Afternoon Link Round Up

The All-Star break is a lonely time for baseball news. Here are a few links for the afternoon:

Joe Posnanski isn't done lamenting the Royals trade for Yuniesky Betancourt.

Rany Jazayerli weighs in as well. As you might imagine, it's not pretty.

Not surprisingly, Keith Law also thinks this was a bad, bad deal (ESPN Insider required)

We've talked a lot about Joba's attitude, approach, and performance of late. Here's some input from Rob Neyer, Mark Feinsand, and Tyler Kepner.

On Friday, the Giants' Jonathan Sanchez threw a no-hitter against the Pads. He fell a Juan Uribe error short of a perfect game. He K'd 11, and they say Sanchez' stuff was downright dirty.

As was first rumored when the Nats visited the Yankees last month, Manny Acta was finally canned as Washington's manager. Jim Riggleman takes over as interim manager just as he did in Seattle last year. Acta didn't do too well as the Nats skipper, but I think that's just as much a reflection of the ineptitude of Washington's Front Ofice as it is Acta's managerial skills. I still say Acta will be managing the Mets no later than Opening Day next year.

Former Yankee Tony Clark has been released by the D-Backs.

The Future's Game in St. Louis had a four hour rain delay yesterday. Jesus Montero went 0 for 2 with an RBI. Manny Banuelos did not pitch.