-Nick Cafardo sets the markets for some of the most valuable summer trade commodities: Cliff Lee’s options include the Twins, Cardinals, Mets, Rangers and Dodgers. Dan Haren and Ben Sheets could be fallbacks for the teams that don’t get Lee and Texas really likes Roy Oswalt. The Giants and Angels are options for Paul Konerko and the Red Sox, Yankees and Padres will have interest in David DeJesus. Seattle could trade David Aardsma but Minnesota may be looking for a setup man. Kerry Wood and Jake Westbrook will be out on the block as well as Jeremy Guthrie and Kevin Millwood of Baltimore. Baltimore also has Ty Wigginton and Miguel Tejada to deal, and Kelly Johnson and Mike Lowell are also candidates to be dealt. If Toronto decides to sell, Alex Gonzalez and Lyle Overbay could be attractive to the Angels and Jose Bautista and John McDonald could also go. Also count Pedro Feliz, Jay Payton and Willie Bloomquist as bait.
-The Mets have interest in Fausto Carmona, Seattle hasn’t decided whether to trade Lee and Joe Torre may not manage with the Dodgers next year.
-Arizona will field offers for almost everyone but there won’t be a fire sale just yet.
-The Angels need a 1B, a 3B, a backup OF and a reliever, but Dan Haren would be the perfect fit.
-Cubs management is still deciding whether to be buyers or sellers (I think they definitely need to sell) and Ted Lilly, Derek Lee, Kosuke Fukudome and Ryan Theriot are definite trade candidates if they are sellers.
-With Rick Porcello sent down, Detroit may need to trade for a starter.
-Cleveland would prefer to trade Austin Kearns or Russell Branyan rather than release them and they shouldn’t be able to get very much for Kerry Wood.

-Two hits do not cure the ills of a season’s prolonged, persistent problems. But homers by Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson brought the Yankee offense back to life against Mike Pelfrey and gave the Yankees a 5-3 win over the Mets and got Phil Hughes his 10th victory (tied for the AL lead). Jose Reyes homered twice off Hughes but the rest of the Mets failed to provide the offense they needed. Ironically, Teixeira is batting .286 during the day so perhaps daylight is a good thing for him as he faces Johan Santana on Sunday but he’s still going through a .234 June. Granderson still can’t hit lefties (unless you’re satisfied by a .200/.241/.327 clip in 55 at bats) and is a rather expensive platoon player until he can right the ship against southpaws. Speaking of southpaws, the Mets’ confidence in 35-year-old rookie Hisanori Takahashi could cost the team John Maine. Manager Jerry Manuel says there’s no room for him on the staff, so he would have to be designated for assignment and exposed to other teams. If that happens, don’t expect the Mets to get Maine back. It’s an interesting choice that the team may have to make rather soon.
-The National League could turn the White Sox from sellers to buyers. Chicago has won five straight and nine of 10 against NL opponents and are 9-2 against the senior circuit this season. This surge against inferior opponents has cut their AL Central deficit to 5.5 games and has given management hope that they could make a playoff run, which severely decreased their chances of trading in-demand assets like Mark Buehrle, Paul Konerko, AJ Pierzynski and Matt Thornton, among others. With top hitting prospect Dayan Viciedo up and the team rolling, they could even evolve into buyers, which is a huge turnaround from just two weeks ago. On Saturday, Jake Peavy threw a complete game two-hit shutout (his first since August 2005) as the Pale Hose edged Washington 1-0.
-The NL East had a pair of incredibly wild games on Saturday that both went into extra innings. The Phillies chased Twins starter Kevin Slowey in the second after scoring seven runs, but Minnesota rallied for five runs in the 9th off Jose Contreras and Brad Lidge, including two-run shots by Jim Thome and Joe Mauer in the inning, to tie the game at 9. Then there were not one, but two pinch-hit homers in the 10th as Drew Butera and Ross Gload exchanged solo shots to leave the game deadlocked until the 11th when Delmon Young singled in a run and Matt Tolbert drove in two off Dannys Baez and Minnesota got the 13-10 win. In Miami, the Marlins scored three times against Tampa Bay in the 8th to tie the game at 5, and the game looked over after the Rays scored four runs in the top of the 11th after two bases loaded walks and a two run single by Jason Bartlett. Lance Cormier went in to save it in the 11th and gave up three runs (two earned) before recording an out in the inning and the Marlins had first and third with nobody out when Andy Sonnanstine struck out two and held Florida right there for the 9-8 Tampa win. James Shields got the win in relief in a wild NL East day.
-Colby Lewis threw a complete game, allowing two hits and one run, and continued his great comeback season after being in Japan as the Rangers won their 7th straight 5-1 over Houston. But the Angels remain right on their tails after blasting the Cubs 12-0 on Saturday as Jered Weaver and Scott Shields combined on a two-hit shutout with Weaver striking out 11 and walking none in seven innings. Howie Kendrick and Juan Rivera each drove in three as Anaheim won their 3rd straight and their 7th in 10 games. It looks like it’s going to be a fun two team race in the AL West with the Angels currently 2.5 back.
-Troy Glaus’ storybook season had another page written on Saturday after his walkoff 9th inning homer gave Atlanta a 5-4 win over Kansas City to extend their division lead to 1.5 games over New York. Glaus took back the NL RBI lead from David Wright with his astonishing 14th homer.
-Speaking of clutch and storybook, Dustin Pedroia’s walkoff hit gave Boston a 5-4 win over the Dodgers for their 5th straight victory. The Red Sox quietly lead the major leagues in runs and are batting .313 as a team in June with a .386 team OBP, a .530 team slugging percentage and 24 homers, all which lead the major leagues for the month.
-Cincinnati has dropped five of six and had complete games thrown against them (vs the lowly Mariners to throw some kosher salt on the wound) for the first time since September 2003 after a 5-1 loss to the M’s. Meanwhile St. Louis is ending Oakland’s hopes with wins by Carpenter and Wainwright over the weekend to give the Cardinals a 1.5 game NL Central lead. The Athletics have lost four straight and eight of 10 to go eight games down in the AL West.
-The Pirates broke their 12 game losing streak and the Diamondbacks broke their 14 game road losing streak. So let’s celebrate Father’s Day and a pair of new beginnings. Love ya, Dad.