The all-star game is concluded, and you know what that means — my two day break from fantasy baseball is officially over. So I head over to my fantasy league page to set my lineup for the next few days, and see if Sean has responded to my latest trade offer (he hasn’t). And what do I find? A Yahoo Sports bulletin alerting me to the latest Pedro Martinez news:

Martinez passed his physical, and a deal is expected to be reached soon with the Phillies, MLBtraderumors.com reports.

A bell goes off. I used to write for MLB Trade Rumors, as did most of the contributors to this site, and I know that MLBTR doesn’t often do reporting. MLBTR writers watch their RSS feeds like hawks and post links to stories that real reporters write. Most of their material comes from the Ken Rosenthals, Buster Olneys, and Tony Massarottis of the world. So a site like Yahoo should seldom cite MLBTR as a source.

I go over to MLBTR to see who their source was. Here’s what I find:

4:41pm:  Pedro Martinez passed his physical with the Phillies and is expected to sign a deal with the defending World Champions soon, according to Yahoo’s Gordon Edes.

Yahoo is giving credit to MLBTR for a news report, when their own reporter is the one with the scoop! I’m not sure what this says about sports journalism, or about MLBTR’s popularity. I’m sure it says something. But it’s late and I’ve had a couple of beers. So I’ll leave it to you to draw your own conclusion.

Yep, we’re pretty much all sat around today checking on the latest CC Sabathia rumors. Here are all the rumors that mlbtraderumors.com missed (as always, the latest rumors are higher up):

10:40 pm: Ned Colletti has just been found in the MGM Grand, wearing clown shoes. There’s no sign of the gun or of Brian Sabean.

10:37 pm: Bud Selig has opened an investigation into the fruit basket issue and is expected to make a public statement shortly.

10:31 pm: Joel Sherman confirms it: a trace on the phone line shows that the order for the fruit basket was placed from New York’s 212 area code.

10:26 pm: Graziano contacted the woman at the fruit basket delivery service and she said the voice on the phone had a heavy New York accent.

10:21 pm: A second fruit basket has just been delivered to CC’s room, again from the Brewers, according to Abraham.

9:13 pm: According to the AP, Ned Colletti has just been seen running through the hotel’s lobby laughing uncontrollably, waving a pistol, and chasing Brian Sabean.

8:03 pm: George King reports that the Yankees have reportedly replaced The Wynn’s 100% Egyptian cotton 310 thread count sheets with a pinstriped, 600 thread count set.

7:45 pm: Bill Shaikin says the Giants are still in the running. To sweeten their offer, they’ve proposed an opt-out after three years and unlimited use of a personal assistant, Barrie Zeeto (sp?).

6:22 pm: Peter Abraham learned from unnamed Wynn staff that CC “hated the fruit basket [the Brewers sent] and thought it was a hint about his weight problem.”

5:05 pm: Could the Dodgers be involved? Ned Colletti has told reporters that he and CC go “way back” and that the lefty “has always revered Jeff Kent.” He wants to set up a meeting with Sabathia and Genske and said he plans to bring Andruw Jones.

4:17 pm: According to Peter Gammons, Whitey Ford was not happy to be included on the field trip to CC’s suite at The Wynn. The meeting almost came to an abrupt halt when Ford snapped and tried to spew tobacco juice into CC’s bath bubbles. An anonymous GM not known to be in the chase for Sabathia estimated it could cost owner George Steinbrenner as much as another $10MM.

2:28 pm: The Brewers aren’t going quietly. According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Doug Melvin has sent CC an elaborate fruit basket. But will it be enough?

11:42 am: Quoting “rival agents,” Ken Rosenthal reports speculation that Genske is being tailed by street toughs hired by the Players Association, which wants CC to take New York’s record $140MM $161MM offer.

10:07 am: Buster Olney warns to take this for what it’s worth, but his source said that as the meeting wound down, Girardi drew a bath for Sabathia while Berra massaged the ace’s feet. Sabathia also allegedly prefers bubbles to bath salts.

8:12 am: Breakfast for nine just delivered to CC’s suite, says Joel Sherman. According to his source, it will be Sabathia, his lead agent Greg Genske, Cashman, Joe Girardi, Reggie Jackson, Derek Jeter, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and Madonna. Privately, the source says, CC would prefer Sharon Stone.

4:57 am: Dan Graziano says it’s not two people embracing. It’s just CC standing by the window alone. (He’s kind of a big guy.) I think we can infer from his sleeplessness that a decision isn’t coming soon.

4:55 am: George King of the New York Post writes that he can see CC Sabathia’s light on through the drapery at The Wynn. He sees a huge shadow moving inside — it looks like at least two people embracing. Could one of them be Brian Cashman?

Just a reminder that Umpbump will be blogging over at MLB Trade Rumors this and every Saturday afternoon, from 2-6 p.m. EST.

Today, we’re doing double duty. Sarah took this morning’s shift. Now it’s Alejandro’s turn.

Swing by MLBTR and leave a comment!

Starting today, Umpbump will be blogging over at MLB Trade Rumors.

Tim Dierkes, who runs MLBTR (and Roto Authority) has asked us to write for his site every Saturday from 2-7 p.m.

This is the big time, people. Umpbump is leaving the nest. It’s a big, cold world out there. But I think we’ll do just fine.

I’m going to take the first shift. Next week, it’s Paul’s turn. Stop by the site and leave a comment.