Sexson's attitude was tipping point, manager says  —  OAKLAND, Calif. — What finally pushed Richie Sexson out of a Mariners uniform wasn't just his failures on the field.  —  To hear his former team tell it, a roller-coaster 3 ½-year relationship between Sexson and his “hometown” …

DL additions change trade market  —  Wells, McGowan, Bedard and Mulder head to disabled list  —  No major trades went down Thursday, but the landscape of the midsummer trade market shifted slightly.  —  The 15-day disabled list claimed four players — Dustin McGowan and Vernon Wells of the Blue Jays …

Younger Steinbrenner a chip off the old Boss since taking reins  —  TAMPA — Hank Steinbrenner parks his black Cadillac near the front door of the New York Yankees training complex, takes an elevator up four floors and unlocks his office door — and is hit with a potent smell of coconut, the product of a too-strong air freshener.

Girardi catches heat from Posada  —  PITTSBURGH - Criticizing his manager isn't Jorge Posada's way, even as he spent yet another game away from his familiar spot behind the plate.  —  Privately, however, Posada has expressed his dissatisfaction with Joe Girardi's decision to start Jose Molina …

Can Mets manager Manuel earn himself extension?  —  Jerry Manuel was the Mets' interim manager for exactly three days when he joked with reporters about getting a three-year extension.  Almost a month later, that's not such a ridiculous idea.  Based on his immediate success in reviving …

The Decline of the National League  —  They play the same game.  They pick from the same pool of players.  For some reason, though, they don't get the same results.  —  By just about every measure, the 16 teams in Major League Baseball's National League are inferior to the 14 in the American League.

He's back via special delivery  —  Buchholz brings a new motion to Fenway  —  The last time Clay Buchholz was sighted in the major leagues, he was standing between the posts of a locker in the visitors' clubhouse at the Metrodome, a lost and lonely place.  —  He had a torn fingernail …

The best baseball movie never made  —  The snow is piling up on my Maine lawn on a March afternoon.  The phone rings.  —  “How'd you like to hear a baseball story that could be bigger than ‘Field of Dreams’?” the voice on the other end asks.  “This isn't just one movie, it's two, or maybe three.”

Cashman: Trades not easy to make  —  PITTSBURGH - General manager Brian Cashman isn't making assumptions that two major trades - the Brewers' trade for CC Sabathia and the Cubs' deal for Rich Harden - in early July will mean the trade deadline (July 31) will be more active than in other years.

Breaking down the draft: Scouting Gerrit Cole  —  I decided to do a separate article on Gerrit Cole, the 28th pick in the Major League Draft by the New York Yankees, for a few reasons:  —  1. The quality of his overall stuff  —  2. The many questions about his mechanics

Big deal unlikely for Tigers before deadline  —  Ten days from now, in the opener of a series in Kansas City, the Tigers will need their No. 5 starter again.  —  It's uncertain who it will be, but he's probably someone in the organization rather than a potential acquisition.

Tucker seeks niche in move to bullpen  —  LOS ANGELES - Ryan Tucker doesn't consider the fact he's in the bullpen rather than the rotation a failure.  —  He just might prove to the Marlins that's where he belongs.  —  A week ago, Tucker would have bet he was headed back to the Double …

For Carrasco, progress is slow but steady  —  READING - Carlos Carrasco climbed the empty stands behind the home dugout at First Energy Stadium a little more than two hours before the first pitch last week.  A camera crew from the Reading Phillies Web site waited for him at the top.

Nationals Withhold Rent on Ballpark  —  Hundreds of Items Are Incomplete, Team Owners Say  —  More than midway through the baseball season, the Washington Nationals' owners have failed to pay $3.5 million in rent for the District's new ballpark, contending that the state-of-the-art stadium is still incomplete.

Blew birds again; O's drop fifth straight  —  O's allow Jays to rally from 3 down, are swept; Sherrill blows sixth save  —  TORONTO - Orioles ace Jeremy Guthrie's final outing of the first half mirrored much of his season.  —  He pitched well, barely yielded any runs and still came up empty …