Kuzul

Finally: New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez has hit his 600th career home run.

After 46 at-bats, including a 0-for-17 streak, without a home run and dwindling production since he hit home run No. 599, Rodriguez made history.

The two-run shot came in his first at-bat on Wednesday afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays . A-Rod drove a 2-0 fastball to dead center field and into Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.

Shawn Marcum served No. 600, which came three years to the day since Rodriguez hit No. 500 at old Yankee Stadium.

Rodriguez, who was the fastest ever to hit 500 home runs, is now the fastest to hit 600 home runs, having hit the blast at 35 years, eight days of age. 

A-Rod is the first player to reach 600 home runs since Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th on June 9, 2008. 

A security guard retrieved the ball, eliminating any chance of a standoff between Rodriguez and a fan.

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Washington Nationals’ slugger, Adam Dunn, was placed on waivers today, and there is much buzz about teams potentially picking him up.

While the fact that Dunn is being put through the waivers process doesn’t necessarily mean that the Nats are willing to part with him, many teams have expressed interest in the first baseman.

Here are the top 10 teams that could add Dunn to their rosters.

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It has been less than a week since J.A. Happ was dealt to the Houston Astros with Anthony Gose and Jonathan Villar for Roy Oswalt. Unlike minor league prospects Gose and Villar, however, Happ was once a key piece of the Phillies’ starting roster, particularly in 2009, when he finished second in Rookie of the Year balloting to Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan.

Happ’s odd career as a Phillie saw him go from organizational spare part in 2008, to rookie sensation in 2009, and then back to spare part in 2010.

His forearm injury and subsequent extended DL stint led Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. to feel that Happ was expendable in a deal for a top veteran pitcher such as Oswalt.

However, in his short career as a Philadelphia Phillie, Happ became a fan favorite for his composure on the mound, and for his unexpected run of dominance in the summer of 2009. While Phillies fans have been generally ecstatic about acquiring of pitcher of Roy Oswalt’s caliber, many fans also have expressed sadness that Happ had to be included for the deal to be completed.

Let’s take a look back at some of the games that made Happ such a popular player, in both the clubhouse and the stands.

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Mark Teahen is set to come back in about a week from his minor league stint in Triple-A Charlotte after recovering from a fractured middle finger in May—not that anyone in the organization has noticed his absence with the White Sox on a tear without him. 

A question, which I’m certain manager Ozzie Guillen and GM Kenny Williams will answer incorrectly, looms.

Who do the White Sox send down for Mark Teahen?

Almost certainly the White Sox will send down either Brent Lillibridge or Dayan Viciedo, although the answer is clear that Mark Kotsay deserves the demotion.

I understand bringing up Teahen.

He can play third, second, and the outfield, and he can run. He’s a nice cushion for the inevitable fall of Omar Vizquel’s bat, which has been solid, especially with his impressive glove at third. 

Oh, and the fact the White Sox paid Teahen for some reason may come into play in that decision.

Bringing him up makes sense, but starting him does not. That, I believe, Guillen will make the right call on.

Who Teahen replaces, however, smells like an awful decision.

After his pinch-hit home run in the first game of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers today, Viciedo, the 21-year-old prospect, is hitting .328 with three home runs, seven RBI, 13 runs, and a stolen base. He’s shown no patience, however, walking zero times in 67 at-bats.

The White Sox feel Viciedo should be used against lefties, which is why they continue to bat Kotsay and Jones over Viciedo at DH, yet his numbers have come with 33 at-bats against righties and 34 at-bats against lefties. 

Viciedo is batting .273 with a home run, three RBI, and six runs against righties. Viciedo signed a four-year, $10 million contract with the White Sox, and rather than letting him play every day in the minors, the White Sox are platooning him at DH with more experienced hitters who aren’t hitting.

Kotsay is hitting .217 with six home runs, 20 RBI, 22 runs, and a .320 OBP in 230 at-bats. Considering he is 0-for-20 against lefties, I would say he is hitting righties a bit better, but only because he can’t get worse.

Viciedo is creeping in on Kotsay’s numbers with one-third of the at-bats. 

Kotsay’s mediocre-to-bad glove at first base is not worth his awful hitting. Enough of this complaining about bad luck for Kotsay.

So his average would rise to about .230 if he had some balls drop.

Is that better?

Viciedo can play first base if Konerko needs a rest. Viciedo is your future, and you’re starting an old guy who doesn’t even have a past.

On the other side, you have the 26-year-old Brent Lillibridge. Lillibridge is your best option as a pinch runner, can play the entire infield if need be and center field, and is batting .406 with one home run, 13 RBI, eight runs, and two stolen bases in 32 at-bats.

Keeping Andruw Jones, even though he’s batting .204 with a .313 OBP in 221 at-bats, is okay because he does have 15 home runs and nine stolen bases and can play every position in the outfield.

Starting him every day doesn’t make sense, but keeping him around for versatility does.

Kotsay can only play a serviceable first base and is not hitting.

There is no reason to send down two young, more flexible players to make room for a designated hitter who can’t hit, but Guillen and Williams have been avoiding the obvious choice all season.

Prove me wrong, Kenny and Ozzie.

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As the White Sox continue to play well and make their push to the playoffs, we as fans remember that sometimes it’s the team with the most favorable schedule that ends up making it to the postseason.

Taking a look at the White Sox schedule, it’s a combination of 19 games against playoff contenders, 20 games against playoff wannabes, and 19 games against teams who already want the season to be over.

The South Siders will be at home 28 more times over the course of the regular season, and on the road for 30 more contests.

Overall, their remaining opponents have a collective winning percentage of .485 (that’s lower than the Twin’s remaining opponents – .503)

Let’s take a look at who the White Sox have to face the rest of the way.

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For those fans still holding on in Baltimore, tonight will be the beginning of yet another “new era” for the organization, as the team plays its first game under manager Buck Showalter. 

While the looming hire of Showalter was perhaps the worst kept secret in all of sports over the last month, the fact that the deal is finally done now means that the (re)rebuilding process can begin now rather than come spring training.

This difference is rarely felt in other sports, but baseball is one sport where it isn’t just helpful, it is vital. 

The reason that baseball is unique in this way is that baseball teams get to expand their rosters every Sept. 1 to basically call up anyone they like to the 40-man rosters. 

The ability to call these players up and see how they do against top-level competition can give managers an insight into their potential before next year’s Spring Training. 

For Showalter, this opportunity to see what he has in his farm system could possibly shave off a year in his rebuilding plan.

Although there is certainly no doubt that Showalter will want to use the rest of the season to assess talent, there is one thing that could prevent a blown up roster—Andy MacPhail willingness to have the 2010 Orioles go down as one of the worst teams in baseball history.

At 32-73, the Orioles are on pace to lose 111 games. To put that in perspective, only four teams since 1940 have tallied that many. 

Accumulating that many losses in a season would be an even bigger shot to the reputation of MacPhail and his so-called “plan.” The question now becomes, “Will the Orioles risk entering that realm in order to try and better their future?” 

Either way, guys like Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta, and Matt Weiters will all stay staples of the rest of the Orioles’ season. The people whose playing time could be sacrificed will be the veterans like Kevin Millwood, Ty Wigginton, and even Luke Scott. 

If the Orioles are smart, they will give this season to the dogs in order to look at younger guys. If it works, then the season will be forgotten (the Detroit Tigers 119-loss 2003 season was quickly forgotten when they made it to the World Series three years later).

In this scenario, don’t be surprised to see guys like Brandon Snyder, Chorye Spoone, Chris Tillman and even recent acquisition Rick VandenHurk getting some time in Baltimore for strictly scouting purposes. Even Zach Britton (who is not currently on the 40-man roster) could get brought up from Triple-A, he is certainly deserving of it.

Those names are all in addition to Josh Bell and Troy Patton, who were both called up as a result of the Miguel Tejada and Will Ohman trades.

However, in an age where records rule everything, the Orioles could very well decide to play the older vets and try to scrape one or two more wins out of the season. If they do, they could manage to sacrifice the 2011 season before it even starts. 

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Houston Astros fans should not feign felicity.

They should not dance in the streets surrounding Minute Maid Park, host vivacious celebrations, or cheer as if the August rain will soon turn to gold. They should feel disillusioned, upset, and hungry for change. If the 2005 World Series qualifies as the franchise’s peak, last week was its ultimate valley.

The Astros fell into a state of such disrepair that management needed to trade two icons to give the team a chance to compete.

Let that previous sentence marinate. Since when do the words “icon,” “trade,” and “compete” belong together? Drayton McLane should know the answer now.

I will not try to convince fellow fans that the jettisoning of Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman, two players whose numbers will one day hang in the Juicebox rafters, should inspire hope and happiness. I must, however, back off a bit from the column I penned Thursday afternoon.

In my rush to publish something just after the announcement of the Oswalt transaction, I failed to put the circumstances that forced Ed Wade to deal his ace into proper perspective.

Some of my points are inarguable. What Wade and McLane executed is undeniable.

The Astros dealt Oswalt to the Philadelphia Phillies for 27-year-old, left-handed pitcher J.A. Happ and two teenage prospects, Jonathan Villar and Anthony Gose. Wade then flipped Gose, a speedy outfielder, for Toronto Blue Jays’ prospect Brett Wallace, a potential starter at first or third base. McLane agreed to kick in $11 million of the money remaining on Oswalt’s contract.

None of the players fetched Thursday will star in Houston as Oswalt did. Happ will not challenge the record for all-time wins, and any jersey retirement talk is premature and silly.

Wade and McLane paid the New York Yankees to take Lance Berkman. The two throwaway prospects landed in that deal are inconsequential. Berkman, a former All-Star with Hall of Fame-caliber career stats, was donated to a franchise with 27 championships.

I also stand by my contention that Philadelphia won the deal’s first round in a rout. The Phillies are trying to win a pennant, and Oswalt, despite his nightmarish debut, can help them do that.

Did the Astros secure the best possible deals for Oswalt and Berkman? Will the players brought to Houston help the squad make the playoffs in the next three years?

In my crazy, idealistic world, I wanted Wade to turn his best players into prospects who would make the answer to both questions a resounding “yes.” I wanted Wade to get back fair value. I wanted two trades to jumpstart the restocking of a depleted, embarrassing farm system.

Stupid me. A more realistic Astros fan helped me find earth.

I should have processed a few things Thursday afternoon. Teams often deal stars from a handicapped position. Oswalt’s trade request afforded the Astros little leverage with which to net the best possible return.

The Tampa Bay Rays, the club with the finest farm system, did not need or want a veteran as expensive as Oswalt, even if McLane agreed to fork up $11 million. The other outfits with standout prospects could hang up on Wade for a similar reason.

That forced the Astros to send their best player to the team with the least to offer. The Phillies emptied their minor league stock by stocking up on key pieces like Roy Halladay to continue chasing World Series triumphs.

Happ, also, could exceed my expectations. I was struck by the number of Philly fans disgusted to see him go. He began his Astro tenure with a shutout performance. Most projections peg him as the third or fourth man in a playoff-caliber pitching rotation. Maybe he can become a second wheel.

The Berkman salary dump is more difficult to rationalize, but it can be done. Two veterans in their mid-30s, no matter their importance and association with Houston, were not going to aid the rebuilding process.

I also do not doubt Wade’s claim that Oswalt had become a clubhouse distraction. He might seem like a nice guy, but even a gentleman can morph into a horse’s ass if he’s tired of losing and frustrated enough.

Astros fans should remember Berkman and Oswalt fondly and then come to grips with the same reality I accepted over the weekend. If McLane could not trade his way back to another World Series, why did I expect a pair of deadline deals to fix a franchise that took years to break?

The Astros fall was steady, painful, and elongated. Expect the rebuilding years to also be steady, painful, and elongated. Manager Brad Mills needs a lot more youth and talent on his roster before he can be fairly evaluated for his work. Wade needs a few more years to get his rebuilding plan in motion.

Then, we will know if McLane hired the right guys to tackle two of the toughest jobs in baseball. Where the Astros must go from here is clear. How they get there remains as much a question mark as Happ, Wallace, and Villar.

The Yankees and Rays provide polar opposite models for McLane and Wade. It is clear now that the Astros brass much choose the latter. McLane will spend money but not enough to enter Yankee territory. The Bronx Bombers now have Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Berkman, and Mark Teixeira, among others, in their hitting rotation? Ridiculous.

I cannot see McLane ever sanctioning a payroll that tops $150 million, which is what he would need to shell out to build that kind of a lineup.

The Rays’ model takes much longer to mimic but costs a lot less and carries less risk if certain experiments fail. Tampa Bay used to be a laughingstock, but years of prudent drafting (and, yes, they signed their draft picks) and deals that yielded primo prospects lifted them into contention.

The Astros will not compete again as they did in 2005, given the unlikelihood of another pitching rotation that includes Oswalt, Roger Clemens, and Andy Pettitte, so they must travel the alternate route. Repairing the shattered farm system will require time and patience.

If Wade can pay someone to take Carlos Lee’s exorbitant deal off his hands next summer, the Astros will be in the thick of the rebuilding business.

Wade locked up Brett Meyers with a multi-year extension and now has Happ. Myers, Wandy Rodriguez, and Happ could become a terrific, reliable pitching rotation, provided the front office can unearth an ace and a fifth wheel.

Wallace is ready to step in to the lineup and can play first or third base. Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence are keepers. Ditto for Jason Castro and Tommy Manzella.

A funny thing happened after Wade sent Oswalt and Berkman packing. Call it good karma. The Astros won their fifth game in a row Sunday afternoon, blanking the Milwaukee Brewers. The streak will not continue, nor will the ‘Stros suddenly become that feel good story that makes a shocking playoff appearance.

This club will still lose more than 100 games. A winning record remains years away.

Still, McLane should see this as confirmation from the baseball gods he did the right thing. The stubborn owner no longer needs to utter the dreaded “r” word. His actions last week did all of the talking.

The Astros are rebuilding and reloading. If trading Oswalt and Berkman was a rock bottom moment, the franchise’s brain trust should know now it cannot fall any farther.

Sometime before the end of this decade, the Astros will be good again. All of the players on the roster will want to play in Houston and they will play hard. Then, fans will know last week was worth it.

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In 2012, the Florida Marlins will move into a new ballpark in downtown Miami and will be renamed the Miami Marlins with an all new logo, color scheme, and young nucleus.

Most of their stars will be 30-years-old or younger, and I will highlight that here. Certainly, they have one of the most talented nucleus of players in the Major Leagues, and there is no telling what they can do once they move into a new environment, a true baseball stadium with the top players in the game.

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They say “Home is where the heart is,” and that saying is truer now than it has been all season in Milwaukee.

Except now the saying goes, “Home is where the Hart is.”

MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy has reported that Corey Hart, 28, has signed a contract extension with the Brewers to continue his memorable season.

As recently as May, a contract of this manner would never have been fathomable. Hart, coming off the team’s first arbitration hearing since 1998, was not making regular appearances in the lineup.

Fans and media alike, as in 2009, were on Hart’s case after he won a $4.8 million salary and was not producing. Then a walk-off home run against New York, followed by a grand slam the next night out, jolted a season that has led to an All-Star appearance.

Just call it a story we never expected.

“I’m anxious to go out there and prove to everybody that I’m worth it,” he said in spring training. “I told [GM] Doug [Melvin] and [assistant GM] Gord [Ash] that I want to go out and prove to them that I’m a guy who could get a long-term deal.

“I love Milwaukee, my family loves it, and we want to stay. The fanbase has been really good to me, and the ones who are mad, hopefully I can win them back over.”

Corey will bring to Chicago, along with his new contract, a .288 average, 23 home runs, 72 RBI, and a .910 OPS.

ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that Hart will bring in $26.5 million during the three-year deal.

The deal covers 2011-2013, which would have been Corey’s final year of arbitration and first two free agency seasons.

Just days ago a subject of trade rumors, including the Giants making a serious late push, Hart now is locked up until age 31 with the Brewers.

The signing may reveal that Melvin is open to trading Prince Fielder this winter for pitching. Rickie Weeks may also re-sign along with Hart.

Hart was the first young star to crack through to the big leagues, making his debut with the Brewers in 2004. He was followed by Weeks, Fielder, J.J. Hardy, Ryan Braun, and Yovani Gallardo.

He said all along he would like to stay in Brew Town.

“I would be disappointed to be traded away from the Brewers, because this is the only team I know,” he said last month. “I would like to stick it out here and help to turn things around.”

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July is an early month to give up on a team like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, but Tuesday night’s lackluster performance may have been the final nail in this season’s coffin.

The Angels scored just two runs against John Lackey and the Boston Red Sox, the second consecutive game they failed to score less than three.

In fact, in July alone, the Angels have scored four runs or more only eight times in 23 contests, contributing to a miserable 8-15 record this month and an 8½ game deficit in the AL West.

Prior to that, the Angels had averaged close to six runs per game in the month of June and remained competitive after a slow start to the season. But after all the hard work it took to claw their way back to respectability, they now stand just one game over .500.

Now, every team goes through its peaks and valleys in a given season. It’s difficult for any player or squad to maintain a consistently high level of play over the course of 162 games.

But unfortunately, the Angels have timed their downfall rather poorly.

While they suffer in the midst of a prolonged slump made of spotty pitching, sluggish defense, and inconsistent offense, the division-leading Texas Rangers continue to surge forward, putting miles of ground between themselves and their divisional rivals.

What’s more, the inverse paths of these two teams have given the Angels a problem no outside force can solve.

Where once it looked like the addition of another heavy hitter in the lineup would make the Angels contenders again, it now looks like they are too far back for any bat acquired in a trade to make a significant impact.

This is because the problem is not the lack of one guy, but rather the missing production of several.

Despite Bobby Abreu’s two home runs against the Red Sox this week, he is still batting .210 in July and has only five RBI in his last 10 games.

Hideki Matsui’s magical playoff run for the New York Yankees last season that culminated in a World Series MVP may have been the last violent flicker of a candle that’s all but burned out. His .253 average is not what the Angels had in mind with they gave him a one-year deal this offseason.

Juan Rivera is starting to emerge from his season-long slump and heat up here in the second half, as is his MO. Still, he is far from the consistent power threat this team needs him to be.

In the infield, Alberto Callaspo has yet to adjust to his new old surroundings, while Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar are swinging well below their capabilities.

As a whole, the Angels struggle like mad to find hits with men in scoring position, produce extra-base hits, get runners in motion with stolen bases and hit-and-run plays, or show any confidence whatsoever at the plate when trailing late in games.

Only Torii Hunter continues to be a reliable source of offense, and even he is starting to show signs of frustration at the plate, arguing with umps as he watches called strike threes go by.

Surely, his knees are buckling under the full weight of the team he carries on his back.

Meanwhile, Manager Mike Scioscia stubbornly clings to the notion that the run-on-contact play—where the runner on third with less than two outs breaks for the plate when the batter makes contact with the ball—is still a good idea with the infield pulled in.

Ridiculous. Because if the ball gets through the defense for a base hit, the runner can practically walk home. But if the ball is hit at an infielder, the runner is a dead duck at the plate, just as Rivera was on Tuesday.

And now it seems the Angels’ disturbing lack of offense is finally starting to affect their defense. There is simply no other excuse for talented veterans and brilliant youngsters to play as poorly as this.

Abreu and Rivera, age aside, have no business stumbling around the outfield like rookies playing out of position. The infielders aren’t immune either, making spectacular grabs but still faltering where teamwork is involved.

Even Kendrick, who has improved his defense by leaps and bounds at second base, still manages to commit mental errors like the one on Tuesday, when he threw a ball to no one in particular and resulted in a run for Boston.

These kinds of weak errors, this frightened and anemic offense, not to mention the unaccountable bullpen—they aren’t just costing the Angels games, they’re costing the season.

And they’re not the kind of issues that a Ty Wigginton, a Jorge Cantu, or even an Adam Dunn can help this team address.

At this point, the Angels are a sinking ship and one more bucket, no matter the size, just isn’t going to do much to bail them out.

General Manager Tony Reagins has already pulled off his annual big-time trade and he may well have a few more calls to make before Saturday’s trade deadline.

But if he hopes to save his team from the nightmare of a lost season in July, the call must come from inside the house.

Scioscia lit a fire under his team last season when the Angels were scuffling at the .500 mark in mid-June, threatening to send each and every man down to the minors if something didn’t change.

The Angels finished the season with 97 wins and a franchise record for runs scored.

This year, the motivation might be too little too late, but it must come all the same.

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