Yankees Sign Heathcott For $2.2 Million  —  The Yankees have signed first-round pick Slade Heathcott for $2.2 million.  He was drafted 27th overall, and the MLB recommendation for his slot was $1,107,000.  —  A two-way star at Texas High (Texarkana, Texas), Heathcott will be an outfielder in pro ball.

Tigers acquire infielder Huff from O's  —  Veteran brings left-hand bat to lineup and versatility in the field  —  DETROIT — Finally, the Tigers found help at the plate on the trade market.  In turn, Aubrey Huff found arguably his best chance to finally get to the postseason.

Smoltz released  —  John Smoltz's brief and disappointing stay with the Red Sox has come to its official end.  —  The Red Sox have confirmed this afternoon that, as expected, they have released the 42-year-old righthander, who won just two of eight starts with the Sox while posting an 8.33 ERA.

Rays don't expect to sign their top two draft picks … ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays say they're not optimistic about signing their top two picks in this year's draft.  —  The AL champions took Florida high school outfielder LeVon Washington as the 30th overall pick in the first round in June.

Hernandez Continues to Struggle; So Do Mets  —  Manager Jerry Manuel had considered dropping Livan Hernandez from the rotation after watching him struggle in his recent starts.  Manuel kept him in the rotation because, he said, Hernandez had shown an ability to bounce back after such a run.

Rockies Agree with Matzek  —  The Colorado Rockies came up to the deadline, and then got the deal done with their top draft pick, high school lefthander Tyler Matzek.  —  The Rockies agreed to a signing bonus of $3.9 million, insidetherockies.com learned, more than double the $1.8 million recommend …

Brody Colvin headed to Major League baseball  —  LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri said Monday afternoon that Brody Colvin is apparently headed to Major League baseball instead of LSU.  —  Colvin was on campus Monday and went through freshman orientation, Mainieri said …

Yankees Sign Mitchell For $800,000  —  The Yankees have signed 16th-round pick Bryan Mitchell for $800,000.  It's the third-highest bonus after the 10th round this year, following Orioles signees Michael Ohlman ($995,000, 11th round) and Cameron Coffey ($990,000, 22nd round).

Nationals increase offer for Strasburg … As the midnight deadline approaches, there are strong signals the Nationals will raise their initial offer of $12.5 million for No. 1 pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg.  —  Although, with less than hour remaining before the deadline …

Tigers Sign Turner  —  The Tigers have signed No. 9 overall pick Jacob Turner to a major league contract with a $4.7 million bonus (payable over six years, with $1.6 million paid in 2014) and a guaranteed value of $5.5 million.  Depending on how quickly he reaches the majors, he could push the total value to nearly $7 million.

Game 119: Yankees at Athletics (with draft signing updates)  —  YANKEES (74-44)  —  Pitching: RHP AJ Burnett (10-5, 3.71).  —  ATHLETICS (52-65)  —  Kennedy 3B  —  Davis CF  —  Suzuki C  —  Hairston LF  —  Sweeney RF  —  Ellis 2B  —  Cust DH  —  Crosby 1B  —  Pennington SS

O's rally but come undone in 13th frame  —  Bullpen allows nine runs in fateful extra inning vs. Halos  —  BALTIMORE — They bent and then they broke.  The Orioles played from behind for most of Sunday's game and tied things up in the ninth inning, only to see the Angels pull away in extras.

Hanson hurls Braves past Diamondbacks 9-4  —  ATLANTA (AP) — Tommy Hanson (FSY) isn't worried about how many innings he pitches as long as he can keep helping the Atlanta Braves win.  —  Hanson gave up two runs in six innings for his third consecutive win and Ryan Church (FSY) …