Specialist gives Pedroia a wake-up call  —  Injured Red Sox second baseman scales back expectations  —  ANAHEIM — Dustin Pedroia's Tuesday visit to the office of renowned orthopedist Lewis Yocum was a bit sobering.  Any designs that Pedroia had of rushing himself back to the active roster …

MRI shows no damage in Strasburg's shoulder  —  An MRI revealed no damage in the shoulder of Nationals' star rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg.  Washington will monitor him closely and see how he responds.  It's uncertain how long he'll be out.  —  Strasburg, the Nats rookie phenom …

Source: Dodgers to get Podsednik  —  The Dodgers have agreed to a deal that will bring Kansas City Royals outfielder Scott Podsednik to Los Angeles, a baseball source told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark on Wednesday.  —  The Royals would receive two minor leaguers.

Derrek Lee to remain a Cub  —  CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee has told the organization he prefers to remain a Cub rather than accept a trade, general manager Jim Hendry told ESPNChicago.com on Wednesday.  —  The Los Angeles Angels proposed a trade to the Cubs over the past 10 days …

Phillies could get Oswalt, keep Werth  —  Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005.  He appears weekly on MLB on FOX.  Follow him on Twitter.  —  The Phillies are positioned to get Roy Oswalt — if they want him.

A very important article on fielding  —  Baseball Prospectus has published an article by Colin Wyers today that may be one of the most important pieces written about fielding measurement in the last decade.  The full piece is available only to BP subscribers, but let me briefly recap some of the topics Colin covers.

Mauer playing through all kinds of pain  —  is hurt.  He smiles through the pain because the unwritten part of a $184 million contract calls for grinning and bearing.  He refuses to talk about his injuries because to do so would be to admit they exist, and to do that would seem like an excuse …

Jeff Blair  —  Hitting .290 and going to the All-Star Game or hiccupping his way through a year-long slump, Aaron Hill is a team player.  —  So it is no surprise that Hill said Tuesday he is open to a shift to third base in 2011 if general manager Alex Anthopoulos decides trading …

Why do Yankees lose to debutantes?  —  From Virginia, Chris writes: “After [Josh] Tomlin kept the Yankees in check, it reminded me of a question I've had for a while.  The Yankees seem to lose much more often when they face a rookie for the first time or a guy making his major-league debut.

Tigers Acquire Jhonny Peralta  —  The Tigers acquired Jhonny Peralta and cash from the Indians for minor league pitcher Giovanni Soto, according to the team.  MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince reports on Twitter that the Tigers are getting cash to cover all but the pro-rated portion of the major league minimum salary.

Miss Iowa USA would like to see Washington's Miguel Batista try walking the runway in a swimsuit … Miss Iowa USA has a word for Washington Nationals pitcher Miguel Batista.  —  Actually, she has several.  —  “I know I can throw a pitch or two!”  Katherine Connors, the 20-year-old Bettendorf native said in a statement today.

Daily Rumble: Three who will get traded  —  As the chances of a Roy Oswalt deal by Saturday fade to black, we're going to do something revolutionary:  —  We're going to look at three players who, unless something changes, actually will get traded this week.  —  OK, so he isn't the most magical name on the Trade Deadline Marquee.

Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett says Coghlan's freak accident won't deter him from throwing pies  —  CLEVELAND - Celebrating has become dangerous in baseball, but don't expect A.J. Burnett to curb his pie throwing.  —  Florida's Chris Coghlan tore the meniscus in his left knee on Sunday …

M's finally diagnose Rowland-Smith's ‘injury’  —  After the Mariners' latest debacle — in which Ryan Rowland-Smith gave up 11 runs in five innings — Geoff Baker took us into the locker room: … Sometime during the All-Star break, I thought about coming up with a list of starters who probably shouldn't be starters.

Leyland hit with one-game suspension  —  Tigers skipper also fined an undisclosed amount  —  ST. PETERSBURG — Jim Leyland figured he'd be hearing from the Commissioner's Office after his ejection from the Tigers' eventual no-hit loss to the Rays on Monday.  —  His prediction was on-target.