Red Sox skipper Terry Francona gave David Ortiz the night off on Monday to rest his troublesome knee.

Despite a few injuries this season, Chone Figgins is having a career year for the Angels.

The A’s finally called up highly touted prospect Daric Barton.

The Blue Jays will go with a closer-by-committee the rest of the season.

Jorge Valendia got the call to join the Devil Rays for the last part of the season.

Jensen Lewis was a fan of the Indians when he was growing up.

Mariners pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith will be given a shot to be in the rotation in 2008.

The Orioles hope to end the season on a positive note.

Will the Rangers move Hank Blalock to first base?

Odalis Perez probably won’t pitch again this year for the Royals.

Tigers pitcher Jeremy Bonderman won’t need elbow surgery.

Alexi Casilla has been soaking in Twins manager Ron Gardenhire’s advice.

The White Sox left Nick Masset in the minors.

Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez was named AL Player of the Week for his efforts last week.

Red Sox import Dice-K needs to start using all of his pitches.

Edgar Renteria returned to the Braves lineup on Sunday.

Blue Jays closer Jeremy Accardo had the walk-off blues on Saturday night.

Marlins reliever Matt Lindstrom has the stuff to be a future closer.

B.J. Upton was back in the lineup for the Devil Rays on Sunday at DH.

David Wright isn’t used to having time off with the Mets.

The Orioles lost Erik Bedard for the season and added Victor Zambrano to the roster.

Jon Rauch is the workhorse of the Nationals bullpen.

Derek Jeter missed Sunday’s Yankees game with some knee pain.

The Phillies gave Ryan Howard the day off on Sunday.

Just when you thought the Baltimore Orioles season couldn’t get any worse, news comes out tying injured O’s outfielder Jay Gibbons to the growing list of athlete’s names in the Signature Pharmacy investigation. Sports Illustrated is reporting that Gibbons received the following:

A source in Florida with knowledge of Signature Pharmacy’s client list alleges that between October 2003 and July 2005, Gibbons received six separate shipments of Genotropin (a brand name for synthetic Human Growth Hormone), two shipments of testosterone and two shipments of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone produced naturally during pregnancy, but taken by anabolic steroid users to stimulate the production of testosterone, which is suppressed as a result of steroid use. The information regarding Gibbons only pertains to receipt and not actual use of the drugs.

Testosterone was banned by MLB in 2003 and HGH was banned by MLB in 2005. MLB did not start testing for performance-enhancing drugs (ie. steroids) until 2003. There is no proven test for HGH, although the Olympic Committee has said they had one before the 2004 Olympics. By looking at the drugs he received, it looks as though he “could have” done steroids. I don’t speak for Gibbons nor would I. But to the naked eye one can presume he did. As I said in a previous post, he is “innocent until proven guilty” although the way the media perceives things, “guilty until proven innocent”. All this does is make the black eye bigger for Bud Selig and MLB. Three players in 3 days have now been implicated in this ever-growing investigation. And now we can add Gibbons to the list with Rick Ankiel, Troy Glaus, Wade Wilson, Rodney Harrison, and 10 WWE wrestlers. And as I have with all these posts, I have to ask the question, “WHO WILL BE NEXT?”

Less than 12 hours after the New York Daily News posted a report that Rick Ankiel had received HGH, Sports Illustrated is reporting that Blue Jays 3B Troy Glaus is the latest athlete to be implicated in the internet pharmacy investigation.

According to the investigation, Glaus received multiple shipments of steroids and testosterone between September 2003 and May 2004 from the Signature Pharmacy in Orlando. Glaus missed most of the 2003 Angels season with shoulder problems and had season-ending shoulder surgery in 2004.

This is a huge black eye for Major League Baseball with now two players in less than 24 hours being named in the investigation. If Bud Selig ever thought steroid use wasn’t high in baseball, this internet pharmacy investigation is starting to prove otherwise.

Glaus joins Ankiel, Wade Wilson, Rodney Harrison and 10 WWE wrestlers as having received illegal performance enhancing drugs from the Signature Pharmacy.

Stay tuned folks, this is just getting started. I’d have to think we will start to see even more names coming out now.

In what started out as another feel good story in MLB this season with Rick Ankiel returning to the big leagues, it could all go for naught as a New York Daily News report says that Ankiel received HGH from an internet pharmacy.

According to the report, Ankiel received a 12-month’s supply of HGH in 2004. HGH was banned by MLB in 2005.

In just 81 at-bats since his callup from Memphis, Ankiel is hitting .358 with 9 home runs and 29 RBIs. Ankiel had been leading the Pacific Coast League in home runs before he got the call.

Ankiel has been one of the reasons the Cardinals are 16-6 in their last 22 games and suddenly in contention for the division title in the NL Central.

Given everything the Cardinals have gone through this season, this would be the icing on the cake.

“This is the first I’ve heard of this,” Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty told The News yesterday. “If it’s true, obviously it would be very tragic, along with everything else we’ve had happen to us year.”

If this proves to be true, Ankiel can escape suspension from MLB by proving he didn’t use it before it was banned by MLB. If he is found to have used it after it was banned, he would probably face a 50-game suspension.

This all stems from the same investigation that involved Rodney Harrison from the New England Patriots, the 10 WWE wrestlers and Cowboys QB coach Wade Wilson. If these allegations prove to be true, this is just another slap in the face to Bud Selig and MLB.

A couple of Double-A callups are paying dividends for the Diamondbacks.

Vlad was a late scratch from the Angels lineup with a sore tricep muscle.

Russel Martin was back in the Dodgers lineup after missing the last game with a knee injury.

Why did the A’s let Esteban Loiaza go through waivers?

Randy Winn has been pretty consistent for the Giants this season.

Jose Guillen has had a good year for the Mariners on the field and in the clubhouse.

The players from the Padres don’t wear their wedding rings on the field.

The Rangers future has a lot of power.

Rockies assistant hitting coach Mike Bard won’t be helping his brother Josh out when he comes to town.

The Astros have started interviewing candidates for their vacant GM position.

The Indians are in control of their destiny in their run to the playoffs.

The Brewers hope Ray King can get them to the postseason even though he isn’t eligible.

The Royals’ Ross Gload was available to pinch-hit despite hyperextending his knee the night before.

Who will pitch for the Cardinals on any given day is up in the air.

Jim Leyland says the Tigers are probably playing for the wild card now.

Lou Pinella hopes the lineup changes he made sparks some offense up for the Cubs.

The Twins catchers are getting beat up lately.

The Pirates have too many starting pitchers for the final month of the season.

The White Sox said that their prospects didn’t earn promotions this year.

The Reds don’t like to employ a shift on defense.

In case you care about Barry Bonds and I know most of you don’t, he hit #762 tonight against the Rockies.Yes I am obsessed I know.

Brad Ausmus will tutor the young Astros’ catchers for the final weeks of the season.

Edgar Renteria is close to returning to the Braves lineup.

The Brewers picked up Ray King in a trade for the stretch run.

Tony LaRussa may take Kip Wells out of the Cardinals pitching rotation.

Lou Pinella shares his thoughts on how to get the Cubs fans to stop booing the players.

Bob Melvin made some adjustments to his Diamondbacks lineup.

The Dodgers activated Nomar Garciaparra from the disabled list.

Dan Giese had his dream come true when he got a callup to the Giants yesterday.

Scott Olsen had his next start for the Marlins pushed back to next Monday.

Pedro Martinez felt good after his first start for the Mets.

The Nationals called up their 2007 first round draft pick Ross Detwiler.

Jake Peavy will make his next start on 3 days rest for the Padres.

Cole Hamels return to the Phillies is dependent upon how they are doing in the race for a playoff spot.

Bryan Bullington will get the start for the Pirates on Thursday.

The Reds will give Joey Votto a look at first base for the rest of the season.

Josh Fogg will have his next start pushed back two days by the Rockies.

Tim Wakefield feels ready to go for his start on Thursday after missing his last start for the Boston Red Sox.

New York Yankees first baseman Andy Phillips will undergo season-ending wrist surgery this week.

Josh Fields has made some progress in learning left field for the Chicago White Sox.

Dennys Reyes will not return to the Minnesota Twins this season.

The Detroit Tigers will need good starts from their “Big Three” pitchers to have a chance at the postseason.

The Kansas City Royals made a plethora of moves on Monday.

Hank Blalock is playing himself back into shape for the Texas Rangers.

The Baltimore Orioles have reinforcements on the way.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are giving struggling reliever Scot Shields some time off.

The Oakland A’s haven’t made a lot of callups due to the success of their Triple-A team in Sacramento.

The Toronto Blue Jays lineup has gotten them back into playoff contention.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays hope to avoid an 100-loss season.

The Cleveland Indians gave Grady Sizemore a rare day-off to start the game on Monday.

Seattle Mariners OF Jose Guillen is one short of their record for hits-by-pitch with 16.