Fan News

As the trade deadline approaches, it is becoming apparent that Adam Dunn has a better chance to be traded by July 31^st then to remain a long-term part of the Washington Nationals.

It’s time to check in on three more prospects from around the minor leagues.  Are any of them primed to make an impact in the not too distant future?  Let’s take a look (all stats are through Saturday):

Sometimes the good news arrives just in the nick of time.

After what can be only be described as a massive struggle, the Los Angeles Dodgers are finally getting some much needed relief in their fragile bullpen.

Rookie Kenley Jansen was called up from Double-A Chattanooga on Friday, and all the hype leading up to his debut was by no means exaggerated.

Amid intensifying trade negotiations for Florida Marlin Jorge Cantu, the Texas Rangers have reportedly lost interest in Boston third baseman Mike Lowell, according to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com.

Texas' fluctuating interest in Boston's oft-injured backup third baseman has been well documented, and this writer most recently covered it in another article primarily dealing with Detroit's reported interest in Lowell.

Last year, Kenley Janson was the Netherlands' starting catcher in the World Baseball Classic. Now he's pitching for the LA Dodgers.

Janson is among a short list of guys who used to be position players but couldn't hit their weight or perhaps field their position, so they turned into pitchers instead.

Meanwhile, there were other guys who switched from pitcher to position player, though not all of them did so because they couldn't pitch, as we will see.

Jansen recorded a save on Sunday in his second big-league game, so he's the story du jour.

With the non-waiver trade deadline looming less than a week away (this Saturday), the Atlanta Braves are sitting in a pretty good spot.

Granted, they just lost two of three in South Florida from the now-.500 fourth place Marlins, but the club still holds the National League's second-best record (57-41) and a five game advantage over the Philadelphia Phillies.

But, there is a little room for improvement.

The Seattle Mariners already pulled off the one big deal they had planned to make leading up to Major League Baseball's trading deadline.  The Mariners traded away Cliff Lee for one of the best offensive prospects in the game in Justin Smoak (plus other prospects).

According to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated , the Baltimore Orioles owner, Peter Angelos, doesn’t want his team to make trades with the Yankees. This means that the Yankees will not be able to land IF Ty Wigginton.

According to Alex Speier of WEEI.com , the Blue Jays intend to get a good return for reliever Scott Downs and will ask for one of each interested club’s top prospects in return.

Here is more from Speier: