PAVANO MAY RETURN BEFORE PHIL  —  Dropping him into the clubhouse might prove to be too much of a challenge, but there is a chance Carl “American Idle” Pavano could be ready to pitch for the Yankees before Phil Hughes.  —  “I haven't asked, but it's possible,” GM Brian Cashman said last night.

Mets sign first round pick Ike Davis … The Mets signed their first pick of the first round, power hitting first baseman Ike Davis of Arizona State.  It is believed Davis, the son of former Yankees reliever Ron Davis, received in the range of $1.5 million.

Salute to Remy to be shown on MLB Extra Innings  —  Tonight, distributors are making NESN's Red Sox pregame show available to MLB Extra Innings subscribers beginning at 6 p.m. EST.  This is a special event so that Red Sox fans may enjoy coverage of Jerry Remy Day at Fenway Park and a salute …

OF Christian called up from Triple-A  —  PITTSBURGH — Outfielder Justin Christian was expected to join the Yankees in time for tonight's game against the Pirates at PNC Park.  —  Christian, who started his professional career in the independent Frontier League in 2003 …

Latinos and College Baseball  —  A while back I examined the decline of African-Americans playing major-league baseball.  James Wagner looks at the racial composition of Division I college baseball and notices a different trend. … I am not concerned about the lack of foreign Latinos in college baseball.

Dunn doesn't show it much, but he loves baseball  —  The Blue Jays' GM alleged Adam Dunn didn't have passion for baseball.  That couldn't be further from the truth, Ken Rosenthal says.

Santo's Hall of Fame bid gets a big boost  —  Enshrined Morgan calls ex-Cub's candidacy a ‘no-brainer’  —  They sat two booths apart during the Cubs-White Sox game Sunday night at Wrigley Field, the man who would be in the Hall of Fame and the man who would help him get there.

Royals claim Tejeda off waivers  —  KANSAS CITY — The Royals claimed pitcher Robinson Tejeda off waivers on Tuesday and made room for him on the 40-man roster by moving pitcher John Bale to the 60-day disabled list.  —  Kansas City will have to make a move on its 25-man roster when Tejeda joins the Royals.

Vindicating Derek Jeter's fielding at short (sorta)  —  Introducing OPA!  OPA! is my new (still in the works) fielding system for use with Retrosheet, one that I've been meaning to create for a while now.  Last week, I teased the beginnings of OPA!, at least the ground ball part.

Hanley up in tight All-Star race at short  —  A mere 200K votes separate top three in NL fan balloting  —  One of the closest campaigns in All-Star history has a new leader.  Again.  —  Florida's Hanley Ramirez is back on top again in the voting to be the National League's starting shortstop …

Yankees Should Trade Melky Cabrera  —  Two key tenets of successful team building in baseball: First, deal from strength, and second, take advantage when the market overvalues your assets.  Brian Cashman may find himself in the unusual position of meeting both conditions for making a trade …

Tribe inks two to Minor League deals  —  Rincon, Graffanino to report to Triple-A Buffalo  —  CLEVELAND — The Indians are sending a couple more veteran big leaguers to Triple-A Buffalo as depth options.  Reliever Juan Rincon and infielder Tony Graffanino were signed to Minor League contracts on Tuesday.

Blalock's return to Rangers delayed; Laird out  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — Hank Blalock's return to the major leagues and his first-base debut for the Texas Rangers have been delayed.  —  Blalock, a two-time All-Star third baseman who is changing positions, had been scheduled to be activated …

Jeter showing low numbers  —  If there were ever a year when Derek Jeter could be called overrated, this has been it.  —  The Yankees' captain, the highest-paid shortstop in baseball, has a .279 batting average, a whopping 37 points below his career mark, while his 10 doubles and 39 runs scored put him well below his usual pace.

In 1960, a Series to Remember (or Forget)  —  PITTSBURGH — Typically, Herb Soltman and his legion of Pittsburgh Pirates fans have only one day a year to pay homage to the most dramatic ending in the 104 years of World Series play, when Bill Mazeroski blasted a game-ending …

Rain ends homestand for Drillers  —  The Tulsa Drillers lost a game to the weather on Monday, but gained a major league veteran for their starting rotation.  —  Tulsa's scheduled afternoon home game against the Springfield Cardinals was postponed due to unplayable conditions …