Top News:
Aaron Gleeman / Hardball Times:
Bowden 1, Krivsky 0 — Lopsided trades happen all the time. In fact, it's the very nature of trading that a large percentage of swaps involve one team getting significantly more in return than the other team. Even completely one-sided deals—the ones that cause guys like me to express amazement …
RELATED ITEMS:
Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Nats land Kearns, Lopez from Reds — Washington parts with Majewski, Clayton, three others — PITTSBURGH — Looking to get better in the long term, the Nationals began what could be an eventful run to the July 31 trade deadline with an eight-player deal on Thursday, acquiring outfielder Austin Kearns …
Discussion:
Nationals Farm Authority, Reds (and Blues), Federal Baseball, Nats Triple Play and Capitol Punishment
Thomas Boswell / Washington Post:Bowden's Club Makeover Gets Off to a Promising Start
Discussion:
Ben Maller
Ken Rosenthal / Fox Sports:Notes: White Sox, Carlos Lee and more
Discussion:
Balls, Sticks, & Stuff
Adam Rubin / NY Daily News:
Sox-y offer to Mets — As Pedro ails, Javy available — CHICAGO - The Mets may have found a partner willing to deal a starting pitcher after all, which could be even more pressing as Pedro Martinez is about to miss his third straight start. — The White Sox have been calling around to clubs …
RELATED ITEMS:
NY Daily News:
Jose not ready to play — CHICAGO - Jose Reyes, who got seven stitches to his left pinkie when he was spiked on a headfirst slide into first base last Friday, isn't ready to return to the lineup. "I can't put my hand in the glove yet," said Reyes, who still has the stitches in his hand and some swelling in the area.
Evan Grant / Dallas Morning News:
Rangers' reunited platoon is a hit — Showalter opts for Mench and Wilkerson - and gets three hits — BALTIMORE - The Rangers' search for a consistent offense has led them back to playing Brad Wilkerson and Kevin Mench regularly. — Rangers manager Buck Showalter put …
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
RELATED ITEMS:
Baseball Prospectus:
MILWAUKEE BREWERS — A quick glance at Clay Davenport's Adjusted Standings Report suggests there's something seriously wrong in Beertown. At 411 runs scored, the Brewers are in the middle of the pack. However, they're at the wrong end of the runs allowed rankings with 485, worst in the National League.
RELATED ITEMS:
Tom Haudricourt / JSOnline:
Offense worries Melvin — Brewers GM concerned about recent slump — thaudricourt@journalsentinel.com — As the Milwaukee Brewers prepare to open the second half of their season tonight in Arizona, they rank last in the National League in both pitching and fielding.
New York Post:
YANKEES AND METS BOTH INQUIRE ABOUT ABREU — July 14, 2006 — BOBBY Abreu is both appealing and repelling, an enigma within an All-Star. He could prove a difference-maker in a playoff race or a reminder that the New York teams should never acquire expensive players with makeup issues.
Ken Gurnick / MLB.com:
Dodgers fall in 14 innings in St. Louis — Perez allows game-winning homer to Pujols — ST. LOUIS — It truly was a series of unfortunate events that led the Dodgers to start the second half on a sour note. — And we're not only talking about the walk-off home run Albert Pujols slugged off Odalis Perez …
Discussion:
Dodger Thoughts
RELATED ITEMS:
Ben Nuckols / Associated Press:
Manufacturing error leads to dark-skinned Roberts bobblehead — BALTIMORE (AP) — Orioles players have joked in the past that they didn't look like their bobblehead dolls. But when a recent shipment of Brian Roberts bobbleheads arrived, team officials knew something was wrong.
Discussion:
The Griddle
John Tomase / Boston Herald:
Hansen struggles his second time out — A dozen appearances into Craig Hansen's 2006 season, a pattern has emerged. — In his first inning of work, he's Mariano Rivera. But send him back out for anything more and the drop is precipitous. — The latest example came in the Red Sox' 5-4 loss to the Oakland A's last night.
RELATED ITEMS:
Ira Berkow / New York Times:
Mets' Bannister: Forgotten, but Not Gone — PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., July 12 — It looked lonely on the ball field. Under an overcast morning sky, with a wind picking up that swayed the nearby palm trees and portended rain, a man alone — a man who had seemingly and suddenly fallen off the baseball map — threw from the mound.
Murray Chass / New York Times:
As Bonds Faces Possible Day in Court, Selig Faces a Quandary — EARLIER in the season, Barry Bonds's chase of Babe Ruth was the focus of baseball enthusiasts. These days, the focus is still on Bonds, but it has nothing to do with him hitting home runs. Now the focus is on the government's pursuit of Bonds.
Discussion:
Only Baseball Matters
Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Nationals sign outfielder Matos — Washington designates Byrd for assignment — PITTSBURGH — The Nationals continued their roster overhaul Friday by signing center fielder Luis Matos and designating outfielder Marlon Byrd for assignment. — For now, Matos, 27, is expected to be a backup outfielder.
Discussion:
District of Baseball
Associated Press:
Brocail back with Padres after two angioplasties, rehab — SAN DIEGO — Padres reliever Doug Brocail was activated from the disabled list Thursday, a little over four months after undergoing the first of two heart angioplasties during the spring. — "I think that the doctor did such a good job …
Associated Press:
Cubs put pitcher Mark Prior back on DL — CHICAGO —Cubs right-hander Mark Prior went back on the 15-day disabled list Friday, this time with a strained left oblique muscle. — He got hurt while taking batting practice last Saturday in Milwaukee. Prior, who began the season on the disabled list …
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
