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Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez has been talked about being put on waivers that would probably send the veteran to a playoff contending team. He does have a full no trade clause that can prevent him from being on waivers and being traded.

The Dodgers are 8.0 games back of 1st place in the National League West, and the Wild Card is full of other tough teams to beat. The chance of reaching the postseason for the team seems unlikely. 

Ramirez, 38, was injured this year after playing 62 games, hitting .312 but with just 8 home runs. He has been activated from the Disabled List Sunday, allowing him to be traded now by the August 31st waiver deadline. 

He only has $1.1 million left on his contract.

Possible teams that could land Manny include the Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Texas Rangers. 

The White Sox could use him as a Designated Hitter, and he could happen to be a bargain because Chicago plays at U.S. Cellular Field, where balls fly everywhere.

The Tampa Bay Rays could use him as an extra power hitter along with Carlos Pena to lead themselves over the already powerful New York Yankees. 

The Texas Rangers always look for another player no matter what. It looks like they are going all-in this season.

The only problem with either of these teams is that they are all American League teams, and all 15 other National League teams would have to let Ramirez slide for a deal to get done.

A player must be on the 25-man roster on August 31st to be eligible for the playoffs.

Therefore, if Manny’s going anywhere, it’s going to happen soon.

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Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Chan-Ho Park has been their most inconsistent pitcher so far of the year, posting a 10.80 ERA in five games for the Bucs.

Before he was claimed by the team, he was pitching with an ERA of 5.60 with the New York Yankees.

Manager John Russell and his team hoped that the veteran could turn things around and be effective out of the bullpen like he was when Park was with the NL Pennant winning Philadelphia Philles.

Pittsburgh is trying their best to find the correct role for Park who once was a dominating starter for the Los Angeles Dodgers, when he had 15 win seasons. Baseball fans do know that Park is now nothing but a reliever, but he still is very helpful to the team when he is on a roll.

John Russell did find a pattern in the South Korean native’s stats. It was that when he pitched on two days of rest or fewer, he has an ERA of 5.27. But when he pitches on three days of rest or more, the ERA balloons up to 8.10. He will need to find him a spot for him to pitch in games frequently without risking a loss for the Pirates.

Russell said about Park, “Obviously, he has good numbers, because he’s had success. He knows what he’s doing. He’s just not able to do what he wants to do right now. The more we can get him out there, hopefully the better he gets.”

Let’s hope Russell’s right.

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New York Yankees prospect shortstop Eduardo Nunez has been called up to the big leagues after first baseman Lance Berkman was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right ankle. Berkman has wanted to play, but he understands the move as part of the game.

Nunez, 23, has been hitting .289 and stole 23 bases in 118 games for the Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. He has only been caught five times trying to steal.

Nunez made his Major League debut when he replaced Derek Jeter at shortstop in the seventh inning as a defensive replacement. He also made his first plate appearance of his career and fouled out. 

To make up for that out, Nunez made a nice double play in the ninth inning (shown in the picture) to show that he is ready for this.

Manager Joe Girardi now has some depth with the young infielder, who can also play second and third base. That gives hope that Nunez will stick around with the Yankees at least for a while.

But there was a rumor before the trade deadline that he would be traded along with another prospect for Ty Wigginton.

As we know, that never happened, which makes us wonder: Will Nunez one day replace Derek Jeter for good?

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The day after the San Diego Padres acquired veteran bat Ryan Ludwick, he went 1 for 2 with a run scored. It’s a great start.

But who came out victorious after the Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Cleveland Indians made the three team trade was a question.

Here’s what each team got:

Padres: OF Ryan Ludwick

Cardinals: RHP Jake Westbrook, LHP Nick Greenwood

Indians: RHP Corey Kluber

The Padres gave up the two minor league pitchers for Ludwick.

The Cardinals got a veteran and prospect pitcher in exchange for Ludwick.

The Indians lost Jake Westbrook and got Double A pitcher Kluber, who is 6-6, and has an ERA of 3.45. They are certainly not the winners of this trade.

That leaves us with the two division leading teams.

The Padres could use more offense, and they got a guy that can fill in the batting order in the 3,4,5 spot. Ryan Ludwick has had a 37 HR 113 RBI season just two seasons ago. Last year, he drove in 97 runs. Now, he is hitting .281 with 43 RBIs.

Kluber isn’t the greatest prospect, and so he isn’t the big part of the deal. On the other hand, Nick Greenwood is a 22 year old pitcher for Single A. It seems that he won’t reach the big leagues soon with his 4.15 ERA.

The Cardinals got Jake Westbrook, who is 6-7 with an ERA of 4.65. His last season with an ERA under 4 was back in 2004, before his injuries limited him. Even though he will fill in the back end of the rotation, there really wasn’t a need as Jeff Suppan seemed to be turning things around lately. Not only that, the Cards are leading the division by a handful of games, so there really wasn’t a need to get him, giving up a good bat in Ryan Ludwick.

San Diego seems to have pulled out a big one this time.

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The New York Yankees acquired three veterans by the July 31st trade deadline. The three players are Austin Kearns, Kerry Wood from the Cleveland Indians, and Lance Berkman from the Houston Astros.

Last year, the Yankees acquired Jerry Hairston Jr., and he was a key to their World Series Championship.

We all know these three new Yankees can play, but will they be able to shine in the city that never sleeps?

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Washington Nationals closer Matt Capps has been traded to the Minnesota Twins for Wilson Ramos and Joe Testa.

Testa, a left-handed pitcher, is currently 1-4 with an ERA of 8.25 for Minnesota’s Double-A team in New Britain.

Triple-A catcher Wilson Ramos is a top prized prospect, who might one day take over Ivan Rodriguez as the Nationals catching starter.

Ramos was part of the proposal that would have sent Cliff Lee to the Twins. It was not sent through because Ramos was injured at the time.

Washington is in a spot where they have so much potential, and is building their prospects around stars such as Josh Willingham, Adam Dunn, and Ryan Zimmerman. They also have young Bryce Harper coming their way.

Matt Capps, who has 26 saves, will close for Minnesota, while Jon Rauch has 21 saves and will set-up.

It was a smart move for the Twins to make a solid bullpen even better.

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Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt has been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies.

In return, Houston got a major league-ready pitcher in J.A. Happ and two minor league prospects.

One of them was Anthony Goss, who was immediately traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for first baseman Brett Wallace.

The Phillies have been looking for a starting pitcher to go along with ace Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels. Hamels has not been at his best this year, so it was a great move to get Oswalt with Halladay to lead the pitching rotation.

The trade was made early morning on July 29, but Oswalt had to approve it since he had a full no trade clause. He approved, and he was on his way to Philly.

He is scheduled to start Friday for Charlie Manuel’s defending National League Champions.

On the other side, Happ will start today for Houston.

Roy Oswalt has a record of 6-12 with an ERA of 3.71. The stats to keep in mind are that in his last 13 starts against the National League East, he is 0-7 with an ERA over 7.00.

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Basbeall analyst Ken Rosenthal reported Sunday that the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals are in talks about trading Oliver Perez to Kansas City.

In return, the Mets would get veteran pitcher Gil Meche, who is currently rehabbing after his injury.

This trade would be dead even if it is made, as both are in their last year in their contracts, with each left with $12 million.

Not only is that situation similar, stats wise, too.

Perez and Meche are both 0-4, and their ERAs are hovering around above 6.

Meche might be able to regain his past sucess when he won 15 games in 2003, and 14 games in 2008 if he goes to the National League, as they have weaker lineups.

Many fans do believe that if Perez lands on an American League team, he would get pounded very badly.

But what would be the point of this trade, without adding in some players?

Outfielder Jeff Francoeur of the Mets is on the trading block, as the outfield is set with Jason Bay, Carlos Beltran, and Angel Pagan.

On the other side in Kansas City, they have the veteran reliever Kyle Farnsworth.

Keep an eye out on trades this summer, as many big ones have occurred already.

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New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is one shy of hitting the 600 home run mark.

He can hit 800 by the end of his career, but he won’t hit Cooperstown with the rest of baseball’s legends…ever.

This situation best relates with Mark McGwire, but even he wasn’t close to the required number of votes to get in the Hall of Fame.

He got 25 percent of votes, but players need 75 percent to get in. McGwire was maybe the most exciting hitter to see when he was in his prime, just like how A-Rod was in Texas, or when he’s chasing history.

But there’s going to be a time when you retire, and your stats might line up with the greatest of the greatest, and become eligible for the HOF.

There’s no reason to be eligible if you’ve taken steroids. Simply, 75 percent of the board won’t select you.

Yes, I am aware of the fact that he apologized and he admitted that he was “naive” during his interview after we baseball fans all found out.

Yes, I am aware that he only used them when he was with the Texas Rangers.

Yes, I am aware that A-Rod still had All-Star stats with the Seattle Mariners before he came to Texas.

But once you cheat in America’s pastime, there is no way of landing in Cooperstown.

I am a big Yankees fan, and I am not ashamed to cheer for A-Rod every at-bat.

But you can’t hide the fact that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

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