Crasnick: Starting 9 … It's late June in a presidential election year, and you know what that means: lots of campaign fundraising trips, sniping via surrogates and wall-to-wall vice-presidential speculation.  —  Will Barack Obama and John McCain opt for geographical balance …

Chacon asks Astros for trade  —  Right-hander unhappy about move from rotation to bullpen  —  HOUSTON — Astros right-hander Shawn Chacon, unhappy with being moved from the rotation to the bullpen, has informed the Astros he wants to be traded and has been suspended indefinitely.

Baseball's problem with bats  —  ESPN.com's Buster Olney wrote about this today and Tom Verducci has, too, for Sports Illustrated.  At this point, it's dereliction of duty not to write about it.  —  Baseball needs to do something about the crisis with maple bats.

Ortiz already in the swing of things  —  Red Sox manager Terry Francona revealed today that David Ortiz, who recently got the cast taken off his injured left wrist, hit off of a tee in front of doctors last night at Fenway Park, and that he “did OK” in the session.

Ellis, A's have talks about extension  —  Second baseman wants to stay, and team wants same  —  OAKLAND — A's second baseman Mark Ellis openly admits to occasionally thinking about what it'd be like to play elsewhere, perhaps in front of sellout crowds and for ungodly piles of free-agent cash.

Lo Duca's start in left field cut short  —  Veteran pulled in second inning with light-headedness  —  WASHINGTON — Paul Lo Duca has made his reputation as a good catcher.  But the Nationals' mounting injury problems and their need for more offensive punch moved him to the outfield for the first time in four years on Tuesday.

Nats offer Guzman two-year extension  —  Shortstop set to become free agent at season's end  —  WASHINGTON — In late May, it was reported that the Nationals and shortstop Cristian Guzman were not going to negotiate a contract extension during the 2008 season.

DAMON SITS; DL POSSIBLE  —  PITTSBURGH - Johnny Damon has his fingers firmly crossed that the pain coming from the left arch doesn't land him on the disabled list for the first time in his career.  —  “I hope not,” Damon said when asked if the shelf was a possibility.  “I don't know, but Sunday it was real bad.

Agent: Bonds has no interest in playing in minors  —  NEW YORK — Barry Bonds has no desire to play for an independent minor league team in an effort to spur interest among major league clubs.  —  The indicted career home run leader remains unsigned, even though he batted .276 last season with 28 homers …

PITT-IFUL YANKS HEAR IT FROM JOE  —  GIRARDI TO TEAM: WE STUNK  —  PITTSBURGH - After watching the Yankees waste multiple scoring chances, the Pirates spank his pitchers and the fielders not make plays, manager Joe Girardi told his players what he thought of last night's debacle.

Arroyo has start to forget in loss  —  Right-hander retires just three of 15 batters, allows 10 runs  —  TORONTO — With the way he pitched on Tuesday, Bronson Arroyo simply gave the Reds no chance to win.  —  Arroyo was pounded for 10 earned runs and 11 hits, including three home runs …

Manuel, Beltran ejected in Mets' awful 11-0 loss to Mariners  —  Home plate umpire Brian Runge tosses Jerry Manuel for arguing a strike call on Carlos Beltran in the fourth inning.  (Newsday/David L. Pokress / June 24, 2008)  —  The Mets lost to Seattle again, 11-0, last night in the ugliest game of the Jerry Manuel era.

Could Ichiro be part of the mass exodus in Seattle? … NEW YORK — Before he was let go as Mariners general manager, Bill Bavasi was telling his bosses that the team's problem was the players, not manager John McLaren.  —  Bavasi's bosses must have disagreed.  First they fired Bavasi himself.

Buehrle makes quick work of Dodgers  —  Lefty gets 1,000th K as Sox snap nine-game road losing skid  —  LOS ANGELES — Blame inflated airline prices and Mark Sweeney for John Buehrle not being able to see his son record career strikeout No. 1,000 during a 6-1 victory for the White Sox on Tuesday night before 43,900 at Dodger Stadium.

Joe Torre: Proctology  —  New feature at Fangraphs yields this list of most relief innings pitched, 6/24/05 to 6/23/08:  —  Heilman: 261.2 IP, 3.34 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 0.96 WPA  —  Proctor: 257.2 IP, 4.37 ERA, 4.74 FIP, -0.35 WPA  —  Qualls: 254 IP, 3.19 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 2.61 WPA

Sheets intends to test free agency  —  Strong first half boosts prospects  —  Atlanta - Ben Sheets confirmed Tuesday that he has every expectation of testing the free-agent market this winter.  —  “That's the direction I'm headed right now,” Sheets said.  “You can't invite yourself back.”

HANK: WILLIE WELCOME WITH US  —  Willie Randolph won't have to look far if he wants another job in baseball - he just needs to call Hank Steinbrenner.  —  “There's certainly some stuff I can think of for one of the greatest infielders I've ever seen,” Steinbrenner told The Post yesterday.

NFL Network to hire Bob Papa for its play-by-play gig  —  The NFL Network wisely has decided to take my advice and hire Bob Papa as its new play-by-play man, replacing Bryant Gumbel, who had held the job for the previous two seasons.  —  I don't know when the network is announcing this …