If the Tigers don't trade for some relievers, they are in serious trouble. Even Rodney coming back isn't going to help all that much, and I wouldn't bank on Zumaya by September 1. Makay McBride sucks, Jason Grilli is nothing more than a cast-off...this team is in serious trouble without a decent bullpen. That's all they need, just 2-3 guys in front of Jones who can hold a 7-1 lead.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...PGOUR6GQ01.DTL

An interesting article on Bonds today in the Chronicle.

Good stuff. In addition to all the points he makes in that article, I think the future of "performance-enhancement" is going to further muddy the waters of what is "fair" and what is "cheating". I'm also certain that as this generation of players gets older and starts writing memoirs, we're going to see more confessions, admissions and accusations of who was juicing.

For me, the steroid controversy can't take away the fact that Bonds is one of the best hitters in the history of the game.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...articleid=6497

Another good read.

Questionable move by the Brewers, trading 3 pitching prospects to San Diego for Scott Linebrink.

Linkebrink has been a very good setup guy for the Padres, but he's slipped a bit this year, and the guys they got back from Milwaukee have some real promise. I'm not really sure why Milwaukee traded for Linebrink without giving Joe Thatcher a shot first; he's posted very, very good numbers thus far in his career in the minors (not sure why he hasn't seen the bigs yet frankly). Instead, Thatcher goes to San Diego along with a very good SP prospect in Will Inman and a fair SP prospect in Steve Garrison.

I like this move from a San Diego perspective.

Cubs look to be ONE game back of the brewers in the loss column.

Royals with a complete trainwreck of a series so far with the Yankees :(

30K, 39K, and 28K for a midweek series and not a giant pile of Yankees fans either, the team was generating some serious buzz in KC and getting people excited.

Unfortunately, Odalis Perez pitched like Odalis Perez Monday. Scott Elarton pitched his way out of town Tuesday. And the offense couldn't get anything going last night so Buddy Bell left Meche in an inning too long (pitch 120 was ARod's 499th career homer, making the game 5-1 and out of reach).

SI

Speaking of the trade dealine, lots of spare parts for sale. Mark Grudzelanek, Reggie Sanders, Octavio Dotel, and David Riske to name a few.

SI

Interesting story I heard on Mike and Mike today, courtesy of Elias...

When the Yankees continue their rain-postponed game vs Baltimore in the next couple weeks, A-Rod is due to hit 2nd. If he homers in that at bat, or later in the game should it continue longer, that HR will be dated June 28th or whenever the game originally occurred. Meaning, his HR last night will officially be his 500th HR. The ball landed in the grass past the right-center fence where no one besides someone within the stadium could get to it.

Jason Kendall is hitting .067 since he joined the Cubs.

But the real question is how Julio Franco is doing.

He's hitting .174 with the Braves. He's well on his way to 2,585 hits.

Boo, you're just full of bad news today.

Glad to see he's recovered some of his stroke since leaving the A's.

CLEVELAND -- Kenny Lofton returned for his third stint with Cleveland -- and another playoff run -- on Friday as the Texas Rangers traded the 40-year-old outfielder to the Indians for minor-league catcher Max Ramirez.

Rob Bowen was hitting .065 as a Cub. Upgrade!

Neither can touch future HOFer Koyie Hill at .173, however.

He was 2-for-4 yesterday!

Well that was quick
 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

I'm still praying the Pads will get Tex or Dunn. (But the way they've been playing lately, it'll just mean losing 7-6 instead of 7-1).

There's a rumor that Teixeira to the Braves is done and sitting on Selig's desk waiting approval because of some financial issues in the deal.

If its true, the Braves send Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, and Matt Harrison to the Rangers in exhange for Teixeira.

Ryan Braun is an absolute beast...MY GOD!!!

The Brewers are going to be a very good team for a very long time if they can keep this group together.

If it is true, and I won't need to see Saltalamacchia play my Mets 19 times a year for the next decade, I'll be ecstatic.

Thanks for this.

Isn't that kindof how it should be with the Royals personnel giving the ball to him or the HOF rather than having it up on ebay?

SI

Braun Rules! But the Brewers Co Co cho chokes again.

:( Dang, Brewers need even more bullpen help

SI

The Reds acquired infielder Jorge Cantu, outfielder Shaun Cumberland and cash from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for right-hander Calvin Medlock, left-hander Brian Shackelford and future considerations on Saturday.

I'm not sure why they made this trade.

The Cubs up 4-0. Zambrano goes 3 for 4. Wait, I mean, he pitched 7 1/3 innings, 2 hits, couple a walks and leaves probably because of a little swelling in the ankle from a line drive he deflected to allow Ramirez to make a bare handed play to throw out the runner by a millisecond.

Nice overall game, should be 6-0 too but they called Soriano's hit a double when it clearly cleared the fence. Fat ass Joe West didn't feel like moving from his second base position to get a clear look at it. Fat ass. Fat ass.

Anyone seen the Clemens cingular commercial?

Pretty damn funny

Also, if the Teixeira deal gets done, apparently Dotel to the Braves for Davies will be next. Don't know a whole lot about Kyle Davies these days- anyone with some thoughts? There were also rumors about a Wladimir Balentien for Seattle being offered. And then some stuff about Moore setting the market kindof high by asking for some crazies from the Dodgers but it never sounded like that was serious talk.

EDIT: Then again, maybe this trade isn't going to happen after all.

Royals still looking to unload Grudzelanek and Sanders as well. Hopefully get some takers.

SI

Meche gets touched for 2 in the first but pretty much cruises the rest of the way... and the Royals give him 1 run and 2 hits of support. Same old, same old.

G. Meche

7.0

7

2

2

1

6

0

3.70

SI

Yeah, saw it Saturday. Hilarious.

cnnsi.com and espn are reporting that the red sox have agreed to a deal with texas for Eric Gagne. Gagne to Boston, Boston picks up his incentive payments as guarenteed salary, David Murphy, Kason Gabbard and engel beltre to the rangers

the obvious question this brings to mind is: wtf?? who's going to close? Gagne? Paps? Is this a way of freeing up Paps to put him back in the rotation (which would make me tear my hair out). Because I don't see either of the two being happy pitching the 8th. although if one of them would be it'd be amazing. a dual-closer setup...1 closer in the 8th...1 in the 9th.

don't know if it can work though. might be too much ego involved

I'm pretty sure Gagne is gonna be the set up man..

In much more exciting news, the Giants traded Matt Morris to Pittsburgh, who will incur the rest of Morris' contract...Yes!!!! A-Rod 2008!

Ward-Henke, ftw.

Gagne had to waive a no-trade to go to Boston, so he has to know he's just going to setup.

Of course, that's no guarantee everyone's happy forever.

Too bad we couldn't dump Zito :p . And no, A-Rod isn't coming, keep dreaming.

Suite seats. Chavez Ravine. Tonight.

Barry Bonds. 0 for 1. Pinch-hit ground out. Tonight.

I am sure you have to take these things with a grain of salt but is Mark Teixeira really worth this? Or has Tom Hicks not learn his lesson?

Bonds is in the lineup tonight....I'm kinda hoping he breaks the record in LA....I would find it hilarious.

Me too. Every moralizing blowhard that gets pissed off is a bonus point, but to do it at Dodger stadium? That's just awesome.

I never believe it until I see him take the field. He might fall over his recliner and break a hip. :p

So if he ties it tonight, he'll get a nice 5 game rest

Pretty nice deal for KC. They get a good starting pitcher prospect. Also, Dotel states in the KC paper today that he's definitely interested in returning to KC as a free agent in the off-season if KC can make a good offer. Not surprising since he offered to sign a long term deal with KC. Given that KC has over 30 million dollars in free payroll available for this off-season, I wouldn't be shocked to see him back in KC next year.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/213679.html

The $30M in free payroll is really a misnomer. You need to listen to Soren one of the days when they hash out the numbers- it's a good 30 minutes of radio. After options and arbitration, the Royals have about $7-$10M to maintain the current payroll and around $12M if they move up to $70M. And it sounds like they're going to go shopping for a bat in the offseason.

SI

Wow, why would Mark Teixeira reject that offer??

Because he knows the Rangers will never win anything and he is from Atlanta area , went to school at Georgia Tech, etc...

Oh ok... makes more sense then.

I guess this means less of a role for Julio Franco then, eh?

Davies was Atlanta's top pitching prospect at one time but his "prospectdom" has been falling off each year since he was in AA. He's seen more as a back of the rotation type starter now than a frontline guy. Considering the Royals didn't do much to get him, I think its a pretty good deal. Best bet is he develops into a league average innings eater at low cost, which certainly has value.