AL East

With all the talk seemingly centered around guys like Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt, another big name that will make its rounds around the rumor sheets is current Washington Nationals' first baseman Adam Dunn.

While Dunn has made it well known that he would rather not be traded and would like to sign a contract extension with the Nationals, the likelihood of that seems slim to none at this point.

ESPN's Buster Olney talked about Dunn losing interest in signing an extension over the last few days and cited the fact that the Nationals have no sense of urgency to get anything done.

Not only that, b

Update: (9:15pm CDT) According to Joel Sherman of The New York Post , via Twitter , Steinbrenner was admitted to the hospital late Monday night for a procedure and had a heart attack early this morning while already at the hospital.

Update: (8:53am CDT) According to sources close to the Steinbrenner family, George Steinbrenner passed away this morning due to a massive heart attack. He was 80-years old.

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be held tonight in Los Angeles. That means the 162-game season has reached its half.  Let’s review the AL East team performances so far this year.

New York Yankees (56-32)

Most baseball fans believe success in the Home Run Derby translates to a power outage in the second half of the season. Josh Hamilton in 2008 comes to mind, but it would be foolish to make assumptions based on that one particular instance.

To answer this presumption, I tallied the first and second half home run totals of each Home Run Derby winner since 2000. The results may surprise you.

When Niuman Romero , a 25-year-old infielder, went 0-for-4 against the Tampa Bay Rays earlier this month upon being called up from Boston’s Triple-A team the Pawtucket Red Sox, I was surprised. He had come out of nowhere, having been claimed from the Cleveland Indians prior to this season, and taking this into account, he fit the bill of someone who would have an immediate impact.

To tell you the truth, I loathe to even broach this subject. It has been debated to death by every fan, writer, media pundit, and cab driver with even a modicum of interest in the New York Yankees. Unfortunately, the issue must be addressed, and the time is now.

What do the Yankees do with Joba Chamberlain?

This isn't a re-visitation of the tired discussion of whether Joba is best suited for the starting rotation or the bullpen. Sure, plenty will still ask that question, but not me—not this time. The stakes are greater than that now.

The Yankees might have missed out on trading for Cliff Lee , but they didn’t miss playing against him yesterday, as they beat the Mariners 6-1 behind a strong performance by Phil Hughes and a pair of homers of the bat of Mark Teixeira.

Here are some notes:

Fox Sports is reporting that trade talks between Seattle and New York have stalled.

A source says that Seattle is concerned about David Adams' health, and that led them to ask for more.

The Yankees are unwilling to accommodate that request, and the two teams are at a standstill.

The Reds have begun to intensify their talks with the Mariners now, and the Rangers are also lingering.

Reports that a deal to the Yankees is imminent may have been a little premature

Lee remains scheduled to pitch tonight. By then we will surely know more.

Update: (2:28pm CDT) The player to be named later, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, is minor leaguer Blake Beaven.

Update: (2:25pm CDT) The players involved in the deal to Seattle are Justin Smoak and minor leaguers Josh Lueke, Matt Lawson and one other player to be named later. The player to be named later, and this is just speculation, could be pitcher Derek Holland or possibly minor league pitcher Tanner Scheppers.