Fan News

It's that time of year again. Now the teams out of contention put "For Sale" signs in their front yards, and the contenders look to buy spare parts for their October runs. Now teams decide whether they are buyers or sellers.

With a number of top-tier players on teams out of contention, there could be a flurry of moves as we near the July 31 trade deadline. As always, pitching is at a premium, and some of the best are on the market.

It looks as if the "superteam" in baseball will not have the best pitching rotation. According to ESPN, talks between the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees over Cliff Lee have broken down. 

Lee, a dominant lefty, was scheduled to be traded to the New York Yankees and the deal looked all but finalized. 

This afternoon, however, talks have stalled after the Mariners became concerned over second baseman David Adams' health. Adams is currently dealing with a sprained ankle and is not playing. 

A rumored deal that would send Mariner's star lefty Cliff Lee to the Yankees for top prospect Jesus Montero, along with infielder David Adams and pitcher Zach McAlister, is apparently off.

The Mariners have allegedly balked due to concerns over David Adams bad ankle, which he injured breaking up a double play while at Double-A Trenton about a month ago.

Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik will almost certainly move his All-Star starter. But with more than three weeks left until the trade deadline, Zduriencik will take his time to find the best offer.

Fox Sports is reporting that trade talks between Seattle and New York have stalled.

A source says that Seattle is concerned about David Adams' health, and that led them to ask for more.

The Yankees are unwilling to accommodate that request, and the two teams are at a standstill.

The Reds have begun to intensify their talks with the Mariners now, and the Rangers are also lingering.

Reports that a deal to the Yankees is imminent may have been a little premature

Lee remains scheduled to pitch tonight. By then we will surely know more.

Gordon Beckham’s rookie season ended with him coming up just short of taking home the AL rookie of the year award. If his second season in the bigs continues how it’s been so far, he will be the shoe-in for sophomore slumped of the year.

Beckham has struggled mightily this year, a year where he was expected to be a doubles machine in the two-hole for Ozzie Guillen. His .205 average and lack of production has been a burden to the team all year.

The news that the Yankees nearly acquired the biggest trade chip this summer is sending shockwaves around Major League Baseball. Not only because the best team in the league came close to acquiring one of the best pitchers, but because the trade of Cliff Lee will act as the catalyst.

Lee's trade will likely kick start the frenzy before the July 31 trading deadline.

Numerous teams across the league need numerous pieces. However, there are 15 glaring holes that need to be filled if these teams are to contend or continue to contend as they have done to this part of the season.

In the initial installment of the report card, all of the pitchers who have appeared for the Los Angeles Dodgers were evaluated and graded, and in this second portion of the evaluations, the performances of all the position players who have been utilized in the first half of the season will be examined.

All of the teams in Major League Baseball with excellent pitching staffs still need to put eight quality position players behind every pitcher in order to succeed.

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Flash back to July 31st 2009. The trading deadline. Jake Peavy agrees to come to the White Sox.

The pretty girl at the dance who had already snubbed the White Sox, has now changed her mind and has agreed to leave sunny San Diego and come north to the south side of Chicago.

Update: (2:28pm CDT) The player to be named later, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, is minor leaguer Blake Beaven.

Update: (2:25pm CDT) The players involved in the deal to Seattle are Justin Smoak and minor leaguers Josh Lueke, Matt Lawson and one other player to be named later. The player to be named later, and this is just speculation, could be pitcher Derek Holland or possibly minor league pitcher Tanner Scheppers. 

The Mets have given us a great first half.  They've risen to every challenge they've faced this year and have shown us some serious chemistry, character, and toughness.

David Wright shook off his strikeout problem and emerged an MLB leader in RBI.

The team adjusted to power-killing Citi Field by becoming a lineup of solid contact hitters who are willing and able to drive run-scoring singles and doubles into the gaps to earn their wins.