ESPN

With nary a dramatic pennant race in sight, baseball fans have to find some way to kill time until the postseason. Buster Olney mused about Prince Fielder landing with the Red Sox in Monday's blog, but after some time to think about it, he came up with another potential fit for Fielder before his chat with SportsNation.

Liam (Pleasanton, California)

Do you think Cain straight up would be enough for Fielder?

Buster Olney

Liam: To repeat, this all pure speculation, and based on nothing other than seeing how parts might fit. My guess is that the Giants would have to kick in a little something extra into a Fielder/Cain deal. What makes the Cain/Fielder think intriguing is that Cain has an unbelievably affordable contract for 2010 and a great and affordable option for 2011 -- over the next two years, he is signed to earn a total of $10 million. Fielder, alone, will make $10 million next year, and could make $15-18 million in arbitration in 2011. The Giants would get the slugger they need for their lineup, a perfect guy for their franchise, and the Brewers would get an elite pitcher with a great contract; Cain and Gallardo could be the backbone of a strong rotation. And the Brewers could try Gamel at first base. Again, to repeat: ALL SPECULATION.

Rich (NYC)

Wait- why would the Giants have to kick in something extra if Cain is so much more affordable?

Buster Olney

Rich: I ran this by a couple of talent evaluators today about all this, and they agreed with my thought that Fielder might have a touch more value as a player than Cain. Again, we're not talking about a huge difference, where the Brewers would demand Buster Posey or something like that. Full transcript

Michelle Beadle and Colin Cowherd avoided weekend upsets and maintained their places in the rankings, so they'll be back for more "SportsNation" TV.

Argue the hot topics of the day and vote on the biggest stories from the world of sports. The show airs on ESPNEWS at 4 p.m. and ESPN2 at midnight ET.

Note: Broadcast voting results as of this afternoon (ET).

If drinking your own urine was beneficial, would you do it?
Boxer Juan Manuel Marquez drinks his own urine ahead of matches. The WBO's 122-pound champ says it's a good source of vitamins.

Do on-field brawls help or hurt lesser-know leagues?
A fight between the Brampton Excelsiors and the New Westminster Salmonbellies resulted in 173 penalty minutes and five ejections.

Are MLBers too concerned with respect?
Torii Hunter said the Angels would have thrown at Prince Fielder, who untucked his shirt as he as he trotted the bases after a game-winning HR on Sunday.

Did the Redskins gain an advantage over the Giants?
Washington signed former New York backup QB Andre Woodson to its practice squad on Sunday, just a week before the two teams meet.

Will the Bengals win at least 12 games this season?
The experts on ESPN.com tab Cincinnati at third in the division and say anything better completely depends on a healthy Carson Palmer.

What is "SportsNation" TV, and how do you make your voice heard? Read about the new ESPN show that features fan opinions with calls, tweets, polls, rankers and more.

Sticks and stones may break bones, but batting helmets never seem to hurt anyone.

In another baseball brouhaha that was more sports creationism than sweet science, Kevin Youkilis charged the mound after being hit by Rick Porcello in the second inning of Tuesday's game between the Red Sox and Tigers. And it would seem to us that if you have a helmet in one hand and a bat in the other, and you elect to take the former into combat and leave the latter at the plate, you're pretty much admitting you shouldn't be going out there at all.

But aside from making for amusing video and brightening Ozzie Guillen's day, the brawl also got us wondering which batter would you least want to see rumbling toward the mound?

• Vote: The loss cost the Tigers in the standings; what's next in the Central?
• Vote: Do beanballs serve a purpose or just get more batters hit?

“

Man, I could watch Kevin Youkilis get slammed down by Porcello all day every day. Classic!

” -- Bro_Montana

“

Youk 220 and porcello 200....and youk is 6'1 and porcello is 6'5....youk was dumb to go high...got to go low if you want to knock him down...Youk tackles like the Lions....

” -- afkas4242

Michelle Beadle and Colin Cowherd still have their best days ahead of them, as they will highlight today on "SportsNation" TV.

Argue the hot topics, vote on the biggest stories and chat during the show, on ESPN2 at 4 p.m. and midnight ET.

Note: Broadcast voting results as of afternoon ET.

Should Yankee Stadium host a bowl game?
Notre Dame and Army may not be the only college football teams to play in the new Yankee Stadium. Is hosting a bowl game a good idea?

Can you withstand a kick to the face?
Of all the places to be kicked, the face isn't high on our list. But maybe we're just not as tough as SportsNation. If a MMA fighter can do it, so can you, right?

Did Prince Fielder break baseball code?
Charging the mound is one thing but charging the clubhouse is another. Did Fielder cross the line by going after Guillermo Mota after the game?

Which holiday sporting event do you prefer?
Football and turkey. Basketball and presents. Sports and holidays seem to go hand-in-hand. But which is better? NFL on Thanksgiving or NBA on Christmas?

Are Reggie Bush's best days behind him?
For some, this question was worth asking the day Bush was drafted into the NFL. But here in SportsNation we like to give people a little longer to prove themselves. Having said that, is Bush on the downslide?

What is "SportsNation" TV, and how do you make your voice heard? Read about the new ESPN show that features fan opinions with calls, tweets, polls, rankers and more.

Terry and Tito Francona need not apply. Tony Gwynn and Tony Gwynn Jr. can also save the application fee. No extra credit for the third generation, so the Bells are out.

And after last night's barren performance, Brandon Inge can bring Babe Ruth back and have the Sultan of Swat adopt him, and he's still not getting another go.

Fathers playing catch with sons is an American theme. But fathers and sons crushing the heck out of the ball is smaller, less universal club. One in which Prince Fielder emphatically staked his surname's membership in Monday's Home Run Derby. Sure, it wasn't Josh Hamilton blasting off or Bobby Abreu hitting 40-plus dingers, but Fielder gave us what we wanted -- a guy swinging with enough force to put Tiger Woods to shame and occasionally hitting the ball more than 500 feet.

He also did it far more consistently than his dad, Cecil, ever did in three appearances in the Home Run Derby. But whatever their current relations, how would the Fielders fare against two other families with almost 1,000 home runs between the generations? Since we're cruelly denied a chance to vote for Jose and Danny Tartabull, we're voting Griffey.

• It's not going to the Ivy league but the Derby gets a passing grade from the 'Nation.
• How many home runs will Fielder hit in his career? Vote on Derby-related issues.
• All-Time Derby: Barry Bonds fared well on his own against the legends.
• Chat: Ask Rob Neyer about Danny Tartabull's greatest hits (and more) at 12 ET

“

The derby last year was 20x more interesting than last night. Last year the whole derby was filled with energy and the stadium was going crazy. I been to a Cardinals game and I do like the atmosphere there but the whole derby last night was borderline boring to watch. I also didn't like how they spent the whole night kissing up to Pujols I understand it's his home park but still it came off as staged and annoying.

” -- _nysportsfan_

“

Yea, you won the home run derby, now do something important and reconcile with your Dad and show everybody your a real man, Cecil should have been there with to give the derby a little drama and positive feel. You can hit a ball far but can you do something hard like forgive someone. Man, the young fans could use a story like that. Shame on the powers that be for putting inge in there, it was a mockery enough with the doping.

” -- rent-a-ron

• Rank the field of eight for the Home Run Derby.

It's Nelson Cruz, Brandon Inge, Adrian Gonzalez and the greatest show in sports! All right, so part of the lineup for this year's Home Run Derby has almost as much star power as a Syfy Channel original movie (although on the plus side, much, much better special effects). But as long as guys like Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard are around, the field isn't completely barren beyond hometown hero Albert Pujols.

In fact, more people are picking someone else to win the Home Run Derby than are picking someone other than Tiger Woods to win the British Open.

And like the NBA's dunk contest, minus the props, it's the fun of the moment that makes the event. If you can name the last five winners of the event, you may have an unhealthy obsession with Miguel Tejada. It's all about hitting a lot of balls a long way. And as long as somebody challenges Pujols, and Carlos Pena doesn't try to draw a walk, we'll be fine.

• Pujols is good, but more people would rather see LeBron in the dunk contest.
• LeBron aside, only a few states prefer the dunk contest to the HR Derby.
• All-Time Derby: Roger Maris doesn't fare well against history's best sluggers
• Chat: Ask Ken Griffey Sr. about his All-Star memories at 4:15 p.m. ET

“

I have to admit, I'm actually very excited to see what Joe Mauer does. Save for Ken Griffey Jr. ,I'm not sure there's a better looking swing in all of baseball. I don't think he'll win (not with those guys on the NL roster), but I think he'll do better than most might think for a "non-power hitter."

” -- rodeojones000

“

So Awsome to see Inge getting whats been due to him for years. I hope he takes the whole thing.

” -- AjP_

There will be time to talk some more about Sammy Sosa. And there will be time to talk about NFL players making the wrong kind of offseason news.

Maybe we'll even talk about USC showing new Los Angeles resident Conan O'Brien how comedy is done in California, by reportedly looking for a new men's basketball coach with professional experience (it worked out so well with the last guy).

But on what's frankly a dreary morning to be a sports fan, how about we start with something a little more fun? Who flashed the best leather in interleague play?

The world's most powerful vegetarian wouldn't partake, but bratwurst may have been on the house in a lot of Milwaukee sports bars after veggie-loving Prince Fielder hit what proved to be a game-winning grand slam against the Indians in Monday's game.

And yet outside of Wisconsin, SportsNation yawned and tried to avoid listening to Brett Favre. Before Monday's thriller, you had the first-place Brewers seventh in the MLB Power Rankings -- one spot behind the Cardinals. After Fielder's heroics and an idle night for the Cardinals ... nothing has changed as the Cardinals dominate NL Central predictions.

• Speaking of the Central, SportsNation blogger 311runxc breaks down all that has gone wrong for the Cubs this season (it's a long post) but isn't completely without optimism.