Rise of the Rays

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe weighs in that a lot of teams are inquiring about Carl Crawford.  But, in his opinion,

Crawford is a big clubhouse presence, a player everyone looks up to. There may come a time when Rays ownership bites the bullet and says this is one player they need to keep and works out a long-term commitment.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates are hoping Akinori Iwamura emerges as a power-hitter for the Pirates, according to Dejan Kovacevic in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Management sounds optimistic that Iwamura, despite averaging a home run every 100 at-bats in North America, can rediscover his power stroke at PNC Park. He averaged 35 home runs a season, most of the pull variety, in his final three years in Japan.