This week the Los Angeles Angels announced that they had signed outfielder Josh Hamilton for $125 million for 5 years. Last year Hamilton batted .285 with 43 homeruns and 128 RBIs. He will play in the same outfield as Mike Trout, who won the Rookie of the Year award this year, and came close, very close to winning MVP. The rookie put up miracle numbers, batting .326 (second best in the league), hit 30 home runs, stole 49 bases, with 99 RBIs and a .963 OPS. That, and the four home runs he robbed to mark as some of the best highlight plays of the season. Jared Weaver went 20-5 last year for LA, striking out 142 batters in his 188 2/3 innings last year. Hamilton will also be reunited with former Texas teammate CJ Wilson, who will be in his second year with L.A. Wilson went 13-10 in 34 starts with the Angels last year, a little dissapointing for him. But LA will be loaded with talent next year, and I'm not just talking the Angels. The Los Angeles Dodgers have just signed Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin who is 98-52 lifetime with the Korean Baseball Organization and pitcher Zack Greinke, who went 15-5 last year while splitting time between the Brewers and the Royals. 2011 Cy Young Award and Pitching Triple Crown winner Clayton Kershaw is likely to return to the Dodgers next season. Kershaw went 14-9 last season with two shutouts. So, maybe we might even see an all-Los Angeles World Series next year. What do you think?

The Los Angeles Dodgers, after barely missing the playoffs last year in a tight wild-card race, have started their off season by beginning to negotiate a contract with Korean pitcher, Ryu Hyun-jin. The 25 year old left handed pitcher spent 7 years with the Korean Baseball Organization, and won a Gold Medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. The Dodgers bid 25.7 million dollars for the ace. Hyun-jin also made 7 All-star appearances for his Korean team, the Hanwha Eagles. He is 98-52 lifetime with a 2.80 ERA. He also won his only start at the World Baseball Classic, giving up only two runs over seven innings.

The San Francisco Giants finished off the Detroit Tigers in a four game sweep in the World Series this Sunday. This gave the Giants their second title in three years, when they last defeated the Texas Rangers. Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval was named MVP of the series. The third baseman Sandoval hit three home runs in Game 1 of the World Series to help lift the Giants to a 8-3 rout of Detroit. Sandoval is only the fourth player in history to hit three homers in a World Series game. Babe Ruth did it twice. Reggie Jackson did it in 1977. Albert Pujols did it last year. And now he joins those elite players in major league history. Marco Scutaro had the RBI single in Game 4 that gave San Fran its lead, and they held on.

As for the pitching, Matt Cain who was perfect earlier in June, pitched about as well in Game 5 for the win. Barry Zito and Tim Lincecum combined strong in Game 1 to start the Giants off on the right foot. Sandoval, once again MVP-esque, made a good play on a bunt by Detroit that would've put another runner on base right before Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer that might have won the game for the Tigers. Cabrera, Prince Fielder, and Justin Verlander performed slightly less than the Tigers might have hoped. So just think. The Giants were on the verge of elimination in Game 3 of the NLDS against the red-hot Cincinnati Reds. And they fought back hard, hard enough to win baseball's ultimate title. So when it was all over, and Sergio Romo struck out Miguel Cabrera in the 10th inning of Game 4, the Giants had won it all. Won it all.

After spending a year out of a baseball clubhouse, Terry Francona is coming back to manage the Cleveland Indians. The Indians suffered their second season collapse and fired former manager Manny Acta, who spent almost three years with Cleveland and his second managing job (the other being the Washington Nationals) that ended with a losing record. Francona's father Tito played for the Indians during the 60's-70's and Terry was a special assistant under now-team president Mark Shapiro in 2001. Francona led the Boston Red Sox out of their 86 year World Series slump in 2004, then led them to another title in 2007.

Friday night the first ever wild-card "series" was played in each league. The defending World Series champs St. Louis Cardinals won over the Atlanta Braves, ending Chipper Jones' career on a sour note. Chipper went 0-5 and made a costly error. The Cardinals are on yet another spectacular run for their second consectuive title, after yet another late season surge to claim the wild-card spot. The defending two-time American League champion Texas Rangers were upset by the Baltimore Orioles in Arlington, both Yu Darvish and Josh Hamilton failing to come through for the Rangers. The Cards will face off against Bryce Harper and the Nationals Sunday, while the Orioles will play, of course, the New York Yankees. And that folks, has been the first ever, wild-card series! More to come on the 2012 MLB postseason. 

After the Major League Baseball season came to a close, the numbers told the story. The AL leading .330 batting average, 44 homeruns, 139 RBIs. He's one it folks! Detroit Tigers Miguel Cabrera wins baseball's first triple crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. 45 years. This rare accomplishment has been done only 16 other times in MLB history. Cabrera also has the AL Central title to celebrate. This However, does not secure his spot in the MVP voting. Not to spoil Cabrera's great season but leading those three categories means almost nothing. Mike Trout already has Rookie of the year down set. But Trout came second to Cabrera in the batting race, got an all-star start, stole 48 bases, and has robbed three home runs, all in his first full season in the Majors. Mike Trout is a gold-glove center fielder, while Cabrera is just an average third baseman. Not to mention Cabrera played all 6 months, while Trout was down in the Minor Leagues for the first month of the season. Some people say the Tigers would be nowhere near where they are now, and it's true. But it stands even more true for Mike Trout. The Los Angeles Angels were 6-14 before calling up Trout to the Majors. Since then they have gone 82-57. In all, the Tigers have won only 86 games total. Trout has packed more into 5 months than Cabrera has in 6. So who is it? The true MVP.

The Oakland Athletics have done the unthinkable, and swept the two year defending American League champions Texas Rangers. The A's came from 5 games behind in the western division in thier final 9 games of the season, and completed with a three game sweep of the Rangers Wednesday and clinched the division. Oakland came into the series expecting to make the post-season via wild card, are now preparing for the division series against the AL Central winners Detroit Tigers. Texas now prepares to face off in the one-game wild card "series" against the Orioles, who have had a surprisingly great season after 14 consecutive losing seasons. The winners from there will go against the Yankees. The New York Yankees. With the bronx bombers with the series home-field advantage. That's why I'm sure the A's are glad to have won the division instead, and for the first time since 2006 have a winning record. This was also the last time the A's made the playoffs, winning the division series against the Minnesota Twins, but were defeated in the ALCS by the Detroit Tigers. For the A's sake, let's hope the same won't happen this Saturday.

20 seasons. 1 title, 2,726 hits, 468 home runs, all in 2,499 games for the class-act Larry "Chipper" Jones. And all of it coming with the Atlanta Braves. Jones, 40, played in his final regular season game of his career Wednesday afternoon in a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his first Major League at-bat, Chipper hit a first pitch single to start what would become an amazing two decade career. And it's fitting that in his final at-bat in the Majors, Chipper lined a first pitch single into right field off of A.J. Burnett. It was very respectful of Burnett to step off the mound before the at-bat to give the fans at PNC Park in Pittsburgh a chance to give Chipper a great standing ovation, letting Chipper soak in the moment, one last time. Even better, Chipper came around to score his last time on base. And even greater for the fans, Chipper tossed his batting gloves into the stands after crossing home plate, sending them to some lucky fan in the seats. Everything in his final regular season game seemed to go perfect for Chipper Jones. The 6 time all-star heads into the playoffs on the wild-card spot in the National League. Jones won a World Series his first full year in the Majors, and since has had 11 more unsuccessful post-seasons. And now has one more chance. Other honors the future Hall of Famer has won include a batting title (2008), an MVP (1999), two 3B silver slugger awards, and being the first overall draft pick in 1990. Good luck, Chipper. It's the bottom of the 20th, a chance to walk off a hero.