Congrats to Roy Halladay for throwing the 20th perfect game in Major League history.  The game was a typical Halladay game: deep into the game (9 innings obviously), had a decent pitch count (115) and recorded 11 strikeouts with zero walks (obviously).  I was actually in Philly and caught the end of the game on TV, but unfortunately the game was in Florida or I would have drove right down to the stadium to chill with Halladay (not really, but that would be cool).

The Phillies scored one run in the …

From a possible trade, to whining, to some jewelry, this edition of News and Rumors is jam packed with a whole bunch of baseball.
I’ll Take One Trade To-Go, Please

Only a couple weeks back, Astros 1B Lance Berkman made a splash by saying he was willing to waive his no-trade clause to leave Houston if it was in the team’s best nature. Well, now he’s not alone.
Now Astros ace Roy Oswalt, who is only 2-6 this year but with a 2.66 ERA, says he would like to leave the only team …

It was the most memorable game in Angel Pagan’s career. Too bad it was a loss.
In the fourth inning, Pagan hit a deep fly ball to center that Nats CF Nyjer Morgan thought was going out. He climbed the wall, but it hit to the side of him and bounced away. Pagan was hustling all the way and he hustled his way to an inside-the-park homerun.
Inside-the-park homerun: CHECK.
Then, in the bottom of the fifth, an absolutely bizarre play lead to a triple play! A soft fly ball was awkwardly caught …

–I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaack.  Chris, nice job but I see some flaws, haha.  Things will be different this week, that’s for sure!
1. Rays (26-11) – Best record, best team, best team to get perfect gamed.
2. Yankees (24-13) – What a disappointment for the Yankees, they actually let the Twins win a game!  Tex is starting to hit so the Yankees will be #1 in the coming months.
3. Phillies (23-13) – Despite their closer landing on the DL for the second time this year they are still winning ball games and their pitching is getting it done.
4. …

Weekly podcast from the MLBtoday.net staff featuring Chris, Jason, Matt and our boys from NBAtoday.net – G and The Ref (yes, even though there’s no refs in baseball)!
Topics covered this week include: a review of Dallas Braden’s perfect game, Bengie Molina’s ESPN argument, and our weekly Tunnelvision Team segment – the Washington Nationals!
Have your voice heard!
Send comments and questions on our podcasts to mlbtoday.net@gmail.com or our twitter @mlbtoday !

Anyone who knows me at all knows how much I hate ESPN. It is the foremost motive of the SPORTS channel to provide comedy, moving further and further away from their score/highlight giving roots.
Yes, something is wrong here.

A little over a week ago, Giants catcher Bengie Molina fell victim to this ‘comedy’ routine as he simply played some baseball. While showing a highlight of the Giants game in Miami, the producers and anchors of Sportscenter thought it would be funny to make fun of Molina’s slowness on the base paths. …

The following is simply a personal manifestation of a favorite player of mine who I feel doesn’t get credit for the things that he has put an incredible amount of work into. That player is Yadier Molina, who has put an incredible amount of effort into every single aspect of being a catcher and a complete baseball player.

Behind the backstop, Yadier Molina, 26, has improved his game from a defensive minded catcher to becoming a gold glove quality fielder. He blocks every ball in the dirt, whether a there are …

So Jason decided to take a vacation and get away from baseball (Jay, you know that’s impossible), so here is Chris to take over MLBtoday.net’s Power Rankings for the week! Let me know how I did (and by how I did, I mean how badly I did)!
1. Yankees (21-9) – See #2 for explanation of being over the Rays.
2. Rays (22-9) – The Rays may have the best record in the majors still, but after being the victims of a perfect game, they can’t be number 1. I don’t care.
3. Phillies (19-12) – They …

With all of the big 2011 free agent to be NL first basemen, one name is sort of slipping under the radar in terms of moving teams. Astros 1B Lance Berkman won’t be a free agent after next season along with names like Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, and Adrian Gonzalez, but he could be on the market as soon as this season.

With the Houston Astros playing so poorly and a patented second-half surge seeming more and more unlikely, Berkman was asked if he would be willing to waive his no-trade …

At the end of each month MLBtoday.net will be handing out these general awards (in theory only) and they are based upon our sole selection.  We reserve all rights to hand out trophies if we want to.
AL Player of the Month – Robinson Cano (Yankees) .371-.417-.732-23R-36H-9HR-21RBI
NL Player of the Month – Andre Ethier (Dodgers) .365-.432-.729-16R-9HR-26RBI

AL Runner Up – Evan Longoria (Rays) .347-.406-.621-23R-6HR-19RBI-4SB
NL Runner Up – Albert Pujols .333-.421-.626-17R-7HR-24RBI
AL Pitcher of the Month – Francisco Liriano (Twins) 36IP, 4-0, 36Ks, 1.50ERA, 1.08WHIP
NL Pitcher of the Month – Ubaldo Jimenez (Rockies) 41.1IP, 6-0, 44Ks, 0.87ERA, 1.02WHIP 

AL Runner Up – Phil Hughes (Yankees) 25IP, 3-0, 24Ks, 1.44ERA, 0.88WHIP
NL …