Odds & Ends: Waivers, Lowell, Taschner, Sale

Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th home run today off Shaun Marcum.  A-Rod is now the seventh player in MLB history to reach the milestone; up next is Sammy Sosa at 609.  Links for Wednesday…

• Chat today, 2pm CST.
• Players on the disabled list can't pass through waivers in August, reports ESPN's Buster Olney.
• The Yankees, Rangers, and Red Sox nearly reached a deal on Friday that would've sent Mike Lowell to New York, Jarrod Saltalamacchia to Boston, and prospects to the Rangers, reports WEEI's Alex Speier.  A Lowell deal with the Blue Jays had been discussed in April and June, but both potential trades were killed due to health concerns.
• Lefty Jack Taschner filed for free agency, according to MLB.com's transactions page.  Taschner had been designated for assignment by the Dodgers on Friday.
• First-round pick Chris Sale will join the White Sox today as a reliever, reports Baseball America's Jim Callis, making the lefty the first to reach the bigs from the 2010 draft class.
• With Thomas Diamond's MLB debut yesterday, Joe Pawlikowski of FanGraphs looks at what's come of the DVD trio.