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Jeff Passan / Yahoo! Sports:
Playing the slots — One of the usual exercises during baseball's collective-bargaining negotiations goes something like this: Owners ask for a system to pay draft picks pre-determined bonuses. The union says no. And after that short dalliance, they discuss bigger, more important things.
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Jim Callis / Baseball America:
Clubs Will Feel Porcello Aftershocks — As Rick Porcello nears completion of a record contract with the Tigers, the aftershocks will be felt in several other negotiations with first-round picks, most notably David Price (No. 1 overall, Devil Rays), Mike Moustakas (No. 2, Royals), Matt Wieters (No. 5, Orioles).
Murray Chass / New York Times:
Deadline Nears for Clubs to Sign Top Draft Picks — If the commissioner's office could, it would put a cap on bonuses paid to drafted players. It can't, so it instead recommends bonuses for each slot of the first five rounds of the June draft. — If it could, the commissioner's office …
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
Danny Knobler / Detroit Tigers Insider:
Tigers to sign Porcello to record $7.3 million deal — DETROIT — First-round draft pick Rick Porcello has agreed to sign with the Tigers. — Porcello, the team's first-round draft pick in June, will get a record $7.3 million guaranteed over a four-year major-league contract.
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Mack Avenue Tigers
Jim Callis / Baseball America:Tigers Near Record Deal With Porcello
Discussion:
The Detroit Tiger Weblog
Jayson Addcox / MLB.com:
Notes: Little holds closed-door meeting — Manager looking for Dodgers to snap three-week slide — LOS ANGELES — Manager Grady Little held a team meeting prior to Monday night's game against the Houston Astros in an attempt to get his team out of a three-week funk in which the Dodgers …
Discussion:
6-4-2
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Dylan Hernandez / Los Angeles Times:
All doors remain closed for this team — Little has pregame meeting, Garciaparra a mid-game tirade (and ejection), and all it amounts to is L.A.'s 12th loss in 15 games, 4-1 to Astros. — The signs of desperation were everywhere. — Grady Little spoke to his team for 20 minutes behind closed doors in a pregame meeting.
Discussion:
Associated Press
Associated Press:
Polanco sets error-less mark — DETROIT (AP) — Placido Polanco of the Detroit Tigers set a major league record for second baseman by playing his 144th straight game without an error in a 7-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Monday night. — "I have to really thank the organization …
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Paul Harris / MLB.com:
Notes: Polanco sets all-time record — Monday's errorless game gives infielder milestone — DETROIT — Despite the fact it was set in a loss, the record for most consecutive errorless games by a second baseman means a lot to Placido Polanco. — "This game has been around for a long time," Polanco said.
Discussion:
Mack Avenue Tigers
David Andriesen / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Sexson blasts away at funk — 9th-inning homer wins it for M's, caps 3-RBI night — It was a dream matchup between the Venezuelan superstar pitcher of today and the man who many expect to be the Venezuelan superstar pitcher of tomorrow. — In the end, however, neither was around when the game was decided.
Terence Moore / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
McKeon: It's not the Braves' year — Although Jack McKeon is wrong about the next king of the National League East, the accomplished manager of yore is right about everything else along the way to the divisional throne. — I mean, with apologies to McKeon, the Braves will overcome Andruw Jones' microscopic batting average.
Discussion:
Rain Delay
Richard Sandomir / New York Times:
The Voice You Don't Hear on Fox Belongs to Joe Buck — Joe Buck ended his regular-season baseball schedule for Fox Sports on Aug. 4, having called eight games in 19 weeks and the All-Star Game, his lightest load since he was anointed the network's lead major league baseball voice in 1996.
Jon Paul Morosi / Detroit Free Press:
Tigers agree to trade minor leaguer Hannahan to Oakland — The Tigers have agreed to trade Jack Hannahan, an infielder at Triple-A Toledo, to the Oakland Athletics, according to an individual with knowledge of the deal. — Hannahan is expected to fly to the West Coast with Oakland's big-league club …
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Anthony McCarron / NY Daily News:
Catching Mets' eye — Pudge and Posada on radar for 2008 — The Mets are hoping Paul Lo Duca's hamstring heals quickly and Ramon Castro's back isn't a lingering hindrance. They have catching questions, however, well beyond this season and there are two possible splashy winter solutions - Jorge Posada and Pudge Rodriguez.
Discussion:
New York Post
David Pinto / Baseball Musings:
No Wake — Tim Wakefield and James Shields are locked in a pitcher's duel in the fifth. Shields allowed five hits and one run so far, but most of the attention goes to Wakefield. Tim's allowed just one walk so far, not surprisingly to Iwamura. He'll take a no-hitter into the sixth.
Katie Rooney / Time:
Are Baseball Umpires Racist? — Bad calls by the ump are as much a part of baseball as home run records, rabid fans and watery beer, but a new study shows that an umpire's decision may have a disturbing ulterior motive: racism. — According to the new study led by Daniel Hamermesh …
