MLB Trade Rumors: Brewers Turn Focus To Brian Dozier After Losing Out on Manny Machado  —  Which contending teams will shake up their roster and make a deal before the trade deadline?  —  The All-Star break is officially over as teams start the second half of the season.

Angels praise Mike Trout for ‘prioritizing personal values’  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels publicly praised Mike Trout “for prioritizing his personal values over commercial self-promotion” a day after baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said the All-Star outfielder …

Chicago Cubs look to stay hot against fading St. Louis Cardinals  —  CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs used a strong push to enter the All-Star break leading the National League Central Division.  The St. Louis Cardinals, meanwhile, finished the first half on a skid that cost manager Mike Matheny his job.

Red Sox identity, standing as league's best will be tested  —  The greatest question the Red Sox face entering the second half of the season — well, final two-fifths, really — whether they're good enough to avoid a Wild Card game.  Whether they hold on to the American League East and keep the Yankees at bay.

Winning isn't the only thing: Realistic second-half goals for all 30 teams  —  Before the season, we wanted to define what success would look like for every major league team this year.  We believe in a broad definition of success, and we tried to appreciate that a single great memory …

Indians' Jose Ramirez's putting together MVP-caliber season  —  If anyone is looking for a player whose banner would be worthy of filling the void on the now LeBron James-less Sherwin-Williams building in downtown Cleveland, the Indians' Jose Ramirez has made the best case thus far.

Mets midseason report card: Grading the Amazin's at the break  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Wait, it's only been half a season?  It feels like the Mets have already produced a season-and-a-half worth of drama and bad baseball.  GM Sandy Alderson has stepped down to deal with a recurrence of cancer …

1968: Dodgers relent as players find power to precipitate change  —  For a century, professional baseball players were regarded as entertainers: see ball, hit ball, play in whatever city you are assigned, for whatever salary you are assigned, and keep your mouth shut.

MLB orders diversity training for Maryland native Josh Hader after hateful tweets surface during All-Star Game  —  Josh Hader, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher and Old Mill alumnus, addresses tweets from high school that surfaced during All-Star Game tonight.  (Eduardo A. Encina, Baltimore Sun video)

Keith Law's midseason top 50 prospects update  —  A handful of promotions earlier this season have shuffled the top of my rankings, which now feature five players signed as international (July 2nd) free agents in the first five slots.  The list also skews quite young, with teenagers constituting more than 20% of the players here.

25 years later, a look back at the '93 Phillies offers a sobering lesson in the ruthlessness of time  —  The 1993 Phillies' listening tastes leaned toward hard-rock Whitesnake so it's doubtful many were familiar with a classic Broadway musical whose plot, perhaps better than more-logical rationales …

Phillies' run to first place was built on facing down adversity |  First-half review  —  When the Phillies return to Citizens Bank Park on Friday night to open the second half of the season, 106 days will have passed since Gabe Kapler was booed at the home opener.

Cincinnati Reds placed outfielder Scott Schebler on the disabled list with shoulder injury  —  When the Reds return from the All-Star break on Friday, they will be without one of their usual leadoff hitters.  —  Scott Schebler was placed on the 10-day disabled list Wednesday with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder.