Top News:
Associated Press:
Nationals sign OF Matos, send OF Byrd to minors, lose OF Watson to Reds — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Nationals signed free-agent outfielder Luis Matos on Friday and assigned outfielder Marlon Byrd to Triple-A New Orleans after he cleared waivers. — The Nationals also reacquired …
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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 …
Christina Kahrl / Baseball Prospectus:
TA: Breakout — The Nats Go Red, and the Reds Go Nuts — IN THIS ISSUE — National League — Acquired RHP Gary Majewski, LHP Bill Bray, SS-R Royce Clayton, INF-R Brendan Harris, and RHP Daryl Thompson from the Nationals for OF-R Austin Kearns, SS-B Felipe Lopez, and RHP Ryan Wagner …
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 …
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 …
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Tom Singer / MLB.com:
Trade Winds: Gusts surround Philly — Variety of teams contacting GM Gillick about Abreu — When it comes to baseball's summer trading season, the All-Star break truly is the calm before the storm. Indeed, the trade winds now are blowing fiercely. — The eye of this storm appears …
Discussion:
Bless You Boys
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MLB.com:
Angels place pitcher Kelvim Escobar on 15-day disabled list; Club recalls infielder Howie Kendrick from Triple-A Salt Lake — ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Angels Friday placed RHP Kelvim Escobar on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to July 7) with irritation of the right elbow.
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Ken Rosenthal / Fox Sports:
Angels' Escobar goes on DL — The Angels have put right-hander Kelvim Escobar on the disabled list with irritation in his right elbow. — Escobar was sidelined for more than two months last year after undergoing surgery to shave down a bone spur and remove a bone chip from the same elbow.
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 …
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Jordan Robertson / Associated Press:
Bonds' rift with former friend could play into grand jury probe — SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Barry Bonds and Steve Hoskins were boyhood friends who went into business together and made a lot of money selling the San Francisco slugger's autographs. But the relationship collapsed when Bonds accused Hoskins …
Discussion:
The Good Phight
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Murray Chass / New York Times:As Bonds Faces Possible Day in Court, Selig Faces a Quandary
Discussion:
Only Baseball Matters
Paul Sullivan / Chicago Tribune:
Cubs put Prior on DL — The Cubs started the second half of the season by putting pitcher Mark Prior on the disabled list and calling up infielder Ryan Theriot from Triple-A Iowa. — Prior was a late scratch from last Sunday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers because of a strained muscle on his left side.
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Associated Press:
Botched bobbleheads — O's return 20,000 dark-skinned Roberts replicas — 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
Joe Sheehan / Baseball Prospectus:
Prospectus Today — State of the Game — Hey, no wonder the AL teed off on Trevor Hoffman's splitter Tuesday night: he doesn't actually throw one. My error; Hoffman is a fastball/change-up guy, something a number of readers pointed out to me, and I'm pretty sure the extra-base hits he allowed were on change-ups.
Discussion:
The Joy of Sox
Charles Odum / Associated Press:
Malone's Liberty bid for Braves opposed by pro-family campaign — ATLANTA (AP) — Liberty Media's bid to buy the Atlanta Braves is facing new opposition from pro-family advocates because Liberty owns On Command, which sells adult movies in hotel rooms across the nation.
Mercury News:
Teixeira's 3 HRs help Rangers win — INDIANS OVERPOWER LIRIANO, TWINS 6-4 — BALTIMORE - Texas Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira has been insisting for months that his swing is no different from a year ago, when he had 43 home runs and 144 RBIs. — He backed up that assertion Thursday …
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 …
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.
Discussion:
Mike's Mets
