MUCH ADO ABOUT JOBA  —  BABY BOSS, CASHMAN FAR FROM ‘PEN’ PALS REGARDING CHAMBERLAIN  —  Hank Steinbrenner looks at Joba Chamberlain and sees Josh Beckett and the tonic to a very wobbly Yankees rotation.  Everybody else, including GM Brian Cashman, views Chamberlain as Mariano Rivera circa 1996.

Mets Say Delgado Is Not Playing as Badly as He Looks  —  CHICAGO — Howard Johnson watches Carlos Delgado every day, watches his approach, his footwork, his swing, his pitch selection, his everything.  And the statistics, he says, are deceiving.  —  “It's not as bad as it looks,” Johnson, the Mets' hitting coach, said.

A-ROD COULD WIND UP ON DL  —  The Yankees are hoping Alex Rodriguez's quick healing powers don't allow his strained right quad problem to linger.  However, they aren't guaranteeing the injury suffered Sunday won't sideline the MVP third baseman and possibly land him on the disabled list.

Mailbag: Frank Thomas edition  —  There were so many questions in the mailbag surrounding the release of Frank Thomas that we could not wait until Wednesday to answer them.  —  The regular Wednesday mailbag will be featured, but consider this a Big Hurt bonus bag.  Some great questions.

IS RANDOLPH OVERUSING HEILMAN?  —  Willie Randolph seems so determined to prove that he is in Aaron Heilman's corner that he is going all Joe Torre-to-Scott-Proctor on him.  Heilman leads the NL in appearances (12) and his 225 pitches are among the most of any NL reliever.

Dodgers' shuffled lineup is a big hit  —  Team has 15 hits, including home runs by Furcal and Garciaparra, in a 9-3 victory over Cincinnati.  —  CINCINNATI — The signs of desperation were everywhere, from the order of the names on the lineup card to the picture of a garden gnome posted on the back of one of the dugout benches.

Utley's glove overshadows homerun feat in Phillies win over Rockies  —  DENVER - Forget about the home runs, the go-ahead double, the four scoreless innings pitched by the bullpen.  —  All of that was well and good, but if you talk to the folks in the visiting clubhouse here at Coors Field …

Globe's Gordo, Gonzo; Fired Fresno Reporter Gets NESN Gig  —  Boston Sports Media Watch  —  Multiple sources have confirmed to Scott's Shots that Boston Globe writer, Gordon Edes, has agreed “in principle” to a job with Yahoo! Sports as a national baseball writer.

Tejada unhappy with ESPN story  —  Shortstop says he, family were misled by sports network  —  HOUSTON — Now that Miguel Tejada's correct age has been uncovered, the Astros shortstop has a weight off his mind.  But that doesn't mean he appreciates the way it came to light.

Postgame notes  —  How much better could Darrell Rasner be right now?  I realize nine of his outs came on fly balls, but none of them were hard hit.  Hardest hit ball of the night for Rochester was that screaming ground ball to Shelley Duncan at first (by the way, Dave Miley and Nardi Contreras both agreed it was a hit).

Brewers ace Sheets to skip start on Wednesday  —  MILWAUKEE — Brewers ace Ben Sheets will skip his start on Wednesday because of soreness in his right triceps that caused him to leave his last start.  —  Sheets will be replaced in the rotation by Dave Bush, who got passed over Sunday …

Mets bullpen implodes against Cubs  —  CHICAGO - Carlos Zambrano pitched seven strong innings, and Aramis Ramirez and Felix Pie homered Monday night as the surging Chicago Cubs beat the Mets 7-1 for their 12th win in 15 games.  —  Zambrano (3-1) allowed five hits and a run with two walks and four strikeouts.

Canseco to spill juice to Novitzky and feds  —  Jose Canseco finally sits down with IRS special agent Jeff Novitzky and other federal investigators in Los Angeles this morning.  The former slugger and admitted steroid user is to be peppered with questions pertaining to Roger Clemens' perjury investigation …