The Chicago White Sox signed third baseman Dallas McPherson, 30, who was once one of the Los Angeles Angels top prospects…..played for the Oakland A’s Triple-A affiliate in 2010….. hit .267/.339/.541 with 22 home runs in 354 plate appearances. [Baseball America]

The White Sox are willing to hear offers for RHP Gavin Floyd…..would expect a substantial return considering Floyd is a proven 2^nd or 3^rd starter…..Floyd made 31 starts for White Sox in 2010 and went 10-13 with a 4.08 ERA…..had a career best 49% groundball rate…..was 3-1 with a 0.80 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in July. [MLBTR]

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On Wednesday night, Clint and I were honored to have Major League Baseball agent Matt Sosnick, of Sosnick Cobbe Sports, as a guest on The Baseball Show. We discussed a little bit of everything including the rise and fall of Dontrelle Willis, sports agency as a profession, Matt’s experiences in Major League Baseball, stories about his clients, Josh Willingham and Ricky Nolasco’s off-season contract negotiations, why Adam Dunn can’t find a permanent home, and a lot of interesting stuff in between.

In our discussion on Josh Willingham, Sosnick mentioned that the 31-year old outfielder’s next contract is contingent on both his ability to stay healthy, as well as whether the Nationals ultimately decide to re-sign slugger Adam Dunn.

After earning $4.6MM in 2010, Sosnick stated that Willingham would be happy to accept a one-year deal. Entering the third and final year of his current contract with the Nationals, he will be eligible for arbitration during the offseason and it is possible that his 2011 salary could approach $7MM.

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On Wednesday, left-handed power hitters Adam LaRoche and Brad Hawpe cleared waivers and it appears that they will be traded in the coming days.  Although neither the Arizona Diamondbacks nor Colorado Rockies seem close to a deal involving either player, there are several organizations that will undoubtedly express interest.

The fact that LaRoche was placed on waivers should come as no surprise as the Diamondbacks openly expressed his availability, as well as anybody not named Reynolds or Upton, during July’s trading frenzy.  Prior to the 2010 season, the Diamondbacks signed LaRoche to one year, $4.5 million contract that has a $7.5 million mutual option for 2011, and would increase to a $9.5 mutual option if he is traded.  The Diamondbacks also have the ability to buy out LaRoche’s contract for $1.5 million.

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The 2010 Major League Baseball trade deadline has come and gone and once again ended with GMs shouting out deals back and forth as frenetically as Wall Street floor traders. The two biggest names dealt before today’s deadline were pitchers Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt. Lee has turned into quite the vagabond as of late, heading from Cleveland to Philly to Seattle and finally to the Texas Rangers all within the last two seasons. Seattle got switch hitting first baseman Justin Smoak and three minor league prospects out of the deal.

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It’s official.  Baseball is back in the nation’s capital.

A casual fan might point out that no, baseball actually returned to Washington in April of 2005, when the Nationals played their first game in DC after 36 years as the Montreal Expos.  Others might say that it came on March 30, 2008, when they played their first game at Nationals Park, a 3-2 win over the Braves on Opening Night that ended with a walk-off home run off the bat of Ryan Zimmerman. And those fans might have had a point before last night.  But on June 8, 2010, that all changed as former number-one draft pick Stephen Strasburg made his major league debut.

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