It's a Deal: Strasburg, Nationals Agree  —  Long Night Ends With Record-Setting Pact for Washington's Top Draft Pick  —  Midnight neared, an organization held its breath, and finally — after way too much losing, years of scouting, and weeks of negotiating — the Washington Nationals secured the one good thing to come from all of it.

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 reacquire Pudge  —  Rodriguez, 14-time All-Star, will be Texas' backup catcher  —  ARLINGTON — Ivan Rodriguez is returning to the Rangers to be a backup catcher.  —  The Rangers have completed a trade with the Houston Astros to reacquire the 14-time All-Star catcher for two Minor League players …

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 …

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.

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.

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)

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.

Hitting the brakes on the “Tex for MVP” bandwagon  —  THE MVP PROPAGANDA WARS  —  With due respect to my on-air colleagues at YES who have been touting Mark Teixeira for the MVP award, it's very hard to see how he's going to win it, and more to the point, it's hard to see that he should win it.

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.

Young, old arms could key final push  —  One of the most delicate chores fantasy owners must handle as the season enters its final weeks is managing their pitching staffs.  —  Young pitchers can be shut down because they're approaching their innings limits for the season.

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.

Sox GM Ken Williams not happy with underachieving team  —  Williams voices displeasure with wasted efforts on trip; Podsednik wins it in 8th  —  Alex Rios scores as Royals catcher Brayan Pena goes for the throw after Scott Podsednik's go-ahead 8th inning, RBI single.  (Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune / August 17, 2009)