The eight participants of this year’s Homerun Derby have been finalized. On the AL side, the participants will be Twins Morneau , Indian’s Sizemore , Ray’s Longaria , and Rangers Hamilton .

Across the way, will be the Phil’s Utley , Marlin’s Uggla , Brewer’s Braun , and Astro Berkman .

Utley is currently leading the majors with 25 HRs, Uggla has 23 and Berkman 22.  So its looking good if you’re rooting for a NL guy to win.

The Derby will be Monday night at 8, for those who dig the long ball.

For those who missed it, David Wright will not be playing at Yankee Stadium, which personally is always a godo thing. Brewers OF Corey Hart was the winner of the vote to choose the final spot, with the Rays Evan Longaria getting the AL nod.

For those hoping for last minute reprieve from the warden, the spot opened by the injury of Soriano has too been claimed as well. Rockies Matt Holliday was chosen by Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, who according to ESPN did so because Holliday did well in player voting.

Yeah, no way at all that it was because its one of his guys. None. David needs some rest anyway. His last day off resulted in a nice little offensive surge, so imagine what more than one day off will give us.

ESPN is reporting that the Brewers and Indians have reached an agreement that will send CC Sabathia to the Brewers. In a deal similar to the one that brought Santana to the Mets, the Indians will receive prospects including AA outfielder LaPorta. The other players involved have either not been named or merely not released at this time.

If I’m the Chicago Cubs, this is when I get nervous. Considering they’re a club with a long history of falling apart, the Brewers acquisition of what was considered the top free agent pitcher of the upcoming off season has to be a bit worrisome. The Brewers always have the possibility of making a decent run, through their standard use of small ball, sacrifice bunts, and other nonexciting ways to victory. Which is probably better than the Mets way of big names and spectacular implosions.  The only big question now is should Sabathia lead them to their first post season since the Reagan administration, will they lock him into an extension?

The All Stars were announced earlier this afternoon, and the good news for the Mets is they can enjoy some rest. Reyes and Wright will not be participating this year, with Billy Wagner the sole Met representative. The NL starters will include Philly’s Chase Utley , Braves’ Larry Jones , and the Marlin’s Hanley Ramirez amongst others. As always, Jeter and A-Rod will represent the Yankees as AL starters. A complete list of those selected can be found at CBS Sporstline , and pretty much every other sports website on the internet.

Its hard to complain, the Mets are currently third in the East and struggling. Personally, I’d rather see Wright and Reyes get the rest. Regardless of what Commissioner Bud says, its still a meaningless game with a flawed selection process, so let the boys stay at home a few days and recharge. If they’re going to attempt to comeback in the second half they’ll need it.

Will Leitch has an article in Fast Company this month regarding MLB Advanced Media and their aggressive foray into videocasting on the web.

Major League Baseball is expected to haul in around $5.8 billion, just short of the NFL’s $6.3 billion. Its biggest growth engine is MLBAM, which last year brought in $450 million (up from $236 million in 2005). Continuing at its current pace, MLB should catch up with the NFL around 2010. “The growth has exceeded our wildest expectations,” says MLB president Bob DuPuy. “No one in the game believed that the Internet would be as pervasive a commercial vehicle for us in such a short amount of time.”

In a typical day during the season, as many as 11 million people visit MLB.com. Three million watch video.

Baseball content on the web, specifically video, is big business and MLBAM is at the forefront of delivering content web viewers are flocking to in droves.

While it still has a way to go, and is buggy at times, the sheer number of viewers and the ability to deliver the content on a massive scale is pretty impressive. I’ve had my problems but generally it is a good service. It’s also nice to see that baseball is driving the innovation of this medium.

Hat tip to Peter at Brooklyn Mutt for the link.