Chicago Cubs acquire Cole Hamels from Texas Rangers  —  The Chicago Cubs have acquired veteran pitcher Cole Hamels from the Texas Rangers.  —  Sources told the Dallas Morning News and ESPN that the deal was pending an exchange of medical reports as of Thursday night.

Moustakas?  Bautista?  Harper?  Evaluating the Yankees' Options After Aaron Judge's Injury  — The Yankees could just stand pat in light of Aaron Judge's wrist injury, or they could turn to the trade market for help.  Could that possibly include Bryce Harper?

Hall-worthy peaks, active Hall of Famers and MLB's next big thing  —  Back in January 2012, I attended a forum on the Hall of Fame candidacy of Minnie Minoso, arguably the second-best player in the American League during the 1950s.  It was in the big conference room at whatever it was the Chicago White Sox called their ballpark then.

Brewers' Josh Hader booed by Giants fans in first road game since Twitter controversy  —  SAN FRANCISCO — In Josh Hader's first road game since his racist, misogynistic and anti-gay tweets were unearthed, the Brewers All-Star reliever received a reception far different from the standing ovation bestowed upon …

Watch the 1984 Detroit Tigers come to life like never before  —  We unearthed thousands of Free Press photo negatives and one sports writer's score book to tell the tale of baseball's greats.  “Bless you, boys.”  Brian Kaufman, Detroit Free Press  —  CONNECT  —  One team.  One city.

Marlins rookie matches up against Nationals ace  —  MIAMI — Friday's pitching matchup should favor the Washington Nationals over the host Miami Marlins.  —  Washington's three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (13-5, 2.43 ERA) will be opposed by Miami rookie Pablo Lopez (2-1, 5.09) …

Cardinals reportedly expected to part with RP Greg Holland  —  EDITOR'S PICKS  —  Each club still has an outside shot at October.  Then again, it might be wiser to start over.  They have six days — and counting — until the deadline.  —  Holland never panned out for the Cardinals …

Next Slide  —  When Johnny Bench assumes his spot in the Louisville Slugger Field dugout next week, his managing philosophy for the Bluegrass World Series is going to be simple.  —  “I'm going to immediately go for the jugular,” he told the Courier Journal on Thursday.  —  Bench is joking, of course.

Phillies future can't depend on Manny Machado leaving the Dodgers |  David Murphy  —  The worst-case scenario is the one that occurred.  Disregard what anybody has said that may suggest otherwise.  Farhan Zaidi.  John Middleton.  Manny Machado himself.  —  The Phillies' blueprint must …

Arms race at MLB trade deadline reflects the maturing science of collecting outs  —  The Washington Post  —  It requires a minimum of 297 outs for a team to win a World Series — 11 playoff wins, at 27 outs apiece — and the path by which you get there is half science and half art.

Three up, three down: A's are a surprise, but hitters pitching isn't anymore  —  THREE UP  —  All A's: The Athletics got to 60 wins faster than any team in the National League.  As an American League team, they are fighting for a wild-card spot, but that's a pleasantly unlikely spot …