Report: Manny to join White Sox as early as today

Los Angeles Dodgers leftfielder Manny Ramirez is headed to the Chicago White Sox today, according to ESPN.com, in what is looking like a straight waiver claim, a league source with knowledge of the situation said yesterday on condition of anonymity.

The source said there was still some chance the two clubs will work out a trade that presumably would involve a mid-level prospect going from the White Sox to the Dodgers, a development that probably would mean the Dodgers would pay a small percentage of the $3.825 million remaining on Ramirez' 2-year, $45 million contract.

Another league source, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Dodgers' preference at this point is to simply allow Ramirez to go to the White Sox as a waiver claim, in which case the White Sox would be responsible for the entire $3.825 million. The Dodgers have had that option available to them ever since the White Sox secured waiver rights to Ramirez on Friday.

It is the White Sox, the second source said, who want the Dodgers to take a prospect in exchange for cash to cover a percentage of the money still owed Ramirez. The source either wouldn't or couldn't identify the prospect in question.

With the Dodgers slipping further out of contention for a playoff spot after losing two of three to the Colorado Rockies this weekend, club officials apparently decided to go ahead and part ways with Ramirez at a point when it still will save them a considerable amount of money.

Ramirez didn't start any of his final four games with the Dodgers. He pinch hit in the top of the sixth inning of yesterday's 10-5 loss to the Rockies but was ejected from the game after one pitch when he argued a called strike. That apparently was his final act in a Dodgers uniform.

* At Chicago, rookie Ivan Nova set aside any worries he had about a Major League Baseball investigation and earned his first career win, Marcus Thames hit another homer and the New York Yankees beat the White Sox, 2-1.

It was an impressive outing for Nova (1-0), who allowed one run and five hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in 5 2/3 innings.

He outpitched Gavin Floyd (9-11) in his second start, a day after reports surfaced that the league is investigating him and a former minor league teammate for allegedly injecting each other with B-12 shots.

The vitamin is not on baseball's list of banned substances.

_ At St. Petersburg, Fla., Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford homered to back James Shields (13-11) and help Tampa Bay retain a share of first place in the AL East with a 5-3 victory over Boston.

* At Toronto, Ryan Raburn hit two home runs, Rick Porcello (7-11) pitched three-hit ball for seven innings and the Detroit Tigers beat the Blue Jays, 10-4.

Toronto righthander Brandon Morrow will be shut down for the season following his next start, Sept. 3 at New York.

* At Cleveland, Kila Ka'aihue hit a go-ahead double in the seventh inning to help Bruce Chen (9-7) and the Kansas City Royals beat the Indians, 6-2.

Indians great Bob Feller, at 91 the third-oldest living Hall of Famer, had missed five games while having treatment for leukemia. "I feel better and the doctors say it is treatable," Feller said.

* At Arlington, Texas, Gio Gonzalez (12-8) won his third consecutive start and the Oakland Athletics cut their AL West deficit to 7 1/2 games with an 8-2 victory, taking two of three in their series with the division-leading Texas Rangers.

* At Seattle, a wild pitch, a misplayed fly ball and a fielder's choice by Adam Moore in a two-run seventh inning helped lift the Mariners to a 2-1 victory over the first-place Minnesota Twins and avoid a three-game series sweep.

* At Anaheim, Jeremy Guthrie (8-13) allowed four hits while pitching into the ninth inning, and two relievers finished the Orioles' 1-0 victory over Los Angeles, completing Baltimore's six-game season sweep of the struggling Angels.