Cubs still chasing C.C.

Speaking on WSCR radio in Chicago this afternoon, baseball analyst and White Sox broadcaster Steve Stone said the Chicago Cubs were still in the hunt for C.C. Sabathia. Stone believes the Cubs have the right combination of "Major League ready" talent and prospects to land the Indians ace should Cleveland consider itself unlikely to compete for the postseason.

Some of the "MLB ready" players who came up in the discussion were pitcher Sean Gallagher and infielder Ronny Cedeno. Stone mentioned prospects Donny Veal, Tyler Colvin and Jeff Samardzija as trade possiblities.

Stone also mentioned the A's Rich Harden and the Blue Jays' A.J. Burnett as players the Cubs could go after.

Lance - a lot of production

Lance Berkman hit his 22nd home run, knocked in his 68th RBI and scored twice as the Astros beat the Dodgers, 4-1. Berkman's average is up to .365.

Fantasy Impact: Anyone who thought Berkman would cool down by now is dead wrong. The Astros' first baseman is cooking. Last year at this time he was hitting just .263, which scared off some fantasy owners in this year's draft. Berkman, however, is a career .304 hitter with 281 home runs. If you jumped on him in an early round he's rewarding you now.

Mr. Smith goes to Anaheim

The A's Greg Smith dominated the Angels in Anaheim, going for his first complete game in a 6-1 win. Smith improves to 5-6 on the year, giving up just a run on four hits. The Angels 3-4-5 slots, filled with Vlad Guerrero, Torii Hunter and Howie Kendrick, combined to go 0-12.

Fantasy Impact: A great rebound outing for the rookie left-hander who lost 4-0 to Philadelphia the last time out. Smith's ERA drops to 3.44, and he could be in the running for A.L. Rookie of the Year.

Hawpe's hot

The Rockies' Brad Hawpe finished up a torrid June with his eigth home run in Colorado's 15-8 loss to San Diego. Hawpe's season average is up to .260 after hitting well over .300 for the month. He batted just .218 in May and spent time on the disabled list.

Fantasy Impact: I heard somebody call Hawpe the left-handed Manny Ramirez in the offseason. Not quite, but he's pretty good when he's going well. It looks like he's solved what was keeping him from hitting the ball with authority. He's a good number two outfielder.