Contrary to what ESPN is reporting and what Rotoworld is reporting, the Kansas City Royals have NOT acquired Milton Bradley. According to my source at the Royals, "Bradley had an injury the A's were unaware of, and thus, the trade was not made."

The Orioles today announced that SS Miguel Tejada has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a non-displaced fracture of the left radius, a move that will end the 5th longest consecutive-game playing streak in Major League history at 1,152 games.

The fracture occurred in the radius, the forearm bone on the thumb side, near Tejada’s wrist.  Tejada suffered the injury when he was hit by a pitch on the left wrist in the 8th inning of the Orioles’ game at San Diego on Wednesday by Padres pitcher Doug Brocail.  Tejada started Thursday’s game at San Diego but was removed for a pinch-runner after batting in the first inning.  

Tejada, batting .306 with 7 home runs and 41 RBI in 72 games, has surpassed two of baseball’s longest streaks this season and is 55 games behind Steve Garvey for the 4th longest streak of all-time.  Juan Pierre of the Los Angeles Dodgers has the second longest current streak at 344 games entering today.  Tejada last missed a game May 31, 2000, while playing for Oakland.  He has started all 558 games since signing with the Orioles as a free agent before the 2004 season.

Brian Foley of The College Baseball Blog provided some excellent feedback to my article last night, “Anteater Fever…I Don’t Want to Catch It!”Below are Brian’s comments followed by my response.

Brian: I have a little problem with you calling out Brown for being in the NCAA Tourney. I attended the Ivy League Championship this year and the quality of baseball when compared to the ACC is lower but Brown's number 1 pitcher could have started in the ACC. Brown gave Texas a very tough game before the longhorns blew it open late and then Brown lost in extra innings to Wake Forest. I think you are forgetting that Manhattan knocked off Nebraska and Miami last season in the NCAA Tourney.

Joe: I'm not saying that those teams don't have a few high quality players. I'm just saying that I'd prefer to have the teams that are full of quality players, and are clearly better overall ball clubs, battle it out for the national championship. And the point about Manhattan beating Nebraska and Miami in a "tournament" just supports my position even more.

Brian: BTW You can win the NCAA Tournament with four losses in the post season. You lose one game in the regional, super regionals, CWS group play, and then in the Championship series.

Joe: I realize you can lose up to four games, but you obviously can't lose more than 2 in a particular region, group play, or championship. I'm saying I'd like to see that go to 3 losses per segment. I probably should have clarified that better.

Brian: The current format is needed as the NCAA has cut the amount of scholarships recently down to 11.7 for the entire team of 25-30 guys!!!! Also, the teams are built around a 3 man weekend rotation with the younger guys usually getting mid-week starts.

Joe: As for the scholarships...again, that's the NCAA that should be called out. I don't agree with their actions especially when they are giving away scholarships left and right to football players. If they gave out more scholarships, then it would be less of a problem. But again, it's the NCAA that's creating the dilution of championship caliber teams.

Thanks again to Brian for the feedback. I encourage everyone to check out The College Baseball Blog. It’s an excellent source of college baseball information!

Photo: Bill Richardson, Baseball Digest Daily

Uh oh...

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have optioned outfielder Elijah Dukes to the minor leagues and placed him on the temporary inactive list. The Rays also selected veteran outfielder Dustan Mohr from Durham (AAA) and transferred outfielder Rocco Baldelli from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL.

Dukes, 22, was batting .190 (35-184) with 10 HR and 21 RBI in 52 games with the Rays. He is tied for the major league lead in home runs among rookies and ranked second with 33 walks. He was selected by the Rays in the third round of the 2002 June Draft out of Hillsborough High School in Tampa.

More info on this shortly...

The St. Louis Cardinals today acquired left-handed pitcher Mike Maroth from the Detroit Tigers for a player to be named later.  Maroth is likely to make his Cardinals debut in a start sometime during next week’s four-game series at New York.

Maroth, 29, was 5-2 with a 5.06 ERA in 13 starts for the Tigers this year as he continues to work his way back from arthroscopic surgery to remove bone chips in his left elbow last June that limited his 2006 season to 13 appearances.  He started four games for Triple-A Toledo on a rehabilitation assignment last August, and appeared in four games out of the bullpen for the Tigers in September, but was not on the Tigers roster for any postseason series, including the 2006 World Series.

“Mike is a young pitcher who we feel is only going to get stronger as he continues his recovery from last season’s surgery,” said Cardinals Senior Vice President and General Manager Walt Jocketty.  “He is an established starter who is going to provide us with innings and help take pressure off of our bullpen.  We think the change in leagues will also benefit Mike.”

The Royals today signed right-handed pitcher John Thomson to a one-year Major League contract. Thomson will join the team tonight in Milwaukee, at which time a determination will be made as to when he will appear for the Royals.  In a corresponding move, the Royals place pitcher Scott Elarton on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to June 20) with a right foot sprain.

Thomson, 33, is a nine-year Major League veteran, compiling a 62-84 record and a 4.69 ERA in 214 career games, including 210 starts. After originally being selected by Colorado in the seventh round of the 1993 draft, he pitched for the Rockies (1997-2002), Mets (2002), Rangers (2003) and Braves (2004-2006). His best season came in 2004 with Atlanta, when he went 14-8 with a 3.72 ERA in 33 starts, helping the Braves to the playoffs. His only season in the American League came in 2003 with Texas, when he tied for second in the league in starts (35), finished seventh in innings (217.0) and tied for seventh with three complete games.

Check out the photos from tonight's game by clicking on the latest photo gallery: June 21, 2007 CWS - Rice vs UNC