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 …

Brewers To Sign Randy Flores  —  The Brewers will sign left-hander Randy Flores to a minor league deal, according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).  The Yankees agreed to release the reliever over the weekend, and the Brewers, who don't have a left-handed reliever on their 25-man roster, picked him up without any delay.

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.

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.

Baseball's Weight Problem  —  On-Deck Routines Hurt Hitters' Bat Speed; Giving Up Doughnuts  —  Just before game time, Detroit Tigers clubhouse manager Jim Schmakel makes sure a long, dirt-stained canvas bag is unloaded in the on-deck circle.  —  Among other things, it holds a 10-ounce …

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.

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.

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 …

One year later: What do you think of Showalter now?  —  Today marks the one year of anniversary of Buck Showalter's introductory news conference as the Orioles' 19th manager.  The club has played 162 games under him - the equivalent of a full season.  The Orioles' record during that time?  76-86.

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.

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.

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.

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.