Ellsbury sparks Boston past Twinkies

Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury appears to be bouncing back from his recent mini-slump. Tonight against Minnesota Ellsbury led off the eighth inning with a double and eventually scored as part of a four-run Red Sox rally in a 6-5 comeback win.

With the Yankees toppling Tampa, Boston picks up a game on the first-place Rays. They're now just three away from first place.

Fantasy Impact: Ellsbury went 2-4 with two runs scored, upping his average to .271. After a string of zero multiple-hit games over the second half of June dropped his average from .289 to .266, Ellsbury's produced three mult-hit games in just eight days in July. More concerning is his lack of steals. Since June 17th Ellsbury's run just four times, and he's been caught in three of those attempts.

Pettitte, Pinstripes dominate Rays

The Yankees took a bite out of the best record in baseball thanks to a stellar performance from Andy Pettitte. The 36-year-old left hander worked eight innings of shutout baseball, allowing the Tampa Bay Rays just four hits. Melky Cabrera's eighth home run highlighted the Pinstripes' scoring, as they push across five runs to win 5-0.

Tampa falls to 55-34, a game-and-a-half better than both the Angles, who lost, and the Cubs, who won, for best record in baseball. The Yanks stand 7.5 games back in the A.L. East.

I have a feeling Tampa will not have the best record in baseball at the All-Star break.

Breaking down the Harden deal - Oakland's haul

After taking a few minutes to digest the Oakland-Chicago deal that sends Rich Harden to Wrigley, it appears the A's could've gotten more. Harden was an American League Cy Young candidate, and the addition of 25-year-old middle reliever Chad Gaudin (who could end up a starter in the future) makes this a nice haul for the Cubs.

Chicago gives up three players who were good enough to get opportunities in the big leagues but unable to hold down spots on the 25-man Cubs roster. They also receive a catching prospect who was hitting .217 in Single-A.

Here are the key components Oakland took away:

Eric Patterson (OF) - Corey's little brother hasn't received nearly as much fanfare as big bro, but he also hasn't been rushed to the majors (he's already 25). That might help him down the road as he has the chance to ease into playing time at the highest level. His Triple-A stats this year: .320 avg., 6 HR, 28 RBI, 11 SB in 203 AB.

Sean Gallagher (P) - Likely the key to the deal on the Oakland side. Gallagher showed flahes of promise with the Cubs, but Chicago is erring on the experience side for the postseason in trading him away for Harden. They're also erring on the talent side, as Gallagher is no Harden, not yet anyway. In 10 starts with the Cubs he won three games, striking out 49 batters in 58.2 innings with an ERA of 4.45. Gallagher is not yet 23.

Matt Murton (OF) - Murton initially came to Chicago via Boston's farm system, and he's been nothing less than a productive hitter through the Chicago system. He couldn't, however, make the Cubs 25-man roster this year. It 870 MLB at bats, Murton's hit 28 home runs and posted a .294 average. He turns 27 in October.

There's some definite talent there, but you have to wonder if Oakland could've gotten top Cubs prospects Tyler Colvin or Donny Veal instead of Donaldson.

Harden to Chicago

The Cubs pulled off a six-player deal with Oakland that sends Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin to Chicago's north side in exchange for three major-league ready prospects and a minor league catcher.

Eric Patterson (OF), Matt Murton (OF), and Sean Gallagher (P) are all headed to Oakland along with catching prospect Josh Donaldson.

Update: MLB Trade Rumors is all over the story as well.

Update: Cubs gerneral manager Jim Hendry is discussing the deal now on CSN Chicago in a press conference. Hendry says this is not a direct response to Milwaukee's deal for CC Sabathia but merely coincidental timing-wise. He says the pitchers will be at Wrigley tomorrow.

And you thought MLB was top heavy

One of the best articles written on The Bleacher Report summarizes how Billy Beane, the Oakland Athletics general manager, is attempting to help English soccer teams play their own version of "Moneyball" -- using statistical anaylysis to get the most value on the field.

Tottenham Hotspur are one of the first clubs to look into the possibility of adapting the approach of the Oakland A's to the boundaries of professional football, working with Beane himself, who admits to "falling in love" with the game during a couple of months he spent in England in 2006.

Beane is exploring the possibility of adapting the model to football with professor Bill Gerrard of the University of Leeds. It is hoped that such a model will expose similar imperfections in the labour market for professional footballers to those identified in baseball.

All of which will be of benefit to professional football clubs, allowing them to sign suitable players for a lower cost, and could have the impact of breaking the dominance of the Premier League by the "Big Four."

There are many difficulties associated with the development of such a statistical model for football though, namely, the choice of the key performance indicators that will be used.

Because soccer is not as statistically driven as baseball (it's not even close), The Bleacher Report points out that the accurate analysis of soccer is much more difficult. Good read, nonetheless.

Here's presumably where they got the story in the first place.

Fantasy Analysis: If Tottenham win the Premiership any time soon it will be a shock. Chelsea and Man U have enjoyed a stranglehold on the top in recent seasons. Martin Jol is gone, though, so who knows.

Cubs sale progresses

Reuters says the Cubs sale is picking up steam.

Ten potential owner groups were approved to bid on the Cubs by Major League Baseball (MLB), said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the sale process was ongoing.

"It's cooking," one source said. "It's happening. There's 10 approved bidders right now."

That's the first time I've ever quoted Reuters. Just wanted to mention that.

Radio delay in Cincy a good thing

Here's an interesting article on the Cincinnati Reds intentionally delaying their radio broadcasts to synchronize with their TV telecasts (sorry about the subscription necessary to read the article).

I wish more MLB teams did this, as I really enjoy listening to radio while watching the telecasts. It seems to add another element to the experience.

One-hit wonder

Padres LF/3B rookie Chase Headley had his 10-game, one-hit streak stopped Sunday. Then he picked back up with the one-hit approach Monday in a 3-1 San Diego loss to Florida.

Headley homered for his only hit in three at bats, providing the Padres their only run.

Fantasy Impact: Headley's hit five home runs, but carries a batting average of just .243 in 74 at bats. He strikes out too much (22 Ks) to expect a robust batting average, but he will provide San Diego some much-needed pop.

Dual duel

Nice pitchers duel in Boston Monday night. The Red Sox' Daisuke Matsuzaka and Twins' Scott Baker got into a staring contest, and neither blinked. Matsuzaka went 7.1 innings without giving up a run. Baker went seven without a Boston runner ever crossing home.

The BoSox end up winning, 1-0 on a Manny Ramirez RBI single off of Minnesota relief -- or lack of relief.

Fantasy Impact: Remember Daisuke's return from the DL? Forget about it. He's at worst a solid number two in fantasy play. Baker is emerging into something quite nice himself with five straight quality starts to get his ERA down to 3.32. Start him in most leagues.

CC you in Milwaukee

I watched CC Sabathia's introductory press conference and wasn't overly impressed with the proceedings. Sabathia shrugged off most questions with the typical refrain, "I just want to fit in." The most animated moment came when he was asked about Milwaukee first baseman Prince Fielder being the second biggest player on the team now that Sabathia is in town. CC smiled and said Fielder offered him a pair of pants when he first entered the Brewers clubhouse.

I don't think the pants would fit. Sabathia is 6'7, 290 lbs. while Fielder weighs 270 lbs. but stands eight inches shorter. Sabathia certainly seems to "fit" in Milwaukee. Brewers fans gave him a standing ovation when his name appeared on the scoreboard, and Tuesday's game (his first start) was nearly sold out as of the seventh inning of Monday's game.

That brings us to the Milwaukee mess that was Monday, in which the Brewers had two players picked off first, and an error by Russell Branyan at third on Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez's ground ball scored a run in a 4-3 loss. Mental mistakes like those will cost any pitcher, even last year's Cy Young award winner.

One more note: Maybe the repeat "I just want to fit in" line was exactly how CC felt. Apparently the Brewers gave him all the time he wanted to get to Milwaukee, according to the Brewers telecast, but he decided to get to Miller Park in time for his first start on Tuesday. It's basically his normal turn in the rotation whether he's pitching in Cleveland or not, and CC wanted to maximize his opportunities with his new team, per the FSN announcers.