Top News:
ESPN:
Derek Jeter decision causes stir — Forget National League vs. American League. It's Derek Jeter's right vs. Jeter's wrong in Phoenix on Tuesday. — After an unnamed major league official and some players told the New York Daily News that Jeter was wrong to skip Tuesday's All-Star festivities …
Discussion:
Angels blog, Pinstripe Alley and NESN.com
RELATED:
Troy Renck / All Things Rockies:
Bud Selig expects MLB playoff expansion, more replay — Bud Selig. — PHOENIX — Commissioner Bud Selig said he expects more wild-card berths and a “modest addition” to use of instant replay in the future. — Selig was the brainchild of the wild-card, adding the extra postseason berth in 1995 …
Discussion:
Boston Globe
Associated Press:
Selig: Teams Reviewing Stadium Safety After Death — PHOENIX (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig says major league teams are reviewing stadium safety following the death of a fan at a Texas Rangers game last week. — The fan, 39-year-old Shannon Stone, fell over a railing while trying …
Discussion:
ESPN and Associated Press
TSN.ca:
NL All-Stars try to make it two straight wins over AL — The Sports Network — (Sports Network) - Major League Baseball's All-Star Game heads to Phoenix, Arizona for the first time in the game's illustrious 82-game history this evening when the National League tries to string …
Discussion:
Baseball Analysts, Talking Chop and Associated Press
RELATED:
John Tomase / Clubhouse Insider:
Matt Holliday: The one who got away? — Matt Holliday had a number of criteria when he entered free agency in the winter before the 2010 season. — He wanted to play in a market where baseball mattered, the team was competitive, and where the World Series was a realistic annual goal.
Discussion:
HardballTalk and Full Count
RELATED:
Alex Speier / Full Count:
Beltran: Accepting trade to Red Sox ‘a no brainer’
Discussion:
NESN.com and HardballTalk
Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Mozeliak has blueprint for success — The National League Central has spent more than three months waiting on the Cardinals. — The time never has been better, the Cardinals believe, to make the rest of the division pay. — Nick Punto watched the formula work repeatedly with the Minnesota Twins …
Discussion:
Seamheads.com, HardballTalk, MLB Daily Dish and Full Count
RELATED:
Associated Press:
HR fan saved from fall as friends catch his legs — PHOENIX — Keith Carmickle and his friends had already caught three balls during Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby Monday night and wanted more. — He nearly got a lot more: a headfirst fall to a pool deck about 20 feet below.
RELATED:
Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
Cano tops Gonzalez in Home Run Derby
Discussion:
USA Today, Surviving Grady, Pinstripe Alley, AZ Snake Pit, Purple Row, Yahoo! Sports and baseballmusings.com
John Leland / New York Times:
Returning Jeter's Big Hit: No Good Deed Goes Untaxed (Perhaps) — Here is the fan's fantasy: You go to the ballpark and under a picture-perfect sky not only do the Yankees win, but in recognition of your exemplary behavior, the team also showers you with free season tickets …
Discussion:
NY Daily News, The Big Lead, HardballTalk, Pinstripe Alley, Subway Squawkers and Sliding Into Home
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Trade Market — A dozen teams look like potential July 31st sellers, if we exclude the Rockies. With assumptions on who the Blue Jays, Orioles, Royals, Mariners, Athletics, Mets, Nationals, Marlins, Cubs, Astros, Dodgers, and Padres might be willing to move …
Discussion:
MLB Daily Dish
Yahoo! Sports:
T'wolves part ways with Rambis — The Minnesota Timberwolves have fired Kurt Rambis as coach. — The leading candidates for the job include Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Bickerstaff's son, J.B., an assistant with the T'wolves under Rambis …
Discussion:
ProBasketballTalk and NESN.com
Matt Gelb / Philly.com:
Phillies Notes: Hamels not a fan of All-Star Game pitching rule — PHOENIX - The way Cole Hamels sees it, he's throwing anyway on Tuesday, so why not let him pitch in the All-Star Game? — “I need to find a catcher,” Hamels quipped. “Maybe I'll get [Atlanta's Brian] McCann.”
Discussion:
CloserNews and HardballTalk
JonPaulMorosi / mlbbuzz:
Sources: Angels were serious about Garrett Jones — The Pirates and Angels engaged in serious talks earlier this season about a trade that would have sent outfielder/first baseman Garrett Jones to Anaheim and catcher Jeff Mathis to Pittsburgh, major league sources told FOXSports.com.
Discussion:
Pirates Prospects, HardballTalk, Full Count and MLB Rumors
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Right now, Ortiz has a bright future — PHOENIX - The All-Star Game is always a good time for stories about David Ortiz's future with the Red Sox. — And they won't end here. — If Ortiz continues to have a good season, there will be more stories, columns, and opinions on what the Sox should do with the lovable designated hitter.
