Top News:
Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Mailbag: Transaction reactions — Beat reporter Bill Ladson answers reader's questions … Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez have not been good. Can we expect better play from them? How can the Nationals consider trading Alfonso Soriano? He and Ryan Zimmerman have been the only reliable players this year.
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Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Nats designate LeCroy for assignment — GM Bowden will try to trade him to AL team, activates Armas — WASHINGTON — Catcher/first baseman Matthew LeCroy knew this past weekend that his days with the Nationals were numbered. After the team made the eight-player trade …
Barry Svrluga / Washington Post:
Going Gets Tough On Nats — With More Trades Looming, Team Falls to Marlins: Marlins 4, Nationals 2 — MIAMI, July 17 — There is a certain revolving-door quality to the Washington Nationals' clubhouse right now. Players come and go daily. The fresh faces seem to outnumber the familiar.
baseballminutia.com:
Blowing It Up - Wayne Krivsky takes on the Power of Tradition — So much for the Power of Tradition. — To the fan and analyst a trade is a talent swap first and foremost, stats for stats, needs for needs, but beneath all of the rate stats and percentage stats are nuances that get passed over by those of us on the outside.
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Mark Sheldon / MLB.com:
Mailbag: Sorting through the Nats trade — Reds beat writer Mark Sheldon answers fans' questions — Let's get right to the questions about the trade. Not surprisingly, the masses were irate. — What were the Reds thinking in dealing Felipe Lopez, Austin Kearns and Ryan Wagner?
Associated Press:
Phillies-Padres Preview — The Philadelphia Phillies are trying to turn around their season. It would be a big help if Cole Hamels does. — The surging Phillies hand the ball to the rookie left-hander on Monday in the opener of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres .
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Associated Press:
Braves bash Cards with 15-run onslaught, snap seven-game streak — CBS SportsLine.com wire reports — ST. LOUIS — The only thing missing on another huge night for the Atlanta Braves' offense was an extra-base hit from Chipper Jones. — Brian McCann hit a grand slam and leadoff man Wilson Betemit …
ESPN:
Gammons out of hospital, heads to rehab center — BOSTON — Longtime ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons was released from a Boston hospital Monday — nearly three weeks after suffering a brain aneurysm. — Gammons was moved to an undisclosed rehabilitation center, his wife, Gloria said in a statement.
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Adrian Dater / Denver Post:
Special delievery to the plate — Pitching motions can get personal, with the strangest still capable of strikes — By the time the baseball left Luis Tiant's hand, his body had turned 180 degrees around and back again. En route to releasing the ball, he got a good look at the batter …
Sports Illustrated:
'It was the right thing to do' (cont.) — Around the majors — • The White Sox asked the Mets for Duaner Sanchez and Mike Pelfrey for Freddy Garcia. No go. The Sox have spoken to several clubs about Garcia and Javier Vazquez but prefer to keep Vazquez since he's contractually tied to the team for three more years.
T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com:
Most moves to come from within organization — TORONTO — Pitcher C.J. Wilson, after throwing two scoreless innings for Triple-A Oklahoma on Sunday, will be called up for Tuesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. — He is expected to replace one of the rookie right-handed relievers, either Scott Feldman or Wes Littleton.
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
Sports Illustrated:
Japan baseball great Oh has stomach operation — TOKYO (AP) -Japan home run king Sadaharu Oh had successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his stomach, his doctor said Tuesday — Masaki Kitajima, a surgeon at Tokyo's prestigious Keio University Hospital, told a televised news conference Tuesday …
Discussion:
The Griddle
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Dejan Kovacevic Pirates' chat transcript — PensFan: Now that the All-Star festivities are over, do the Nuttings finally sell this team?? — Dejan Kovacevic: Welcome one and all again. No, there are no indications whatsoever that the team is for sale. — SDWC: Hi Dejan.
Mike Scarr / MLB.com:
Angels back rookie, win seventh straight — Halos amass 17 hits to support Moseley in debut vs. Tribe — ANAHEIM — The kid was game. — Handed the ball to make his first Major League start, Dustin Moseley pitched well enough with a lead Monday night, and let the suddenly surging offense …
Discussion:
6-4-2
Kelly Thesier / MLB.com:
Notes: Hunter in a hurry to recover — Stewart's injury may be season-ending; White starts in left — MINNEAPOLIS — Torii Hunter seems to defy expectations with his play, so it's no surprise that he expects to do the same with his most recent injury, a stress fracture in his left foot.
Discussion:
Twinkie Town
Michael Gluskin / MLB.com:
Notes: Rumors fly around Lopez — Right-hander has struggled but could still be coveted — BALTIMORE — One day after discussing trade rumors in general terms, Baltimore starter Rodrigo Lopez learned Monday that he may have a new specific destination. Buster Olney, a senior columnist for ESPN.com …
Kevin Goldstein / Baseball Prospectus:
Future Shock — Chris Carter, 1b, Rookie-level Great Falls (White Sox) — A 15th-round pick out of a Las Vegas high school last June, the White Sox thought they had found a sleeper in Carter when he bashed 10 home runs in his pro debut, but he struggled in an assignment to full-season Kannapolis in April …
