Brace yourself my friends… According to the Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, the White Sox have acquired Alex Rios from the Blue Jays. It’s a straight waiver claim, so the Blue Jays will receive nothing in return. Says Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi: “This allows us to get out from under a contract and do more to address our club.” ESPN is now confirming. Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios has been claimed off waivers by [...]

The Phillies have reached agreement on a trade that would bring them left-hander Cliff Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco from the Indians for Class A right-hander Jason Knapp, Class AAA right-hander Carlos Carrasco, shortstop Jason Donald and catcher Lou Marson, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. The deal, which does not include any cash, is pending a review of medical records. If completed, it will be a coup for both the Phillies and Indians. [...]

ESPN is reporting that the Oakland A’s and St. Louis Cardinals have completed a trade that sends outfielder Matt Holliday to St. Louis in exchange for third baseman Brett Wallace, outfielder Shane Peterson and right-handed pitcher Clayton Mortensen. The A’s are also including $1.5 million cash in the deal. Wallace is considered an elite propspect and ranked #20 overall by Baseball America in their recent July rankings. (Or about 100 spots ahead of F-Mart!)  Holliday, 29, [...]

ESPN just reporterd (3:00pm EST) that the Pittsburgh Pirates have dealt left-handed first baseman Adam LaRoche to the Boston Red Sox for a pair of Minor Leaguers. Pittsburgh gets Double-A shortstop Argenis Diaz and Class A right-hander Hunter Strickland, an 18th-round draft pick two years ago. Diaz, a 22-year-old known for his outstanding defense, is hitting .253 with no homers and 24 RBIs in 76 games during his sixth pro season, at Portland. Strickland, 20, [...]

Pedro Martinez has signed a one-year contract with the Phillies according to ESPN. The Phillies planned to hold a news conference on Wednesday to make the announcement and introduce Martinez. Pedro can earn up to $1.5 million in incentives, and will make a couple of starts in the minors before joining Philadelphia’s rotation. The Phillies watched Martinez, 37, pitch twice last week at their baseball academy in the Dominican Republic. They came away impressed and flew Martinez to Philadelphia late [...]

According to ESPN, Manny Acta has been fired was manager of the Washington Nationals on Sunday. The Nationals were blanked by the Houston Astros on Sunday 5-0 to go into the All-Star break with the worst record in the league at 26-61. “I thank the Nationals for giving me this opportunity and I’m sorry that things didn’t work out as expected. It’s normal for the manager to pay the price when the team is not [...]

UPDATE 6:15 PM: Jon Heyman confirms that the Phillies are in very serious negotiations with Pedro, but he cannot confirm the $4 million dollar figure in the DR report. According to a post on MetsBlog, the Latino publication Candela Deportivo is reporting that the Phillies have signed Pedro Martinez, who last pitched with the New York Mets. As Matt Cerrone wrote in his blog, lets wait to see if it is confirmed by someone in the mainstream [...]

In the just released list of Baseball America’s Top 25 Prospects, no Mets appeared among baseball’s premier prospects. The Mets did appear at number numbers 40 (RHP Brad Holt) and number 47 (RHP Jenrry Mejia). The Philadelphia Phillies had three players in the Top 25. Here is the complete list… Mid-Season Top 25 Prospects 1. Jason Heyward, of, Braves 2. Mike Stanton, of, Marlins 3. Jesus Montero, c, Yankees 4. Justin Smoak, 1b, Rangers 5. Madison [...]

Congratulations to David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana and Francisco Rodriguez who were each named to the National League All-Star team on Sunday. Both Wright and Beltran were voted in as National League starters by the fans, while Santana and K-Rod were selected by Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. For the third time in four years, David Wright will start at third base and represent the Mets in the All-Star Game on July 14. Last year [...]