well publicized at this point in the season. They need a first baseman as well as starting pitching over anything else. The bullpen additions are going to be really good for New York. Robertson helps to give more support to a struggling duo of Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances and gives Joe Girardi another option in the seventh or eight inning. Kahnle cou...

Patrick Zeng @Roundtripper891 : River Ave Blues Normally this time of year is completely lifeless in the world of sports. With Major League Baseball on its All Star break, NBA and NHL free agency's having already reached their climax and NFL training camps a few weeks away, this time can be absolutely brutal. But luckily the two teams from the Windy City decided to break some very important news late this morning. Jose Quintana was traded from the White Sox to the Cubs as Theo Epstein looks to save the Cubs from their incredibly disappointing season. The Cubs have been without a doubt the most disappointing team in baseball this season. Stumbling into the All Star break at 43-45, 5.5 games behind the Brewers is nothing short of shocking for the north siders. Coming off of their curse shattering championship run last season, talks were only focused around how dominant of a dynasty they could be. The struggles that they have had this year were not even remotely discussed. Th...

Patrick Zeng @ Roundtripper891 📸: Business Insider                                                                                       The most hyped up Home Run Derby ever did not disappoint last night. Some of MLB's best sluggers put on an absolute show last night, destroying balls into the Miami night. This Derby was everything that Rob Manfred could have hoped for and more so than just an exhibition of some of baseball's brightest stars, it also outlines a stark difference. Baseball's all star festivities are the best of the core 4 leagues(I'd lump in MLS as a fifth for comparison too) and it's not even close. ESPN reported that their Home Run Derby numbers were up 38% and oh man were those numbers warranted. The Derby matchups were close, compelling and real...

By Patrick Zeng @Roundtripper891 📸: Sports On Earth Wow time flies. We are already past the midway point in the MLB season with the Home Run Derby and the All Star game taking place over the next few days. And that means it's mid season awards time as we look back on an exciting and action packed first half of baseball and as we ramp up for what should be an incredibly compelling end to the season. NL MVP- Paul Goldschmidt It's finally time for Goldy to get his recognition. The five time All Star has his finger prints all over the Diamondbacks 53-35 record, good for second in baseball's most competitive division and for the first NL wildcard. Goldschmidt is hitting .313 with a .430 on base, 20 home runs, 67 RBIs and has even added 13 stolen bases to his stat line. Bryce Harper, Charlie Blackmon and the Dodgers' Cody Bellinger are all decent shouts, but Goldy is a beast and right now he should be on track to take home his first NL MVP. NL CY Young- Max Scher...

By Patrick Zeng @ Roundtripper891   📸: MLB.com Fan voting is usually one of the most hotly debated topics when the all star game rolls around each summer. Shouts of bias and wrongful selections usually fill radio waves and twitter feeds and on most cases, these complaints are usually true. But for this year's 88th MLB All Star game, the fans got it right. Both with their selection of starters and the two winners of the "final vote".  Starting in the National League, the fans selected Buster Posey, Ryan Zimmerman, Daniel Murphy, Zack Cozart, Nolan Arenado, Marcel Ozuna, Charlie Blackmon and Bryce Harper. All of these players thoroughly deserve their spots as all star starters with only Zimmerman getting the nod over Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt as a point of possible contention. This year there was no gaping poor choice such as Addison Russell starting the game last year despite sporting an average in the .220 range(Cubs fans though did try again with Jay...

By Patrick Zeng @Roundtripper891 📸: Sporting News The 2017 season has seen a changing of the guard when it comes to baseball's dominant ace. DC's coup in the winter of 2014 when Max Scherzer was acquired has been nothing short of marvelous for Nationals. Scherzer has stared in his two plus seasons in the nation's capital compiling 43 wins and a 2.71 era. Whenever pitching and dominance are referenced in today's game, Clayton Kershaw is automatically the first thought. And over their careers, Kershaw will be viewed as the better pitcher in comparison to Scherzer but the 2017 season has been writing a different narrative. Both ace's play for two of the National League's best teams, toeing the rubber as each club's stopper, star and ace. But a dive into the numbers show that this year, Scherzer is baseball's best, not Kershaw.  Coming off a Cy Young season, Scherzer boasts the top ERA in baseball with a 2.06 mark in comparison to Kershaw's  2...

By Patrick Zeng @ Roundtripper891 Much has been made about baseball's lack of star appeal. Even with players such as Mike Trout & Bryce Harper, it has been a struggle for baseball's best to gain traction for a national audience. And while this will always be somewhat of the case as baseball lends itself much more to a regional audience than a national one, two new stars may just break down that regional barrier. Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge are lighting the baseball world on fire with their seasons thus far. Stationed in two of the largest media markets in the country, the two are set to make it big. At the end of last season, there seemed to be a hung jury on projecting the outlook of Aaron Judge. The 6'7" outfielder showed flashes of power, but struck out in 50% of his at bats compiling a .179 batting average. But this season has been nothing short of incredible for the towering right fielder. Judge has slugged his way to a major league leading 26 home run...

By Patrick Zeng @ Roundtripper891 With this week marking the occasion of the Yankees retiring Derek Jeter's iconic #2, much has been made of the fact that baseball has not had a true "face" since the Yankee captain hung up his cleats in 2014. Even with the likes of Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw and Kris Bryant dominating the game in markets all over the country, baseball has struggled to establish one star that shines above the rest. But they don't need one, because baseball differs from leagues like the NFL and NBA. Both these leagues are required to market their stars for they have so much more of an influence over a game than one MLB player. Players like LeBron James have the ability to score ten straight points for their team while Carlos Correa only comes up to bat once every nine players. The NFL and especially the NBA are much more individualistic leagues, so of course their star power is much more easily marketed. Debate always seems to center...