NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Not even hitting six homers in three days was enough for the Los Angeles Dodgers' Hee-Seop Choi to win the National League Player of the Week award.

Arizona Diamondbacks right fielder-first baseman Shawn Green, who had been mired in a season-long slump, received the honor Monday. The lefthanded slugger batted .414 (12-for-29) with three homers, 12 RBI, nine runs scored and a league-leading five doubles.

Green, who raised his batting average 20 points to .277, capped his week by collecting three hits in Arizona's 9-4 loss against Kansas City on Sunday. He went 3-for-4 with two homers and five RBI Friday, recording the 28th multi-homer game of his career.

Other nominees for the award included Green's teammates Alex Cintron and Tony Clark, Philadelphia's Pat Burrell, New York's Pedro Martinez and Choi, who belted six home runs during the Dodgers' three-game series against the Minnesota Twins over the weekend.

Twins' Hunter named AL Player of the Week

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Minnesota Twins outfielder Torii Hunter was named the American League Player of the Week on Monday.

Hunter batted .381 (8-for-21) with three homers, five RBI and nine runs scored in six games.

This is the first AL honor for Hunter, who finished the week with a .458 on-base percentage and a league-best 1.000 slugging percentage.

Hunter highlighted his week with four hits, including two home runs, in the Twins' 9-8 victory over Arizona on Tuesday.

Other nominees included Hunter's teammates Jacque Jones and Johan Santana, Grady Sizemore of Cleveland and Tony Graffanino of Kansas City.

Brewers call up Fielder's son

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Prince Fielder was brought up Monday by the Milwaukee Brewers, and the son of former major league star Cecil Fielder made his big league debut against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Prince Fielder, whose contract was purchased from Class AAA Nashville, was Milwaukee's first-round pick in the 2002 amateur draft. He hit .253 with 15 homers and 47 RBIs in 64 games with Nashville this season.

"Surprised and excited," Fielder said. "I'm just trying to come up here and help the team."

Fielder, 21, is to be with the Brewers as a designated hitter through six interleague games this week before returning to the minors.

"We're calling up a hitter," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "And we're looking for a little more firepower. It's a chance to give him a little taste of big league experience," Yost said. "We think he can handle it."

To make room for Fielder, Milwaukee sent catcher Julio Mosquera outright to Nashville.

A-Rod finally signs deal with Nike

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- After wearing the swoosh for free for a year, Alex Rodriguez has finally signed an endorsement deal with Nike Inc.

"Nike has had a long-standing relationship with A-Rod and this just formalizes it," Nike spokesman Rodney Knox said.

The five-year contract, which began at the start of the baseball season, will cover "everything but his glove and his bat," said Scott Boras, Rodriguez' agent. Apparel in the works include cleats, as well as sunglasses, he said.

Nike and Boras declined to confirm reports that the company will pay Rodriguez $1 million per year, which would make the New York third baseman one of Nike's top-paid Major League Baseball endorsers.

Boras said the lag time resulted from the trade that sent Rodriguez to the Yankees before the 2004 season.

"We had a situation where we knew Alex was going to be traded -- but we had to wait and see where he would end up," Boras said. "So we had an oral understanding, a bridge," he said of the unusual agreement with Nike which had one of the sport's superstars wearing Nike products at no cost to the sneaker giant.

MLB sues group over Nationals trademark

NEW YORK (AP) -- The retailing arm of Major League Baseball sued a company on Monday that claims it owns trademark rights to the name Washington Nationals.

The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan said Bygone Sports LLC tried to "turn a quick, undeserved profit" by seeking trademark registration rights to the club's name, even though it has been used for decades to refer to Washington teams.

Major League Baseball Properties Inc. and Baseball Expos L.P. asked the court to declare that the trademark does not belong to the company because its sole purpose in filing for a trademark was to capitalize on the naming of the new baseball team.

Michael Bergman, the chief executive officer and co-owner of the Atlanta-based Bygone, had no comment.

According to the lawsuit, Major League Baseball Properties was contacted by a lawyer for Bygone last November to discuss the sale of the rights to the trademarks.

Although it believed it had primary ownership of the rights, the baseball retailing representative for all major league teams sought to settle the issue to avoid litigation costs, the lawsuit said.

After extensive negotiations, an agreement was reached to transfer all rights in exchange for $130,000 in cash, a $10,000 credit at mlb.com store and four tickets to Opening Day 2005 for the new Washington team, the lawsuit said.

According to the lawsuit, Bygone changed its demands to more than $1 million, including a base amount of $495,000 plus a variety of World Series and All-Star game tickets.

Estrada back in Braves lineup week after collision

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Braves catcher Johnny Estrada was back in the starting lineup Monday night for the first time since sustaining a concussion in a collision at home plate a week earlier.

Estrada wanted to play Sunday, but team medical officials didn't clear him to play until Monday night's game at Texas. The doctors wanted Estrada to have a full week off.

Estrada was hospitalized overnight after the collision with Darin Erstad of the Los Angeles Angels on June 6. The catcher underwent a series of tests before being diagnosed with a mild concussion.

Pirates sign first-round pick McCutchen

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The Pittsburgh Pirates signed high school outfielder Andrew McCutchen, their first-round pick in the 2005 draft, on Monday.

Terms were not disclosed.

The 11th overall pick, McCutchen hit .709 with 16 home runs and 42 RBI this season for Fort Meade High School in Florida.

"We are very pleased to come to terms with Andrew," Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield said. "He's had a great deal of success at the high school level and we're looking forward to him continuing that within the Pirates organization."

The 18-year-old McCutchen was ranked by Baseball America as the third-best five-tool talent among high school players.

Orioles sign top pick

BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- The Baltimore Orioles signed high school catcher Brandon Snyder, their first-round pick in the 2005 draft, on Monday.

Terms were not disclosed.

The 13th overall pick, Snyder hit .547 (29-for-53) with three home runs and 29 RBI this season for Westfield High School in Virginia. He had signed a letter of intent with Louisiana State before being drafted by the Orioles.

Snyder's father, Brian, was a major league pitcher for parts of two seasons with Seattle and Oakland, compiling a record of 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA in 17 appearances.

Twins sign first-round pick Garza

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Twins signed Fresno State pitcher Matt Garza, their first-round pick in the 2005 draft, on Monday.

Terms were not disclosed.

The 25th overall pick, Garza went 6-5 with a 3.07 ERA in 19 games - 17 starts - for Fresno State.

The 6-4 Garza, who recorded 120 strikeouts and 37 walks, was the Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year.

Orioles move to dismiss Comcast lawsuit

BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Baltimore Orioles on Monday filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Comcast SportsNet that accuses the team and Major League Baseball of planning to televise Orioles games on a new network in 2007 without allowing Comcast a chance to match the bid.

CSN filed the suit in Montgomery County Circuit Court in May. CSN, which is owned by Comcast, the largest cable company in the United States, has an agreement with the Orioles through the 2006 season.

As part of the Orioles' deal with Major League Baseball in the move of the Montreal Expos to Washington, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network was created to distribute Orioles and Washington Nationals telecasts.

In its lawsuit, Comcast claimed its contract with the Orioles gives it the right to match any offer before the Orioles move to another network or "third party." But the Orioles claim that they have not licensed broadcast rights to a third party, because MASN is "an assumed business name" of TCR Broadcast Holding, described in the motion as owner of the Orioles telecast right.

Therefore, the Orioles claimed, CSN has no right to match MASN's offer.

But Comcast disagrees.

"MASN is jointly owned by the Orioles and Major League Baseball, and as such it is clearly a third party," said D'Arcy Rudnay, Comcast's vice president of corporate communications. "The Baltimore Orioles have breached their contract with Comcast Sports Net, a contract that gives Comcast clear and unambiguous rights regarding (carrying) Orioles' games."

Comcast has also accused the Orioles of not acting in good faith and fair dealing, but the team contended in its motion for dismissal that "Maryland law does not recognize a separate cause of action for breach of the implied covenant."

But Rudnay said, "We feel the Orioles have tried to create subterfuge to avoid fulfilling their contractual obligations."

Calls to Orioles attorney Russell Smouse and MASN officials were not immediately returned.

Rudnay said Comcast is expected to respond to the Orioles' motion by July 12. Then, following oral arguments by both sides, a judge will rule on the motion to dismiss.

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