Cleveland Indians acquire OF Kenny Lofton from Texas Rangers  —  Outfielder Kenny Lofton is back where he always felt he belonged.  —  The Indians acquired Lofton from the Texas Rangers today for minor league catcher Max Ramirez.  To make room for Lofton on the 25-man roster …

Braves make tempting offer to Rangers  —  LIKE THIS STORY?  —  The game is now, "Can you top this?"  —  The Braves, major-league sources say, have made the Rangers a whopper of an offer for first baseman Mark Teixeira.  —  The Rangers evidently would receive three highly regarded young players …

Pirates Trade Rumors  —  Time for a Pirates roundup.  They deserve some love here at MLBTradeRumors.  — Dejan Kovacevic reports that Salomon Torres's grievance against the Pirates may prevent the team from trading him.  On the off chance he wins the grievance, he would become a free agent and the acquiring team would be screwed.

Utley has surgery, placed on DL; Rowand out  —  Talk about adding insult to injury.  —  On the day the Phillies announced that Chase Utley, who broke his right hand Thursday, had successful surgery on the fourth metacarpal in his right hand, the team finds out that centerfielder Aaron Rowand …

Phillies acquire Iguchi  —  Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi was acquired by the Phillies from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for minor league righthander Michael Dubee, Senior Vice President & General Manager Pat Gillick announced today.  —  Iguchi, 32, was hitting .251 with 17 doubles …

A-Rod might already have hit No. 500  —  Stats twist with suspended game could come into play  —  KANSAS CITY — How's this for a twist?  For record-keeping purposes, Alex Rodriguez may have already hit his 500th home run.  —  The statistical confusion stems from the June 28 suspended game at Baltimore …

Mets voices off base & on babble  —  For a variety of reasons, baseball continues to become harder to watch on television.  This is no revelation.  The mission of those shaping the coverage is more about distracting than informing.  —  The decision makers believe the audience is tuning in for something other than the game.

Judge Set To Rule On Grimsley Affidavit  —  The baseball season has heated up, and there are plenty of news items going on.  Barry Bonds is going to break Hank Aaron's home run record any day, the Milwaukee Brewers are in first place, and the trade deadline is just days away.

Schill on track for Aug. 5 return  —  CLEVELAND - Pencil in Aug. 5 as the tentative return date for Curt Schilling [stats] to the Red Sox [team stats]' starting rotation.  —  Manager Terry Francona said prior to last night's game at Jacobs Field that Schilling, who made his second rehab appearance …

hello from baltimore  —  Busy travel day today.  Here's a tidbit that I don't know if it means anything or not.  When I walked into the ballpark at Camden Yards a few minutes ago, Kei Igawa, his interpreter and his suitcases were on the way out.  Stay tuned for more info.

Pedro Martinez taking next step on road to Mets  —  Pedro Martinez is scheduled to throw what the Mets hope will be his final simulated game today in Port St. Lucie, Fla.  —  If all goes well, the Mets' ace could make his first minor-league rehab start Wednesday, which would start the 30-day clock on his return to the big leagues.

Under The Knife  —  Race Weekend  —  Starting today, trade weekend intersects with race weekend, and with that on top of the opening of Colts training camp, things are getting a bit hectic.  (Quick predictions: Jeff Gordon wins, Colts win again.)  That doesn't stop injuries from occurring …

Loretta trade rumors swirling  —  HOUSTON - The Padres were without a second baseman last winter when Mark Loretta made a personal pitch for himself.  —  The two-time Padres Most Valuable Player offered his services for less than $2 million plus incentives.