…Well if you’re a Pirates fan, have I got some good news for you. Late last night Pedro Alvarez came to an agreement on a revised 4 year deal worth $6.35 million, this according to Dean Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The deal is expected to be signed as early as this week, pending a physical. The new agreement still calls for the $6 million dollar signing bonus, but it will be payable over the next four years. This deal also includes that he be added to the 40 man roster.

….Babe Ruth was the first Yankee to hit a home run in Yankee stadium, and Jose Molina was the last to do it as the Yankees send off The House that Ruth Built with a 7-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles. All kinds of Yankee legends were on hand for the event, including Mr. October Reggie Jackson, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Paul O’Neil and even Bernie Williams who made his first appearance at Yankee stadium since 2006.

…Over the weekend the Los Angeles Dodgers activated 40 year-old second baseman Jeff Kent from the Disabled List just two and a half weeks after having surgery on his knee. According to manager Joe Torre, Kent will be available for pinch hitting duties and thats it. It’s not expected that he play the field at all and if he reaches base in a pinch hitting appearance he’ll be imediatly lifted for a pinch runner.

…Also over the weekend Chicago White Sox designated hitter Jim Thome’s 2009 option vested in the form of a strike out. Thome needed either 600 plate appearances in 2007 or 1,100 between 2007 and 2008 (he reached the later part of the deal).

…The Houston Astros are starting to get a bit more vocal about having to move their three game series with the Chicago Cubs to Milwaukee aka “Wrigley North”. Astros First Baseman Lance Berkman is not a happy camper.

“Major League Baseball has always valued the dollar more than they do the individual, the players and their families,” Lance Berkman said, according to the Houston Chronicle on Sunday. “That’s illustrated in things like playing through a lightning storm in Chicago [on Aug. 4].

“The most important thing is getting the game in so you don’t lose the gate and you don’t lose the revenue. That’s A-No. 1. And then if in the course of that you can work it around where players aren’t affected, that’s a distant second. That’s one reason why players try to exploit the system to the max because they know they’re being treated the same way. That’s a sad part of the game.”

…ESPN.com is reporting that New York Yankees LF/DH Hideki Matsui’s season is over. He’s opted for surgery on his left knee instead of heading with the team to Toronto. His left knee has been a source of problems, and had surgery once on November 14th. Getting the surgery know he should be ready for spring training in February.

…Tampa Bay Rays phenom David Price gets his first Major League start tonight, and it could very well be an audition for the Rays to add him to the post season roster. According to Dick Scanlon of the Lakeland Ledger.

“That’s the main goal,” Price said Sunday. “I want to be there pitching in; I’m hoping that champagne thing last night is going to happen two or three more times, all the way through the World Series.”