Indians Very Close To Acquiring Kosuke Fukudome  —  11:02am: A Cubs source told ESPN's Jim Bowden the prospects are outfielder Abner Abreu and reliever Carlton Smith (Twitter link).  —  10:30am: Hoynes tweets that the Indians are paying $775K of Fukudome's remaining salary, which would leave about $3.9MM for the Cubs.

Daily Rumble: Padres narrowing focus  —  Heath Bell could be on the move, with Mike Adams and Ryan Ludwick not far behind … Carlos Beltran?  Gone.  Colby Rasmus?  Gone.  Edwin Jackson?  Moving on again — as he does every year at this time.  So here at the Daily Rumble, we know exactly what you're thinking ...

An Underachieving Symbol of the Mets' Lost Decade  —  A full decade has come and gone since the Mets' last pennant in 2000.  —  When Mets fans think of the scrappy bunch that put together that pennant, they might even gloss over the powerful Mike Piazza and smilingly recall appealing characters …

SPORTS BASEBALL  —  Rasmus' dad blasts Tony La Russa  —  Former St. Louis Cardinals' outfielder Colby Rasmus was traded to the Blue Jays on Wednesday.  (GETTY IMAGES)  —  Report an error  —  TORONTO - … Not so, says the man supposedly in Rasmus' ear.

AS CONCERN ABOUT BUCHHOLZ GROWS, RED SOX EXPLORE STARTING MARKET  —  It is no longer simply a matter of “when” Clay Buchholz will come back from a back issue that has now had him on the disabled list for more than five weeks.  Other questions are starting to creep into the equation, such as “if” and “in what capacity.”

Hideki Irabu found dead; suicide suspected  —  This is just breaking and, at present, we only have links to stories in Japanese, but apparently former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu was found dead at his California home yesterday.  Suicide is suspected.  —  Irabu has had a troubled post-baseball career.

Aramis Ramirez On Trades: “We'll See”  —  Aramis Ramirez has said all summer that he won't waive his no-trade clause to accept a deal before the July 31st non-waiver deadline.  But his recent comments to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times suggest he's softening on the idea of leaving …

Yankees keeping an eye on Dodgers' Kuroda  —  The Yankees remain uncomfortable with the high price tag of Ubaldo Jimenez, but also equally uncomfortable with the state of their rotation behind CC Sabathia.  —  Thus, they are remaining in regular contact with the Dodgers about Hiroki Kuroda.

Francona salutes fans at Fenway Park  —  There was a neat moment at Fenway Park today in the eighth inning.  —  Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 2 with a walk as he came to the plate and the fans knew this would likely be his last chance to extend a hitting streak that had reached 24 games.

Derek Jeter 3K film out Thursday  —  NEW YORK — Derek Jeter allowed cameras to follow him during his pursuit of 3,000 hits partly because “if and when” he has children, he'd like them to be able to see him as a player.  —  In the hour-long documentary that premieres Thursday night on HBO …

David Ortiz keeps up the power  —  Big Papi's slam earns his 1,000th RBI as Red Sox  —  David Ortiz found inspiration watching Jacoby Ellsbury [stats] and Dustin Pedroia [stats] open the Red Sox [team stats] half of the first inning with back-to-back solo home runs.