The Atlanta Braves finally got a hitter to come to Turner Field while the Washington Nationals started step one of moving past the Esmailyn Gonzalez scandal with the resignation of general manager Jim Bowden. Unfortunately, whoever takes over will find logjams at first base and center field. Read on for this past week’s transactions…

Pete has been agitating about this for a while, but now it’s official: The New York Yankees and Bank of America ended months of negotiations on a long-term, high-profile sponsorship agreement, fallout from the financial industry’s decision to accept aid from the federal government. While the sides never discussed naming rights to the team’s new […]

Manny has amazingly rejected the Dodgers’ latest offer, and now it seems that the Dodgers have had it with Boras: At 8:30 p.m. tonight, the Dodgers made the rather unusual move of issuing a statement that shows their exasperation with Manny Ramirez’s agent, Scott Boras: BORAS REJECTS DODGERS OFFER TO MANNY RAMIREZ LOS ANGELES — […]

On Feb. 23, 1960, demolition began on Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Nearly 50 years later, demolition is nearly finished on Shea Stadium, the home of New York’s most recent National League franchise. Richard looks back at other past stadium sites.

Phillies’ owner Bill Giles: All right, Scott, how much do you need? Scott Eyre (doggedly): Two hundred and forty-two dollars! Giles (pleading): Aw, Scott, just enough to tide you over till the bank reopens. Eyre: I’ll take two hundred and forty-two dollars. Giles starts rapidly to count out the money. Eyre throws his passbook on […]

Lincecum gets a pay raise: The Giants and Tim Lincecum have reached agreement on a one-year, $650,000 contract, a source told The Chronicle. Lincecum then confirmed the figure. That constitutes a 62 percent raise over the $405,000 he earned last year. There is actually a split component to the deal. If Lincecum somehow wound up […]

Buster on changes in attitudes and latitudes: Talent evaluators within the game will make judgments about fastballs, about defensive skills, about a hitter’s swing. But increasingly, it seems, makeup is regarded as a pivotal factor on whether a player is acquired or dumped — and this might be part of a broader evolution in Major […]

Rijo is out, Bowden is reportedly right behind him: The Nationals, according to multiple industry sources, are strongly considering firing general manager Jim Bowden and replacing him with Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava. Bowden has been implicated in a bonus skimming scandal in the Dominican Republic and is reportedly being investigated by the FBI. […]

A-Rod free for two Thursdays!

I’m really spacing out this afternoon. I need something interesting to happen. dingdingdingdingdingding! OK, that was interesting.