Wow.....Huge deal with huge names....

The Milwaukee Brewers are trading slugger Carlos Lee to the Texas Rangers as part of a multi-player deal, ESPN.com learned Friday.

The Brewers are sending Lee, minor-league outfield prospect Nelson Cruz and a player to be named later to the Rangers for relief pitcher Francisco Cordero and outfielders Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix.

Both teams are checking for any medical issues before consummating the deal.

Not surprising, but sounds liek Frank clearly has a ways to go to be ready.

The A`s will release the results of Frank Thomas` (ankle) bone scan and MRI on Friday, but admit that Thomas may not be ready by Opening Day according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "We`re going to take it very slowly," trainer Larry Davis said. "Our objective is to see if it`s possible for him to be ready Opening Day."

Note: This is not a full article, nor from a pay site.

Really cool take on Kendall from a national web site....although Murphy is obviously a West Coast guy....still, very cool take a lot of people will read.  Thought you guys would enjoy.
Play of the year in any sport?  Wow.

Edit: Link Added: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=murphy/050725

3. The Play Of The Year
All of you wrapped up in $800 Million Payroll Yankeedom, or Red Sox Navel-Gazing, or Cubbie Self-Flagellation ... come and listen to the story about a team with no Q-rating, no trendy ballyard and no national profile.

In other words, listen to the story of the Oakland A's.

On Friday night, when the A's were in the midst of piecing together a season-changing four-game sweep at Texas, Jason Kendall did something that should raise the hair on the neck of every American ball fan.

In an 11-10 game the A's were leading, with a Texas runner at third base and two out in the bottom of the ninth, Kendall fielded a wild pitch, and seeing a body barreling toward home plate, scooped up the loose pearl, dove headfirst toward the dish and planted the tag, letting steel spikes sink into his forearm, accepting this badge of pain and blood merely as the price of competition.

Jason Kendall laid it all on the line for Oakland.

It was nothing short of the Play of the Year. Maybe in any sport.

A's broadcaster Ray Fosse, a former All-Star catcher, was so moved by Kendall's brass he reportedly shot out of his seat in the broadcast booth and roared his approval, pumping his fists.

Kendall walked off the diamond, accepting victory congratulations as if he had gone to the grocery store and bought a carton of milk and nothing more, and wondered what the fuss was about.

This from a guy who, years back in Pittsburgh, suffered a Theismann-esque break of his foot on first base, and took the time to argue the call, even though his foot flopped off his ankle loosely, like a flag snapping in the breeze.

And Friday night in Texas, Kendall did it again. He introduced a couch potato nation to the concept of country hardball. For that, we thank him.

If the Yankees want Athletics center fielder Mark Kotsay, they're going to face stiff competition. The Cubs and Red Sox also have expressed recent interest in trading for Kotsay, and the Cubs in particular should be deep enough in prospects to satisfy the A's.

The chances of Kotsay getting traded will increase if he fails to sign a contract extension with the A's before the July 31 non-waiver deadline. His agent, Greg Genske, has had recent talks with A's officials, but told Sporting News on Tuesday that an extension "doesn't look likely."

"They came to us to begin discussions," Genske said. "Certainly we'd be willing to listen if they wanted to talk more in the future."

Kotsay, 29, can exercise a player option for $7.05 million after this season or become a free agent. His contract gives him the right to block trades to eight teams, but his no-trade list does not include the Yankees, Cubs and Red Sox. He can be traded to those teams without his permission.

Of those clubs, the Red Sox's interest is believed to be the least serious, falling into the category of, "If the Yankees want him, we'll at least declare interest." The Sox could acquire Kotsay as a pre-emptive strike against the possible loss of Johnny Damon as a free agent, but they're cautiously optimistic about re-signing Damon. They also would have no place for Kotsay in their outfield unless they made another trade.

The Cubs, too, have a center fielder in place -- lefthanded-hitting Corey Patterson, 25 -- but Kotsay is a superior defender. It would make little sense for the Cubs to acquire Kotsay if they're not going to play him in center, but another possibility would be to move Kotsay to right, where he has made 320 career starts -- though none since 2000 -- and shift right fielder Jeromy Burnitz to left. Burnitz has made 80 career starts in left, including 17 with the Rockies last season.

One of the prospects that the Yankees reportedly would offer the A's, Class A righthander Philip Hughes, currently is sidelined with shoulder inflammation, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. The Cubs almost certainly could top a Yankees package of Hughes and Class AA third baseman Eric Duncan. Their farm system, deep in pitching, is considered one of the best in the game.

Frustrating how right we were just by watchign Chavez at the plate.  We said say after day he was too far away from the plate.  Soooo glad he fixed it.

In late May, Chavez made two pretty significant changes in the batter's box. He moved his hands about six inches higher in his stance, and he moved his feet about six inches closer to the plate.

"I was just trying to find something that felt better," Chavez said. "No matter what my results are, I'm always going to be someone who makes adjustments if something doesn't feel right, and I didn't feel right at all."

Chavez, who batted .194 with two homers in April and .239 with two homers in May, is feeling pretty good these days. He entered the finale of a three-game Interleague series against the Mets batting .383 (18-for-47) with six homers and 15 RBIs in June.

"It's made a huge difference," Chavez said of his tweaks. "Having my hands higher helps me stay on top of the ball instead of uppercutting, and being closer to the plate changes my contact point. ... I'm hitting balls away harder, and I know it might not make sense, but I seem to be getting to the inside ball better, too."

Man I love this guy even more now...Dont pull any punches Jose!

After Washington's 1-0 victory, Jose Guillen blasted Scioscia, his manager with the Angels last season. ``He was talking to me last year about respect and class and how we have to move on,'' Guillen said. ``I don't care really much about Mike Scioscia. I have no respect for him any more, because I'm still hurt from what happened last year. Mike Scioscia to me is like a piece of garbage. I don't care if I get in trouble. He can go to hell.''

Athletics closer Octavio Dotel will have reconstructive elbow surgery as soon as possible, despite receiving recommendations from four doctors that he try to rehabilitate the injury first.

Dotel will be sidelined at least a year and possibly up to two years.

``Octavio does not feel he can pitch with the level of pain he was pitching with,'' A's trainer Larry Davis said Thursday. ``Everybody's tolerance level is different. Octavio feels like he's tried long enough. ... He's been throwing a long time and is tired of recurrent tendinitis.''

Dotel, who blew four saves in five outings from April 30 to May 11, had the elbow examined by Angels doctor Lewis Yocum and Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. Andrews will perform the ligament replacement surgery.

``It's not anything anybody is doing handsprings over,'' Davis said of Dotel's decision. ``In our estimation, you'd like to have everybody give it another try before you do this, so you think you've done everything possible to avoid this.''

Great interview....Here is the recap form what I can remember.

On Eva Longoria: She is doing the "Hollywood Hokey Doke" but would never be deperate enough to date any of the A's.

On the lineup "We're terrible."  Talked about how the road trip came at the worst time possible.  Now just fighting to someone be respectable.

People in NY need to stop crying about A Rod's defense...."He's raking".

"Damon throws like a girl", but "great guy and love him".

Would love to have Jason back but "maybe the guy who threw the beer might disagree".  Said he should do what he can to work out deal with NY and get out.  Best scenario for both.

He says a lot of players aks him on the bases "How's Moneyball now?".  Travis Lee just asked this series.  They both laughed hard about this.

He talks to Huddy a lot more often then Mulder.  He and Huddy are very tight.

Talked about Teammates and "TAB"..then said Byrnes is gonna be traded along with other guys....

So the good stuff...

Dan then asked who was leaving and Chavez gave a "top 5 Hit list".  They were 1) Dotel 2) Durazo 3) Rincon 4) Hatteberg 5) Byrnes

Then acknowledged Byrnes "might be leaving" and said Barry loves NY and would love to be a Yankee, esp for the run supprt.

When asked if he was leaving said "I will be in Oakland"

Said the best he's heard on the road last week was "Hey Chavez, where's the rest of your battign average?"  They then joked about his terrible stat line and he said it was coming around and they both laughed a bunch and then interview ended.

Was a great interview.....both laughed a lot..Chavy is a great guy

I hate to see this after all the things are said about our fans....especially since Casey is a great guy with no axe to grind on Oakland.

Cincinnati's Sean Casey said the only time he ever felt unsafe at a park was last year in Oakland, when he was serving as the Reds' DH and made several forays past a gauntlet of fans on his way to and from the clubhouse. "They were some of most hostile fans I've seen," Casey said. "I had to go about 30 feet to get past them and I had hands in my face and people were yelling some pretty rude stuff. It's almost like you're a WWF Wrestler. I didn't enjoy the whole environment, to be honest with you."

I found this to be a real solid read so thought I would share it.  Interesting take.

Intelligent baseball is a beautiful thing. It is not a label associated with the A's, at least lately, but they've got the recipe. On a misty Wednesday at the Coliseum, even the world champion Boston Red Sox were made to look vulnerable.

David Wells carries a sloth-like presence to begin with, and the Red Sox starter was returning from an injury to his right foot, so Mark Kotsay sent him directly into no-man's land. Leading off the bottom of the first inning, Kotsay pushed a hard bunt to the right side -- an indefensible play against Olympic sprinters when executed correctly, but especially sinister against Wells, who leans slightly toward the third-base side on his follow-through.

Wells' curveball is a big, bending menace when it's on, but Eric Byrnes didn't wait for him to find his rhythm. Nor did he try to jerk it out of the park. Byrnes sat on a low breaking pitch and lined it into left field for a single, setting up a Jason Kendall single that loaded the bases.

Eric Chavez' ensuing groundball had the makings of a double play, but when shortstop Ramon Vazquez took the throw from first baseman Kevin Millar, he was met by a derailed, onrushing train: Kendall, veering well to his right for the purposes of disruption. Vazquez didn't even bother with a throw, and the A's were on their way to a four-run first inning.

This is all basic stuff, right out of the Aggressive Minds textbook. It's nice to see from the A's, though, after a week featuring botched plays in the outfield, pitchers blowing simple coverage at first base and a reliever beginning a crucial inning with a hit batter and two walks.

So, where do the A's go from here? Nowhere near first place, that's for certain. The Angels' superiority is becoming quite evident in the American League West. With the A's appearing to be a hard-luck franchise (injuries to Bobby Crosby, Nick Swisher, Rich Harden, Kiko Calero and Octavio Dotel), it seems impossible that they could blossom into a contender.

They certainly don't lack for excitement. Byrnes handles that issue personally, whether he is swan-diving his way to a brilliant catch or telling manager Ken Macha to take a hike (as Byrnes did on Sunday, after admirably tackling some idiot who ran out of the stands). The return of Crosby and Swisher, and the expected surge of adrenaline from Kendall, will only add to the A's appeal. A number of personnel questions are at hand, however, and we offer these thoughts from the peanut gallery:

-- We have no quarrel with Macha whatsoever. He is a good man, with a clever (if mostly hidden) wit, and he deserves to ride out these troubles. Even if Macha were to lose his job, GM Billy Beane would probably continue the Macha-Art Howe trend with another bland, quietly strong type. Just wondering, though: How would the impressionable A's respond to a fiery, take-no-prisoners manager such as Ozzie Guillen or Lou Piniella? It would be fun to know, even for just one day.

-- National columnists are wondering when (not if) the A's will trade Barry Zito. They say he has lost his curveball, that he will have more market value now than in November, assuming his up-and-down pitching continues. We will agree that Zito's statistics are alarming, but that doesn't carry over to his mound presence. While not always Bert Blyleven-like with the curve, he recently threw one to Gary Sheffield (in New York) that couldn't be topped by any left-hander. Zito still makes great hitters look ordinary. Give him another season's worth of rope.

-- For Tim Hudson, the A's got a scrappy outfielder, who doesn't measure up to Byrnes (Charles Thomas), a sore-armed starter (Dan Meyer) and Juan Cruz, the reliever who committed the above-mentioned sins Tuesday night to load the bases against Boston. The Cubs and Braves both coveted Cruz until they had seen him over time. One senses a trend.

-- Too many of Chavez' comments suggest that he is a supporting-cast type -- downright lethal with a slugger or two around him -- but not a leader. Players of the Jim Thome-Richie Sexson caliber don't just fall into your lap, especially if you are burdened by the A's budget, but this team won't impress anyone in baseball without a legitimate cleanup hitter.

-- What if Juan Pierre were bestowed upon the A's, by some magical circumstance? Or, if not Pierre, another leadoff man who lives to steal bases and torment the opposition for two or three hours? Would the A's even care? Would they trade him for the next Erubiel Durazo?

-- Even at his best, Dotel is nobody's closer. He is respected, but not feared, by the league's best fastball hitters. Dotel's impending free-agent status makes him automatic trade material by the mid-summer deadline, and that will be fine, because Huston Street has everything it takes. He pitches the way Kotsay hits, the way Kendall runs the bases -- intelligently. A few more scholarships, and this high school could become a university.