Good isn't good enough for Strasburg  —  Buzz up!  —  Stephen Strasburg needs to be Ken Griffey Jr.  —  He cannot fail.  Good is unacceptable.  Anything short of transcendence and he's just another mistake on the Washington Nationals' log that, this year alone, reads like the Dead Franchise Scrolls.

Winners And Losers  —  We analyze who did well at the signing deadline  —  The last three years, Major League Baseball has implemented a signing deadline, ending the interminable holdouts that often plagued baseball's draft process.  The draft still has plenty of problems, but that's another story.

Rangers trade for catcher Pudge Rodriguez  —  The best catcher in the history of the franchise and one of the top in the history of the game is coming back to the Rangers.  Sources have confirmed that the Rangers completed a trade Tuesday morning with Houston for Ivan Rodriguez for two minor-leaguers.

Mets come to terms with Matz  —  Left-hander reportedly signs for $895,000  —  NEW YORK — According to Keith Law of ESPN.com, the Mets have agreed to terms with their top Draft pick, Long Island left-hander Steven Matz.  —  Matz, out of Ward Melville High School in East Setauket …

Damon Feels Like Staying, and the Yanks Seem Willing  —  OAKLAND, Calif. — Johnny Damon played his first series as a Yankee at the Oakland Coliseum in April 2006.  He did not really factor into one of the games, but he hung around by his locker after it was over, just in case reporters needed him.

The Strasburg & Ackley Deals  —  Stephen Strasburg:  —  Four-year major league deal, $7.5 million bonus, $7.6 million in salaries (including pro-rated $400,000 salary for remainder of 2009), $15.1 million total guaranteed.  Also various incentives based on big league award voting.  —  Dustin Ackley:

Rockies Agree with Matzek - Updated  —  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 …

Ankiel's HR helps sizzling Cardinals sink Dodgers … LOS ANGELES(AP) Although Ryan Franklin graciously accepted his teammates' congratulations in the Dodger Stadium clubhouse for his 30th save, the St. Louis closer thought the spotlight should be on Chris Carpenter 's setup work.

Is Jeter the best hitting shortstop of all time? … Derek Jeter became the all-time leader for hits by a shortstop on Sunday in Seattle, passing Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio.  But does that mean he's the best hitting shortstop of all time?  —  It most certainly does not even though it's a title that Jeter may deserve anyway.

Chicago Cubs lose 4-1 to San Diego Padres  —  Closer wastes Lilly's gem as Cubs fall 6 behind Cardinals  —  Padres' Kyle Blanks leaps into his teammates as he crosses home plate after blasting a three-run home run in the ninth inning off Cubs closer Kevin Gregg.  (Lenny Ignelzi, Associated Press / August 17, 2009)

Update on Brett Gardner  —  Brett Gardner, out since July 26 with a broken thumb, is scheduled to see a doctor on Wednesday.  If cleared, he will start a rehab assignment soon after.  According to Joe Girardi, Gardner should return quickly.  —  “He'll need some at-bats, but it shouldn't be too long,” the manager said.

Atlanta Braves and Publix invite fans to “Shop with the Braves” this Saturday, Aug. 22  —  Atlanta Braves Jair Jurrjens, Martin Prado, and Omar Infante will greet fans and assist shoppers at Publix in Norcross, this Saturday, August 22 at the season's fourth “Shop with the Braves” summer tour stop.

Baryshnikov in Baseball Cleats  —  Son of Star Ballet Dancers Sets Off an MLB Bidding War; $800,000 From the Twins  —  Kathy Kepler, once a star ballerina at the Berlin ballet, has a saying: “Three days away, out of the ballet.”  That training motto also serves her son Max, baseball's most unusual prospect.

Yankees Triple-A pitcher Ortiz exercises right to become free agent  —  The Yankees' stock of potential  —  fill-in starters in the minors decreased by one yesterday.  Russ Ortiz, who had been signed by the Yankees and assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after he was released …

Melvin “working on something” for Bill Hall  —  The Brewers have until Friday to settle Bill Hall's future, but a resolution could come sooner.  —  The slumping Hall was designated for assignment by Milwaukee on Aug. 12, giving the team 10 days to trade Hall or release him and eat the more than $10 million left on his contract.

Photo: The exploding rage of Cubs fans ... Now in graph form! … I was told there would be no math, but the above graph was put together using the fantastic Twitter StreamGraphs and features a timeline of the previous 1,000 Tweets containing the term “Kevin Gregg