Our own Matt LaPorta was among the star prospects named today to the U.S. roster for the 2008 Futures Games in New York. Other up and coming stars who'll be participating for the U.S. team include Casey Weathers, Taylor Teagarden, Chris Davis, Mat Gamel, Andrew McCutchen, Greg Golson and Dexter Fowler.

The World team will boast a strong roster of its own with the likes of Max Ramirez, Elvis Andrus, Fernando Martinez, Angel Villalone, and Gorkys Hernandez.

Baltimore Sun reporter Jeff Zrebiec is reporting that the Orioles are expected to promote the organization's top prospect Matt Wieters to Double-A Bowie.

Wieters, likely the top catching prospect in baseball, leads the Carolina League in homeruns (14), on base percentage (.448), and is second in OPS (1.008).

...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.

Seems the Washington Nationals have offered shortstop Cristian Guzman a two-year extension. Yes, that Cristian Guzman, the 30-year-old switch-batter with the career .267/.304/.382 line.

Remember yesterday when I was carrying on about guys with 600 or more plate appearances in a season and 20 or fewer walks? Guzman was on that list. He did it in 2002. Of the 28 players who have accomplished the feat since 1961, only nine had a lower OPS+ than Guzman. He's right there with guys like Angel Berroa, Corey Patterson, and Neifi Perez.

Check out Guzman's list of comparables through age 29 at Baseball-Reference and you'll find names like Jack Wilson, Royce Clayton, and the aforementioned Perez. With a bat like that, his defense had better be some kind of special.

Is it? From what I can tell (just going by various metrics and Tom Tango's Scouting Report), and without much in the way of first-hand observation, Guzman appears to be an average or slightly above average fielder. I'm not sure that's enough to offset his generally lackluster offensive performance (this season's shiny .311 batting average notwithstanding).

I guess my issue is this: The Nats have the worst record in the National League as of this writing. They are one of probably four NL franchises that should be looking for ways right now to build a team that can contend at some point. How does locking up a mediocre thirtysomething middle infielder -- a stopgap (and not a terribly scarce commodity) -- help achieve that goal?

Atlanta    

Yunel Escobar - Left shoulder injury, day-to-day.
    
Baltimore    

Brian Burres - Illness, day-to-day.
    
Chicago White Sox    

Joe Crede - Back injury, day-to-day.
    
Detroit    

Dane Sardinha - Contract purchased from Toledo (AAA).
    
Florida    

Eulogio De La Cruz - Recalled from Albuquerque (AAA).
Matt Lindstrom     Optioned to Albuquerque (AAA).
    
Kansas City    

Yasuhiko Yabuta - Optioned to Omaha (AAA).
    
Los Angeles Dodgers    

Scott Proctor - Right elbow injury, 15-day DL.
Brian Falkenborg - Contract purchased from Las Vegas (AAA).
Gary Bennett - Transferred from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL (foot injury).
    
NY Mets    

Robinson Cancel - Optioned to New Orleans (AAA).
Claudio Vargas - Designated for assignment by the New York Mets.
Carlos Muniz - Recalled from New Orleans (AAA).
Andy Phillips - Claimed off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds.
   
NY Yankees    

Johnny Damon - Foot injury, day-to-day.
Ian Kennedy - Missed 25 games (Rib injury) and optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA).
    
Pittsburgh    

Kevin Thompson - Released by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
    
Seattle    

Brandon Morrow - Missed 6 games (back spasms).
Jose Vidro - Missed 2 games (cheekbone injury).
Erik Bedard - Back spasms, day-to-day.
    
Tampa Bay    

Jason Bartlett - Personal reasons, day-to-day.
    
Texas   

Josh Hamilton - Left knee injury, day-to-day.
   
Washington    

Aaron Boone - Missed 5 games (sore left knee).
Shawn Hill - Forearm injury, day-to-day.
   

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.

- Jorge Campillo stifled Milwaukee for 7 innings, allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits, and Kelly Johnson singled, doubled, and drove in 3 runs as the Braves finally beat the Brewers, 4-2.
- Bobby Abreu doubled, homered, and knocked in 4 runs, Derek Jeter went 3-for-3 with walk, 2 doubles, and 3 runs scored, and Joba Chamberlain tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings as the Yankees dominated the Pirates, 10-0.
- Carlos Guillen went 4-for-5 with a double, home run, and 3 RBI, and Gary Sheffield added 4 hits of his own, including a walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th, as the Tigers squeaked past the Cardinals, 8-7. Rick Ankiel hit 2 home runs, had 3 RBI, and scored 3 times for St. Louis.
- Lastings Milledge reached base 3 times, homered, and drove in 2 runs, and Jesus Flores singled in the winning run in the last of the 9th inning to give the Nationals a 5-4 walk-off victory over the Angels. Casey Kotchman had 2 hits and 2 RBI for Los Angeles.
- Carl Crawford hit 2 home runs and drove in 5, and Evan Longoria singled, doubled, homered and knocked in 3 more as the Rays trampled the Marlins, 15-3. James Shields gave up one run on 4 hits in 7 innings for Tampa Bay.
- Rookie Max Ramirez picked up 2 hits, a home run, and 2 RBI, and the Texas bullpen threw 5 scoreless innings to help the Rangers get by the Astros, 3-2. Houston's Michael Bourn reached base 3 times, homered, and had 2 RBI.
- Carlos Gomez went 3-for-4 with 2 stolen bases and 2 RBI, and Brendan Harris and Craig Monroe each belted home runs as the Twins won their 8th game in a row by beating down the Padres, 9-3.
- Eric Stults pitched a complete game 4-hit shutout, and Blake DeWitt drove in 2 runs for the Los Angeles as the Dodgers blanked the White Sox, 5-0.
- Tim Wakefield allowed just 2 hits over 7 scoreless innings, Coco Crisp doubled 3 times, and Kevin Cash hit a 3-run home run as the Red Sox shut out the Diamondbacks, 5-0.
- Jose Castillo singled, doubled, and homered, and Barry Zito threw 6 2/3 strong innings to lead the Giants to a 4-1 win over the Indians.
- Ken Griffey Jr. hit a 2-run home run, and every member of the Cincinnati lineup collected at least one base hit as the Reds edged the Blue Jays, 6-5. Jay Bruce drove in the game winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning.
- David Wright smacked 2 home runs and drove in 3, and Jose Reyes launched a 3-run blast to help the Mets salvage the final game of the series against the Mariners, 8-2.
- Jim Edmonds homered, walked 3 times, drove in 2 runs, and scored 2 runs, and Geovany Soto had 2 hits, 2 walks, and 3 RBI as the Cubs held on to defeat the Orioles, 7-4. Jay Payton hit 2 home runs and drove in 4 for Baltimore.
- Luke Hochevar tossed 8 strong innings, allowing just 2 runs, and Ross Gload led the offense with 3 hits and 2 RBI as the Royals doubled up the Rockies, 4-2.
- Kyle Kendrick was brilliant over 8 shutout innings, Chase Utley went 4-for-5 with a double and a triple, and Chris Coste had 2 hits and drove in 2 runs as the Phillies quieted the A's, 4-0.

Wednesday's Scoreboard