The following entry comes from Tyler Maas

With half the season in the books and the All-Star break within a stone's throw, it's almost acceptable for baseball fans to begin their other pastime - scoreboard watching.
 
Sure, there are already five teams with double-digit deficits in their respective divisions, and players on the Mariners and Nationals can safely begin making non-occupational plans for October. But as a whole, one great or terrible week of play against a divisional foe could do volumes to catapult a cellar-dweller within grasp of the division lead or topple a leader’s likelihood of maintaining its first place standing.
 
This week, the first full week of the season’s latter half, three division leaders will face off against their closest competition in the standings.
 
Tampa Bay vs. Boston
The surprise Rays and defending champ Red Sox have been taking turns holding the AL East torch all season. With Tampa again in the driver’s seat, Justin Masterson and the Wild Card leader BoSox hope to vanquish the half game margin Monday, and reclaim the lead as the series wraps up Wednesday.
 
Masterson will face off against James Shields Monday. Tim Wakefield and Matt Garza will battle it out Tuesday and Daisuke Matsuzaka takes on Scott Kazmir in the series finale.
 
Los Angeles vs. Oakland
After dropping two straight to the Giants this weekend the Athletics travel to Anaheim looking to shorten the 4.5 game gap that now separates them from the Halos.
 
Greg Smith and Jon Garland go in the first game Monday, Ervin Santana and the red hot Rich Harden take the rubber Tuesday. The series wraps up Wednesday with Oakland’s Dana Eveland and AL win leader Joe Saunders.
 
St. Louis vs. Chicago
On the National League side of things, the Wild Card-leading Cardinals host the Central leader Cubs in a three-game weekend series. Both teams have scuffled of late, due primarily to injury and an exit from their previously cushy schedules.
 
Braden Looper and Carlos Zambrano, who looks to bring fireworks in his July 4th return from a shoulder injury, will set the series in motion Friday. Kyle Lohse and Ted Lilly go Saturday, while Todd Wellemeyer and ex Cardinal Jason Marquis round out the series on Sunday.
 
There’s a lot of season left, but each game that elapses en route to season’s end means exceedingly more – especially when the teams competing sit one and two in their division.

Chase Utley's Phillies may be slumping but the second baseman is still the leading vote-getter in all of baseball followed by Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez who is the top vote-getter in the American League.  Utley and A-Rod lead an All-Star voting race that is tightening at a number of positions across the NL and AL.  With a few days left to vote Online there are still a number of tight races that are too close to call.  Here is a look at the races both decided and up-for-grabs in the 2008 All-Star voting race:

 

FIRST BASEMAN

Boston's Kevin Youkilis (1,915,376) leads Minnesota's Justin Morneau (1,641,467) by less than 300,000 votes in the AL.  Youkilis is hitting .313 with 13 homers and 50 RBI while Morneau is at .306 with 12 homers and 63 RBI.  Youkilis would be making his first All-Star appearance if he can hold off Morneau who has made one All-Star appearance.

In the NL, Houston's Lance Berkman (2,132,663) is the likely starting first baseman with more than 700,000 votes more than his next competitor Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals.  Berkman's numbers through half the season are impressive -- .364 with 21 home runs and 67 RBI.  He is also on a pace to challenge his career high in doubles with 27 in 82 games and has a career-high 12 stolen bases.  It is fairly certain Berkman's lead will hold and will give him his fifth All-Star appearance.

SECOND BASEMAN

Boston's Dustin Pedroia (1,669,216) is being challenged by Texas' Ian Kinsler (1,485,350) who is less than 200,00 votes behind the Red Sox second baseman in the AL.  Pedroia is hitting .304 with eight home runs, 37 RBI, 53 runs scored and is 9-for-9 on steal attempts while enjoying the Red Sox Nation boost.  Kinsler is hitting .323 with 13 home runs, 50 RBI, 71 runs scored and is 20-for-21 on steal attempts.  Both Pedroia and Kinsler are seeking their first All-Star appearance.

In the NL, Philadelphia's Chase Utley (2,645,027) leads the next two NL second baseman -- Chicago's Mark DeRosa (1,139,698) and Florida's Dan Uggla (947,425) -- combined.  Utley's output has decreases slightly in June but is still hitting .297 with an NL-leading 23 home runs, 65 runs scored and 60 RBI.  For Utley, it will be his third consecutive All-Star appearance.

THIRD BASEMAN

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is a lock to nail down the starting job here.  With 2,518,067 votes, A-Rod leads Boston's Mike Lowell (1,313,090) by over 1.2 million votes.  This will be the 12th All-Star appearance for Rodriguez who is hitting .322 with 15 home runs and 43 RBI through Sunday.

Atlanta's Chipper Jones (2,433,753) should join his AL counterpart if he is healthy enough to play.  With a lead of over 1 million votes over Chicago's Aramis Ramirez (1,373,565), the only question is will Jones be able to play as he battles through injury and is possibly headed to the 15-day disabled list.  Through Sunday, Jones continues to flirt with .400 at a .394 average.  He also has 16 homers and 46 RBI.  It would be Jones' sixth All-Star appearance and first since 2001.

SHORTSTOP

Another Yankee likely to get the starting nod at shortstop as New York's Derek Jeter (2,507,534) leads Texas' Michael Young (1,478,823) by over 1 million votes.  Jeter trails A-Rod for the top spot in the AL by less than 11,000 votes.  Jeter is hitting .284 with four home runs and 47 runs scored and is headed for his ninth All-Star appearance and third consecutive starting nod courtesy of the fans.

The NL race is extremely tight with Florida's Hanley Ramirez (1,483,875) holding a narrow lead over Houston's Miguel Tejada (1,315,240) and Chicago's Ryan Theriot (1,114,336).  Ramirez has never been selected to an All-Star team and is hitting .294 with 18 dingers, 35 RBI, 69 runs scored and 20 steals.  Tejada is hitting .287 with 10 homers and 43 RBI in his first season in the NL and is seeking his fifth All-Star selection.  Like Ramirez, Theriot has never been on an All-Star roster and has a .314 average, 45 runs scored and 13 steals this season.  All three would be candidates for a backup spot along with New York's Jose Reyes.

CATCHER

Another race too close to call in the AL is between Minnesota's Joe Mauer (1,632,338) and Boston's Jason Varitek (1,487,390).  Mauer leads by less than 150,000 votes and must hold off Varitek to get his second All-Star nod.  Mauer is hitting .321 and on pace for career highs in runs scored and doubles.  Varitek, a former two-time All-Star, is hitting .225 with seven home runs and 25 RBI and would be an unlikely candidate for a backup spot. 

The NL spot will probably belong to Chicago's Geovany Soto (1,827,279), in his first season behind the plate for the Cubs.  Soto leads Atlanta's Brian McCann (1,149,247) by a healthy 600,000-plus votes.  In '08, Soto is hitting .281 with 13 home runs and 47 RBI.  McCann is also having an All-Star worthy season with a .295 average and 14 homers and 45 RBI.  Soto would be making his All-Star debut and McCann is seeking his third All-Star shot.

OUTFIELDER

Boston's Manny Ramirez (2,409,388)and Texas' Josh Hamilton (2,327,467) have All-Star bids locked down while Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki (1,397,460) must hold off five players within 400,000 votes of the third spot.  Chasing Ichiro are Los Angeles' Vladimir Guerrero (1,187,273), New York's Bobby Abreu (1,141,618) and Johnny Damon (1,104,990), Boston's J.D. Drew (1,134,658) and Texas' Milton Bradley (1,058,985).  Ramirez will be headed to his 12th All-Star appearance and is the owner of a .289 average with 16 home runs and 52 RBI.  Hamilton is having a huge year and will be making his first All-Star appearance.  He is 10th in the AL in batting average at .312 and leads the AL in homers with 19 and RBI with 79.  Ichiro is in jeopardy of not making the All-Star team for the first time in his eight year Major League career.  Ichiro is hitting .297 with 57 runs scored and 33 steals and would be one of a few worthy candidates should he fall out of the top three in votes.

In the NL, four candidates are in the running for three spots.  Chicago's Alfonso Soriano (2,120,635) leads Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. (1,917,739) and Chicago's Kosuke Fukudome (1,783,983) while Milwaukee's Ryan Braun (1,751,058) is on the outside looking in by the narrowest of margins of all the runner-up candidates.  Soriano is hitting .283 with 15 homers and 40 RBI and is in line for his seventh All-Star appearance where he is 5-for-14 with three home runs in six games.  Griffey is living on his reputation as his .234 average and nine homers are not strong enough to get him his 14th All-Star nod if it were not for the votes.  Rookie Cubs outfielder Fukudome and reigning NL Rookie of the Year Braun will be the tightest race as the voting comes to an end.  Fukudome's .297 average, six homers and 55 RBI might not be good enough to land him his first All-Star appearance should he come up short in the voting.  Braun, also seeking his first All-Star selection, is hitting .287 with 20 home runs and 58 RBI.

DESIGNATED HITTER

Boston's David Ortiz (2,482,981) leads New York's Hideki Matsui (1,567,847) by nearly one million votes.  Both players are currently on the DL and it is unlikely that Ortiz will be back in time for the All-Star despite the likely fan selection.  Ortiz is hitting .252 with 13 home runs and 43 RBI in 54 games and has not played since May 31. 

In-stadium voting is complete and the only way a ballot can be cast is online at MLB.com or any of the team's Web sites where voting closes at 11:59 PM on Wednesday, July 2. 

The All-Star rosters will be revealed on Sunday, July 6 on TBS at 2 PM and will be made up of fan selections and pitchers and reserves selected by a "Player Ballot" and the team's managers -- Terry Francona in the American League and Clint Hurdle in the National League.  A total of 32 players will be selected for each team.

 

Last night, Magglio Ordonez left the game early with a pulled oblique.  After reporting to the club today with more pain, Detroit immediately placed Ordonez on the 15-day disabled list with the right oblique injury.  With Ordonez joining Gary Sheffield and Brandon Inge with similar injuries, the Tigers recalled Matt Joyce from Triple-A Toledo.

Ordonez was the only player on the Tigers to play in all 80 games this season before being placed on the DL.  At the time of the injury, his average was .307 with 12 home runs, 50 RBI and 42 runs scored.  It is Ordonez's first trip to the disabled list since 2005 when he missed half the season after joining the Tigers from the White Sox.

Joyce is making his second appearance on Detroit's 25-man roster this season.  The 23-year-old outfielder played 18 games in May and hit .200 with five home runs and 10 RBI in 53 at bats.

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After his first start in a Pirates uniform on Saturday, Pittsburgh sent down Ty Taubenheim to Triple-A Indianapolis to make room for reliever Romulo Sanchez. 

Taubenheim made his Pittsburgh debut against the Rays on Saturday and went six innings with a no decision.  He gave up two runs on seven hits and three walks in their 4-3 13-inning win over the Rays. 

Sanchez joins the team for the first time this season.  The 24-year-old righty made 25 relief appearances with Indianapolis and posted a 4-0 record with four saves to go with his 2.85 ERA.  Last season, Sanchez appeared in 16 games with the Pirates and was 1-0 with a 5.00 ERA during a late August call up.

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Due to a forearm injury to Shawn Hill, the Nationals announced they will tap Collin Balester from Triple-A Columbus to make his Major League debut.  The fourth round pick of the then-Montreal Expos in 2004, will start Tuesday against the Florida Marlins and is expected to remain with the club in the rotation during the remainder of Hill's injury.

At Columbus, Balester was 9-3 with a 4.00 ERA in 15 starts.  In 78 2/3 innings, Balester gave up 79 hits and walked 23 while striking out 64.  Balester joined the team out of Huntington Beach High School in California and is just 22 years old.  According to Baseball America, Balester is considered to be the third best prospect in the organization behind outfielder/first baseman Chris Marrero and left-handed pitcher Ross Detweiler.

Jered Weaver and Jose Arrendando combined on an 8 inning no-hitter against the Dodgers Saturday night, but a couple of errors and walks doomed the Angels who could not generate any run support.

The Dodgers' 1-0 win over the Angels marks the fifth time in the modern era of baseball that a team has won without benefit of a hit.  Here are the other four:

April 12, 1992 (first game of a doubleheader) - The Indians beat Boston, 2-1, in Cleveland despite getting no-hit for 8.0 innings by Pasadena-born left-hander Matt Young.

July 1, 1990 – The White Sox defeat the New York Yankees, 4-0, in Chicago despite facing 8.0 no-hit innings from right-hander Andy Hawkins.

April 30, 1967 (first game of a doubleheader) – The Tigers defeat the Orioles, 2-1, in Baltimore despite a no-hit effort from Steve Barber (8.2) and Stu Miller (0.1).

April 23, 1964 – The Reds defeated the Houston Colt 45s, 1-0, in Houston despite 9.0 innings of no-hit ball from Ken Johnson.

The Dodgers were held hitless for the first time since April 8, 1994, when Atlanta’s Kent Mercker shut them down in a 6-0 win at Dodger Stadium…the only other time the Dodgers have been held hitless at Dodger Stadium was July 28, 1991, when Dennis Martinez pitched a perfect game for the Montreal Expos.

 

...According to his agent Jeff Borris, Barry Bonds has no interest in signing with a minor league club, or an independent team to prove he can still play.

"He has nothing to prove there," Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris, said Wednesday. "He doesn't need to go to an independent team and hit two home runs a night hoping to get attention to prove that he still has the skills that would warrant him playing at the major league level. His performance in 2007 demonstrates that he's capable of playing at the major league level for the 2008 season."

Of course they're still using the angle that all 30 major league teams have conspired against Bonds to not give him a job. Though there is no proof that this has happened, but of course it's being 'investigated'.

...Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz says he's still "weeks away" from returning to the Sox line up after injuring his wrist. This came after testing his wrist with 25 swings off a tee.

...Houston Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon has been suspended indefinitely by the club, after a physical confrontation between the pitcher and General Manager Ed Wade. Chacon grabbed Wade by throat and wrestled him to the ground. The full details of what went on in the Astros club house can be found here.

...One of the hot button issues of the season has been the issue of the use of Maple Bats. Now it seems there's an X Ray capable of finding flaws in the bats. It's called "BatteryMate" and is pretty much a CT or Cat Scan much like the ones used by your doctor.

Is this the year of the streak or what? Every time I turn around someone else is reeling off 5 or 6 wins in a row or dropping 7 or 8. Most recently, the Twins have won 8 straight, the Royals have been victorious in 9 of 10, and the Angels just completed a 5 game winning streak. On the other end of the spectrum, the Phillies finally got into the win column after losing 6 straight and the Padres have dropped 8 of their last 10.

The next time someone wants to criticize Tony LaRussa's managerial style, tell them to look closely at the 2008 Cardinals. St. Louis currently sits in second place just 4 1/2 games behind Chicago. They have the second best record in the National League and the 5th best record in baseball. They are 10th in the league in runs scored and 12th in the league in team ERA. They are without Chris Carpenter, Jason Isringhausen has been worthless, and Albert Pujols has missed a several games over the past few weeks. Their lineup boasts Ryan Ludwick, Skip Schumaker, Aaron Miles, Brian Barton, Troy Glaus, and Rick Ankiel. Meanwhile, on the mound, they're starting the likes of Adam Wainwright, Braden Looper, Kyle Lohse, and Todd Wellemeyer. Now I ask...someone has to be doing a pretty good job managing this team, right?

The difference in the home/road records of MLB teams this year is staggering. Only 4 of the 30 teams have a record over .500 on the road this year...St. Louis, Philadelphia, Los Angeles (Angels), and Oakland.

Can someone please tell me what happened to the Arizona Diamondbacks? They single handedly have kept the rest of the National League West in the pennant race.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I am in favor of keeping J.P. Ricciardi in Toronto. I realize the Blue Jays have been a bit disappointing under J.P., but the Jays are a team that seems to have had their fair share of injuries too. I mean, they have lost impact players for significant periods of time...Roy Halladay missed half of 2005, A.J. Burnett missed almost half of 2006, B.J. Ryan missed virtually all of 2007, Lyle Overbay went down for 40+ games in 2007 and wasn't the same the rest of the year, Alex Rios missed a bunch of games in 2006, Troy Glaus couldn't stay on the field and now Scott Rolen isn't much better, and the list goes on. I realize J.P. has made some ill conceived remarks, but it would have been nice to see what Toronto could have accomplished with a healthy squad all these years.

On the other hand, everyone is so quick to give Tampa Bay's management such rave reviews. Hey, if I drafted in the top 5 for the last 10 years, I'd be able to assemble a pretty strong young team too! I'm not saying that no credit should be given to Andrew Friedman and Gerry Hunsicker. They've handled this team well. I'm just saying that picking so high every year was bound to bring talent to Tampa Bay.

You think his recent trip to the minors motivated Milwaukee's Dave Bush?

Congratulations to the Fresno State Bulldogs on winning the College World Series. Now that's what I call an improbable win! Consider these facts (as provided by ESPN)...
• Fresno State became the lowest seed in any sport to win an NCAA championship.
• The Bulldogs survived six elimination games on the way to the title.
• Fresno State's 31 losses are the most by a baseball champion.

It's teams like Fresno State that make me just love sports!

I'm curious what Twins fans think NOW about trading Johan Santana to New York. Minnesota today moved within a 1/2 game of the AL Central leading Chicago White Sox.

And oh yeah...I wonder what Mets fans think NOW about trading FOR Johan Santana. New York is a game under .500

So this week, my company received its allotted tickets to All-Star week at Yankee Stadium. Since we have four Yankees season tickets, we received 4 tickets to the Futures Game, the Workout Day and the Home Run Derby, and the All-Star Game itself. I realize this is the last possible All-Star game at Yankee Stadium, but the prices of these tickets are ridiculous. The cost of each All-Star game ticket is $575 for a box seat in the left field corner. But that's not the worst part...That same ticket for the Workout Day and Home Run Derby is $475!!! In 1991, I paid about $20 to watch the home run derby in Toronto at the brand new SkyDome, and my seats were about 20 rows behind the third base dugout!

This year, I'll be attending the Futures Game as working media on Sunday, July 13. I'm hoping that our own Matt LaPorta will be making an appearance so we can get more exclusive inside information for BDD. The rosters for the game will be announced at 3:00 PM ET today. Good luck Matt!

And finally, some of you will say that I'm biased because of my friendship with Dayton Moore, but the Kansas City Royals are looking like a mighty interesting team as we head into the All-Star break. The starting four of Gil Meche, Zack Greinke, Brian Bannister, and Luke Hochevar is formidable as any in the league right now, and the offense, led by Jose Guillen, is coming up with some big hits. Don't forget, this is a team that also has Billy Butler, Mike Moustakas, and Eric Hosmer (among others) lurking around the corner. It looks like Geoff Young made a good choice after all when he adopted the Royals!

(Photo of Luke Hochevar by Bill Richardson, BDD)

BDD's Off the Cuff is provided by founder and managing editor Joe Hamrahi. Joe's a CPA, a financial executive, a baseball analyst, and a proponent of using all available information (read stats and scouts!) in order to make better baseball decisions! Joe can be reached at jhamrahi@baseballdigestdaily.com.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Seattle Mariners Felix Hernandez has left his start in the bottom of the fifth inning with a sprained left ankle. This, after Hernanez connected on a four run tater in the top of the second inning.

According to MLB.com,
Here is the video of Hernandez being taken out by Beltran. WOW! That looks painful!

More information to come as the severity of the injury is discovered.

The Chicago Cubs are optimistic that ace Carlos Zambrano will return soon but are playing it safe by placing him on the 15-day disabled list.  Zambrano will miss both weekend series with their crosstown rivals, the White Sox.

The mild shoulder strain will cost Zambrano two starts but the Cubs made the move to prevent long-term complications from the injury.  The Cubs own the best record in baseball and Zambrano has played a huge role in getting them there.  He is 8-3 with a 3.13 ERA.

Eric Patterson was recalled from Triple-A Iowa to take his spot on the 25-man roster.  It is Patterson's third stop with the team this season -- he is 2-for-14 in five games.

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The Toronto Blue Jays placed starting pitcher Shaun Marcum on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday with right elbow soreness.  To take his place on the 25-man roster, the Jays recalled outfielder Adam Lind from Triple-A Syracuse.  Toronto is expected to make another move on Friday to call up a starting pitcher to take Marcum's spot in the rotation.

Marcum, 26, is 5-4 with a 2.65 ERA and struck out 86 in 98 2/3 innings.  Right-handers are hitting just .169 against him and 11 of Marcum's 15 starts have been quality starts.

Lind gives the team some flexibility on the hitting side and the call up marks his second Major League stay of 2008.  In his first stop, Lind went 1-for-19 in six games.

The Blue Jays will need a starting pitcher for their game with the Atlanta Braves on June 27.  The top candidates at Triple-A Syracuse are John Parrish, David Purcey and Kane Davis.  Parrish is 10-0 with a 2.83 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 76 1/3 innings for Syracuse but the 30-year-old Parrish is 2-6 with an ERA over 6.00 in 10 career starts in the Majors.  Purcey made two starts earlier this season for the Jays and is 0-1 with an 11.05 ERA.  Davis is 6-6 with a 3.30 ERA at Triple-A and has not made a Major League start since 2000 when he played for the Cleveland Indians.  Davis -- who turns 33 on June 25 -- is 0-2 with a 15.43 ERA in those two starts.

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M.C. Hammer had the juice -- ask Jack McKeon.  Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post wrote a story on Saturday detailing McKeon's account of M.C. Hammer's involvement with the Oakland Athletics back in the mid-1970s.

According to McKeon, there is a remote possibility that the 12-year-old Hammer (then Stanley Burrell) might have been the reason he was fired as the team's manager during the 1978 season.  The story is well worth the click and read.