The Daily Grind

-I am looking for more writers. I would like to update this blog AT LEAST daily. And I simply do not have the time. And we might not have the time between Carty, myself and Pratt. If you are interested email me at samuel.leroy1985@gmail.com.

-The Los Angeles Angels of Disneyland added some thump to their lineup, acquiring Braves first baseman Mark Texiera for minor league pitcher Stephen Marek and Casey Kotchman. Its win-win for both sides. Atlanta was going nowhere this year, so they traded an impending free agent for a solid first baseman they control for three years and a potential future closer in Marek. The Angels, one of the stronger money-making franchises in the league and maybe the best team in baseball (who else has come into Fenway and won two series this season?) acquire some serious power, and a player owner Arte Moreno has the means to resign, even if he is a Boras client.

-Both the Angels and the Diamondbacks are the strongest teams in their weak Western divisions. The Angels may be running away with it more so than the Diamondbacks, but Arizona is probably still the class in their division. They were also the top contenders for Teixera's services. Arizona was willing to part with Chad Tracy, but were either partially or completely against the idea of trading Conor Jackson, Max Scherzer or Jarrod Parker to go with Tracy. Arizona's farm system was raided in their acquisition of Dan Haren, and they obviously didn't feel that as a small market team, they were able to purge it anymore for a rental player in Teixera. And that is fair from their perspective, but Arizona cannot be taken seriously as a playoff contender in October with their shoddy +20 run differential, the worst among MLB divisional leaders by 20 runs (Tampa is second worst at +40).

-I leave the sports media blogging to Boston Sports Media Watch, Neil Best's Watchdog Blog, and Awful Announcing. But, Best recently reported that Chris "Mad Dog" Russo may soon be leaving WFAN in New York for a plush gig with Sirius satellite radio. Russo has a shrill voice, and can be quite goofy, but he should be great covering sports on a national level. He has never been much of a New York homer, so in a way, New York City was never a perfect fit. I'll be excited to see Russo on Sirius. He'll need a partner though. May I suggest Tony Kornheiser?

-I was not the least bit surprised to find "Brett Favre signs reinstatement papers" on the ESPNews bottom crawl in front of the Teixera trade. Of course that is bigger news. I am sure its currently in front of both the Teixera trade and the Artest trade. This follows previous crawls like "Brett Favre has not signed reinstatement papers," "Brett Favre does not report to camp," "Brett Favre says he wants to get traded," "NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will not act to day on Favre's reinstatement papers," "Brett Favre fumbled his car keys," you get the idea.

-The Houston Rockets are apparently going to trade for disgruntled Sacramento King Ron Artest. The Kings are netting a pretty solid package in Bobby Jackson, a 2009 first rounder, and a third player, rumored to be 2008 draftee Donte Green out of Syracuse. So I guess the Rockets' starting five is going to be Rafer Alston, Tracy McGrady, Artest, Scola and Yao Ming. Shane Battier is relegated to the bench after showing over the last two years that he was not the sole piece missing to get Houston and McGrady out of the first round of the playoffs.