A's likely cutting ties with Bradley, activate Harden  —  OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics designated outfielder Milton Bradley for assignment Thursday, cutting ties with a player who was expected to play an important role on the team this season.  —  The move was made to avoid …

Not for the Birds: Girardi turns down Orioles job  —  BALTIMORE — Joe Girardi declined an offer Thursday to become the new manager of the Baltimore Orioles, saying the timing wasn't right "for the Girardi family."  —  "Baltimore is a fine organization, a fine team, and I'm flattered …

Futures Game rosters announced  —  Cleveland prospect Lofgren excited to play near hometown  —  It doesn't matter what language you say it in — Japanese, Spanish, Dutch or English — the only correct way to say "future" to the 50 prospects chosen to participate in the 2007 XM Satelitte All-Star Futures Game is "big leagues."

Win-loss records don't tell the whole story … How often have you heard this question asked this season:  —  What's wrong with Johan Santana?  —  Uh, how about nothing?  —  Yeah, his win-loss record is "only" 7-6.  Yeah, that's exactly the same record as Miguel Batista.

Giambi agrees to meet with Mitchell investigation  —  NEW YORK — Jason Giambi agreed Thursday to meet with baseball steroids investigator George Mitchell and apologized for his actions, becoming the first active player known to cooperate with the former Senate majority leader.

Playing in Peoria, Former Top Pick of Padres Hopes to Salvage Career  —  For a professional baseball player of any acclaim and experience to be in Peoria at this time of year, something has to have gone wrong.  —  Peoria is the spring home of the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners — a place to be in March, not June.

Rocks deny Rocket 350th win, sweep Yanks  —  DENVER (AP) — The New York Yankees couldn't wait to get back to Coors Field after scoring a record 41 times on their first trip to the Colorado Rockies' ballpark five years ago.  —  This time, they couldn't get out of town fast enough.

Back-to-back shutouts for Mariners  —  Felix dominates one night after Weaver's gem  —  There's apparently nothing like a struggling offense to get a pitching staff back on track.  —  One night after Jeff Weaver shut out Pittsburgh on four hits, Felix Hernandez came back with eight shutout innings …

Chat with Scouts Inc.'s Keith Law  —  Welcome to The Show!  On Thursday, Scouts, Inc. senior baseball analyst, Keith Law, will stop by to talk some baseball.  —  Keith was formerly the special assistant to the general manager with the Toronto Blue Jays and has a wealth of knowledge for you to tap into.

Rangers interested in Jones  —  Michael Barrett on Wednesday doesn't have any direct bearing on the Cubs' philosophy or intentions heading toward next month's trade deadline.  But that doesn't mean they're done dealing.  —  The Cubs have talked with the Texas Rangers and several other teams …