Top News:
Bill Madden / NY Daily News:
Madden: Yanks still can't overcome their fear of unknown — They waited 5-1/2 hours in the rain to play a baseball game at Yankee Stadium Thursday night, and if you didn't know better, it could have been because the Yankees wanted no part of Craig Stammen. — It mattered not that the …
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Chico Harlan / Washington Post:
For Nats, This One Is Worth The Wait — Stammen's First Big League Win Caps Long Day: Nationals 3, Yankees 0 — Waiting is all relative. On a day defined by a 5-hour 26-minute rain delay, the Washington Nationals finally pulled off the sort of accomplishments they'd long been waiting for.
Ken Davidoff / Newsday:
Yankees try to make best of bad situation — On a long, long day at Yankee Stadium, the comic highlight occurred in the middle of the first inning, when public-address announcer Paul Olden invited fans to move up to the field- and main-level seats. — A few lax security guards …
Newsday:
Yankees are in area, so they'll watch Pedro — The Yankees will watch Pedro Martinez throw a bullpen session Friday in the Dominican Republic, a person familiar with the situation confirmed. But the club would be interested in signing the three-time Cy Young Award winner only to a minor-league contract …
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Adam Rubin / Surfing the Mets:
Sources: Evans promoted to the Mets — Sources tell the Daily News that Nick Evans will be promoted to the Mets. It wasn't immediately clear whose place Evans would take, but perhaps the Mets have decided to demote Fernando Martinez with Gary Sheffield returning to the outfield.
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Bart Hubbuch / Mets Blog:
F-Mart demoted, Evans in his place — (UPDATED) The Mets showed just how thin their system is today by sending struggling young outfielder Fernando Martinez back to Triple-A Buffalo and calling up the even-more-struggling Nick Evans to take his place on the roster.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Joe Posnanski:
Bugging Harold Reynolds — I like Harold Reynolds. I mean, I don't really know the guy, but he seems to be a likable guy on television. And friends who do know him tell me he's a very likable guy. And one of my favorite baseball images is that of Harold Reynolds in the moments …
Discussion:
SPORTSbyBROOKS
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Harold Reynolds Presents:
Enjoy it for what it's worth — It's been real interesting in the last couple years as I've watched how the importance of statistics has taken over how to analyze a baseball game. I used to play for an old time manager named Dick Williams who used to tell me, “The situation will dictate what happens.”
David Lennon / Newsday:
Mets' K-Rod can't close door as Orioles rally — BALTIMORE - It was only a matter of time, right? For nearly three months, Francisco Rodriguez had been the one untouchable member of a Mets team that has been all too vulnerable this season. — That all changed Thursday night at Camden Yards.
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Mark Bradley / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Bradley's Buzz: Glavine tells WAGA he won't pitch in 2009 — Tom Glavine informed Buck Lanford of Fox 5 Atlanta on Thursday he won't pitch in 2009. Via text message, Glavine wrote: “I'm not going to pitch or do anything in baseball until at least next year.”
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Howard Megdal / MLB Rumors:Glavine Won't Pitch In 2009 — Breaking news out of Atlanta …
Discussion:
ESPN
Mike Petraglia / Full Count:
Papelbon: Of course I want to stay in Boston — In a wide-ranging interview with SiriusXM Radio on Thursday afternoon, Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon said he wants to stay in Boston long term but needs to look out for his own best interests. — Papelbon was asked if he would ever consider playing …
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Gordon Wittenmyer / Chicago Sun Times:
Cubs GM Jim Hendry wouldn't hesitate to deal — Will the breakdown of negotiations over the Cubs sale result in a short-term return to the payroll flexibility the Cubs had the last two seasons? — It's probably too soon to tell, especially if the Ricketts family stays firmly in the picture …
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Lee Panas / Tiger Tales:
Dusty Ryan Called Up — Sources close to Dusty Ryan are reporting that The Tigers have called up the young backstop from Toledo to presumably replace Dane Sardinha as the backup catcher. This is a welcome move as the Tigers have been starting Gerald Laird too much and I believe it has been affecting his offense.
Baseball America:
Prospect Hot Sheet: June 19 — Coming into the season, we ranked the Athletics as the No. 3 organization in our yearly talent rankings, largely because of their pitching depth. But I don't know if we or anyone would have imagined that they would make the impact we've seen this year …
Jon Heyman / Sports Illustrated:
Let the Pedro bidding begin; is change coming to Washington? — No Nationals disgrace ... not this week, anyway — Just when folks were starting to draw comparisons between the 1962 Mets and the current Washington Nationals, the Nationals jumped up and put on an excellent three-day display in the Bronx …
Aaron Gleeman / Newsvine:
Quote of the Day: 'I suck. For real. I'm getting old.' — sports, athletics, quote-of-the-day, orlando-cabrera — Orlando Cabrera, after making two defensive mistakes yesterday: … Normally I'd say that Cabrera is being overly hard on himself, but that's a tough argument …
Andy Gardiner / USA Today:
Arizona State ousts North Carolina with late outburst — OMAHA — Arizona State will get a chance at payback against Texas Friday because of Kole Calhoun and Josh Spence. — Calhoun drove in six runs with a grand slam and a double and Spence gave ASU enough starting pitching to overcome …
Tony Massarotti / Boston Globe:
For Sox, could there be a Plan F? — This gets a little complicated, but there may be a way for the Red Sox to squeeze six starters into five spots for the balance of this season while benefiting every Boston starter over the long-term. — Let's call it Plan F (here are options A through E from an earlier column).
Discussion:
Over the Monster
