Astros Ask Oswalt to Approve Trade to Phillies  —  HOUSTON - Major League baseball sources told FOX 26 Sports the Houston Astros have a deal in place to trade pitcher Roy Oswalt to the Philadelphia Phillies if Oswalt agrees to waive his no-trade clause.  —  Sources told FOX 26 the Astros have approached Oswalt.

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.

Nationals put Strasburg on DL … WASHINGTON (AP) — Rookie right-hander Stephen Strasburg has been placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Washington Nationals because of inflammation in his pitching shoulder.  —  Thursday's move is retroactive to July 22, a day after he made his last appearance.

Time is gaining, Red Sox are not  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. - No pain, no gain for the Red Sox [team stats].  —  The fact that nobody cracked a rib, tore a muscle - J.D. Drew [stats]'s mild hamstring issue does not count …

Angels seem to be at end of line  —  Though the season is far from over, L.A. is a tired team and virtually out of contention … ANAHEIM, Calif. — Torii Hunter sat at his locker dressed in a gray T-shirt, red shorts and brown slippers, slowly sipping coffee from a green Styrofoam cup.

Jays not pursuing Bautista extension  —  Jose Bautista is having a career year, leading the majors with 30 home runs.  —  PRINT RSS  —  Updated Jul 28, 2010 10:57 PM ET  —  Toronto's Jose Bautista leads the major leagues with 30 home runs.  But the Blue Jays aren't currently discussing a contract extension with him.

Top prospect Domonic Brown shines in debut for surging Phillies  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Roy Halladay (FSY) threw a six-hitter and top prospect Domonic Brown (FSY) had two hits and two RBI in his major league debut to lead the streaking Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-1 victory over the slumping Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.

Mets are finally finding their level  —  It's time to stop pretending — this is an entertaining, battling .500 team, and that's it … NEW YORK — The answer that will save the New York Mets' season isn't anything that a middling deal by Saturday's trade deadline will fix.

Staying clean may be costing Fred McGriff in his bid for Hall of Fame  —  On the weekend he might have been inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame, an extraordinary achievement, Fred McGriff had the most ordinary of weekends.  —  He visited his mother.  He watched his daughter, Ericka, play volleyball.

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 …

Looking Farther Afield  —  I have been making something of a ruckus recently about where I feel the state of current defensive analysis is.  I have been long on listing problems, and short on proposing solutions.  —  Well, allow me to make amends there.  I don't pretend to have the problem solved.