-Dexter Sports
11:14 AM
Dexter-Sports Inbox

Not a lot of big news going on this morning. Of course, the Cubs are number one in most power rankings, The Rays were able to get back in the win column against the Rangers, the Tigers are now 12 under .500 and Brandon Webb cruised in his league leading 11th win of the year. With that being said, let's cruise into the latest news around the league.

• According to the Boston Globe, Kevin Youkilis' attitude after his at bat in the fourth inning, which included throwing of equipment, is what caused outfielder Manny Ramirez to smack the third baseman. In the same game, 8 players were suspended in a brawl that started after James Shields plunked Coco Crisp. James Shields will be suspended 6 games, while Coco Crisp received seven. Johhny Gomes, Edwin Jackson and Akinori Iwamura received five game suspensions. The Rays and Red Sox match ups have shown the heat of the Yankees- Red Sox battles of the last decade.
  

• The Royals sent former rookie of the year, Angel Berroa to the Dodgers yesterday in exchange for minor league infielder Juan Rivera. The Dodgers hope that Berroa can fill the void created by Rafael Furcal's visit to the DL. Berroa was hitting .291for the Omaha Royals.

• Carroll Rogers, of the Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote a great piece on how the Atlanta Braves have failed to develop pitching like they have in the past. She notes that two 40 year olds in the rotation, and trading Edgar Renteria for young Jair Jurrjens show the lack of confidence in the development of their pitchers. I have to agree with this article. Most of the pitching roster is not home grown and has seen time else where. We will see if this remains true in the future. The Braves have 4 pitchers out of their top 10 prospects. Include this year's draft class, and we could see that theory destroyed.

• Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he will "pull out all the stops" to purchase the Chicago Cubs. Cuban notes that just because he isn't from the Chicago area doesn't mean he cant bring the best for the Cubs. It will be interesting to see where this goes. Cuban would be a good owner for any major league team. He brings spark and an emotion to his club that most owners don't tap into.
  

• Elijah Dukes hit his first home run as a National on Friday. The game winner came in the tenth against the St. Louis reliever Ryan Franklin. Home Umpire Doug Eddings believed that Duke's emotions were a bit overboard. Nats manager Manny Acta disagreed and said that emotion is fine with him, as long as he isn't showing anyone up. Have a look for yourself and tell me what you think. I don't think that he was overboard at all. He just won the game in extras!