Padres get cash for Gaudin ...  SAN DIEGO - General manager Kevin Towers said Wednesday that the Padres will take cash considerations, believed to be $100,000, as compensation for the August 7 deal that sent him to the New York Yankees.  —  The Padres had the option of cash considerations …

SHEFF AND METS AT ODDS  —  Gary Sheffield asked the Mets for a contract extension, the club rejected the oveture and now Sheffield has threatened to leave the team and head home, two sources told the Post.  —  As of 6:30 p.m., one of the sources said, Mets officials and Sheffield were in discussions on how to move forward.

Wagner Activated, Hernandez Released  —  The Mets have activated Billy Wagner from the 60 day disabled list.  —  To make room for Wagner, the Mets have released Livan Hernandez.  —  Hernandez was 7-8 with a 5.47 ERA for the Mets in 2009, but posted a 7.33 ERA in July and an 11.30 ERA in August.

Grand slammed: Dodgers pound Cubs 7-2  —  Return to Dodger Stadium matches score that started ‘09 playoff failure  —  LOS ANGELES — Since the Cubs were last here, the tunnel behind the visitors’ dugout has dried out and Dodger Stadium has a nice new water-main valve, compliments of Cubs management.

Yankees Still Have Something to Prove in Boston  —  BOSTON - The Yankees are 76-45, too many games over .500 to be a fluke.  This is easily their best team in several years, and the rough patches in their schedule - the interleague games in June, the series in Anaheim in July - have been quickly followed by prolonged dominance.

John Smoltz confident he'll jump-start his career with St. Louis Cardinals  —  SAN DIEGO — John Smoltz wants to make one point perfectly clear: He is not finished.  —  Smoltz, the former NL Cy Young Award winner, joined the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday for the opener of a four-game series …

Joba fine with the Rules  —  OAKLAND, Calif. - Perhaps it's the unwritten code of the Joba Rules - the part about getting Joba Chamberlain into October, and letting him loose.  —  “I think when one training wheel is off, the other one might be off at that time,” Chamberlain said Wednes-day afternoon …

Teixeira to visit ‘Late Show With David Letterman’  —  NEW YORK YANKEES ALL-STAR FIRST BASEMAN MARK TEIXEIRA MAKES HIS FIRST VISIT TO CBS'S “LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN,” MONDAY, AUGUST 24  —  Teixeira to Also Participate in Outdoor Batting Demonstration During the Broadcast

Rumblings and Grumblings: Dangerous closer issues among contenders  —  Several contenders are heading down the stretch with unreliable closer situations  —  It isn't necessarily true that to win a World Series you need a dominant closer.  —  What is necessarily true, though …

Wake, Dice-K set to pitch Friday  —  Veteran to take hill for Triple-A; righty to throw side session  —  TORONTO — As Red Sox right-hander Brad Penny faces the archrival Yankees on Friday, two of Boston's rehabbing pitchers will also take the mound: Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will pitch …

Steinbrenner High School set to open  —  NEW YORK — What school would have a course entitled BOSS?  None other than Steinbrenner High School, where opening day is Tuesday in Lutz, Fla., near the home of Yankees patriarch George Steinbrenner.  —  The $60 million structure in Hillsborough County …

Abolish The Draft  —  After watching Stephen Strasburg break a record for the largest bonus signed through the draft, it's not a big surprise that Bud Selig is talking tough on mandatory slotting and saying that he's going to be “very aggressive” in trying to implement a worldwide draft in the next round of CBA negotiations.

Tigers score twice in ninth, rally to down Mariners … DETROIT(AP) The Detroit Tigers ‘ moving truck was backed up to the clubhouse door.  —  The Tigers only wish they could pack some Comerica Park momentum with them.  —  Clete Thomas ’ two-out, RBI single capped a two-run rally …

Rizzo lands Nationals' GM position  —  Former acting GM to be introduced today at news conference  —  WASHINGTON — The Nationals will formally name Mike Rizzo general manager and senior vice president of baseball operations on Thursday afternoon.  —  The club scheduled a 4 p.m. ET news conference …