METS HIRE PEDRO'S TRAINER  —  Pedro Martinez's personal trainer is now officially a member of the Mets.  —  The Mets have hired Chris Correnti, who has been with Martinez during his rehab and has helped to oversee it, as a consultant for the remainder of the season.

Starters' ailments thorn in O's side  —  Oblique strain ends season for Bedard, likely Guthrie, too  —  The Orioles yesterday officially shut down pitching ace Erik Bedard for the rest of the season, ending his breakout campaign and sending a patchwork starting rotation into more flux.

Under The Knife  —  Glausgate  —  When Troy Glaus signed with the D'backs for four years and $45 million, he was actually taking a one-year pay cut.  He'd made $9 million in the last year of his deal with the Angels that had bought out his arbitration years, and although he'd been an All-Star …

Brawny arguments for top NL rookies  —  Brewers third baseman's season could net him hardware  —  The Milwaukee Brewers had a difficult second half until recently, but no one could blame Ryan Braun.  —  The 23-year-old third baseman is enjoying the kind of rookie campaign …

New York: The Hottest Corner in Baseball  —  Weekend News: Alex Rodriguez hit his 52nd home run of the season on Sunday, extending his consecutive games streak of going yard to five.  ARod has slugged seven homers during this span.  —  David Wright hit his 27th home run during Saturday's game, matching his career best in 2005.

Notes: Wright not used to time off  —  Entering Sunday, third baseman had started 139 of 141 games  —  NEW YORK — It was a good day to be off, someone told David Wright in the Mets clubhouse late Sunday morning.  Lots of relaxing.  Perhaps monitoring an NFL game or two?  —  Probably not, he said.

Duncan's season may be over  —  PHOENIX — Left fielder Chris Duncan's availability for the remainder of the season is in question after the Cardinals' lefthanded slugger on Saturday aggravated what the club described as a sports hernia.  —  Manager Tony La Russa ruled out Duncan …

Best and Worst MLB Splits, 1957-2006  —  There are some great water cooler conversations out there in baseball land: What are the best infields of all time?  Which squads did their best in clutch situations?  Which teams in baseball history improved the most as the season wore on?

BasketballProspectus.com Launches in October  —  Good early morning, all.  —  I am pleased to announce that we will be launching BasketballProspectus.com in the first half of October.  BasketballProspectus.com's initial focus will be on men's college basketball.

Granderson steals way to elite class  —  Outfielder has at least 20 steals, homers, doubles and triples  —  DETROIT — Curtis Granderson made history yet again in the first inning of Sunday's game against the Mariners at Comerica Park.  —  Granderson stole his 20th base of the season …

Nats Receive Contributions From All Around  —  Jimenez's Three Hits, Church's 3-Run HR Help Club Rebound: Nationals 7, Braves 4  —  With a pair of forgettable games immediately behind them, the Washington Nationals tried to right things Sunday by inserting a leadoff hitter with a .154 average …

Gibbons received banned drugs  —  O's outfielder latest athlete tied to pipeline pharmacy  —  In the ever-widening Signature Pharmacy scandal, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons is the latest pro athlete tied to an alleged illegal internet drug distribution network.

Tigers likely to shut down Bonderman  —  Leyland unsure about righty's season as troubles continue  —  DETROIT — The question has been lingering for a while now: Is Jeremy Bonderman completely healthy?  —  The answer came with a resounding "no" after a disastrous 1 1/3 innings in Sunday's 14-7 loss to the Mariners.