Lowell trade is off  —  Rangers discover he needs surgery  —  Don't toss away your Mike Lowell jersey.  For now, the third baseman is staying with the Red Sox.  —  Lowell was found to have a torn ligament in his right thumb during a physical conducted by the Rangers yesterday in Arlington …

Rolen signs extension  —  The Reds and 3B Scott Rolen have restructured his contract and have extended him for two more guaranteed seasons.  Rolen's new contract will pay him $23.625 million through the 2012 season with a $5 million signing bonus that is deferred over the next three seasons without interest.

Sources say Gray interviewed for Redskins' head-coaching job  —  Defensive coordinator Greg Blache did not interview for the Redskins' head coaching position but secondary coach Jerry Gray did, league sources confirmed today.  —  A ProFootballTalk.com report stated Blache interviewed …

‘Evaluating Baseball Managers’: Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda  —  Evaluating Baseball Managers: A Comprehensive History and Performance Analysis, 1876-2008 is going to be as big as it sounds.  Author, history instructor and Hardball Times veteran Chris Jaffe sent me sample …

Potential trade consequences can run deep  —  Do you break up what is pretty close to a dream rotation?  —  You've got Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, and Daisuke Matsuzaka.  You've got veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield as a spot starter in case someone needs rest or is injured.

In Signing Nick Johnson, Yankees Turn Johnny Damon Away  —  The fourth game of the World Series was tied, 4-4, with two outs, no base runners and a 1-2 count on Johnny Damon in the top of the ninth inning last month in Philadelphia.  With one more strike, the Phillies would have come to bat …

New York Mets appear to be lone team set to pay free agent Jason Bay  —  The Mets' competition for free agent outfielder Jason Bay dropped by one team Friday when the Mariners traded for Milton Bradley.  Now it remains to be seen if the Mets and Bay can come to an agreement that would bring the outfielder to Flushing.

Too many closers, not enough jobs  —  For some closers, the free-agent game of musical chairs is not likely to end well.  —  Too many of 'em are on the market.  Not enough well-paying, ninth-inning jobs remain.  —  Two more closers — Pirates righty Matt Capps and Nationals righty Mike MacDougal …

If The Yankees Were Serious, They Would Put Gardner In CF  —  Way back in the day, I used to write the blog Fire Joe Torre.  My argument was basically (with some hyperbole thrown in): the Yankees can do better than Torre, even if they won a lot of games with him.  They're slowly losing their dominance.

Inbox: Should Wright play first base?  —  Mets beat reporter Marty Noble fields fans' questions  —  I love watching David Wright make highlight plays at third base, but he also makes a lot of errors.  With the need for a first baseman, the Mets could solve that problem with moving Wright to first.