Hillenbrand lashes out at Jays front office, wants trade  —  TORONTO — Shea Hillenbrand criticized the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday and said he expects to be traded.  —  "I love my teammates here, but I'm waiting to be traded," Hillenbrand said during a profanity-filled tirade.

Sox armed for long haul: Beckett's extension sets future  —  Already, in the summer of 2006, roughly half of the pitching staff is set.  And after so many years and so much gray hair, we now celebrate words that so often seemed like a contradiction in terms.  —  Red Sox Youth.

Notes: Schneider remains fixture  —  Despite drop in numbers, catcher to stay as everyday player  —  MIAMI — After reaching career highs in hits and runs scored, Brian Schneider's production has dropped steadily this season.  —  "He's better than this," manager Frank Robinson said.

Sheets strong in outing at Omaha  —  OMAHA, Neb. — Ben Sheets may be ready to return to the Milwaukee Brewers starting rotation.  —  He made a strong case Wednesday night, allowing only one run on three hits in 6 1/3 strong innings in helping the Triple-A Nashville Sounds beat the Omaha Royals, 3-1.

Next stop, Cincy: Actor Hanks continues ballpark tour  —  CINCINNATI — Actor Tom Hanks and two show business friends turned a rain delay into an event Wednesday.  —  Hanks, director Ron Howard and comedian Dennis Miller made Great American Ball Park their third stop on their hush-hush ballparks tour.

Mets could trade top prospect for Zito  —  The Mets have insisted for months that they won't trade their top position prospect, Class AAA outfielder Lastings Milledge.  But a growing number of major-league executives believe that the Mets will indeed part with Milledge, 21, if they can get the right starting pitcher in return.

Wakefield out with stress fracture in rib cage  —  The Red Sox will have to make do without pitcher Tim Wakefield for at least three weeks, after extensive tests revealed he has a stress fracture in his rib cage, a source with direct knowledge of the injury confirmed.

Pedro makes pitch to hit 10-day target  —  CINCINNATI - Pedro Martinez has moved closer to returning from the disabled list.  The ace had a 60-pitch bullpen session yesterday, with a five-minute rest midway through the workout.  Martinez, whose 45-pitch session Sunday was his first since landing …

A's edge past Orioles  —  Crosby, Ellis hit back-to-back homers in third inning  —  BALTIMORE — Bobby Crosby was batting .111 so far on the A's current road trip, and Mark Ellis was batting .222.  —  So after Crosby ripped a two-run homer in the third inning Tuesday and Ellis followed …

Umpire Timeout Disrupts Yankees in Untimely Way  —  How intense was Seattle's 3-2 victory over the Yankees yesterday at Yankee Stadium?  Consider this scene, in the bottom of the seventh inning in the afternoon sunshine before 54,121 fans.  The Yankees had just tied the score, 2-2.

Chat Wrap: John Manuel Prospects Chat  —  Q: … A:  —  John Manuel: Thanks to everyone for coming in to the chat, I've had plenty of email on this post already so I thought a chat was the way to go.  Let's dive in with Weezer as my backkup band for the day . . .

Yanks do trick, not trade  —  Until yesterday, and the wasted vintage pitching effort by Randy Johnson, there had been nothing but good tidings for Joe Torre's Yankees this second half of the season.  And, more and more, there has been reason to believe the "scrub squadders" of Melky Cabrera …

Future Shock  —  Sunshine State Scouting Notebook  —  While things are hot all over the country lately, it's always warm in Florida, and the Florida State League has been a hotbed for talent this year.  Even though the bevy of top pitchers like Homer Bailey (Reds), Yovani Gallardo (Brewers) …

BLOWING SMOKE  —  Study breezes past reality of Rangers' stadium  —  It was the feathers that gave them away, like one of those old Looney Tunes cartoons when Sylvester has just popped Tweety Bird into his mouth and looks completely innocent...except for the feathers sticking out of his lips.