Cubs trade catcher Barrett to Padres  —  CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs traded embattled catcher Michael Barrett and cash to the first-place San Diego Padres on Wednesday for backup catcher Rob Bowen and minor league outfielder Kyler Burke.  —  Barrett, batting .256 with nine homers and 29 RBIs …

White Sox can't contain Marlins in loss  —  Manager Guillen expresses frustration after lead dissolves  —  CHICAGO — On the sliding scale of Ozzie Guillen tirades, ranging from the somewhat comical right on up to his irate verbal assault of Magglio Ordonez in Detroit two years ago …

Schilling to DL  —  ATLANTA — The Red Sox announced this afternoon that Curt Schilling will be put on the 15-day disabled list, and that Josh Beckett will move up in the rotation to pitch Sunday (he'll have his normal rest).  —  Schilling, who had an MRI on his pitching shoulder yesterday …

Sources: O's in negotiations with Girardi … SAN DIEGO // The Orioles are currently negotiating with Joe Girardi to become their new manager, two baseball sources confirmed this afternoon.  —  "There is ongoing communication with Baltimore," said Steve Mandel, the agent for Girardi.

Braves Trade McBride  —  Posted on Wed Jun 20, 2007 at 04:49:56 PM EDT  —  The Atlanta Braves announced that they have traded left-handed reliever Macay McBride to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for left-handed reliever Wilfredo Ledezma.  —  Ledezma has primarily been a reliever …

Yanks in Hunter's sights  —  Potential free agent likes N.Y.  —  It's such a natural, it could be the name of a movie.  And it would be the kind of headline-grabber the Yankees crave.  —  What if Spider-Man took New York?  —  Torii Hunter, a.k.a. Spider-Man, is the Twins' high flying acrobat …

It's bobblehead night for Mets  —  Make 4 errors in defeat  —  And now back to the free-fall ...  Jorge Sosa turned in the shortest start by a Met in eight weeks and his teammates committed a season-high four errors in a 9-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins last night.

The Boston Red Sox's Sultan of Statistical Analysis  —  After 25 years on the outside, Bill James was invited to take a seat at the center of the baseball universe.  Since Mr. James, the statistical oracle and author of the Bill James Baseball Abstracts, was hired by the Boston Red Sox in 2002 …

Less Than Ideal  —  Is there an ideal pitcher's body?  There's some irony here since the pitcher who asked me that is 6'10" (as well as 3-0 with an 0.64 ERA), but ignore that for a moment.  Scouts often say there's a type that's "durable" or "ideal.  " In fact, the evidence suggests …

Yanks, Mets, Angels all have inside track  —  LIKE THIS STORY?  —  If the Yankees wish to trade for Rangers closer Eric Gagne, they would hold an advantage over most other contenders.  —  The Yankees, Mets and Angels are among the clubs that can obtain Gagne without his permission, FOXSports.com has learned.

Reds ride Bailey's gem to victory  —  Griffey crushes 582nd career homer to help put away A's  —  OAKLAND — Homer Bailey took the mound Tuesday as just another guy in the gray visitor's uniform.  —  Pitching in the first road game of his brief big-league career against the A's …

Pirates Notebook: Tracy sticks by Paulino as catcher  —  SEATTLE — To get more offense from their catcher, the Pirates could do one of two things:  —  1. Get Ronny Paulino to hit something approaching his .310 mark as a rookie last year.  —  2. Use Ryan Doumit instead …

The Big Picture  —  Forty and Fabulous  —  Two weeks ago this column looked at the graying offenses of major league baseball.  Subsequently, in a series of e-mails among the Baseball Prospectus staff over the weekend, it was noted that there are a large number of pitchers age 40 and above right now.

A Taste of the Big Leagues  —  JUPITER — The recent injuries to the Florida Marlins have provided some welcomed nourishment to the Jupiter Hammerheads.  —  One of baseball's unwritten rules, along with not talking to a pitcher throwing a no-hitter, is that major-league players …