Pedro will make his Mets return at San Francisco  —  Pedro Martinez will make his next start for the Mets in San Francisco next week, a team official confirmed last night.  —  Martinez was believed to be en route to New York yesterday from Port St. Lucie, Fla. Because he's Pedro, though …

Posey projected to go No. 1 to Rays … Making a first-round projection is like slamming your head into an omelette — there's no way to do it without ending up with egg on your face.  So, with a towel handy, here's my stab at the first 30 picks of next week's Rule 4 draft, accompanied by notes on other directions each team might take:

Drop-off in home runs not as deep as it may seem  —  Barry Bonds is home in Beverly Hills, Calif. Mike Piazza is retired.  And Sammy Sosa is waiting for a job.  —  While the names have changed, the number of home runs being hit is virtually the same as a year ago, varying little from Mark McGwire's record-setting season in 1998.

Middle relievers give Giants room to deal  —  Young arms give chance to deal  —  PHOENIX - The trade market might be materializing a little earlier than normal this year and the Giants are actively shopping several players, according to sources.  —  But not the names you'd expect.

Braves place outfielder Kotsay on DL  —  Club recalls Anderson frm Triple-A Richmond  —  CINCINNATI — Even though he felt like he was realizing some improvement, Mark Kotsay was never able to convince himself or the Braves that his back wasn't going to continue giving him problems for at least another week.

Rockies collapse in clutch  —  Colorado blows 4-3 lead in 8-4 setback to plummet 14 games under .500  —  CHICAGO — To reach the dugout Thursday from their cramped, odorous clubhouse, the Rockies descended 20 concrete steps, made a right at the frazzled miniature-golf carpet …

Will the Rockies trade All-Star Holliday … Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd is the sort of fellow who has the ability to make a brutally honest assessment of his team.  “We stink,” O'Dowd said in a recent interview, an interview conducted even before the Rockies were throttled 20-5 …

No, I'm not Chuck Todd  —  There are certain pleasures in writing anonymously.  Particularly in the political world, where there is a whole mythology associated with anonymity — think Deep Throat or Primary Colors or Atrios.  But I'm fortunate enough to have been granted the opportunity …

FULL-TIME JOBA  —  CHAMBERLAIN SET TO JOIN YANKS' ROTATION  —  In a conversation with Brian Cashman yesterday, Hank Steinbrenner forgot to ask his GM when Joba Chamberlain will debut in the Yankees' rotation.  —  However, don't take that as indifference when it comes to converting baseball's premier set …

The Dayton Game  —  OK, so Royals general manager Dayton Moore showed me this fun little game you can play with your team.  It begins with a scouting question: How many 60 tools does your team have?  —  I probably don't need to explain that concept to the brilliant readership of this blog* but, I will.

Thunder RF Tabata disciplined again  —  TRENTON - Thunder right fielder Jose Tabata was yanked from tonight's game against visiting New Hampshire in the fifth inning for unspecified disciplinary reasons.  —  Suspended three games by the Yankees for leaving Waterfront Park following …

Johnson ties Clemens at No. 2 on Ks list  —  PHOENIX (AP)—Randy Johnson looked phenomenally strong for a 44-year-old pitcher.  That wasn't enough, though, for the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks against resurgent San Francisco.  —  Arizona's bullpen blew a late lead and Randy Winn's ninth …

Thwart A Cash Heavy Deal By Cuban?  Try A Marriage  —  There's something more than a little intriguing about Mark Cuban owning the Chicago Cubs.  There is certainly that fact that Cuban has done what seemed nearly impossible in a city dominated by the Cowboys: he's made the NBA Dallas Mavericks …

Brad Ziegler Update  —  After the 2006 season, I wrote a feature on A's prospect Brad Ziegler, and how the organization had decided to convert him into a sidearmer.  Year one of that experiment was overall quite the success, as Ziegler has a 1.14 ERA at Double-A Midland in 15 games before moving …

Torre makes it clear: Yankees are behind him  —  FLUSHING, N.Y.—In his first trip to New York since leaving last fall, Joe Torre held court before an overflow throng of reporters on Thursday.  —  He wasn't in the Bronx, where he managed the New York Yankees.  He was in the visitors dugout across town at Shea Stadium.