Torii Hunter says he'll take big pay cut to stay with Angels next season  —  DETROIT — Torii Hunter, in the final year of a five-year, $90 million contract, would take a huge pay cut to remain with the Los Angeles Angels and promised that money “will not be an issue” in whether he returns in 2013.

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Baseball Wives’ star Anna Benson says husband filed for divorce; kids registered as ‘homeless’ for school  —  Anna and Kris Benson in 2006 after Kris was traded by the New York Mets to the Baltimore Orioles.AP  —  The woman who said she would sleep with the entire …

Wright hits two homers, Dicky wins 13th in Mets' victory  —  WASHINGTON - David Wright homered twice and had five RBIs and R.A. Dickey won his league-leading 13th game and the New York Mets broke a six-game losing streak with a 9-5 win over the Washington Nationals on Thursday.

Sources: Cole Hamels talks intensify  —  PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies and Cole Hamels' agent, John Boggs, have picked up the pace of discussions in recent days, sources said, and those intensified discussions are an indication the Phillies have started a major push to sign Hamels before the July 31 trade deadline.

2012 Trade Value: #25-#21  —  So, from the land of embarrassing mistakes comes this - I screwed up yesterday and copied the wrong part of the list in to the #30-#26 post and didn't catch it until this morning.  Kipnis, Moore, Upton, Moustakas, and Gio were actually 25-21, and for whatever reason …

After resting sore knee, Quentin back in action  —  SAN DIEGO — Outfielder Carlos Quentin was back in left field and the cleanup spot on Wednesday after missing two games with soreness in his left knee.  —  Quentin has had surgeries on both knees, though the most recent procedure …

Stephen Drew Drawing Interest  —  3:37pm: The Pirates haven't had discussions about Drew with the Diamondbacks either, Olney reports (on Twitter).  —  3:27pm: The Red Sox and Diamondbacks have not spoken about Drew, ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports (on Twitter).

An Inner Circle for the Hall of Fame  —  By standards of the museum, all players honored in the baseball Hall of Fame are equal.  Once a man's in, he's in and all players get the same plaque.  There is no delineation between the Mickey Mantles and Tommy McCarthys of Cooperstown.  Should this be?

Ross hits two three-run homers, Red Sox pound White Sox  —  BOSTON — Cody Ross hit three-run homers in consecutive innings and Felix Doubront pitched six solid innings, carrying the Boston Red Sox to a 10-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night.

Braves Avoid Sweep, Beat Giants, 3-2  —  ATLANTA (AP) — Freddie Freeman and David Ross hit home runs as the Atlanta Braves made the most of their three hits to beat the San Francisco Giants 3-2 on Thursday to avoid a sweep.  —  Tim Hudson (8-4) helped an Atlanta bullpen that was drained by Wednesday night's 9-4 loss in 11 innings.

Mets won't overpay in trade  —  WASHINGTON — Trailing the Atlanta Braves by six games in the NL East standings in 2004, the New York Mets impulsively traded Scott Kazmir to Tampa Bay for Victor Zambrano in an ill-fated pursuit of a postseason berth.  —  The Mets could overpay now, too, assistant general manager John Ricco said.

Nats GM: Sitting Strasburg will be ‘my decision’  —  WASHINGTON — The decision whether the National League East-leading Washington Nationals will shut down prized starter Stephen Strasburg has apparently been made.  The when is all that remains.  —  General Manager Mike Rizzo told ESPN …

Prado focused on baseball, not contract  —  ATLANTA — Martin Prado has impressively bounced back from the most disappointing season of his young career and provided reason to believe he could serve as Chipper Jones' successor as the Braves' starting third baseman next year.

Kubel's 2 HRs Lead Dbacks Over Reds 7-1  —  CINCINNATI (AP) — Jason Kubel returned from a sore hamstring and homered in his first two at-bats on Wednesday night, powering the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 7-1 victory that dropped the Cincinnati Reds back into a first-place tie in the NL Central.

Five NL trades that must happen  —  Justin Upton to the Pirates, Cole Hamels to the Dodgers and other deals  —  Baseball's non-waiver trade deadline is a scant two weeks away, so it's rapidly becoming time for teams to start making some final decisions on the near-future comings and goings.

Jays' Lawrie leaves game after falling over railing  —  Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie bruised his right calf when he flipped over a railing trying to catch a foul pop in the third inning of their game against the New York Yankees on Wednesday.