Rockies are years away from being contenders  —  In their first home game since The Big Deal, the Rockies blew a victory against the Phillies.  —  Big deal.  —  Phillies in 10.  Rockies inept.  —  The Rox and the Phils, who met in the playoffs in 2007 and 2009, won't be meeting in the postseason in 2011.

No place to hide Dunn in Sox's loss to Yankees  —  Manager Ozzie Guillen rejected the thought of dropping struggling slugger Adam Dunn from the middle of the Chicago White Sox's batting order before Monday night's 3-2 loss to the New York Yankees.  —  Guillen's reasoning was that several …

Rangers Designate Arthur Rhodes For Assignment  —  The Rangers designated Arthur Rhodes for assignment, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter).  The move creates roster space for newly-acquired right-hander Mike Adams.  —  Rhodes, 41, has a 4.81 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 24 1/3 innings this year.

Overbay designated as Bucs clear roster space  —  Ciriaco also optioned to make 25-man spots for Lee, Ludwick  —  PITTSBURGH — Brought in this winter to be a big bat in the middle of the lineup, Lyle Overbay's tenure with the Pirates is over prematurely following four months of offensive struggles.

Erik Bedard is ‘recipe for disaster’  —  The Red Sox [team stats]' long and arduous search for a starting pitcher is finished, Erik Bedard is on his way to Fenway Park [map], and now begins an even more daunting task: finding someone who believes Bedard is a good fit in Boston.

Orioles Claim Jo-Jo Reyes  —  The Orioles claimed Jo-Jo Reyes, MLBTR has learned.  The Orioles have since confirmed the claim and announced that they transferred Luke Scott to the 60-day disabled list to create 40-man roster space for Reyes.  The Blue Jays had designated the left-hander for assignment last week.

When The 40/60/80 Arbitration Rule Doesn't Work  —  If you're interested in contracts between teams and players, there's a good chance you've heard of the 40/60/80 rule (see below for explanation).  It's easy to remember and easy to use, but there's a problem.  It doesn't work - at least not to the extent that some suggest it does.

Cards to inspect stadium after metal plate falls off  —  ST. LOUIS  • Parts of the sidewalk around Busch Stadium were blocked off Monday after a 100-pound piece of metal trim fell from the stadium, prompting an inspection of the rest of the building's trim.

MLB Power Rankings: Orioles On Top, Giants At Bottom  —  This week's power rankings are based on conversations that each team's general manager had leading into the trade deadline.  These are actual transcriptions.  And though there's not really a good way to rank them …

Who's to Blame for Frank McCourt Owning the Dodgers?  —  These were supposed to be the gravy years for Bud Selig.  With his contract up for expiration at the end of 2012, the commissioner should have been spending most of his time touting league growth and labor peace.

Boggs gets lowdown on bad back  —  • Cardinals reliever Mitchell Boggs returned Monday from a break to rest his ailing back with more information about what's caused him discomfort and more things he has to do to keep pitching through it.  —  Boggs said an MRI scan taken …

The remarkable comeback of Dustin Pedroia  —  On June 9, when the Red Sox were last in New York, Dustin Pedroia left the team to return to Boston and get his right knee checked out.  —  Pedroia was hitting .247 at the time and clearly was having a tough time physically.