“Open Letter to the Tampa Bay Rays” or “The Thing About Karma”  —  Okay, you swept us.  And while I do question a few moves made by the Glorious Teets — such as not pinch hitting Casey for Tek in the ninth last night, when it is painfully apparent to all that the Captain has become the Craptain …

Yankee's A-Rod, wife separated  —  Rocker Lenny Kravitz says it's not his fault A-Rod is out at home.  —  The “Let Love Rule” singer, in a statement released Thursday morning, said he's letting the Yankee slugger's estranged wife stay at his place in Paris - but simply as a friend.

Nolasco turns in another solid outing  —  MIAMI GARDENS — Ricky Nolasco, the Marlins' newest ace, was watching Wednesday's game on a clubhouse TV when Alfredo Amezaga stepped to the plate after the 95-minute rain delay in the seventh.  —  “I'm just thinking, get a base hit, at least we can tie the game,” Nolasco said.

Hal: Yankees' new-look future is bright  —  Steinbrenner discusses Stadium, finances and philosophy  —  TAMPA, Fla. — The All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium is fewer than two weeks away, but it will by no means be the last of the tributes that will be paid to the old Bronx yard on 161st Street …

Raysmania taking hold at the Trop  —  Fans embracing Tampa Bay and shaking their cowbells  —  ST. PETERSBURG — When Rays manager Joe Maddon first spoke of turning Tropicana Field into “The Pit” this season, it was nearly laughable.  —  Years of being baseball's worst team had parlayed …

Andy Pettitte could be dragged into court  —  Andy Pettitte, the Yankees' hottest pitcher in recent weeks, could be pulled off the mound and dragged into court for a hearing on the defamation lawsuit filed by longtime pal Roger Clemens against his former trainer Brian McNamee.

Mariners, Yankees Land Key Prospects  —  The Athletics grabbed the early headlines by landing this year's top July 2 prospect, holding a press conference in Santo Domingo to announce the signing of 16-year-old Dominican righthander Michel Inoa.  —  The Padres then announced the signing …

Brave New World  —  The Braves are going nowhere and they know it.  Acceptance of such things can often bring welcome clarity, and Atlanta seems to be no exception as they are considering two moves — the demotion of Jeff Francoeur and the shopping of Mark Teixeira — which will help move …

Deadline deals don't match the hype  —  Well, the calendar says it's July.  And you know what that means.  —  No, not the long-awaited arrival of Agib Talib at Buccaneers camp.  No, not even the long-awaited arrival of your beach chair on a big white stretch of sand.  —  We mean, of course, it's trade-deadline month.

Houston General Manager, Decked by Pitcher, Now Slammed by Fans  —  Houston Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon lost his $2 million job last week when he expressed his disagreement with management by decking a manager.  —  Some fans of the Major League Baseball team are decrying the behavior …

Inoa becomes a sign of the times  —  Baseball evolved Wednesday.  The little guys, the teams that for so many years cried poor, won by spending money.  And the recipients of that largess, 16-year-old boys from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, ones who grew up in the third world …

Scherzer 101  —  Max the Stathead … Eric Seidman (ES): For starters, can you tell me how you came to be interested in analyzing baseball statistics?  —  Max Scherzer (MS): Well, it really started out with my pitching coach at Mizzou, who brought it to our attention by examining the percentage of first strikes and A3P percentage.

Change in plans: Nomar, Andruw coming back TOMORROW  —  Both players initiated the change in the wake of the Furcal development.  Nomar was going to be activated Monday, anyway, so his return is only being pushed up by three days.  But Andruw Jones wasn't supposed to be back until the start of the second half, TWO WEEKS from tomorrow.

BRANDON WEBB IS BUSY RESTING  —  The game's winningest pitcher let us trail him for a week.  Turns out, life is pretty good when you've got five dogs, three pitches and a catcher to do your worrying for you.  —  The assignment is to shadow Brandon Webb for six days.

Prospect Hot Sheet: July 3  —  Tomorrow's Independence Day festivities would get in the way of our normally scheduled Prospect Hot Sheet, so a day early, we're rolling out this week's Hot Sheet.  It's a little different than a normal Hot Sheet, as this is a look at our midseason all-stars.