Twins finish off sweep of A's. How do you like the Shannon Stewart Era so far? (Yahoo!)

Midseason Muselix, Part Deux (Orioles, Red Sox). Another post from Don Malcolm. (Big Bad Baseball)

Midseason Muselix, Part Trois (Cubs, White Sox). Who is Sebastian Cabot? Who cares? (Big Bad Baseball)

Midseason Muselix, Part Fore (Reds, Indians). Coco Crisp vs. Cocoa Krispies. (Big Bad Baseball)

Sooner or later, Yankees will regret acquiring Benitez. "The Yankees should know better, after Ed Whitson, after Kenny Rogers, after Mark Wohlers. Benitez is an elite reliever, he's saved a lot of games, and in the right place -- San Diego or Florida or even Chicago -- he might even repair the frayed internal wiring that always shorts under pressure. But he is going to pitch for the Yankees, where fragile psyches, like that possessed by Benitez, are shredded faster than Enron documents." (ESPN.com)

Prospectus Triple Play: Expos, Giants, Blue Jays. "Can you believe that Marquis Grissom has 2,000 career hits? It really took us by surprise when the Giants radio team noted this milestone on Saturday. And in that same game Grissom reached another significant milestone -- his 25th career walk. But seriously, Grissom seems intent to prove that the offensive resurgence he showed last year with the Dodgers was no fluke. It's another thing that may be hard to believe about Grissom, but he really is one of the league's most fearsome sluggers against left-handed pitching." (Baseball Prospectus)

Jeremy Heit argues that Brian Giles is the most underrated hitter in the game. (Jeremy Heit's Blog)

Bi-Weekly Review: N.L. East. "Bottom line is this: if someone, most likely the Phillies, doesn’t close to within five games by August, this division is over and done. If the Braves maintain their current lead through the end of the month, the rest of the Phils, Expos and Marlins respective seasons will be so much wild card hunting. Does that sound all Brave-o-centric and fan-boy of me? Yeah? Okay. Does it sound wrong?" (Baseball Primer)

Bi-Weekly Review: N.L. West. "The Dodgers play four automatic outs: Izturis, Cora, Beltre and a pitcher. As long as they do that, they will not win very often. What’s worse is the fact that Jim Tracy, who needs to get a clue from Dick, has been hitting Izturis and Cora 1-2 in the batting order. With McGriff out, the Dodgers are playing LoDuca at first and using Dave Ross at catcher...I don’t know if Henderson and Burnitz can save the Dodgers, but it isn’t likely." (Baseball Primer)

The Red Sox 3Bs.

The Red Sox third baseman named Shea
Was recently traded awea.
The backup named Mueller
Was once roster fueller
But now he can plea everydea.

(The Score Bard, July 20)