It's official -- the NL Central race is on as the Cubs have answered the Brewers acquisition of CC Sabathia by picking up P Rich Harden and P Chad Gaudin from the A's for OF Matt Murton, P Sean Gallagher, IF Eric Patterson and C Josh Donaldson.But the Brewers aren't done. CNNSI believes the Crew   more...

Every playoff contender in baseball seems to be calling the Pittsburgh Pirates, looking for an upgrade for their playoff push. The Pirates have numerous players that interest those contenders, in this article we're going to talk about five of those guys. Those that have been drawing the most   more...
Original Story: http://mysportsrumors.com/blog/2008/07/2....

The most talked about man in Cleveland sports these days spells his name incorrectly. But he is swinging a hot bat, and many Tribe fans are having second thoughts about their earlier call for a trade of shortstop Jhonny Peralta.Should the Tribe trade their hottest hitter and the A.L. home run   more...
Original Story: http://tribefanyankeeland.blogspot.com/2....

Ken Rosenthal reports that the Dodgers are interested in dealing for Sabathia and Wilson.First, let's deal with the Sabathia rumor. "The Brewers aren't the only team pushing hard for Indians left-hander C.C. Sabathia. The Dodgers also are heavily in the mix, according to major-league sources.   more...
Original Story: http://www.firenedcollettinow.com/2008/0....

Somebody please tell me this rumor is some kind of huge joke on me. "Multiple baseball sources said Sunday that the Dodgers and Pirates are in serious talks about a trade that would ship Wilson west. A Dodgers source indicated that Los Angeles might be willing to deal center fielder Matt   more...
Original Story: http://www.firenedcollettinow.com/2008/0....

Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus reports that teams interested in dealing with the Dodgers have no idea who's in charge. "The Dodgers continue to confuse everyone. 'Some want to buy, some sell,' I'm told. One faction of the front office wants to deal for a shortstop and is focused on Jack   more...
Original Story: http://www.firenedcollettinow.com/2008/0....

by A.J.from 105.9 The XSo far this Pirates season hasn't exactly incited the fever of a pennant race, but at least the Bucs have been flirting with that ever-elusive .500 mark for awhile now. As far as Pittsburgh baseball goes, that's kind of like a pennant race. A sad and demented pennant race,   more...
Original Story: http://mondesishouse.blogspot.com/2008/0....

Battle of the Short Stops in the Majors, and Jose Reyes beats out his cross-town rival, Derek Jeter. Fantasy or not, Reyes right now is all the buzz around the big city. Jeter might be the toast of the town now, but is he ready to pass the torch to the ever energetic youngster Reyes?
Original Story: http://www.fantasybaseballguy.com/rankin....

--The Pirates were brought back to reality last night by Joba Chamberlain and the Yankees in a 10-0 thumping in front of 38,952 at PNC Park. The Bombers were led by Bob Abreu's productive, three-hit, 4-RBI evening, which included his 10th home run of the campaign. The Yanks also got a 3-3   more...
Original Story: http://mondesishouse.blogspot.com/2008/0....

Too many emails came in to post the Mailbag this morning, so it's shelved till tonight so I can answer as many as possible. Of course, I did ask for people to send their last-minute emails, so that's a problem of my creation. To apologize, here are a few links to keep you busy this afternoon, WITH   more...
Original Story: http://mondesishouse.blogspot.com/2008/0....

Too many emails came in to post the Mailbag this morning, so it's shelved till tonight so I can answer as many as possible. Of course, I did ask for people to send their last-minute emails, so that's a problem of my creation. To apologize, here are a few links to keep you busy this afternoon, WITH   more...
Original Story: http://mondesishouse.blogspot.com/2008/0....

The glorious PNC Park fareI don't get to many Pirate games anymore, for a variety of reasons. In fact, I hadn't been to PNC Park since last July (which was beautifully recapped here). But at a recent charity auction, I had a few tickets to the new all-you-can-eat (AYCE) section fall into my lap,   more...
Original Story: http://mondesishouse.blogspot.com/2008/0....

Here are the preliminary 2008 rankings for National League shortstops.
Original Story: http://www.crookedpitch.com/193/2008-nat....

No particular order... my picks for overpaid players in the N.L. Central. Based on this year's production only.
Original Story: http://kpanz.blogspot.com/#Z3.

For all you Lions fans out there that have had to sit by and watch as Matt Millen blundered his way through the last seven years, well, you have company in the front office of ineptitude. Here are some excerps from a chat hosted on the Pirates official website with the team's GM, Dave Littlefield.   more...
Original Story: http://derekbellyachtco.blogspot.com/200....