Breaking News

The Philadelphia Phillies have confirmed the acquisition of super pitcher and three-time Cy Young award winner Pedro Martinez Wednesday.

The move sends a big message to the division and gives a huge shot in the arm to the Phillies.

Martinez sports a lifetime 2.91 ERA and a very impressive 214-99 record. His travels have included the Dodgers, Expos, Red Sox, and Mets.

The Mariners made a necessary move this week sending struggling pitcher Brandon Morrow down to AAA Tacoma after his disappointing start in the 6-4 loss to the Texas Rangers.

On Sunday night, in front a national television audience, the creative genius Chicago Cubs' fans have been begging Lou Piniella to employ finally showed up.

If you read the play-by-play for the ninth inning, there is a sequence that will undoubtedly have you scratching your head.

Sean Marshall relieves Angel Guzman. OK, nothing major there.

Aaron Heilman relieves Marshall; Marshall to left field. What? It's bad enough Heilman's pitching, but Marshall in left field?

Gotta love the picture

At this time during the baseball season things are beginning to wind down before the All-Star break. The selections have largely been announced, and every team gets a much needed break, while a majority of the players get some time to ease off the tension and relax.

Of course it would happen on the day that I come in from work and instead of writing and getting caught up on the day's news I grill out and mow the lawn. So, when I checked my cell phone for text messages around 9 p.m. I finally found out that Jeff Francoeur had been traded.

When I found out whom to and for I was shocked and perplexed, but ultimately pleased. While trading a former top prospect to a bitter division rival, the Mets, seems a little risky getting Ryan Church in return makes it a little better.

In a trade early Friday evening, the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves swapped Ryan Church for Jeff Francoeur.

In 67 games this season, Church is batting .280 with two home runs and 22 RBI's. Church got off to a great start with the Mets in 2008, batting .320 with 10 Home Runs and 34 RBI's, but his season went downhill from that point, mainly due to a concussion.

The Mets acquired Church from the Nationals along with catcher Brian Schneider in exchange for Lastings Milledge on November 30th, 2007.

BY DOUG RUSH

Just saw on ESPN.com and SNY's Loud Mouth's:

The Atlanta Braves send Jeff Francoeur to the New York Mets for Ryan Church.

Mets fans....what do you think of the deal? Lets hear it?

Personally, I think it's a good deal for both teams.

It seemed like Jerry Manuel never liked Ryan Church, especially after the missed third base blunder and Francoeur just seemed like he ran his course in Atlanta.

According to Bart Hubbuch's NY Post Mets Twitter account, the New York Mets have traded OF Ryan Church to the Atlanta Braves for floundering Right Fielder Jeff Francoeur.

Franceour, 25, started off hot in Atlanta hitting a cool .300 with 14 home runs in his rookie 2005 campaign.

He won a 2007 Gold Glove with his NL leading 19 outfield assists also.

The Seattle Mariners have just won the World Series.

Ok, they didn’t, but to Mariners fans it feels like they did.

The Mariners finally made the move that fans had been waiting for.

Seattle traded shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt to the Kansas City Royals for two minor league pitchers Friday afternoon.

In the deal, Seattle received Double-A starting pitcher Danny Cortes and Single-A reliever Derrick Saito.

In a somewhat surprising move today, the Toronto Blue Jays have cut ties with former All-Star relief pitcher B.J. Ryan.

The Blue Jays signed Ryan to a mammoth five-year deal, which was the largest ever for a reliever at the time, following the 2005 season.

Ryan, who was the Blue Jays' closer as recently as this year, has struggled mightily this entire season. In 20.2 innings pitched, Ryan posted an ERA hovering near seven, which is more than double his career ERA (3.37).