Baseball

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports announced Tuesday that the Tampa Bay Rays have sent 2B Akinori Iwamura to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for right-handed relief pitcher Jesse Chavez.

While trades are generally encouraged to wait until after the completion of the World Series by MLB officials to avoid distraction, details of the trade were leaked Tuesday with an official announcement by the clubs to be expected in the next 24 hours.

Reports out of Tampa late Tuesday afternoon are that the Rays have dealt second baseman Akinori Iwamura to the Pittsburgh Pirates. It is believed that the Rays will receive reliever Jesse Chavez in return, but the full details of the deal have not yet been released.

Iwamura was hurt early in 2009 and lost his job to surprising All-Star Ben Zobrist. The Rays had been rumored to be shopping Iwamura to a number of teams, including a deal that would have sent him to the Chicago Cubs with Pat Burrell in exchange for Milton Bradley.

Filed: Nov. 3, 2009

Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000 is reporting that the Cubs and reliever John Grabow are in the midst of heavy talks for a multi-year deal. Levine reports that the offer is reportedly to be a $6.5 to $7.5 million pact, with a third year being a possibility.

As the 2009 World Series moves back to the Bronx, the Philadelphia Phillies once again put the ball in the hands of Pedro Martinez.

The Phillies, after witnessing Martinez's performance in Game Two of this series, believe he is the right choice to get the win and force a game seven.

Martinez has performed well this postseason, posting an ERA of 2.08 and has showed signs of pitching like his former self.

Following the Yankees 7-4 defeat of the Phillies on Sunday night, I had all but conceded in my mind that the 2009 World Series was over.

The Yankees had erased a 4-4 tie in the eighth inning to score three runs off Phillies closer Brad Lidge. The win gave the Yankees a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

But with Cliff Lee going in Game 5 in Philadelphia, I thought there was a more than better chance of getting the series to at least a Game 6 in New York on Wednesday.

If you have been watching the Major League Baseball playoffs this season, you know the umpiring has been far from perfect.

Whether it was Joe Mauer’s line drive a foot inside the line being called foul or Robinson Cano being called safe when tagged well off the base, there is no doubt that umpires have gotten some crucial and obvious plays wrong.

It just wasn't going to happen in Philadelphia.

The baseball season will go at least one more game. Chase Utley was once again the spark for the Phillies as he set the tone in the bottom of the first inning with a three-run homer off A.J. Burnett.

According to my Arizona Diamondbacks wall calendar today is Election Day. Initially I thought they were talking about voting on the Hall of Fame candidates for 2010, but I realized that we were still a month away from that occurring.

The Cy Young, Most Valuable Player, and Rookie of the Year voting has already occurred and we will wait until after the conclusion of the World Series before the winners of those awards will be announced.

The Minnesota Twins may be on the verge of completing a major deal to improve the infield for 2010 and beyond.

Mark Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times is reporting that the Rays are close to dealing second baseman Akinori Iwamura to an undisclosed team.

The pitchforks and burning torches are out for Joe Girardi today; this in the wake of A.J. Burnett's epic failure in Philadelphia.

They're saying that Girardi's decision to use Burnett on short rest has set in motion a chain of events that will now bury the Yankees.

This is all about as predictable as the failure of a Michael Strahan buddy sitcom.

In a perfect world, Chien-Ming Wang was on the mound in Game Five, coming off another 19-win season and primed for postseason vindication.