MLB back, Dwight still in limbo

Where is Dwight Headed?

- Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard has been the center of the NBA rumor mill for much of the past year and a half. The #1 overall pick in the 2004 draft, Howard has been the best center in the league since the last half of the 2000's decade.
- Howard has repeatedly complained about the lack of a supporting case the Magic have put around him. He promised, in the middle of last season, that he would stay with the Magic through at least the next season. However after that, all indications are that he will be leaving the Magic. Orlando, in an effort to maximize his value to the team, is shopping him around the league for a trade.
- Every team in the league would like to have Howard, but the trade rumors have circled primarily 3 teams. The New Jersey Nets, the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers can provide the most value by sending Andrew Bynum (arguably the second best center in the league) back to Orlando as part of the trade. Where Howard ends up remains to be seen, but there's a good chance he follows the path of another former #1 overall pick at center by the Magic who went to the Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal.


Second half of MLB season begins

- Now that the All-Star game and accompanying break is done, it's time for the MLB season to re-convene.  There were a lot of storylines from the first half, including whether the young Pirates and Nationals (the best teams in the NL) can maintain their divisional leads and make the playoffs. 
- The two teams have traditionally been the worst not only in baseball, but in American professional sports, typically putting up terrible records and neither having made the playoffs in years (Pittsburgh last made it in 1992, Washington in 1981 when the franchise was still in Montreal).  The fact that an extra team from each league will make the playoffs this season (There are two wildcards who will play each other in a one game playoff) certainly can't hurt.
- In the A.L. there are no big surprises, with annual powers Texas and the New York Yankees leading the league with 52 wins apiece but there's still some intrigue. 
- Can Angels outfielder Mike Trout maintain his torrid pace and win the A.L. Batting crown (for highest batting average) and/or stolen base title despite being only 20 years old?  Trout's success is overshadowing his new teammate Albert Pujols who is making $240 million over the next 10 years but is only hitting a pedestrian .268 with 14 home runs this year.