Top News:
Tim Nudd / AdFreak:
Manny: machine wash cold, tumble dry low — Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers last Thursday. ESPN agency Ground Zero quickly sprang into action, and by lunchtime Friday, “nearly every Laundromat in Los Angeles county had at least one ‘Lost Red Sock.’ ” Even the Encino Quickie Wash?
RELATED:
Steve Silva / Boston Globe:
More Manny thoughts from Edes — In Saturday's Boston Globe, Gordon Edes reported that Manny Ramirez lobbied to remain in Boston after learning he had been traded to the Dodgers. Manny's agent, Scott Boras, denied the report. — In an interview today on Boston sports radio station WEEI …
Sean McAdam / ESPN:
McAdam: Sizing up the division races — With five of the six division races still very much up for grabs, which contending teams hold a scheduling advantage over the final eight weeks of the regular season? Sean McAdam takes a closer look. Story — • Buster Olney: Liriano could give Twins an edge in AL Central race
Discussion:
South Side Sox
ESPN.com:
MLB bonus probe targeting ‘handful’ of teams — Major League Baseball investigators are looking into accusations that several New York Yankees prospects from the Dominican Republic were forced to kick back portions of their signing bonuses to one or more team employees, several sources told ESPN.
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Nationals Journal, Yankees Blog, Pending Pinstripes, ShysterBall and The Yankees
Los Angeles Times:
Dodgers Manager Joe Torre should dread day Manny Ramirez cuts hair — If Ramirez returns to Dodger Stadium a week from today to open the team's next home stand with all his hair, Torre said he would make a donation to Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA. — T.J. Simers
Discussion:
SPORTSbyBROOKS, FanHouse, Los Angeles Times, Can't Stop The Bleeding and L.A. Daily News
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Ted Berg / SNY.tv:
Dan Murphy's Law — With everything going wrong, Mets' roster moves perplexing — Whoa. What's going on here? — Suddenly, Nick Evans and Dan Murphy are platooning in left and Eddie Kunz is in the bullpen. — Suddenly, Omar Minaya is operating on the younger-and-more-athletic platform that won us over a few years ago.
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com
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Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Game 112: Yankees at Rangers — YANKEES (61-50) — Joba Chamberlain (4-3, 2.24) vs. the Texas hitters. — Vicente Padilla (12-5, 4.52) vs. the New York hitters. — Notes: The Yankees have won two straight but are coming off a 3-4 homestand. ... The Yankees are 25-24 on the road. ...
New York Post:
ALMIGHTY DOLLAR FALLS ON ‘GRAND CATHEDRAL’ — JOHN STERLING and Michael Kay were doing a good job hosting the last Old Timers' Day in Yankee Stadium Saturday when it was time to introduce Don Larsen. Larsen, Kay declared, had thrown the greatest game ever pitched in “this grand cathedral.”
Associated Press:
Giambi loses the 'stache, hopes to cut out slump — ARLINGTON, Texas — Jason Giambi arrived in the Yankees clubhouse Monday without his famous mustache. — But it won't be gone for long, he said. — Giambi, who began to swing well around the time he decided to grow a mustache back in May …
Associated Press:
Halladay hands A's seventh straight loss — TORONTO (AP)—Roy Halladay pitched eight strong innings and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Oakland 6-1 on Monday night, handing the Athletics their season-high seventh straight loss. — Oakland is a major league-worst 2-14 since the All-Star break, and 9-23 since June 28.
Discussion:
Athletics Nation
Thor Nystrom / MLB.com:
Newcomers Nady, Aviles split AL honor — Recent arrivals to Junior Circuit named Co-Players of Week — One began this season in the Minor Leagues and did not make his big league debut until May 29. The other spent his entire career in the National League before a July 25 trade shipped him to the Junior Circuit.
Discussion:
yankeesdaily.com
Jon Heyman / Sports Illustrated:
How the Manny trade went down … When the Red Sox originally offered Manny Ramirez in trade to the other 29 teams, they went 0-for-29. Red Sox GM Theo Epstein made tens of calls and found no takers. — Things were looking bleak. Ramirez was apparently being viewed as an active …
Hardball:
3 UP: Met Depth, Santana and Wells — 1. Omar Minaya had a devilish decision at the July 31 deadline: Try to improve the obvious problems with the 2008 Mets, but do it by sacrificing a chunk of the few upper-level prospects that the team has left. What...
Susan Slusser / San Francisco Chronicle:
A's notes: An upbeat note in a dismal song — While dropping all three games at Fenway Park this weekend, Oakland scored five runs, total. — This isn't a new story, really. The A's have struggled offensively for nearly two months, and their strikeout totals keep climbing.
Richard Durrett / TEXAS RANGERS:
C.J. Wilson update — Manager Ron Washington said C.J. Wilson remains the closer. But he added that doesn't mean he won't use someone else to close at times. Obviously, there's some concern about Wilson's performance of late. — Wilson hinted that he wasn't 100 percent, but wouldn't talk about exactly what that was.