Joba's first start to come Tuesday  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Joba Chamberlain is set to join the Yankees' rotation on Tuesday, starting against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium and completing his transition from the club's bullpen.  —  Yankees manager Joe Girardi officially announced the move …

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:

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.

Matsuzaka placed on DL with shoulder injury  —  BALTIMORE — Daisuke Matsuzaka was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday by the Boston Red Sox, who opted to take a cautious approach after an MRI exam revealed a mild strain of his right rotator cuff.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

Why Baseball Really Is a Game of Inches  —  Several journalists I really respect (Pat Jordan, Dan Shaughnessy, Selena Roberts) have written or talked lately about shrinking access to players.  I won't pretend to know what it was like before I started in this business, in 1990 …

College corner infielders, relievers represent strength of draft … Compared to recent drafts — from the superstar-laden 2005 first round (Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki, Alex Gordon, Justin Upton, Ryan Zimmerman), to the Evan Longoria-Clayton Kershaw-Tim Lincecum top 10 in 2006 …

Starting not in Heilman's future  —  Should the Mets apply the Joba Rules to Aaron Heilman?  —  It's an interesting question, given Heilman's early struggles this season and the never-ending need for more rotation depth.  While the Mets appear stacked with minor-league relief options …