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 …

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 …

Unit out for season, intends to return  —  PHOENIX (AP) — Randy Johnson will have season-ending back surgery and intends to be back for the Arizona Diamondbacks at spring training next year.  —  "I have no intention at this time of retiring," he said at a news conference Friday.

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 …

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.

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 …

Teixeira or bust at deadline?  —  It appears unlikely team will be able to make a deal for Konerko or Dye.  —  Though there is an outside chance they could acquire Chicago White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye, it appears to be Mark Teixeira or bust for the Angels, who, according to baseball sources …

D-backs deal Hairston to Padres  —  Club recalls Carlos Quentin from Tucson  —  PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks have traded outfielder Scott Hairston to the San Diego Padres in exchange for righthanded pitcher Leo Rosales, as announced by Diamondbacks' Senior Vice President and General Manager Josh Byrnes.

Royals outfielder shoots TV reporter in face with pellet during locker room interview  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Royals outfielder Emil Brown hit a television reporter near the eye with a pellet from a small plastic gun in the Kansas City clubhouse Friday afternoon.

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.

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.

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 …

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.