Top News:
Globe and Mail:
Jeff Blair — A shortstop. Of course it would have to be a shortstop. In his eight years as the Blue Jays' general manager, J.P. Ricciardi had 19 different shortstops who started games. Nineteen. You can make the case it all went south for Ricciardi when he made Russ Adams - a shortstop - his first first-round draft choice.
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Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Blue Jays Acquire Yunel Escobar — The Blue Jays acquired shortstop Yunel Escobar and pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes from the Braves for shortstop Alex Gonzalez and minor leaguers Tim Collins and Tyler Pastornicky, according to a team press release. The Jays designated Ronald Uviedo for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
ESPN:
Braves get Gonzalez; Escobar to Jays … The second half hasn't begun yet, but the Atlanta Braves made a trade Wednesday to try to stay atop their NL East perch. — The Braves acquired shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who has 17 home runs at the All-Star break, on Wednesday in a five-player trade with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Bruce Levine / ESPN:
Discussion:
HardballTalk, Yahoo! Sports, Red Hot Mama, Chris Sabo's Goggles, OMGreds and Reds Country
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David Pinto / baseballmusings.com:
AL West Race — I'm having trouble deciding if this is a two-team race or a three-team race. The Rangers lead the Angels by 4 1/2 games and Oakland by 7 1/2 games. The A's, however, are below .500 despite having outscored their opponents, and the Angels are above .500 despite having been outscored by their opponents.
Discussion:
Bottom9 Baseball
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Stephen Hawkins / Associated Press:
Texas has biggest division lead despite bankruptcy
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
Ed Price / Fanhouse MLB Blog:
Sources: Dodgers Request Outright Waivers on Reliever George Sherrill — Struggling Dodgers reliever George Sherrill seems destined for the minors, as major-league sources confirmed to FanHouse that the team has requested outright waivers on Sherrill. — The lefty has a 7.32 ERA with 28 hits allowed and 16 walks in 19 2/3 innings.
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Tony Jackson / ESPN:
Source: Dodgers put Sherrill on waivers — ST. LOUIS — Los Angeles Dodgers reliever George Sherrill, who was an All-Star closer for the Baltimore Orioles just a year ago, has been put on waivers by the club, a major league source confirmed Wednesday on the condition of anonymity.
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Dodgers Put George Sherrill On Outright Waivers — The Dodgers put George Sherrill on outright waivers, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse. Price suggests Sherrill, who makes $4.5MM this season, will clear waivers, which would enable the Dodgers to option the reliever to the minor leagues.
Quinn Roberts / MLB.com:
Buchholz has Pawtucket start awaiting him — BOSTON — Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz will make his first start since straining his left hamstring while running the bases on June 26 in San Francisco for Triple-A Pawtucket on Friday. — While Red Sox manager Terry Francona weighed the option …
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Scott Lauber / Boston Herald:
Theo Epstein not thinking big — Red Sox GM may do some tweaking — With two weeks until the trade deadline, general manager Theo Epstein would love to make a big splash that will have a profound effect on pushing the Red Sox [team stats] into the playoffs. — In reality, though, he may only be able to make subtle tweaks.
Discussion:
Over the Monster
Andrew Marchand / ESPN:
New York Yankees will stay in Steinbrenner family forever, consultant says — LOS ANGELES — The Steinbrenners are going to be the Yankees' bosses for a very, very long time. — On Wednesday, Marc Ganis, a sports business consultant who has worked with the Yankees for nearly a decade …
Discussion:
It's About The Money
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Fay Vincent / Fox Sports:
Fay Vincent remembers Steinbrenner
Discussion:
Boston Globe, MLB Daily Dish, New York Post, Reuters, Slate, Wezen Ball, Fack Youk and BronxBanterBlog.com
Wallace Matthews / ESPN:
GM: A-Rod has minor injury to thumb — Brian Cashman acknowledged to ESPNNewYork.com that third baseman Alex Rodriguez has been suffering from a minor injury to his right thumb, but the New York Yankees' general manager said the unspecified injury was not the reason manager Joe Girardi …
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Molly Knight / ESPN:
'Til debt do us part — The Dodgers' pennant run will not be half as entertaining as the owners' divorce trial — Jamie and Frank McCourt's divorce is taking its toll on the Dodgers franchise. — She knows it was a Wednesday last October. She knows it was 10:55 a.m. But for all the Dodger Dogs …
Jerry Crasnick / ESPN:
Some interesting stuff to chew on — Triple Crown chases and deadline doings highlight the prime second-half storylines — Dallas Braden hugged his grandmother, and Jim Joyce cried at home plate. Dave Trembley, Trey Hillman, Fredi Gonzalez, A.J. Hinch and Josh Byrnes all lost their jobs …
