Crunch time for Hamels, Phillies  —  If you're Cole Hamels, and the Phillies offer you more than $130 million, it doesn't mean you have to say yes.  —  Hamels waited this long for the Phillies to engage him; he might want to wait three more months to satisfy his curiosity about the free-agent market …

Source: Boston eyes Marlins Johnson, Sanchez  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — In the wake of the continued struggles of Jon Lester and Josh Beckett, the Boston Red Sox have directed their attention toward acquiring a starting pitcher before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

Braves Could Acquire Ryan Dempster  —  3:30pm: The teams are awaiting Dempster's approval, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports (on Twitter).  —  2:57pm: Dempster is in the Cubs' clubhouse preparing for tonight's game in Pittsburgh, according to reporters, including Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter).

Mike Trout's ‘not Willie Mays’ … ANAHEIM, Calif. — Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington thinks it's time to tap the brakes on the comparisons being made of Los Angeles Angels rookie outfielder Mike Trout.  —  “He's not Willie Mays,” Washington said after the Angels beat the Rangers 7-4 on Sunday night.

Young and fearless A's expose Yankees' flaws  —  OAKLAND — All of the Yankees' flaws were exposed in this four-game series against the young, upstart, pitching-rich, living-right A's.  —  The Yankees couldn't get the big hit when they needed it.  They couldn't get the big out, either.

Quentin Stays in San Diego  —  The Padres aren't going anywhere this season but that doesn't automatically qualify the 41-56 club as deadline sellers.  While Carlos Quentin, Chase Headley and Huston Street have attracted plenty of attention on the trade market, general manager Josh Byrnes …

Tonight's Pitching preview: Young and Zimmermann  —  Chris Young (2-4, 4.11 ERA) will start for the Mets tonight.  —  Young pitched well in his last start despite struggling toward the end of his outing, allowing two runs in six innings against the Nationals.

Baseball's Most Valuable Players: Updated  —  At the end of May, I wrote about who had been baseball's most valuable players (economically) up until that point in the season.  The goal behind that post was to discover which players brought the most value (WAR) to their ballclubs for the lowest cost ($, salary).

Brewers may start shopping players  —  Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin is not yet ready to declare his team an outright seller.  But clearly, Melvin is moving closer to such a decision.  —  The Brewers, who were swept by the Cincinnati Reds this weekend …

Two enter Hall of Fame, only one lives to accept honour  —  Barry Larkin, half of the Baseball Hall of Fame's class of 2012, puffed his chest, clenched his fists and held his head high, full of pride.  —  Larkin, a Cincinnati native, had played 19 seasons for the team he grew up adoring …

Dodgers rally in 12th to sweep fading Mets, 8-3  —  NEW YORK—Pinch-hitter Matt Treanor had a two-run single in a five-run 12th inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the fading New York Mets 8-3 on Sunday to finish a three-game sweep.  —  The Dodgers blew a 3-1 lead after the sixth …