...With the Mid Summer Classic coming up, one of things that fans look forward to is the Home Run Derby. The players on the other hand, not so much. A lot of players and main stream pundits think the Derby messes with your swing. And the first thing they point out as an example is Bobby Abreu who won it in 2005 with a record 41 jacks - and then went on to only hit 6 in the second half. Not only that, but they think the format is to long.

...Just 18 days before being posthumously inducted into Baseball's Hall Of Fame, former Dodgers Owner Walter O'Malley will be honored with a plaque at Dodgers Stadium. He was instrumental in bringing the Dodgers west from Brooklyn.

Here's what Peter O'Malley had to say about the plaque honoring his father.

"He wasn't much for awards, quite frankly," said Peter O'Malley, who took over from his father as president of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1970 when Walter became chairman of the board in 1970, and assumed ownership upon his death in 1979.

"But I think what would have impressed him today as much as much as the great honor of the plaque is the gathering of some of the people who he worked with 50 years ago — some more than 50 years ago. That would have made it a very special day for him."

...With the Padres more than likely being sellers at the deadline, there's at least one guy that would love to remain a Padre - Randy Wolf. He will be a free agent at the end of the season, but would love to remain in sunny San Diego. He can veto trades to 14 teams, which might make it tough to unload him to begin with.

...Even though he was a bit shocked, Rich Harden - now a Chicago Cub is excited to be a part of a team that's contending for a division title.

"It's my first trade. I've been in Oakland my entire career. So it definitely was a shock," Harden said Wednesday, a day after the Cubs obtained him in a six-player trade with the Athletics."But it's exciting to come to the Cubs, especially with the talent they have, the reputation they have -- the fans, how passionate everyone is for baseball here. I couldn't be happier."

Of course the big thing for Harden is the question of whether or not he can remain healthy.

...If you're looking for a piece of Baseball History and happen to be in New York for the All-Star game, you could bid on Babe Ruth's 712th home run ball.

"It's an incredibly significant ball. It's nearly impossible to overstate it's historical significance," said David Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions, which has possession of the ball and has authenticated its validity in advance of the auction. "We think it will go for six figures, but it's hard to say how high the price will go."

...According to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, the Dodgers could've gotten CC Sabathia, Casey Blake and Jamey Carroll without giving up Matt Kemp. He also goes on to add that the Dodgers are near impossible trade partners. There were even rumors that Frank McCourt nixed the deal to begin with. He just said "The Players didn't match up".

...When the Los Angeles Dodgers return from the All-Star break they will have a new hitting coach. It's no surprise that it will be Don Mattingly who turned the position down at the start of the season to devote time to family as he was in the middle of a divorce. But he has since told the Dodgers he's ready to join in a full time capacity. He will be replacing Mike Easler.

...After having season ending shoulder surgery, Boston RHP Curt Schilling isn't making any concrete plans on whether or not he's going to pitch come the 2009 season.

"We're in the initial phase of my rehab," he said. "Whether I was a plumber or a pitcher, I'd have to do it just to have use of my shoulder and arm. There's no real critical decision-making point for a good five, seven or eight weeks from now, until I need to decide whether I want to progress past the normal surgery rehab into very specific job rehab and we'll figure that out then."

...With Eric Byrnes likely done for the long term, the Arizona Diamond Backs are looking at outfield options, which may or may not include Barry Bonds - a former Arizona State Sun Devil. This according to Nick Piercoro of The Arizona Republic, here's what Josh Byrnes - the Snakes GM had to say.

"I don't want to talk about him specifically but, believe me, we've considered a lot of options. There is sort of no one obvious option right now, but there are a lot of considerations."

Honestly, take that for what it's worth.

...The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the Tigers first round draft pick Ryan Perry (who they just signed) could see time in the Majors come September. With the signing, Perry will collect a $1.48 million dollar signing bonus.

...Albert Belle, remember him? He seems to have come out of hiding or whatever to voice his displeasure in the CC Sabathia Trade.

"Imagine that the Cleveland Indians trade away another great player because they didn't want to pay him," said Belle from his home in Arizona. "The saga continues."

[..snip]

"When is Larry Dolan going to sell the club?" said Belle. "I could buy a piece of it. There are a lot of people on teams making a lot of bad decisions. You don't always have to spend a lot of money. Look at what Billy Beane does in Oakland."

He also goes on to talk about how he'd like to be an owner, and how the Seattle Mariners wanted to hire him as a roving instructor - but he turned it down because they were going to pay him "peanuts". I think it's time for Albert to disappear again.

Hype Up the Story Here!

...Philadelphia Phillie's pitcher Brett Myers has made it no secret that he actually prefers being a Closer, than in the rotation. With that said, the Phillies Front Office doesn't really care what Myers prefers.

Quoth Phillies GM Pat Gillick:

"There are a lot of things people in life don't want to do," general manager Pat Gillick said. "But you get paid, and you've got to show up for work and do the best job you can. I know Brett Myers will give us 100 percent."

[snip]"We're kind of stubborn on this. We think Brett is a starter," Gillick said. "It might be that he prefers to close, but we don't see a reason he can't start."

Oh but it gets better, heres Assistant GM Ruben Amaro.

"We've always viewed Brett as a starter," assistant general manager Ruben Amaro said. "We had a situation last year where our bullpen was in shambles and Brett was willing to become the closer. But he's a starter. He's a very important piece of this ball club. He may have felt more confident in the bullpen, but we believe he's a starter."

Wow, just wow...

...Boston Red Sox Designated Hitter David Ortiz took live batting practice yesterday before their game against the Twins. According to the USA Today, Big Papi was in good spirits after the session. It's still up in the air if he'll take more BP or start a rehab assignment.

...Brewers GM Doug Melvin appeared on "The Show" with Kevin Kennedy and Rob Dibble, on XM 175 to talk about the trade that brought CC Sabathia to the Brew Crew.

"When I look at the standings, the one thing I always look at is I always look at the last 10 games and that column that shows you’re “8 and 2” or “7 and 3” and I don’t want to see any “3 and 7”s or “2 and 8”s. Or “1 and 9”s and that’s the reason, the teams that never have those are teams that have 1, 2, and 3 kind of starters or ace type starters at the top of their rotation, they just avoid those kind of losing streaks.

And you can throw together winning streaks with those kind of pitchers and there is no better example than the Tampa Bay Rays. They run a very good quality pitching staff out there, solid bullpen, an athletic team, and they’re on a roll right now. And were hoping that with Ben and CC, and Manny Parra was 5 and 0 last month, that between them and Bush and McClung and Suppan, we feel we’re solidified for the stretch run or the last 75 games."

...With the trade season heating up, one team that may remain silent by the dead line is the Minnesota Twins. According to Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune, the Twins don't see any glaring holes that would spur on a trade before the deadline.

...Justin Duchscherer pitcher for the Oakland A's likes it so much in Oakland that he's talked to his agent about getting an extension done. This comes from A's beat writer Susan Slusser of the San Fransisco Chronicle. He's looking for a three year deal that would take care of his arbitration years.

...Who knew that Texas OF/DH Milton Bradley was a blogger? Surprisingly he's pretty good. In this article "What I have Done Now?" talks about his inclusion into the All-Star Game, the last one being played at Yankee Stadium.

...After all the rumors and allegations, it's official. Cynthia Rodriguez has filed for divorce in the family division of the Miami Dade Court.

"The marriage of the parties is irretrievably broken because of the husband's extramarital affairs and other marital misconduct," according to Cynthia Rodriguez's petition for dissolution of marriage..

This comes after rumors of A-Rod being linked to the new single Madonna. Not to be out done, Cynthia Rodriguez was seen in Paris hanging out with rocker Lenny Kravitz. She also claims that Rodriguez has "emotionally abandoned his wife and children."

...With Sabathia going to Milwaukee, the Cubs are looking towards Rich Harden of the Oakland Athletics. This according to Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun times.

...The Dodgers are in the market for a Shortstop due to Rafael Furcal being injury prone this year - and his return from the DL is hazy. The rumor is that they're pursuing SS Jack Wilson of the Pittsburgh Pirates which would more than likely allow the Dodgers to let Furcal go to Free Agency.

...Can't get enough of the Sabathia coverage? Gord Ash VP and Assistant GM of the Milwaukee Brewers was on "Baseball This Morning" on XM 175 and had this to say about the deal that landed lefty CC Sabathia.

“If we were going to pay the price that we were going to need to pay, we needed to make this not a July 31st deal, we needed to get those extra starts to make a difference...that came together nicely…when you’re able to make a deal of this magnitude, you want to do it as soon as possible, quite frankly, I’m not sure there’s another pitcher of this caliber that’s going to be available…”

...With trade season heating up Tony Massarotti of the Boston Herald takes a look at the Red Sox "Wish List", which includes a catcher and a shortstop.

Hype Up the Story Here

...The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the Orioles are apparently interested in Toronto Blue Jays Shortstop David Eckstein. They don't expect the asking price to be to high, as the Jays have a back log of middle infielders that could come in a do the job.

...Set-Up Man turned Starter Joba Chamberlain was on "The Show" with Kevin Kennedy and Rob Dibble on XM Home Plate 175. Here's what he had to say about going from a starter to reliever to Starter in the Majors.

“It’s just something I’ve done my entire life until last year when I got called up. It’s just something you see as a challenge. To be good for one inning is great, but also to be good and to be dominant for six and seven innings is a whole lot different. I wanted that challenge and I wanted that feeling that you get from starting a game instead of coming in the middle and it’s a great opportunity to come in and it worked out great.”

...According to the gang at the Miami Herald the Marlins are interested in Cincinnati Reds Catcher David Ross. They also go on to say they (The Marlins) aren't really interested in Colorado's Yorvit Torrealba, Paul LoDuca of the Nationals and KC's Miguel Olivo.

...If you don't know the story of Texas Rangers Outfielder Josh Hamilton, they you really haven't been paying attention. He enjoyed one heck of a year in Cincinnati last year, and then was promptly traded to Texas. Hamilton was aware of jealousy in the Reds club house towards him.

"I even heard comments that I was signing too many autographs for the fans," he says. "It just got worse as the year went on."

The discord played no factor in the trade, but, Krivsky said: "There were issues in the clubhouse. Maybe that stuff would have gone by the boards had he stayed."

...With the signing of their second round pick Dennis Raben, the Seattle Mariners have now inked 31 of their 50 draft picks from this years first year player draft.

...If you think the dust is going to settle any time soon in Houston, you're sadly mistaken. According to Edward Klump of Bloomberg.com, Ed Wade is suffering some backlash from the Shawn Chacon incident - mainly in the way Mr. Wade handled the situation, this according to fans of the Astros and people around baseball.

...Former Seattle Mariners Second Baseman and TV Analyst Harold Reynolds is returning to National TV after being fired from ESPN two years ago. He will be a in-studio analyst for TBS. His first appearance will be this Sunday during the All-Star Selection show and then will work some regular season games. TBS is currently trying to work out an agreement with Reynolds for the Post Season on TBS.

...According to Buster Olney at ESPN, the Rays and Red Sox have no interest in trying to complete a trade with the Cleveland Indians for Southpaw C.C. Sabathia.

...Atlanta Braves First Baseman Mark Teixeira would prefer not to be traded, as he feels he has some unfinished business in Atlanta.

"I feel like I have some unfinished business here with the Braves," Teixeira said. "I was brought here during a pennant race last year. (A playoff appearance) didn't happen last year and I'm hoping that it does this year."

...Kansas City Royals Second Baseman Mark Grudzielanek would like to play for two or three more years, this according to the Kansas City Star.

...According to the Rocky Mountain News, the Colorado Rockies are going to wait until at least the All-Star Break to decide whether or not they are sellers at the trade deadline. Also according to the article, the players other teams are interested in include Matt Holiday, Brian Fuentes and Willy Taveras.

...With some rumors flying around about being possibly traded to the Chicago Cubs Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Gil Meche wants nothing more than to stay in KC.

...You wont be seeing Boston Red Sox Designated Hitter David Ortiz in the starting line up, or the line up period at the Mid Summer Classic. He'll still attend the All-Star game in New York but will not play as he's still nursing his injured wrist that's kept him sidelined since May 31st.

...He may not be having a great year by his standards but Seattle Mariners Right Fielder Ichiro, is still making his mark in the record books. With five hits on Sunday against the San Deigo Padres he became the first player since Stan Musial to record seven five hit games in fewer than 1,200 games.

...An injured groin has allowed the Tampa Bay Rays to extend Center Fielder Rocco Baldelli's rehab assignment as he tries to make it back to the big club. He had almost used up all the time alloted in his current rehab assignment, and now that he has a new injury they can restart the clock on his rehab assignment (such an assignment is usually 20 days).

...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.