CHURCH FACING METS IN FIRST ATLANTA GAME  —  ATLANTA — Ryan Church knew he wouldn't have to wait long for his reunion with his former Mets teammates when he left New York last week.  —  Church said he told manager Jerry Manuel and general manager Omar Minaya, “Now I get to beat up on you next week.”

There's no time like the present for the Blue Jays to trade Roy Halladay … The Rangers traded Mark Teixeira to the Braves with the first baseman 1 1/2 years from free agency and obtained a bevy of prospects, including catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and shortstop Elvis Andrus, jolting the rebuilding of the franchise into hyper-speed.

D-backs payroll stable with cash investment  —  Player salaries not expected to take hit in future  —  PHOENIX — The current season isn't playing out exactly the way the D-backs' ownership planned it, but because of an influx of capital from the general and limited partners, player payroll should not take a hit in the years to come.

Riggleman wants Nats to close gap  —  The Jim Riggleman Era, as short and as indistinguishable as it might be, has begun for the Washington Nationals.  Now it's up to the team's new interim manager to make it count for something.  —  There's not likely to be much on the line except pride …

Heat is on Roger Clemens  —  The grand jury believed to be investigating Roger Clemens for perjury has issued a subpoena to the owner of a now-defunct Houston-area gym linked to the distribution of steroids and human growth hormone.  —  Kelly Blair, whose 1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness in Pasadena …

Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondacks to share site on tribal land  —  PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies are NL West rivals.  Now they're partners in a spring training facility planned for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community near Phoenix.

Prospectus Idol: We Have a Winner!  —  Ken Funck's introduction to SOMA and call for help from producers were very popular with judges and pushed him over the top in Prospectus Idol Finals Week.  Congratulations, Ken!  —  As specified in the contest announcement, we'll be featuring Ken's work throughout …

Ranking the AL's roughest roads to the playoffs  —  Schedule advantages and disadvantages are difficult to calculate in baseball, because you don't know who will be hurt, which team will be hot and which team will fade, and you don't know exactly which pitcher you might face in a crucial series in September.

The Grandstand: Meeting the President and signing autographs  —  Well, the All-Star Game is officially over.  —  For me, it was an incredible experience.  There is no way to truly prepare for everything thrown at you your first time at this event except to experience it.

Full Lineup of Charity Work by Yankees  —  Jason Zillo wrote “Hope Week” on the bulletin board in his office at the old Yankee Stadium last November.  Zillo, the Yankees' media relations director, did not know if the week would ever happen, but he wanted a daily reminder.  He wanted his staff to see the reminder, too.

It's time for Giants to cut losses with Zito  —  Barry Zito is the pinch that lets the Giants know they're not dreaming.  —  This is a franchise renaissance season, brimming with young talent, and the Giants players and management deserve all credit after four sometimes senseless years.

Called Out: Midseason Top 250  —  Our experts explain their rankings of guys like Haren, Rollins, Bartlett, Hoffman  —  Ah, rankings — such an exercise in imperfection.  —  But therein lies its greatness.  No ranking set can conceivably achieve 100 percent accuracy, which is why it's such a fun …

Derek Jeter's mansion will easily be Tampa's biggest home  —  TAMPA - Rising like an aircraft carrier under construction, the future home of New York Yankees baseball star Derek Jeter is taking shape on Davis Islands.  —  Designed with a whopping 30,875 square feet of space, the seven-bedroom …

‘Munson’ sure to touch fans of all stripes  —  New book on former Yankee great captures captain's aura  —  You know it's coming.  Word by word, you read the true story about a beloved figure and wholly respected human being and it inches closer and closer to his final and tragic fate.