Molina wins 7th straight Gold Glove  —  St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina joined Ivan Rodriguez and Johnny Bench in Rawlings Gold Glove lore, while the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles repeated their golden trifectas Tuesday.  —  Molina won his seventh straight Gold Glove award …

Cubs, already a big free-agent player, are targeting Russell Martin  —  The Cubs, already the leader in free agency after landing marquee manager Joe Maddon for a $25-million, five-year deal, are going to target top free agent catcher Russell Martin, sources connected to the team said.

Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2015  —  As explained in this series of posts, Matt Swartz and MLB Trade Rumors have developed an accurate model to project arbitration salaries.  We've heard from many MLB teams and agencies that reference the projections in their work.

Federal prosecutors say Alex Rodriguez paid Yuri Sucart nearly $1M to keep quiet … MLB drug suspensions database … Yankees  —  Alex Rodriguez appeal winners and losers

HRs still rare in San Diego, but ‘fence talk’ is down  —  7/31/14: Jedd Gyorko sends a solo homer to right off Shelby Miller to cut the Cardinals' lead to 2-1  —  SAN DIEGO — The Padres didn't want to draw any definitive conclusions about the field modifications that were made prior …

Alfonso Soriano Announces Retirement  —  Longtime big leaguer Alfonso Soriano has annunced his retirement from the game, reports Hector Gomez of Dominican outlet Listin Diario (via Twitter).  The 38-year-old played in parts of 16 MLB seasons, including thirteen as a full-time regular.

Kershaw finalist for NL MVP, Cy Young Award  —  MLB Network names Clayton Kershaw, Andrew McCutchen and Giancarlo Stanton as the finalists for the 2014 National League Most Valuable Player  —  With the biggest piece of team hardware handed out, the most coveted individual awards are being prepared …

Korean pitcher Hyeon-jong Yang, possible Yankees target, to be posted: source  —  Yang, who throws a fastball that sits between 92-95 mph, as well as a curveball, slider and changeup, projects as a No. 3 starter in the big-leagues, although he could develop into a No. 2, according to a scout who has seen him throw.

Dodgers To Hire Farhan Zaidi As GM, Add Josh Byrnes To Front Office  —  The Dodgers will name former Athletics assistant GM Farhan Zaidi the team's new general manager this week, according to a tweet from Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.  Zaidi, 37, had been with Oakland for ten years and was promoted just before last season.

Bogar reunites with Angels in front office  —  ANAHEIM — The Angels have brought back Tim Bogar to serve as a special assistant within their front office, general manager Jerry Dipoto confirmed on Tuesday.  —  Bogar, who will work under Dipoto, managed the Angels' Double-A affiliate in 2013 …

Sources: Nelson Cruz, a big bargain in 2014, is seeking four-year deal  —  Free-agent slugger Nelson Cruz turned out to be the biggest free-agent bargain in baseball when he hit an MLB-high 40 home runs after signing a one-year, $8 million deal with the Orioles.

Rockies' qualifying offer to Michael Cuddyer decreases Mets' interest in outfielder … Baseball  —  Ranking MLB's free agent position players

Maddon's departure from Rays to Cubs feels shady  —  This whole thing stinks to high heaven.  —  It smells rotten and it looks shady and it feels dirty.  —  No matter how you slice it, it all just feels wrong.  —  Joe Maddon is gone.  It's official now.  The Cubs introduced him as their manager Monday.