Top News:
Jon Heyman / Sports Illustrated:
Cleveland fielding offers for DeRosa … Indians third baseman Mark DeRosa is one of the first veterans to hit the trade block. — Cleveland is now fielding offers for the versatile DeRosa, league sources say. — The Indians are looking mainly for pitchers who can help them now.
Discussion:
Plain Dealer, MLB Rumors, MetsBlog.com, Hardball Times, Brew Beat, VFTB, MLB FanHouse, Mostly Mets and ESPN
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Jon Heyman / Sports Illustrated:
Mets' options at first base, early trading block names, more notes … The Mets are probably going to need to trade for a first baseman (more on that below). But in the meantime, few scouts can understand why Daniel Murphy — the former fair-haired boy — isn't getting a full crack at first base in Carlos Delgado's absence.
David Lennon / Newsday:
Punchless Mets, Maine lose to Dodgers, 5-3 — John Maine is pulled from the game in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images / May 19, 2009) — LOS ANGELES - When Casey Blake's three-run homer sailed over the leftfield wall at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night …
Carroll Rogers / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Braves shuffle lineup, rock Rockies — Apparently, all the Braves needed was a good shuffling. — Manager Bobby Cox shook up the Braves lineup Tuesday, looking to drum up some offense after the Braves scored one run total in back-to-back losses. They responded with 13 hits in an 8-1 win over the Rockies.
Discussion:
Hardball Times
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Thomas Harding / MLB.com:Helton records 2,000th hit with Rockies
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Ken Gurnick / MLB.com:
Blake's homer lifts Dodgers over Mets — Three-run shot helps Billingsley nab NL-best sixth victory — LOS ANGELES — Advance copies are already selling on eBay for $29.99, but the Wednesday night giveaway of a bobblehead with his likeness has a value to Casey Blake that's priceless.
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Phil Gurnee / True Blue LA:
Billingsley and Bullpen gut out 5 - 3 victory — More photos » by Jeff Lewis - AP — Casey Blake launches his game winning home run and fourth in seven games (AP Photo/Jeff Lewis) — With a win tonight the Dodgers would guarantee another series win against their third straight Eastern Division opponent.
Stan Grossfeld / Boston Globe:
Save opportunity — Foulke looks to revive his big league career — Former Red Sox closer Keith Foulke is toiling for the Newark Bears, and as you may imagine, some things about playing in the Atlantic League don't sit well with him. (Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff Photos)
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Jerry Crasnick / ESPN:
Baseball's coming attractions — Several hot prospects could be called up soon and make an impact in 2009 — Judging from the snapshot at the quarter pole, baseball's rookie of the year races could be as dull as GEICO's latest ad campaign. With the exception of an Elvis Andrus …
Adam Kilgore / Boston Globe:
Wakefield, Sox draw first blood — Division leaders are held in check — The Red Sox have searched for solutions to each primary problem that surfaced during the early portion of their season: the rise of the Blue Jays; an abundance of errors from their shortstops; and, most pressing, the decline of David Ortiz.
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The Biz of Baseball:
Owners Meetings Kick Off with Gut Check. TV Territories On the Agenda — Major League Baseball's quarterly meetings take place in New York starting today, and with it, owners will most assuredly be taking a pulse to see how the downturn in the economy is impacting the bottom line, ergo attendance.
Discussion:
ESPN
The Wheelhouse / Noah Coslov's Wheelhouse:
Joe Maddon Contract Extension — Joe Maddon will be the Rays manager for years to come. That was never truly a question, but without a contract after 2009, some have speculated that there is unrest at the top of the organization. That couldn't be further from the truth.
Jason Beck / MLB.com:
D-Train won't be denied in second start — Lefty allows just one hit, retires 17 in a row at one point — DETROIT — Flash back to the sight of Dontrelle Willis at his Spring Training locker in March, trying to answer questions regarding an anxiety disorder that he knew little about …
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
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Yankees Blog:
Wang feels good after 50 pitches — Chien-Ming Wang threw 50 pitches in a bullpen session at the Stadium before the Yankees faced the Orioles and said he received a thumbs up from pitching coach Dave Eiland for the manner in which his sinker was biting. — “I feel good — everything is down,” Wang said.
Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Nationals fight back but fall in extras — Washington overcomes early hole before falling to Bucs — WASHINGTON — After the Nationals rallied back from an early five-run deficit, reliever Joe Beimel gave up three runs in the top of the 10th inning as Washington lost to the Pirates, 8-5, at Nationals Park on Tuesday night.
Joe Christensen / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Another early-inning debacle allows White Sox to stop Twins — Scott Baker's 44-pitch second inning sent the team to a fifth loss in a row. — CHICAGO - Pitching coach Rick Anderson looked like he was speaking for Twins fans everywhere Tuesday night, when the camera showed him berating Scott Baker …
