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Jays GM will listen to Halladay offers
TORONTO -- Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi says he's willing to listen to offers for ace Roy Halladay.
"I don't think anything has changed, I just think, 'You know what, why not listen? The worst we can say is no,"' Ricciardi told The Canadian Press on Tuesday.
"If someone wants Roy and they're willing to blow us away, we'd be willing to listen, that's all I'm saying. That doesn't mean we'd trade him, that doesn't mean we're looking to trade him. All it means is we'd be willing to listen."
Halladay is 10-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 16 starts. He'll be paid $14.25 million this year and his contract expires after the 2010 season, when he's set to earn $15.75 million.
The Blue Jays began Tuesday at 43-41, seven games back of Boston in the AL East and six out of the wild card -- behind six other teams.
Ricciardi was vague when asked if salary would be a factor. The Blue Jays' payroll is just short of $81 million, 16th out of 30 big league teams.
"I'm not so sure payroll-wise where we're going to be able to be after 2010. I'm not so sure that the player wants to stay here beyond 2010. I'm not sure of those things," he said. "So those are all things we have to weigh out. He's under contract through next year and worst-case scenario, he does not sign back with us and we get two draft picks."
Halladay has spent his entire career with the Blue Jays, amassing a career mark of 141-68 with a 3.47 ERA in 297 games, 271 of them starts. He won the Cy Young Award in 2003 and finished second to Cleveland's Cliff Lee last season.
White Sox GM hampered by low attendance: CHICAGO -- White Sox general manager Ken Williams said Tuesday he may not be able to make a big trade this season because of smaller crowds at U.S. Cellular Field.
Williams nearly pulled off a significant trade in May, putting together a deal to acquire Jake Peavy from the San Diego Padres. But the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner used his no-trade clause to torpedo the agreement.
Before Tuesday's game against the Indians, Williams cited slumping attendance as a reason the White Sox may not be able to pull off another big move that would add salary to the team's payroll.
"Well, if I'm being completely honest money is more of the issue now. We expected a little more support than we've gotten," he said. "I think it's a reflection upon the economy of what's kind of happen with regards to attendance and I don't know if we've played consistent enough, or been exciting enough for people to get behind us. We're still hopeful."
The White Sox are averaging 26,147 this season, compared with 30,877 last year.
Cardinals' La Russa drops suit against Twitter: ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has quietly dropped his lawsuit against the social networking site Twitter Inc.
A one-paragraph statement filed June 26 with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco said La Russa had dropped all claims -- and that San Francisco-based Twitter did not compensate him in exchange. It also said he could not refile the same complaint.
"I think it's been resolved," La Russa said before Tuesday night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers. "We've been saying that for a while. I don't know what the official thing is."
La Russa declined to discuss specifics of the case.
La Russa's lawsuit, originally filed in San Francisco Superior Court in May and transferred to federal court on June 5, alleged trademark infringement, "cybersquatting" and misappropriation of his name. It claimed an unauthorized page that used his name caused emotional distress by making light of his DUI charge and the deaths of two Cardinals pitchers in recent seasons.
Brewers' Braun backs away from pitching criticism: MILWAUKEE -- After a meeting with general manager Doug Melvin, Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun spent Tuesday backing away from the strong comments about the team's need to improve its pitching staff he made over the weekend.
Braun said he and Melvin -- who rarely criticizes players in public, but broke character to chide Braun for his comments in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday -- had worked through their issues.
"At times, I am emotional," Braun said Tuesday. "I am passionate, and (my comments) derived from wanting to win. I definitely take full responsibility for that. That being said, me and Doug are cool. Everything is good. I have no issues with anybody. I apologized if I offended anybody in the organization. That clearly wasn't my intent. I wasn't trying to disrespect anybody. I wasn't trying to call anybody out."
That's not what it sounded like Sunday, though.
Braun said after Milwaukee's 8-2 loss to the Cubs in Chicago, the Brewers' third loss in a four-game series with their NL Central rivals, that the Cubs' pitching staff is better. Braun also said he hoped Melvin would make a move soon to improve the team.
Melvin then told the Journal Sentinel that Braun's comments "ticked me off," and considered them disrespectful to people in the team's front office.
Milwaukee entered Tuesday's three-game home series with St. Louis having slipped to a game behind the Cardinals in the NL Central.
Dempster goes on DL for Cubs: CHICAGO -- Just when the Chicago Cubs figured they were getting healthy, a freak accident landed right-hander Ryan Dempster on the disabled list with a fracture of his big right toe. He could be out for up to a month.
Dempster was hopping over the dugout railing to go on the field and celebrate Sunday's victory over the Milwaukee Brewers when he caught his back leg on the railing and landed hard, injuring his toe. An X-ray taken Tuesday revealed the non-displaced fracture.
"When I did it, I thought I just ripped my nail back on my foot. ... My foot I guess just the way it hit came down straight into the ground," Dempster said.
Dempster is 5-5 with a 4.09 ERA in 17 starts for the Cubs this season. He made the switch back to starter last season after being the Cubs' closer for three years. He went 17-6 with a 2.96 ERA in 33 starts and was picked for the All-Star team in 2008.
