The Philly Phyles

[General]

Randy Wolf (elbow, hand) surrendered one run in 3 1/3 innings Sunday in his rehab start for Double-A Reading.
He showed some rust while walking three and throwing two wild pitches. Wolf is expected to make at least two more starts in the minors.

[General]

The New York Times reports that the Yankees' interest in Bobby Abreu "may be waning."
The Yankees reportedly think Hideki Matsui (wrist) could return in August and their offense has been good of late anyway. They may choose to go after a less-expensive option like Reggie Sanders or Craig Wilson.

[General]

Bobby Abreu delivered a go-ahead two-run double off Trevor Hoffman in the top of the ninth to lead the Phillies to a 5-4 win over the Padres on Wednesday.
Hoffman hit Shane Victorino with a pitch and walked Chase Utley before giving up the hit to Abreu. He was then removed before he could face Ryan Howard, but the damage was done. Abreu also had an RBI single in the contest. He has 64 RBI in 91 games.

[General]

Mets general manager Omar Minaya denied rumors that the Mets are interested in trading prospect Lastings Milledge for Bobby Abreu.
Minaya said the only player he would consider trading Milledge for is Dontrelle Willis and that Willis isn't available.

[General]

Cory Lidle pitched eight innings and allowed three runs Friday to beat the Braves and even his record at 7-7.
John Smoltz matched Lidle for seven innings, but the Phillies got to Ken Ray in the top of the eighth. Lidle has won three straight after going eight starts without a victory. He's a candidate to be traded if the Phillies decide to sell

[General]

Randy Wolf (elbow) threw five innings Friday at Double-A, allowing three runs on six hits.
Wolf is expected to make one more minor league rehab appearance before possibly returning from the 60-day disabled list. He's been out since last July after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

[General]

The Boston Red Sox reportedly have mild interest in acquiring Phillies starter Jon Lieber.
The Phillies sent Gordon Lakey, their director of major league scouting, to watch the Red Sox's game against Seattle on Sunday. Lieber, who is coming off a groin injury, doesn't currently look like he is worth much, but he is playoff tested and the Phillies will likely demand several prospects in return for him

[General]

Randy Wolf (elbow) is set to return to the Phillies' rotation and start one of the games of next Sunday's doubleheader.
Wolf says that his velocity (88-90 mph) is the same before the injury and the change-up was the last pitch he had to regain. "I just didn't have the feel for it early but it has come around lately," he said. "It wasn't because of the injury, it was just that I had to gain confidence in throwing it again." Wolf won't be worth using in fantasy leagues right away, but he could have some fantasy value later on.

[General]

According to SI.com's Jon Heyman, Pat Burrell told the Phillies he'd only accept a trade to the Yankees or Red Sox.
The Philliles were working on sending Burrell to the Orioles for Rodrigo Lopez, but the outfielder wasn't interested in going to Baltimore. Since it doesn't look like the Yankees or Red Sox are considering Burrell, he seems set to stay in Philadelphia for the foreseeable future

[General]

Cole Hamels fanned 12 on Monday, but he was charged with seven runs in 5 1/3 innings in a loss to the Braves.
Hamels gave up just a pair of solo homers through five innings, but things fell apart in the sixth, as he retired just one of the six batters he faced. Especially after he got eight innings from his starter last night, it was surprising that manager Charlie Manuel left him in as long as he did. Hamels was very impressive when he was on tonight. It should start to come together for him during the final two months

[General]

Greg Golson made his debut for Single-A Clearwater on Monday and went 2-for-24.
Golson had played pretty well since the start of June, but he was still at .220/.258/.333 in 387 at-bats for low Single-A Lakewood. The 2004 first-round has a long way to go.

[General]

Phillies acquired second baseman Hector Made from the Yankees for catcher Sal Fasano.
Made, 21, was hitting .286/.312/.397 in 315 at-bats for Single-A Tampa. The Yankees moved him from shortstop to second base this season, but he does have the range for short if the Phillies want to put him back there. Still, even if does become a lot less error-prone in the field, it's unlikely that he'll hit enough to become a major leaguer.

[General]

Cory Lidle limited the Diamondbacks to two runs and four hits in eight innings to win Thursday for the eighth time this season.
Luis Gonzalez and Conor Jackson hit solo homers in the first two innings, but Arizona could do nothing else. Lidle has won his last four starts, and after failing to last eight innings in any of his first 19 outings, he's now done it twice in a row. Perhaps the Phillies will get their asking price for him. J

[General]

Randy Wolf (elbow) will start the second game of Sunday's doubleheader.
This is Wolf's first major league start since June 2005. He looked great in his last rehab start, but isn't someone who should have fantasy value initially.

[General]

The Yankees and Phillies were reportedly talking late into Friday night about a Bobby Abreu deal that might also include Jon Lieber or Cory Lidle.
ESPN.com's Jayson Stark has said that the Yankees could get a discount by taking the full contracts of both Abreu and Lieber, as there's been little interest in both players elsewhere. The Star-Ledger reports that the Phillies are now discussing second-tier Yankees prospects instead of Philip Hughes and Jose Tabata.