Answering the most-often asked questions in baseball

You have questions and we have answers to the most-often asked ones in baseball:

Q: The San Francisco Giants are leading the National League West after investing $230 million in two pitchers - Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto - who were not effective pitchers last season, but are lights-out this season. What gives?

A: Samardzija was 11-13 with a 4.96 ERA for the Chicago White Sox last season, so it seems strange the Giants thought he was worth $90 million. The Giants thought that Samardzija was a victim of poor defense in Chicago and figured he'd pitch well with a defense that includes centerfielder Denard Span, infielders Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik, and catcher Buster Posey. The Giants were right. Samardzija has done well. As far as Cueto, who was 4-7 with a 4.76 ERA for Kansas City during the final two months of 2015, the Giants believed in his sterling resume with the Reds and were convinced they should sign him after he pitched a complete game for the Royals in their 7-1, two-hit win in Game 2 of the World Series against the New York Mets.

Q: Who is the better pitcher, Chris Sale of the White Sox or Jake Arrieta of the Cubs?

A: Tough call, but given that Sale is left-handed with a deadly slider and new-found sinker that has replaced his changeup, the choice here is Sale. Plus, Sale has been more consistent than Arrieta throughout his career. Sale is 9-0 with a 1.58 ERA and three complete games. He had a 2.17 ERA in 2014 and finished third in the American League Cy Young Award voting behind Cleveland's Corey Kluber and Seattle's Felix Hernandez. Sale led the AL in strikeouts last season with 274, and this year, his strikeout rate has dropped from 11.8 to 8.2 per nine innings. Sale says this year is different because he's "relying on the defense,'' and not trying to strike everyone out on the first pitch. Could this be the year that two pitchers - Sale and Arrieta - win their league's MVP awards? If so, that'd be the first time pitchers have swept the award since 1968 when St. Louis' Bob Gibson and Detroit's Denny McLain did it. Gibson had 22 wins, a 1.12 ERA and a league-leading 13 shutouts. McLain won 31 games, pitched 336 innings with 28 complete games and a 1.96 ERA.

Q: Why were the Mariners willing to trade outfielder Mark Trumbo, who has been a hot hitter all season for the Orioles?

A: The Mariners liked Trumbo's bat, but they weren't comfortable with his outfield defense in the spaciousness of Safeco Field. They already had a designated hitter in Nelson Cruz, so there was nowhere to put Trumbo. The Mariners would like to have Trumbo's bat, but their outfield defense is a big reason they are winning in the first two months. You can never under-value defense.

Q: Boston's Jackie Bradley Jr. is on a 27-game hitting streak going into Monday. What makes him tick?

A: The Red Sox were patient and not discouraged when he came to the big leagues in 2014 and looked over-matched. Bradley, though, was. In 2014, after getting clobbered in the big leagues and sent to the minors, Bradley thought his career was over in Boston. In 2015, the Red Sox gave him another chance, and he responded by hitting .133 in the first half and .222 in September. The difference from last year to this year? Bradley changed his approach. Instead of trying to hit deep in the count and trying to run a pitcher's pitch count up - normally what a typical leadoff batter does - the Red Sox told Bradley to be himself, be aggressive and don't worry about hitting late in the count. It worked wonders. And eventually Bradley will have the confidence to hit late in the count.

Q: Atlanta fired manager Fredi Gonzalez after the Braves' miserable start. The Minnesota Twins are in a similar predicament. Is manager Paul Molitor on the hot seat?

A: Probably not, given how loyal the Twins ownership and general manager Terry Ryan are and how much the organization thinks about loyalty. Unless Ryan believes that Molitor has communication issues or lost the clubhouse in some way, the Twins will stay with Molitor. A couple of year ago, the same questions were asked about manager Ron Gardenhire when the Twins were losing 90 games a season. Ryan took responsibility by saying that he the one who put together the team and Gardenhire was signed to a two-year contract. The Twins' prospects - guys like Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano - showed promise last year, but haven't taken the next step this year. The Twins are patient, and they're hoping their patience pays off as it did for the Red Sox with Bradley Jr., who went back and forth from the minors four times in 2014 and 2015.

Q: Are the Tampa Bay Rays' home-run totals the most surprising statistic in baseball this season?

A: Could be, and two mid-Atlantic players, Steve Souza Jr., formerly a Nationals prospect, and Steve Pearce, the former Oriole, are two of the team's most consistent power hitters. The Rays went into this season with the potential for the best offense they've had in years, and so far, it's proving to be true. Corey Dickerson, acquired in a trade from Colorado, has been hitting home runs, too. The Rays might rewrite the team record of 199, set in 2009, when Tampa Bay had Carlos Pena (39), Evan Longoria (33) and Ben Zobrist (27) leading the way.

Q: How bad are the Twins and what are the chances they could break the single-season record for losses, 120 by the 1962 New York Mets?

A: The potential is there for a history-making season of losses, but also, the Twins have more pitching than the Mets did. With Kyle Gibson's return from injury and a turn-around from Phil Hughes to match the consistent pitching by Ervin Santana, it seems like the Twins will win enough to avoid 120 losses. ... By the way, the Mets, an expansion team that was a collect of aging stars, castoffs and misfits, were supposed to ease New York's pain for losing the Giants and Dodgers to the West Coast, but it took a while. The Mets, and manager Casey Stengel, started their first season by losing 12 of 13 games. They were 3-13 in April and 9-17 in May, their best month for wins. The Mets had a losing record against every NL team, but they did go 9-9 versus the Chicago Cubs. ... The 2003 Detroit Tigers, who lost 119 games, could have held the record for most losses in a season, but somehow, they won five of their final six games. The Tigers, though, rebounded quickly with a World Series appearance in 2006. ... And, there's a Washington angle to historically bad teams. The 1904 Senators losing 113 games was the low point, as a charter member of the American League, they didn't have a winning season during their first decade of existence. The Senators led the AL in strikeouts in 1904.