Home city, still home-filed advantage

Even going on the road in your own home city is rough this year. With most MLB teams struggling on the road, the Cubs rolled across Chicago to the south side and got lit up by the White Sox today, 10-3. Nick Swisher swatted his ninth home run, a grand slam that put the Sox ahead 8-0 on Cubs starter Ryan Dempster in the third. Just last week the Cubs swept the Sox on Chicago's north side.

Garza gearing up for July

The back end of the Tampa Bay rotation is in constant flux. Seemingly all at once Rays starters Edwin Jackson, Andy Sonnanstine and Matt Garza dominate and disappoint. It's rare for any of them to have three consecutive starts that are either all good or all bad.

Take, for instance, Garza's Thursday. He threw a one-hitter against Florida in which the only hit was a Hanley Ramirez home run. Other than that he was nearly flawless, and although he's had a tendency to hit major highs and lows, Garza did become the first of these three Tampa tossers to string together back-to-back-to-back quality starts since Sonnanstine did so in late April.

Garza is the hot one in the bunch, and now is a good time to stay strong. We're just over a month from the trade deadline, and Double-A prospect David Price is on the fast track to the Majors. In his first Double-A start tonight, Price struggled a bit but still delivered a quality start. Two more of those and, well, he'll have a longer string of success than Jackson has all season. He'll have a better three-game stretch than Sonnanstine's experienced in two months.

Gonzo for, um, Gonzo

It looks like A's rookie Carlos Gonzalez is going to get more at bats now that Ryan Sweeney's gone down with an ankle injury. Anther interesting tidbit in this San Francisco Chronicle article spells out something that bugs me about fans these days -- their expectation level just for being in the right place at the right time is becoming absurd. Check out what happened after Gonzalez hit his first MLB home run last week:

The rookie outfielder didn't get the ball from his first home run a week ago because the fan who caught it wanted more than the three bats and autographed ball Gonzalez offered. He hit his second career homer Thursday, a solo shot in the sixth, and it landed over the wall in right and was retrieved for him.

"It's not home run No. 1, but it's No. 2, and my mom and my family are going to enjoy it," he said.

Sorry, but the fan who won't accept Gonzalez's fair payment for the ball is a meat head. It's merely a home run ball. It's not number 756. A few bats and an autographed ball is more than fair compensation. Get over yourself. You were lucky it landed in your lap.

Fantasy Impact: I'm liking Carlos Gonazalez at this point. He was the prize piece in the deal that sent Dan Haren to Arizona, and he's proving that he can be a consistent contributor at the big league level. He's going to have peaks and valleys, but the fact that he's hit mostly extra base hits to this point is a harbinger for future success.

No relief for Redbirds

When they broke from spring training it appeared the Cardinals's biggest concerns were starting pitching and every starting spot except for Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina. The Birds have been generally solid in those capacities, but after blowing a ninth-inning lead in a 3-2, 10-inning loss at Detroit on Thursday, it is relief pitching that's costing them wins right now.

Cardinals starters have the best winning percentage in the majors at 36-17 (.679).

Ryan Franklin, who suffered his fourth blown save when Gary Sheffield homered off him in the ninth, said, "We're also crushing the whole league in holds (60). Our holds are way more than our blown saves. You can't look at just one part of it."

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the Cardinals bullpen converted 75.6 percent of their save opportunities last year, but only 55.8 this year. They blew 11 saves in 2007. They've blown 19 in 2008. If Ryan Franklin Jason Isringhausen aren't the answer, the Cardinals still have potentials answers in Kyle McClellan and Chris Perez. McClellan's had the better run of late.

Lee of faith

Indians' starter Cliff Lee won his 11th game tonight against San Francisco, and looked like he went back to his April/early May bag of tricks to get it done. Lee worked eight innings, striking out 11, while allowing just one run on four hits as Cleveland supported him with four runs. It was his best outing since a complete game shutout against Toronto back on May 12th, which lowered his ERA to 0.67. Now he's at 2.34 after a recent rough patch.

Fantasy Impact: Aberration or a return to dominance? That question seems to follow Lee around. He's had his moments, and then he's had his moments. It looks like this year will be filled with more good moments than bad, as long as he can mix in days like this as the grind gets tougher in the second half.

Edinson's bell rung

Reds' starter Edinson Volquez suffered his worst outing of the year at Toronto Thursday, and his first non-quality start since his first three starts this season. Volquez couldn't get through the fifth, giving up five earned runs on seven hits. He walked three and served up Scott Rolen's sixth home run.

Fantasy Impact: There's no reason to worry about Volquez at this time. His ERA climbed all the way to a measly 2.08. He's the best pitcher in the National League over the first half of the season. If he puts together an above-average second half he'll be looking at 20 wins for his troubles.

Kershaw cursed?

Only 69 pitches by Dodgers' rookie starter Clayton Kershaw today. He threw 40 strikes, going four innings with two earned runs in his second loss of the season. Kershaw hasn't won yet as a professional pitcher, including losses or no-decisions in every start he's made in the minors.

Fantasy Impact: For those that thought Kershaw might come up and dominate at the Major League level, this is discouraging, but Kershaw hasn't pitched that poorly. While he's still looking for that first win, his ERA is a respectable 4.36. He's struggled with control, but tends to limit the big inning. He's a respectable low-end option until he harnesses his impressive stuff.

Roberts wins final battle and war

Brian Roberts and the Orioles come away big winners on Chicago's north side. Roberts outperformed Mark DeRosa in two of the three games, including the series finale, as the Orioles win 11-4 to become the first team other than the Milwaukee Brewers to take a series at Wrigley this year. Here's the second baseman linescore for the game:

BR: 5 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K
MD: 3 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K

Here's their combined linescore for the series:

BR: 14 AB, 4 R, 6 H, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K
MD: 9 AB, 1 R, 3 H, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K

Roberts had a better average and scored three more runs in the series. No surprise that the catalyst's team had the better fate in the series. Cubs fans will certainly be wondering "what if" concering the trade that never materialzed for Roberts. DeRosa is still a solid second baseman.

Roberts vs. DeRosa tied, 1-1

Brian Roberts won the first battle of head-to-head productivity against Mark DeRosa, but the Cubs' second baseman bounces back strongly in game two of the three-game Cubs-Orioles series.

BR: 4 AB, 0 R, 1 H, 0 RBI, 0 K
MD: 3 AB, 0 R, 1 H, 1 RBI, 1 K

DeRosa's run-scoring single came in the first inning, leading to Baltimore starer Matt Albers getting lifted after recording just one out. Cubs win, 7-4, and so does DeRosa.

Pujols returns

Albert Pujols is adamant about returning from a strained calf injury tonight in Detroit. He won't DH if he can help it, because it sounds like he really wants to play first.

"If I'm ready to play first base, I think I'm going to play first base," Pujols said, adjusting his stance of the day before. "If I feel the same way I feel today, I think I'm going to be playing (Thursday).

"Something crazy has to happen ... for me not to play."

Pujols continues to impress with both his ability and his willingness to play. He's old-school tough, and here's guessing he goes yard tonight.

Fantasy Impact: Owners must be thrilled, and holding their breath that he hasn't returned too soon. I for one thought Pujols would be shut down for the rest of the season by the All-Star break with his elbow issue. It's been no issue, however, as Pujols is one of the top sluggers in the league. With the Cardinals in the playoff race for what appears to be the long-haul, Pujols isn't getting his elbow worked on any time soon.

Stults studly again

Eric Stults mesmerized the White Sox Wednesday in Los Angeles. The lefty call-up for the Dodgers (Kuroda and Penny are both on the DL) threw a complete game shutout, allowing just four hits while striking out three in his second straight win since arriving from Triple-A Las Vegas. This reporter was dismayed about the outcome, not only because Stults' win came against lights-out Gavin Floyd, but also because it hurt his fantasy team. I respect his honesty, but is that the first time a MSM blogged openly about his fantasy baseball team, because I've never see this before.

Fantasy Impact: Stults isn't going to hurt or help my fantasy team. I'm not picking him up, and I'm not going to see the guy that did while Stults is on his roster. That's not to say I'm not playing the guy again this year. That's to say that Stults is not going to be on his roster very long. The career minor-leaguer is 29-years-old, and he's seen very little action at the MLB level. In 71.1 innings, he has a 4.68 ERA, and that's after his two gems this year. A good marker for success at the MLB level is strikeouts at the minor league level. Stults fanned 81 batters in 89.1 innings last season, but he's never approached that ratio of nearly a strikeout per inning at the Triple-A level before. Once Penny or Kuroda is ready, Stults is likely to be gone, unless he pitches his way out of the rotation first. Pass.

Cinderella is a Bulldog

Congratulations to Fresno State for clinching the College World Series with a 6-1 win over Georgia. Fresno is one of the all-time Cinderellas in sports. The Bulldogs were basically a 13 seed in the NCAA baseball tournament (the committee only seeds the top eight teams). They were paired in the tournament pod across from Arizona State, the number three overall seed, which makes ASU a number one seed in their regional. One plays 16 in round one, and the winner gets either the number eight or nine winner in the regional. The winner of that second game would play Fresno State's pod, which would be the number four, five, 12 and 13 seeds. Fresno was the worst of that pod, making them the equivalent of a number 13 seed.

Fileted Fish

Ryan Tucker's only made three Major League starts in his career, that's why his ERA jumped from 4.50 to 6.75 in one night. The actual reason for the jump is four-fold, as in four extra base hits by the Tampa Bay Rays. Tucker lasted just four innings, and when he couldn't get anyone out in the fifth he was done. He gave up seven earned runs on eight hits.

At least he's not Eulogio De La Cruz. Whatever ails Tucker is contageous, because Cruz couldn't get a single runner out himself. Tampa scored five runs before Cruz was lifted, his ERA climbing from 6.00 to 21.00. Tampa is up 14-0 in the sixth.

Fantasy Impact: Tucker's a stop-gap for the Marlins. Josh Johnson is expected back from a rehab stint right around the All-Star break. He can't get to Miami soon enough. Drop Tucker and grab Johnson, then wait for his arrival.

Cano goes yard

After getting shelled by Pittsburgh, the Yankees are returning the favor tonight. The Yankees have eight runs on 10 hits through their half of the sixth, and even Robinson Cano got into the act, connecting for his fifth home run.

Fantasy Impact: Cano needs to get going. He's hitting just .236, and many fantasy owners drafted him early expecting a .300 average and close to 20 home runs. Cano can get himself back to respectability with just a couple of modest streaks, but he looks a long way from a top-shelf second baseman.

Campillo can still pitch

After a lackluster game on Tuesday with a ton of fielding miscues, the Braves made it through Wednesday with just one error committed -- by their pitcher, Jorge Campillo. Campillo made few mistakes on the hill. He gave up just four hits and two earned runs through seven innings, lowering his ERA to 2.54.

Fantasy Impact: Campillo suffers from blisters, but only had to throw 88 pitches to go this deep in the ballgame. His ERA had been climbing steadily over his last handful of starts. This gets it going in a better direction. He's turned into a fairly reliable option, but will probably not emerge into a fantasy ace given his track record.

David Wright righting the ship

David Wright's .272 average and 12 homers entering Wednesday had Mets fans and fantasy owners a little bit concerned for their starting third baseman. No worries tonight. Two at bats, two home runs.

Fantasy Impact: Wright's first home run was a solo shot, the second one came with a runner on, giving him three RBI in a game he's destined to get at least four at bats. Stay tuned. This could get him going again.

Hooray for a day game

It's Wednesday, and we finally have day baseball in the majors this week. Here's a look at the best pitching matchups Wednesday has to offer.

Milwaukee at Atlanta 1:05 pm ET
-Jorge Campillo (2-2, 2.54) has struggled in three of his last four starts. Jeff Suppan (4-5, 3.92) got shelled for the first time in a long time his last time out.

St. Louis at Detroit 7:05 pm ET
-Kyle Lohse (9-2, 3.63) vs. Armando Galarraga (7-2, 3.03) in the battle of least likely staff studs.

Cincinnati at Toronto 7:07 pm ET
-What's happened to Aaron Harang (3-10, 4.33)? Roy Halladay (8-6, 2.90) looks to avoid liners off his head.

L.A. Angels at Washington 7:10 pm ET
-Ervin Santana (9-3, 3.17) and the Angels are strong on the road this year (26-12), while Tim Redding (6-3, 4.12) is the only winner in Washington's rotation.

Chicago White Sox at L.A. Dodgers 10:10 pm ET
-Gavin Floyd's (8-3, 3.19) brilliance against one-start wonder Eric Stults (1-0, 1.50)

T.J. Simers skewers Ned Colletti

L.A. Times writer T.J. Simers says the Dodgers don't know how to make a deal, and begs Ned Colletti not to make a deal in his latest column. He goes as far as asking Colletti to leave the country for the next month so he can't acquire players like Esteban Loaiza again.

The phone rings, and it's Colletti. "Please, please, no more trades," I begin, while suggesting a vacation that might take him overseas for the next few weeks.

"I've never been to Europe," he says, and I think we could get a collection going and make that happen.

It's a pretty humorous article in the least, but goes to show at least part of the reason the Dodgers haven't won anything in 20 years.

Bad Wood: MLB testing maple

Major League Baseball's got a committee working on the maple bats issue.

Along with conducting field and laboratory tests, the panel will consult with manufacturers and experts and also survey what protective devices are in place for fans and players at the 30 big league ballparks.

Could "protective devices" include extending the screen behind home plate?

Smoltz looks to the future

While Curt Schilling felt free to declare that his career might be over following shoulder surgery, John Smoltz is feeling less comfortable in doing so. He's eyeing a return for next season.

"I realize I won't be able to fade away on my own terms," he said of his comeback bid, "meaning I realize at some point I'm going to have to say, 'This is it.' "

That point where he would call it a career would probably not be until after spring training. He can begin light throwing in four months.

"I don't know when that time would be," he said. "Barring a major setback, I think it would be a long time. Optimism can last a lot longer in this realm than it would in a scenario that says, 'If I'm not at this point in spring training, [end] it.' "

Smoltz' surgery and recovery sounds very painful. He says he'd rather go through Tommy John ligament replacement again rather than what he's going through now.

I've always liked Smoltz, and I like how he's approaching this recovery with such honesty. Schilling, on the other hand, has gone the dramatic route. Something tells me he'll make a good sportswriter some day.

First and Worst

The American League went 10-4 in interleague play Tuesday night and is now 109-76 against the National League overall for a .589 winning percentage. If the two sides played 162 games against one another, the A.L. would go 95-67, a one game improvement over their record after Monday's interleague games. In other words, the A.L. looks like a first place team, and the N.L. looks like a last place team.

Stat man

Lance Berkman struggled early in 2007 on his way to a sub par season by his standards. Berkman batted .278 and slugged .510, the lowest totals he's put up in any full season.

Tuesday Berkman hit his 21st home run. His two extra base hits give him 48 this season. According to the Houston Chronicle, Berkman reached 48 extra base hits last year on September 2nd.

Fantasy Impact: Berkman is probably the best all-around player in fantasy baseball this year. He's hitting .358 and posting triple crown type numbers. His 12 steals are a surprise and a new career high.

Sheets to walk at season's end

Ben Sheets' latest outing was not enough for the Milwaukee Brewers to bring him back next season. The Brewers' ace, who's struggled to stay healthy for years, looks to be headed for free agency.

"That's the direction I'm headed right now," said Sheets. "You can't invite yourself back."

Sheets referred to the club's decision not to try to negotiate a new deal before or during the 2008 season. General manager Doug Melvin has said on more than one occasion that he preferred not to address Sheets' contract status until after the season.

Sheets goes on to say that he's not only not expecting a deal to be offered, but he probably won't be interested in negotiating one this late in the season. The blog doesn't say whether the Brewers might deal Sheets to another team before the trade deadline. They're rumored to be in the C.C. Sabathia hunt, which would mean they're trying to win now. They probably aren't sellers.

Fantasy Impact: Sheets is always an injury scare, but the fact that he's pitching in a contract year and using it as an audition for free agency bodes well. He's 9-1 with a 2.59 ERA.

Bushed trying to figure out Bush

Dave Bush continues to baffle fantasy owners with confounding inconsistency. Tonight the good Bush showed up in Atlanta for his second straight dominant outing. Bush worked seven innings giving up four hits and one run.

Milwaukee wins, 4-1. Jeff Francouer was a bright spot of sorts for the Braves, going 2-4 with his new contacts. He came in hitting just .243.

Fantasy Impact: It was Francouer's first multi-hit game since June 16. For a guy that hit .293 last year, that's saying something. Bush looks to have the makeup to be a special major leaguer, but he can't put it together. In his last two starts Bush gave up two earned runs in 15 innings. In his two previous starts he gave up eight in 10. He's a risky start because you never know which Bush you're going to get, and he seems to fail a time or two more than he succeeds.

Riggleman defeats Manuel

In the war between interim managers, Mariners skipper Jim Riggleman only needed two games to take out the Mets and Jerry Manuel. After a 5-2 win on Tuesday, a night that Riggleman had to get creative with his pitching staff after Felix Hernandez's fifth inning injury forced him from the game, Riggleman could coast on Wednesday. R.A. Dickey went seven scoreless innings for the victory, and Riggleman's lineup produced 11 runs on 15 hits including two home runs.

Manuel got tossed along with center fielder Carlos Beltran in the fourth inning for arguing balls and strikes. Seattle rolls, 11-0. Manuel can save a little face by winning the final battle of the series on Wednesday.

Hank hates you two

While I don't feel strongly either way on the DH rule, Tuesday provided us with an example of pitchers continuing to have success at bat (much to the dismay of Hank Steinbrenner). Andy Sonnanstine and Scott Olsen appeared determined to continue the cause for letting pitchers hit.

Sonnanstine coaxed a third-inning walk and then scored on Akinori Iwamura's two-run homer. Not to be outdone, Olsen singled home a run in the fourth. Both pitchers gave up two runs tonight, with each of them marking up the other's ERA.

Fantasy Impact: Only Olsen pitched well enough and long enough to get the win, giving up four hits in seven innings. He was saddled with a no decision in the end, the same fate as Sonnanstine. While Olsen has rebounded from a disastrous 2007 (15 losses) to post a 7-4 mark in '08, Sonnanstine is still full of hits and misses. He was actually a no-hit wonder at the plate tonight, deftly sacraficing a runner over in his other plate appearance. Sonnanstine is hitting .667 this year. He's 2-3.

Bad Wood

Just caught on Baseball Musings that plate umpire Brian O'Nora was drilled in the head by a broken bat tonight. Musings asks, "Does anyone know if it was a maple bat?"

It certainly was one of those constantly cracking maple sticks. Maybe this will be the straw to get baseball and the players union together to collectively get rid of these toothpicks.

Miguel Olivo, the player whose bat injured O'Nora, switched to and Ash bat the rest of the night. He was 0-1 with maple, 1-3 with Ash. Kansas City shortstop Mike Aviles also switched to ash for the remainder of the game.

"I go back and forth," Aviles said. "Honestly, I don't want them to get rid of it because I like using maple. I like the option of having both if I want to use it."

Aviles went 2-2 with the ash bat with two runs, an RBI and a walk. He was 0-1 with his maple model, striking out in the first inning.

This article and then this article would've been enough for me to switch from maple bats to ash for good.

Runs in bunches for STL

Curtis Granderson extended his hitting streak to 12 games, and three different Tigers homered, but it wasn't enough to beat the Cardinals in Detroit. Ivan Rodriguez hit just his third home run, Miguel Cabrera hit his 11th and Gary Sheffield, freshly back from the DL, hit his fourth. Unfortunately for the Tigers they were all solo shots off of Braden Looper.

The Cardinals got three in the sixth off of red-hot Tigers starter Kenny Rogers, and then followed it up with three more in the seventh, all the runs but one coming on singles. Birds get another road win after taking two of three in Boston, 8-4.

St. Louis is just 3.5 games behind the Cubs thanks to Chicago's loss to Baltimore at Wrigley.

Likable Lefties

As I posted earlier, the Jonathan Sanchez vs. Aaron Laffey match up in Cleveland turned out to be one of the best duels of the night. Their linescores:

JS: 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
AL: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K

Sanchez pitched a bit longer and a bit better. He dominated in strikeouts and was more effective with his pitches, throwing 70 strikes in 114 pitches to Laffey's 60 strikes in 108 pitches.

Fantasy Impact: Both of these guys deserve to get fantasy starts at this time. Sanchez' ability to pitch into the 8th earned him his seventh win as the Giants escape 3-2. Laffey earned a no decision.

Roberts vs. DeRosa (Orioles vs. Cubs)

In Chicago it's the "what if" series, otherwise known as known on Chicago's north side as Cubs vs. Orioles. The "what if" is Brian Roberts, as in what if the Cubs had been able to trade for the Orioles second baseman? We'll probably never know, but tonight began the heavy scrutiny of current Cubs second baseman Mark DeRosa as he goes head-to-head with the guy who Cubs fans hoped would be playing his position. The line score for Roberts and DeRosa in game one:

BR: 5 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 1 RBI, 1 K
MD: 3 AB, 0 R, 1 H, 0 RBI, 1 BB

Roberts clearly wins this battle, and his run-scoring sixth inning triple was followed by a two-out infield single hit to DeRosa. Roberts scored on that play. Baltimore goes on to win, 7-5, snapping the Cubs' 14-game home win streak.

Fantasy Impact: Roberts started slow, but is now hitting .296 after his 3-5 effort. DeRosa's average also climbed to .286. He's not the base-stealing threat Roberts is, and the Cubs wanted Roberts' ability at the top of the order. He's the better second baseman, but DeRosa is decent as a mid- to low-end fantasy option.

Razzin' Rasner

The Pittsburgh Pirates dismantled Yankees starter Darrell Rasner Tuesday night. Pittsburgh tallied nine runs on 10 hits, hitting two home runs. Rasner's ERA is up to 4.50 from 3.64

Fantasy Impact: Just five starts back Rasner's ERA was 1.80 after suffering his first loss at Baltimore. Now he's won just once in his last six starts and is looking like a marginal fantasy optinon at best. With the volatility of the Yankees staff he's probably not going anywhere, but then again with the volatility of the Yankees staff he isn't necessarily safe, either.

Toronto's torrid pace

New manager, new hitting coach. It's working in Toronto - at least for tonight. The Jays bust out for nine runs in the first two innings. They scored six in the first. Scott Rolen hit a three-run homer, and Gregg Zaun hit a two-run shot. Rolen followed it up in the three-run second with a run-scoring double. Bronson Arroyo gave up 10 of the 11 runs.

Omar's ovation

Former Indian Omar Vizquel, who hadn't been back to Cleveland in four years, made his triumphant return with the San Francisco Giants tonight. He received about a minute-long standing ovation in his first at bat. Vizquel grounded out to third.

Sheff's ready to cook

Gary Sheffield is back up with the Tigers and hitting seventh in tonight's lineup against the Cardinals. Sheffield was typically batting third in the order until he went down with oblique and shoulder issues at the end of May.

Fantasy Impact: After a string of seven seasons with at least 135 games played, Sheffield will miss that mark for the third straight year. He's hitting just .213 this year, the second lowest mark of his career since a part-time season with Milwaukee in 1991. His OPB and SLG number are way down from his standards, so you can expect a resurgence in every offensive category. Even at 39, he's dangerous in any given at bat.

Reds don't talk Dunn

Given the chance to defend Adam Dunn in the wake of J.P. Ricciardi's uncalled for criticism that Dunn didn't like baseball enough to be traded for, Walt Jocketty kind of side-stepped the query.

Asked Monday what he thought of Dunn as a player, Reds GM Walt Jocketty said: "I'd rather not comment. You look at his run production. But it's not my position to give a scouting report on him. I like him as a player. He's someone we're going to have to decide on. He's still young, so that's not a factor."

Not surprising to see Jocketty tight-lipped, but why didn't anyone with the Reds come to his defense? The Enquirer says it's for one of two reasons: first, the Reds don't want to pump him up too much with free-agency looming, or second - they don't want to talk about his flaws because they'll trade him.

Fantasy Impact: Dunn's numbers have taken a tumble recently. He's hitting just .219, but does have 18 home runs. He's a three-category guy at best, so as long as he's hitting bombs, scoring runs and knocking them in, don't worry much about the average.

Frenchy hoping for better batting eye

Jeff Francoeur's visit to an eye specialist gives him a new contact lens, and perhaps new confidence. He needs both. The guy hit .293 for the Braves last year, but dropped 50 points in the average department and 46 points in slugging so far this year.

Fantasy Impact: Francoeur's faced criticism in his fourth season in the bigs. For the last two years he played all 162 games on the schedule. This year he's played 77 while the Braves have played 78. It appears he's not going anywhere, and it is likely that he'll rebound in some way this year.

Youkilis eyeing return by weekend

Kevin Youkilis looks like he's on the road to recovery after an eye injury forced him out of Monday's game. He saw an eye-specialist today after Terry Francona told him he wouldn't be playing.

Youkilis had a CT scan on his face Monday night and doctors told him and the team that he would recover.

Francona said he hoped to have Youkilis back for Wednesday's finale against Arizona or Boston's first game in Houston on Friday, following an off-day Thursday.

"He's not going to play (Tuesday night) just because of the watering that would make it hard to send him up there to hit, unless that clears up," Francona said. "I'm sure they'll dilate it, which takes a while to get back to normal anyway."

Fantasy Impact: Eye injuries are scary things, but this sounds pretty minimal in terms the damage done. Day-to-day leagues will want to rest Youkilis today and perhaps tomorrow, but it looks like he'll be free to swat home runs by the weekend.

No Iwamura chads in Tampa

Voting in Florida was already infamous. Now a Tampa Tribune reporter calls foul on the MLB All-Star ballots. Just yesterday I posted this piece on voting issues. Here's calling for MLB to rethink the entire All-Star selection process. Anyone agree?

And you are?

The Washington Nationals face a tough question for any team that moves from one city to another and changes its nickname - do they erase the past and start fresh, or do they embrace the Montreal Expos history as their own? Here's an interesting story from the Washington Post.

Padres pondering now and later

MLB Trade Rumors says the Padres' winning percentage should dictate that they're sellers rather than buyers this year. They can't seem to figure that out. But the Padres have a track record for hemming and hawing before pulling the trigger on a big decision.

After dragging their feet for more than a third of this season the Padres did decide that prospect Chase Headley should be up in the Majors. Much of Headley's situation likely dealth with his future free agency status, but with the job the rookie is doing right now things seem to be working out. Hopefully for their sake they realize MLBTR is right in this case and then once again take their time to come to that conclusion. With holes in the outfield and underachievers at catcher and shortstop the Padres need to look to the future, because there's no way it is happening this year.

Tuesday tossers

A rare Monday-Tuesday without any day games means we're waiting for a night slate of games. After Monday's outstanding pitching matchups we're left with intriguing matchups this evening rather than heavyweight bouts.

Mark Buehrle (4-6, 4.28) vs. Derek Lowe (5-6, 3.90) might be the best matchup, but the most intriguing come with the young guns going tonight. A large percentage of these pitchers are either trying to hold rotation spots with veterans out or they're first-year starters try to prove their worth for the long haul.

My favorite match-up pits a pair of lefties in the Giants Jonathan Sanchez (6-4, 4.23) and the Indians Aaron Laffey (4-4, 2.98). Laffey lost for the first time in five outings the last time he pitched. He's looked shaky at times in his last few outings. Sanchez is a strikeout guy with a strong pedigree for success in the minors, even if he wasn't heralded as a big league prospect. He took a no-hitter into the sixth against the Tigers his last time out, but lost the game 5-1.

Dealing E-Pat

Could Eric Patterson be the consistent MLB performer his brother Corey never blossomed into? Corey Patterson has certainly provided sparks of his five-tool talent, but he's now hitting .189 at the age of 29. Eric belted his first Major League home run against the White Sox Sunday, and might be part of a Cubs trade package, according to the Chicago Tribune. He's hitting .318 with an .875 OPS in 22 at bats with the Cubs.

D-backs' Young changing approach

The Arizona Republic reports that Chris Young is not losing confidence with his recent slump. He's trying some things to break out, according to manager Bob Melvin.

Melvin said before the game that Young has been concentrating on fixing weaknesses in his game to the point where he hasn't utilized his strengths, suggesting the natural pull hitter has been trying too hard to go the other way.

Interesting that "going with the pitch" rather than trying to pull it would seem a good way to get out of a slump, and Young is being advised to do the opposite.

Roberts finally in Chicago

We've got the obligatory Brian Roberts trade talk stories coming out today with the Orioles in Chicago to visit the Cubs. Apparently the imminent deals reported in spring training were never very close, according to Orioles president Andy MacPhail.

Despite media reports suggesting otherwise, MacPhail denied he was ever really close to trading Roberts to the Cubs. MacPhail spoke to several teams this offseason about Roberts, including the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians, according to league sources.

However, the talks with the Cubs are the ones that went public. The Cubs made a multi-player offer for Roberts that included shortstop Ronny Cedeno and pitching prospects Sean Gallagher and Donald Veal. The teams talked about several other packages but could never agree on a deal, and both sides have benefited in the short term.

As the article points out, things have worked well for both teams. The Cubs own the best record in the majors. The Orioles have played competitive baseball.

Hernandez better, Mulder not better

Mark Mulder did not make his Triple=A start for Memphis Monday night, which means he won't pitch for the Cardinals this weekend.

Felix Hernandez' ankle is not as bad as some imagined. The Seattle Times quotes Mariners' manager Jim Riggleman as calling the injury "mild." I guess the injury looked worse than it actually was. Hernandez tried to pitch again after he was hurt and then left the field in agony.

Junior Circuit, not Griffey Jr.

99 wins, 72 losses. That's the American League's interleague record after outplaying the National League again Monday night to the tune of a 4-1 mark. Only Arizona's narrow 2-1 win over Boston got the N.L. on the board. The A.L now owns a winning percentage of .579 or a record of 94-68 if the two sides played one another over 162 games.

Looking at those numbers, interleague records would be a much better way of awarding home-field advantage in the World Series than rewarding the All-Star game league winner. The American League is a much tougher group of teams, therefore the winner of that league deserves to have one more World Series game at home.

While the N.L. still has a shot to earn that extra home game, they are less-likely to have the better team of stars on the field at the start of the Midsummer Classic. Ken Griffey Junior is getting voted into the Senior Circuit's starting lineup along with his well-below-average .249 batting average. His inclusion is just another strike against this bumbling system. Here are several others.

Rockies rolled in KC

The Colorado Rockies scored four runs on just six hits Monday Night and still managed to leave 14 runners on base in an 8-4 loss at Kansas City. Matt Holliday did most of the damage for the visitors with two hits in three at bats, including his ninth home run.

The Royals went deep three times. Mark Teahen (8) and Jose Guillen (13) made it a miserable night for Rockies starter Jeff Francis (7 ER, 4 IP). Ross Gload hit his first after Francis (3-7) departed. Brian Bannister picks up his seventh win, giving up three runs (none earned) in seven innings.

What the Angels were Lacking

The Angels beat the Nationals tonight, 3-2. John Lackey, who sat out the better part of two months with an injury, worked 8 strong innings tonight while allowing just one earned run for his 5th win. Vlad Guerrero extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the sixth.

Fantasy Impact: Lackey's bounced back from injury with relative ease. Guerrero is now Guerrero.

Holy Sheets!

Ben Sheets won his ninth game tonight, a 4-1 masterpiece against the Braves. Sheets struck out seven, going the complete game in just 106 pitches. He threw 73 for strikes. Mike Cameron supported Sheets with his 12th home run.

Fantasy Impact: Sheets is doing things he's never done before. He's stayed healthy (for the most part) this year, and he's just three wins shy of his season high of 12. Sheets also went over 100 innings for the year. He hasn't reached 200 since 2004.

Haren vs. Beckett

In a battle of aces in Boston, Dan Haren outduels Josh Beckett for a 2-1 win. Here are their lines:

DH: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
JB: 8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

While Haren did enough to earn the win, Beckett pitched very well himself going an extra inning and tallying three extra strikeouts.

Fantasy Impact: There's not much between these two, except for the fact that Haren won tonight. He faces alot more pitchers in the National League than Beckett does in interleague play, so expect Haren's ERA to remain lower the rest of the way.

Felix vs. Johan

Not only did Felix Hernandez hit the first grand slam by an American League pitcher in 37 years, he also hit the first home run in Mariners history. To top it all off, he hit the grand slam off the Mets' Johan Santana, sparking a 5-2 Mariners win at Shea Stadium.

Then Hernandez experienced the bad luck that is the Mariners these days, twisting his ankle on a play at home plate. Some outlets are calling it a sprain, but even ESPN's baseball tonight hesitated to call it more than an ankle injury at this time.

Santana gave up five runs, but just one of them was earned.

Fantasy Impact: Hernandez tried to stay in the game, but couldn't put much pressure on the left ankle, which is his plant leg. He looked to be in a ton of pain. Baseball tonight's analyst said he could be out up to two months, worst case. Sounds like Chien-Ming Wang territory.

Santana managed to go seven innings, giving up seven hits and striking out four in picking up the loss. He's still pitching well overall but at times looks a touch less than his usual dominance.

Ponson to pitch Friday

Newsday reports that Sidney Ponson is fine, even after going just four innings in his recent minor league start. Ponson is tentatively scheduled to pitch Friday for the Yankees.

Ponson, who signed a minor-league contract with the Yankees last week, made his debut for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. In four innings, he allowed two runs, one earned, three hits and three walks, striking out two.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Ponson's short outing was a result of pitch count, as he had not pitched in a game since June 4, when he went four innings for the Rangers. He pitched seven innings May 31.

Fantasy Impact: The moment he was signed by the Yankees, Ponson's value improved. He's not going to guarantee fantasy owners much in 5X5 stat categories, but he will be in line for a few wins thanks to that New York lineup.

O's turn to Cintron

Alex Cintron couldn't make the Cubs out of spring training. Now he's the starting shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles. When the Orioles designated fellow former Cub Freddie Bynum for assignment, Cintron inherited the job for the interim.

Fantasy Impact: Hard to say, as Cintron really hasn't held a starting job for the majority of his eight-year career. He did hit .317 with 13 home runs in 448 at bats back in 2003, but the very next year he dropped down to .262 with 4 homers in 564 at bats and hasn't held a starting job since. His career average is .278, which is probably more accurate for projecting him out this year. He won't provide much pop or stolen bases.

A plaque for Omar

When the San Francisco Giants visit Cleveland on Tuesday, it will mark Omar Vizquel's first visit to the Jake in four years. Vizquel is certainly in the latter stages of a very good career, but how good is the question.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer welcomes Omar back to town with a poll asking whether Vizquel is Hall of Fame worthy. As of right now, that poll is a 95% 'yes' vote. Add your vote here.

Vizquel's consideration for the Hall of Fame is based almost entirely on defense. He's hit just .273 with 73 career homers. His range factor of 4.40 is above average (4.10) for a shortstop during his era, and his .984 fielding clip is .012 better than the average player from 1989 through 2008. By comparison, Ozzie Smith fielded with a range factor of 5.05, markedly better than the 4.10 of his day. Smith's fielding percentage is .978 -- that's worse than Vizquel -- but also .012 better than the shortstops of his day. Vizquel has won 11 Gold Gloves and made three All-Star appearances in 20 MLB seasons. Smith won 13 Gold Gloves and made 15 All-Star teams, even with a career batting average of just .262 in his 19 seasons.

Not many shortstops can compare favorably with Smith defensively over their career, and although Vizquel comes up short against the Wizard statistically, it would appear he has a good shot at the HOF.

George Carlin on baseball vs. football

The late George Carlin, in an expletive-free musing on baseball and football.

We want a pitcher

The Houston Chronicle says Shawn Chacon, who's struggled miserably of late, is out of the starting rotation in favor of Runelvys Hernandez.

Fantasy Impact: The only reason this didn't happen sooner is probably because the Astros have nothing in terms of pitching. Hernandez is a veteran who spent all of 2007 in the minors. Stay away.

Loyal Leyland

Another article from Detroit today with good insight on Edgar Renteria's future with the Tigers. Detroit has an $11 million option on a guy who is 33 and hitting .269. Jim Leyland's loyalty may keep Renteria around, but with Pudge Rodriguez, Placido Polanco and Renteria up the middle, can you really afford to keep so many aging players around -- especially when you're not playing to expectations as a team?

Tigers pitching in, not out

A Detroit Free Press article says the Detroit Tigers, who are 12-3 in their last 15 games and just 5 games out of first in the A.L. Central, are more likely to look within the organization than they are to look outside for pitching help.

Arizona's case of the Mondays

Only five games tonight around the Majors, and the game of the day is a no-brainer. Dan Haren attempts to drag a slumping Diamondback team away from the Minnesota Mongoose-egg and into Fenway Park for a showdown with the best team in the American League. Just when the Diamondbacks hit the wall, they hit the Green Monster. The Snakes not only get Boston in Beantown, but they also have to face Sox ace Josh Beckett in the opener.

At 7-4 Beckett's beatable, but not at home this year. He carries a 4-0 home record into play Monday night even though his ERA is a full run higher at Fenway. Haren has yet to win on the road this year, and while his record is just 1-3 against Boston, his ERA is still impressive at 3.26.

Helton is Graceful

That's not a good thing. By graceful, we mean he's full to the brim -- head-to-toe full -- of Mark Grace. Todd Helton doesn't just embody Mark Grace. He is Mark Grace, and when you're making $16 million that's not enough, no matter how full of Grace you are.

Helton's primary numbers this year vs. Mark Grace circa 1998 (when both players are 34 years old):

TH: 267 AB, .277 AVG/.401 OBP/.404 SLG | 35 R/ 7 HR/ 37 RBI
MG: 595 AB, .309 AVG/.401 OBP/.471 SLG | 92 R/ 17 HR/ 89 RBI

Scratch that. Helton is actually under-performing and shouldn't be compared to Grace at 34, he should be compared to Grace at 36, his last year in Chicago, or maybe even Grace at 37 when he declined even further with the Diamondbacks.

Fantasy Impact: The point is, Todd Helton is a shell of his former self. For a guy who used to hit or approach 35-40 home runs routinely, the face of the franchise in Colorado doesn't look like the guy in the mirror anymore. He looks like Mark Grace, a decent offensive player who never hit more than 17 home runs.

J.P. Ricciardi would trade for Joey Votto

Joey Votto is a self-made baseball addict. Something tells me Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi would be more impressed with Votto than Votto's teammate, Adam Dunn.

Fantasy Impact: It's a good thing Votto's hard work paid off. He's a poor man's Ryan Braun in his first season in the big leagues, which is saying a lot.

Hold on to your (BP) balls

In Monday's Miami Herald the fan who caught Ken Griffey's 600th home run -- known simply to this point as "Joe" -- is finally revealed. Joe Scherer caught two baseballs at Dolphin Stadium that day, but who knew that the first one, the one he nabbed in batting practice, would end up being so valuable.

'It turned out that as I stood up to catch the home run ball, my foot inadvertently nudged the batting practice ball, rolling to my left, the direction I was going,'' Scherer said in the statement. ``When I caught the home run ball, I looked down, saw the batting practice ball and immediately tapped it with my foot into the row of seats below my row. This caused a mad scramble for the batting practice ball and allowed me to climb one row above and head for stadium security without getting mobbed.''

The Herald says there's no word on what he'll do with his second ball. Hang on to your BP balls, kids.

The subtle nature of a rivalry

Just noticed that both the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Chicago Tribune have baseball power rankings out for Monday. The Cubs and Red Sox are fairly obvious choices for the top two teams in baseball after the Cubs swept the White Sox and Boston dropped two of three to the Cardinals at Fenway. Guess which paper still puts the Reds Sox on top.

St. Louis
Chicago

The Zambrano argument is a fair one, but the loss of Soriano hasn't taken much punch out of the Cubs. After the beating the Cardinals themselves gave Daisuke Matsuzaka on Saturday you'd think the Cubs would have to occupy the top spot. Not in St. Louis.

No movement, no baseball

First Brandon Webb loses the movement on his fastball. Now his teammate loses a fly ball leading to a five-run Twins rally for a 5-3 Sunday loss at the Metrodome.

The Arizona Republic reports that Conor Jackson's first trip to Minneapolis will be forgettable, only because it's happened so many times before.

Jackson became the latest in a long line of outfielders to lose a fly ball in the Metrodome's tan-colored roof, and the mistake led directly to the Twins' latest big inning against the Diamondbacks. They scored five times in the fifth, enough to come away with a 5-3 victory and complete a three-game sweep of the slumping Diamondbacks.

The loss drops Webb to 11-4, and his ERA is on a steady climb now at 3.40.

Fantasy Impact: No more worries about that dome roof for the D-backs this year, but after the sweep Arizona is just 39-37. Webb doesn't seem like himself. In his last three starts he's gone 15.1 innings with 14 earned runs and just 11 strikeouts. Something is not quite right.

Mark Mulder lives

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Mark Mulder is one minor league start away from returning to the big leagues. It's been a long, slow process for Mulder. He went "Mark Prior" for 2006 and 2007, not pitching much or effectively for two seasons. In his last full season Mulder went 16-8 with a 3.64 ERA for the Cardinals back in 2005, his first year in St. Louis after coming over from Oakland. Mulder will pitch Monday for Triple-A Memphis and if all goes well a call-up for a start against Kansas City over the weekend would follow.

Fantasy Impact: None until he gets through his Monday "tune up." From there it's a very measured evaluation process to discern how effective Mulder can be. After all that he's been through (two rotator cuff surgeries) Mulder is like a brand new pitcher -- brand new, but with a lengthy injury history, that is. If things don't go well, there's already been talk of retirement.

Two big innings

The Dodgers scored four in the first, and it was enough to beat Cleveland, 4-3. A two-run double by James Loney and a two-run homer by Russell Martin proved too much for Cleveland to overcome. The Tribe did score three in the 3rd, but couldn't score again the rest of the way.

Fantasy Impact: Loney's bat is coming alive. He has a 10-game hitting streak, but only one home run in that span. Martin is probably the best all-around catcher in baseball. Interesting to note that Paul Byrd managed seven innings today, despite the four-run first. Chad Billingsley, who got the win, only pitched five innings. He's still a very good fantasy pitcher with an ERA that climbed to 3.64. He seems to be stumbling into bad luck more often than he actually struggles.

Lincecum lit up

How rare was Tim Linceum's horrendous day? Lincecum gave up five runs on six hits in five innings, ending up with a no-decision in an 11-10 loss at Kansas City. Lincecum suffered only his third non-quality start of the season, and it was just the second time Lincecum hadn't gone at least six innings (the last was a four-inning win on Opening Day).

Going back to his rookie season in 2007, this was the first time Lincecum gave up as many runs as innings pitched since last August.

Fantasy Impact: Lincecum's ERA jumped from 1.99 to 2.54 over just two starts. His BB/9 and H/9 are both down from last year, but his career ERA was 3.28 coming in, meaning there's a possibility he slides back toward that number. Lincecum's career does not provide enough of a sample size to project where he goes from here, but young pitchers who have success early are more likely to improve than veterans who pitch well for a few months.

Youkilis kills sweep

The Cardinals-Red Sox thriller went 13 innings with Kevin Youkilis hitting his second home run of the game, this time a two-run shot for a walk-off win.

There were a number of exciting plays and scoring chances in extra innings, especially for the Red Sox who had three good chances to win before the home run. The best shot was probably the first one. In the 10th inning with one out and Jacoby Ellsbury on third, Tony La Russa elected to pitch to J.D. Drew with right hander Kyle McClellan. Drew came in with a .331 average against righties and only needed a fly ball or well-placed grounder to win the game, but McClellan managed to strike him out on a full count. It was a gusty move, or a crazy one, by La Russa. With the Cardinals TV play by play guys cringing with every pitch, McClellan incredibly got out of the inning, but the Red Sox still find a way to avoid the sweep.

Big Tex -- from Baltimore -- Hotlanta

When Mark Teixeira was traded from the Rangers to the Braves last season, media speculated that the move would rejuvinate his hitting. He had played at Georgia Tech, so perhaps the familiar surroundings would bring him to life. It apparently worked. He hit four more home runs in Atlanta than he did in Arlington in 78 fewer at bats, totalling 30 for the year.

Today Big Tex snapped out of a funk that had plagued him even in his college town. With just 10 homers entering Sunday play as we near the halfway point of the season, Teixeira smacked three bombs against the Seattle Mariners in an 8-3 Braves victory. In the last two seasons Teixeira improved dramatically in the second half, leaving the Braves hope that he can provide another post all-star break streak.

While Teixeira's probably very much at home in Atlanta, and getting hot for the time being, there's at least some talk back in his native Baltimore of bringing the hometown boy a step closer to home. It's right here in this piece on Andy McPhail's job performance (which I linked at an earlier date).

Mark Teixeira's contract is due to expire at the end of this season, so a trade wouldn't have made sense. (The Orioles) need to flash some cash at the 28-year-old free agent this offseason.

Who knows if Teixeira remains in Atlanta after the season, but as long as he stays hot while the Braves stay in contention (they're a game below .500 now), there's little chance he's leaving the Peach State. If he does become a free agent, however, Baltimore could do far worse than bring Tex to the the Mid Atlantic for 2009.

Weaving a way over wayward Phils

Couldn't help but notice that Jeff Weaver outpitched Cole Hamels in Hamels' home park. Weaver's been shaky at times this year, and there's no margin for error in Philly against that lineup. Or is there? With a 3-2 loss, the Phillies drop their 5th straight. They've scored just nine runs in those losses, and even after forcing Weaver out in just 5.1 innings, they struggled some more with just two hits against three relievers.

If Florida wins in Oakland, the Mighty Marlins pull into a tie for first in the N.L. East with the floundering Phils.

What's in the Cards?

For a team expected to do no better than middle-of-the-pack in the N.L. Central, the St. Louis Cardinals are hanging with the big boys. Not only are they nipping at the heels of the Chicago Cubs, but Saturday the Cardinals became just the second club all year to win a series at Fenway Park. Now they're on their way to a sweep. Through 6 innings the Redbirds own a 2-0 lead. Joel Pineiro is throwing a 5-hitter, while unsung standouts Brian Barton and Ryan Ludwick each have an RBI.

Update: Kevin Youkilis just went yard as I finished typing this post. The lead is halved at 2-1. Youkilis with his 12th. At any moment the Bo Sox could force open the floodgates. That's what they do.

2nd Update: Problem for St. Louis: Rick Ankiel just fell down attempting to catch a routine fly ball. Bigger problem: Coco Crisp was the batter and used his wheels to stretch out a triple. He's on 3rd with no outs in the bottom of the 8th.

3rd Update: Brand new ballgame as Crisp scores on a sacrafice fly.

To Double-A, and beyond?

The Tampa Bay Rays moved David Price to Double-A today. Interesting, because a month of seasoning at that level could be enough to prepare him for a stretch run with the parent club. It took Price exactly six starts and one month to move from A-ball to Double-A, and while that doesn't mean he's going to breeze through the next level, he is on the fast track at this point. Tampa's not exactly long on experience at the MLB level, and Price is an experienced pitcher having thrown in the SEC at Vanderbilt.

Blue Jays until you're blue in the face

There's enough Blue Jays news from Saturday to last several postings, but I'm going to try to cram it all into one. First off, Shaun Marcum is on the DL with an elbow problem, and Adam Lind is finally back up. Cito Gaston says he wants to play Lind, so I'm wondering if his call-up is Gaston's call. From the MLB.com site:

"I'm going to play him," Gaston said. "This kid is having a great year down there and he's hit everywhere. I think he's one of the kids that's going to be a part of the future of this club. He's going to get a chance to play."

Gaston's got to give Lind a stab at left field, where the Jays have been terrible. Lind is only 1-19 with the big league club, but check out his Triple-A stats vs. the guys he'll be up against for the job:

Adam Lind: .328 AVG/.394 OBP/.534 SLG
Brad Wilkerson: .243/.332/.347
Matt Stairs: .255/.330/.411

You'd think Lind can at least compete with the veterans.

While Lind is the more notable call-up, the Jays also recalled Brandon League. He's a former 2nd-round draft pick who's never been called on to start in 72 big league outings. A quick look at his minor league numbers reveals that in 20 appearances this year he has zero starts. With the time it took the Yankees to "lengthen out" Joba Chamberlain it would seem impossible for the Blue Jays to insert League into their rotation. The wire story from the Canadian Press said Gaston hadn't decided on a replacement for Marcum in the rotation, appearing to leave open the possibility for League to be considered. If he hasn't started a game in the minors, however, that possibility would seem to be highly improbable.

Finally, Richard Griffin is more or less calling for Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi's head in an opinion piece in the Toronto Star.

Ricciardi is clearly feeling the heat of late. When he ripped into Adam Dunn on his own radio show three days ago as the result of a probing question from a fan, while at the same time questioning Jays fans on their baseball intelligence, Paul Godfrey was furious. The prez is the consummate politician and knows you don't bite the hands that feed you.

As for the incident with Dunn, the Reds outfielder and all of his friends and many others in the very close-knit players union will now have nothing to do with Ricciardi and the Jays into the future. It was tough enough to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox when Ricciardi wasn't perceived as a loose cannon and a foreigner.

If the Jays were ever seriously considering allowing Ricciardi to continue in his role, they aren't now. The word "clown," as used by Dunn in his description of the Jays GM, was devastating to an organization that has always prided itself on its dignity.

I'm surprised Ricciardi isn't gone already.

That's enough Toronto talk for a while.

Vlad swats two

Vladimir Guerrero smoked two homers on Saturday to bring his season total to 13. Two more bombs this month and Guerrero is on pace for 30 this season. His batting average nearing .300, it looks like he's on pace for a slightly off-year statistically, which this certainly has been. Angels beat the Phillies, 6-2.

Fantasy Impact: He's hitting well again. Somehow I have the feeling that he's going to hit more than 30 this year. Guerrero is one of the most consistently dominant hitters of his era.

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Bronx babes deliver

The matchup didn't jump off the sports page prior to the game, but Daryl Thompson vs. Dan Giese provided us a little baseball history on Saturday. They became the first pair of first-time starters at Yankee Stadium in over 80 years. The last time it happened was April 22, 1926. The ballpark had just turned three.

Today, each debutant delivered a remarkable performance. As the fill-in for injured Yankee Chien-Ming Wang, Giese's results remind us of Wang.

His stat line against the Reds: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 ER

Giese picked up the loss, and those three unearned runs were due to his own error.

The more fortunate pitcher in this game was the Reds' rookie, Thompson, who is yet another heralded prospect in the Cincinnati system. Thompson worked five innings and allowed eight base runners, but nobody scored. He threw 59 of his 96 pitchers for strikes, walking four in a no decision. Pretty decent when your first time out is in "The House that Ruth built."

Fantasy Impact: Not sure how long either of these guys lasts. Thompson got knocked around in the minors recently, but the Reds tried him after sending down Homer Bailey. The first moment Giese struggles, the Yankees will likely pull him for someone else. They're rumored to be in the pitcher market, especially with Wang out.

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Daisuke leaves early

Daisuke Matsuzaka left today's start against the Cardinals in the 2nd inning. In his first start back after what was called a successful but cautious rehab stint, Matsuzka gave up seven runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out one.

Fantasy Impact: Daisuke didn't look good at all. Who knows what happens from here. It was impossible to tell if he was experiencing discomfort, but there will certainly be questions about his strained rotator cuff after the game.

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Guillen no fan of Wrigley

Ozzie Guillen believes ballparks should be more functional than they should be fun to look at. Here's what he had to say in the Chicago Tribune about Wrigley Field on Friday:

"It smells better," Guillen said. "I'm happy. Look at the field now: it's nice. But, hey, you have to do what you have to do. Wake up in the morning and go to Wrigley Field is not a good thing.

"You are going to take batting practice (in the indoor cages) and the rats look bigger than a pig out there. You want to take a look? I think the rats out there are lifting weights."

Wonder what he thinks of Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park.

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Big hurt in Atlanta

No, Frank Thomas is not headed to the Braves, there's just a ton of pain in Atlanta tonight. Mariners starter Erik Bedard left in the 4th with back spasms. Braves third baseman Chipper Jones left in the 8th with a strained right quadriceps. Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar left in the 9th with a strained right hip.

Not only did these players feel the pain, but Jones and Braves starter Jorge Campillo's statlines are also suffering. Jones went 0-2, dropping his batting average down to .390. I'm guessing he doesn't go back over .400 again this year. Campillo gave up three runs in the 7th as his ERA climbed from 2.17 to 2.54. He takes the loss, falling to 2-2.

Fantasy Impact: Jones said the injury was "pretty bad" in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The same article said Escobar doesn't know if he can play anymore in the series. Bedard is questionable for his next start. What a mess, especially for Seattle, which hasn't had any good news since acquiring Bedard in the offseason.

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Vlad's back on track

Vladimir Guerrero extended his hit streak to 11 games going 3-5 in a 7-1 Angles pasting of Philadelphia. Guerrero hit his 11th home run, and knocked in three. His average, which was down to .246 through the month of May, is now up to .285. That's Vlad's highest batting average of the season.

Fantasy Impact: The Angels' slugger has struggled like never before, but now he's just 15 points shy of .300. If he goes on one homer binge, Guerrero will be on pace for 30 once again. He's heating up.

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Sensantional Santana

Ervin Santana used to have tons of trouble on the road, but this year he's exorcising his demons to the tune of a 6-1 mark away from Anaheim. That his record now after an impressive performance in Philadelphia, where he limited the Phillies to just two hits in seven innings while striking out nine. Santana allowed no runs, dropping his ERA to 3.17 while picking up his 9th win.

Fantasy Impact: Santana is producing like an all-star for the first time in his career. Last year he was 6-4 with a 3.27 ERA at home but 1-10 with an 8.38 ERA on the road. Now that the road numbers are looking more like his home numbers, Santana is earning his place among baseball's elite right-handers.

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Wedge won't be next

With managers dropping like flies this week it had me wondering who is next on the chopping block. It's certainly not Cleveland's Eric Wedge, whom the Plain Dealer calls safe in a recent story.

With all the struggles the Tribe faced this year, I was beginning to think Wedge might be feeling some heat. Cleveland went 96-66 last season, but dropped the ALCS in seven games after taking a 3-1 lead on the Red Sox.

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Schilling done for year

So apparently Curt Schiling is out for the year. Not very surprising, but very intriguing considering the state of the Boston pitching staff. A group comprised of a very solid Josh Beckett, a soon-returning Daisuke Matsuzaka, an emerging Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield is still trying to fill out the number five spot. Justin Masterson has been solid in that role, and he looks to stay in the rotation as long as Bartolo Colon is out.

Fantasy Impact: It will be interesting to see what the Red Sox do when Colon is eligible to pitch again in just over a week. Even if Masterson struggles, Clay Buchholz has been dominating in the minors, and was in Boston's rotation to begin the year. The Red Sox have three capable pitchers for Schilling's spot and shouldn't miss much other than Schilling's leadership.

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Rays amusing to musings

David Pinto at baseballmusings.com has analyzed the Tampa Bay Rays and believes they're for real.

While the Rays have been rumored to trade for aging Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., who apparently has a home in Orlando, Pinto suggests another Reds outfielder is in Tampa's sights.

If you look at the aggregate offensive numbers of the fielding positions, the Rays have a good chance to improve run scoring. Leftfield, rightfield and designated hitter are three positions that could be upgraded in a trade, and DH should be the easiest of those to fill. Doesn't Adam Dunn fill that spot nicely?

Fantasy Impact: Dunn makes more sense than Griffey. He's younger, and he makes a bigger impact at this point in his career. If he goes to Tampa, he'll continue to produce -- unless he has a tough time adjusting to American League pitching -- which he's never seen on a consistent basis.

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Rangers return to D.C.

I'm not one for nostalgia, but the Dallas Morning News is all over the return of the Texas Rangers' (former Washington Senators) to our nation's capital. It's a pretty detailed account and worth a read.

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Justin Upton looking up

Justin Upton, who entered Thursday hitting .083 in June, went 2-3 with a game-winning homer to propel Arizona past Oakland 2-1. The solo shot was Upton's ninth of the year, but just his first of the month. His two hits almost equaled his previous three in June.

Fantasy Impact: It's hard to believe Upton is not yet 21. He played beyond his years over the first two months of the season, but is now looking like many 20-year-olds would at the MLB level. To his credit, Upton's OBP haD slipped just 10 points during the prolonged slump, and his slugging percentage dipped just 60 points -- and that was before Thursday's breakout. Upton has been patient and still hits the ball with authority when he makes contact. He's more likely than not to come around.

Before the slump: .275 AVG, .369 OBP, .487 SLG
After Thursday: .250 AVG, .365 OBP, .447 SLG

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Russell muscles up with greatness

Brewers third baseman Russell Branyan is defying his own career statistics, which say he's not very good. Branyan hit his 10th home run of the season on Thursday -- his 10th in just 62 at bats. That's a home run every 6.2 at bats, which means he is now hitting homers more frequently than Barry Bonds did in his record-breaking season of 2001. Bonds homered once every 6.5 at bats on his way to 73 home runs.

Branyan, who started the year in the minors, missed almost the entire the first couple months of the Major League season. The Brewers have 90 games remaining. Branyan is averaging 3.1 AB per game since his call-up. If he somehow continues at this incredible home run rate, Branyan will hit 45 more long balls, leaving him with 55 by season's end and well short of Bonds' record.

For his career, Branyan has hit 131 home runs in 1,930 at bats -- just one homer every 14.7 at bats. If Branyan reverts to his average pace for hitting home runs, he'll end up with 29 home runs, which would still beat his career single-season best by nine.

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Dye, Sox rip Pittsburgh

Jermaine Dye had a monster night against the Pirates Thursday. He went 3-4, hitting two home runs against two different pitchers while driving in six runs. Dye has four home runs in his last four games, and the Sox sweep the Pirates out of Chicago by a combined score of 37-15 in three games.

Chicago is now 10 games over .500, five games ahead of Minnesota in the loss column.

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Crosstown Classic, then Fall Classic?

Northsiders and Southsiders will be a little bit more excited for Chicago's Crosstown Classic. Both teams enter in first place. The Second City is daring to dream of an all-Chicago world series.

For a long while the White Sox looked to have the pitching to get it done, but not the hitting. A team that was among the bottom-feeders in the American League is suddenly 11th in average (.263) in all of MLB, third in home runs (97) and sixth in runs (356). The Cubs lead the majors in average (.281) and with 396 runs scored, they are second only to the Rangers (408). White Sox pitching, however, is tops in the league (3.32 ERA) while the Cubs' 3.67 mark is good for fourth behind the A's and Blue Jays.

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On Big Z's shoulder and Cubs hysteria

Carlos Zambrano is going to miss his next scheduled start according to the Chicago Tribune. Sean Marshall is likely to take his spot.

Interesting that the Trib says Big Z's injury has tempered 'North Side Hoopla' the same day that ESPN runs this story. Sorry, but you're a bit late to jump on that bandwagon, ESPN. It's really a full orchestra, which has been blaring since the 2003 team bungled a run at a World Series berth. Anyone who lives in the Chicago area knows this. Cubs hysteria has been on the rise ever since. In a typical year 70 percent of the baseball fans in Chicago will claim to be Cubs fans. Of this 70 percent about 35 to 50 percent actually care and watch the team on a regular basis. The rest is a massive orchestra-wagon of crazies who are either disliked or open-arm welcomed by the constant fans. It's a strange phenomena. I don't know if you'd get it unless you lived there.

One more note on ESPN. Not sure if anyone else ever caught this, but Stuart Scott used to always refer to the White Sox as the Chi-Sox, which is a friendly and accepted nickname for the Chicago American League ballclub. Scott, however, pronounced the nickname as "Chai-Sox" (like the tea) rather than "Shy-Sox" (which is the correct way). Sorry, just a Chicago native venting.

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Small red-faced machine

More on the Reds' struggles against Eric Stults tonight. Cincinnati had scored zero, one and one runs in their last three ballgames entering tonight's affair against a career minor-leaguer. Give Stults credit for allowing just one run himself, but it more or less falls into the pattern the Reds have been putting up since Sunday.

Last-place Cincinnati did end up with four on the board, but only two of the runs were earned. The Reds aren't just last in the N.L. Central, they're also last in the Central in scoring runs with 320 this year.

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Some stunt by Stults

Dodgers' career minor leaguer Eric Stults stunted the Reds offense Thursday night, allowing one earned run in six innings for his first win. Stults came in with just two wins in 18 starts, but handled the struggling Reds offense with the deftness of a veteran. The Dodgers pull a three-game sweep, 7-4.

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Jibber Joba

All the talk is about lengthening Joba Chamberlain out, getting him to throw more and more pitches each time out to complete his conversion from reliever to starter. Thursday was Chamberlain's longest outing. He threw 100 pitches in 5.2 innings, striking out nine Padres in the process. Chamberlain didn't get the win, but the Yankees did, 2-1.

Fantasy Impact: Joe Girardi said he wanted to leave Chamberlain in the game for a shot at his first victory as a starter. Joba still gives up a few too many runners, meaning he's sometimes one unlucky pitch away from a big inning. That big inning, however, rarely comes. Chamberlain has dominant stuff and looks to be settling in nicely as a starter.

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Mariners fire McLaren, Riggleman in charge

After just 156 games as manager, John McLaren is leaving the Emerald City. McLaren will be replaced by Jim Riggleman, who I remember as a solid manager for the Chicago Cubs.

Riggleman helped Chicago win the 1998 N.L. wild card with a 90-72 record. He was fired the very next season. Riggleman has also managed the Padres. I remember him as a good-natured manager who was very straight forward. I interviewed him a few times in 1998 when I was working for local media in Chicago. Riggleman used to take the "El" train to games.

McLaren's firing is hardly a surprise. He inherited the job midseason in 2007 when Mike Hargrove suddenly walked away. Now that the Mariners have made changes with their general manager and field manager it would appear the baseball will change a great deal, too.

Richie Sexson is already rumored to be released. Ichiro switched from center field to right field, but that might stick with McLaren out the door.

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Burnett burning bridges

Call me late to the party on this one, but apparently A.J. Burnett has done/is doing everything in his power to leave Toronto. Richard Griffin's June 17th piece called "Burnett Sideshow" in The Toronto Star offers this:

What are the clues to Burnett's thinking? Let's see. He put his condo, previously owned by Vince Carter (another T.O. escapee), on the market before the season. He tipped his cap to the fans while being booed off the field a couple of starts ago against the O's. Now, while his team struggles, he says he would welcome a deal to the Cubs and that it's not a sign he disrespects the fans, his teammates or the Jays uniform. Hmm.

Peter Gammons recently rumored Burnett to the Cubs, and now with Carlos Zambrano in limbo and the Cubs needing another pitcher anyway, the conversation will likely come up again and again.

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A's ace struggling

Vlae Kerschner, in his latest A's Drumbeat blog for The San Francisco Chronicle writes that Opening Day starter Joe Blanton might need to give way to middle reliever Chad Gaudin for a while.

Not often do you see an Opening Day guy make room for someone who already lost his job. The A's have gotten great starting pitching from an interesting bunch of pitchers. Justin Duchsherer is a converted reliever, Dana Eveland and Greg Smith are rookies, and Rich Harden is good but always injured. All four of these players are doing well this season, leaving Blanton, the Opening Day starter as the one guy who's struggling. Gaudin was in the rotation until Eveland and Smith both edged him out.

Fantasy Impact: Blanton might be the Opening Day starter, but he was mediocre at best in the fantasy world. It wouldn't be a huge hit to lose him, and picking up Gaudin is a risky bet. He might end up back in the 'pen in no time.

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The ever-changing Mets

Jerry Manuel is making his mark as Mets interim manager, deciding to rest his stars more. Stories of David Wright playing every single inning this season may soon end.

Fantasy Impact: Can't see this doing much damage. Wright and Jose Reyes might miss a game here or there, but will still be two of the best players at their position. If Manuel's plan works, they'll be more effective in the games they do play.

USA Today on Chipper watch

USA Today's Devin Clancy talks about Chipper Jones' .400 bid, comparing Jones' season to two players who recently made runs at that mark.

It's too early to start putting Chipper updates in the paper every day, but Jones is already further along than Tony Gwynn was in 1994, according to day-by-day data available at Baseball-reference.com. Gwynn was hitting .394 when the strike happened in August of that season, but his last day over .400 was May 15, when he was hitting .408.

But Jones still has another month to match Nomar Garciaparra's 2000 season. Garciaparra was up to .403 after the first game of a July 20 doubleheader, but dropped down with an 0-for-5 in the second game. He finished with a .372 batting average.

While Clancy's article is well-written, and I understand what he's talking about, it actually doesn't matter much that Jones has a better batting average than Gwynn did further along in the season. Nor does it matter that Garciaparra was at .403 as late as July 20. What matters is that Jones ends up with a .400 batting average when the season is over. Statistically, there's nothing that says Jones can't drop below .400 for some time, then go on tear and bring his average back up to .400.

That said, based on the logic Clancy is using, it still doesn't matter that Jones is further along in his .400 quest than Gwynn was at this point in the season. Career batting average tells us that Jones' .310 career batting average, 28 points lower than Gwynn's career average, would suggest Jones always has less of a chance than Gwynn to hit .400. The only time this changes is if we get much later into this season and Jones still is hovering around .400. At that point he will have a better probability than he does right now of hiting .400 -- much better than Gwynn anyway, whose season and career are both over.

Zero good news on 'Big Z'

Carlos Zambrano is back in Chicago for an MRI after experiencing shoulder discomfort in the seventh inning of Wednesday's 5-4 loss at Tampa Bay. Nothing about this development is good for Cubs fans. Oddly enough, all three of Chicago's young arms (Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and now Zambrano) from the 2003 near-National League Championship team have experienced shoulder problems. Wood eventually returned after a series of injuries to become a very good closer. Prior is still out following a setback in his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery.

Fantasy Impact: Zambrano is the Cubs' ace and probably your fantasy ace. Zambrano wanted to stay in the game, but Lou Piniella though otherwise. Better hope Zambrano's willingness to continue is a harbinger for a speedy return. This could impact the Cubs much more than Alfoso Soriano's injury.

Chipper's chances

Chipper Jones went 2-5 tonight, keeping his average right at .400. David Pinto over at baseballmusings.com continues to develop a probability graph for Jones' .400 campaign. Unless you understand logarithms the graphs are a little bit too statistical for the layman, but if you compare Chipper's chances to the graphs that follow you'll see he doesn't stand much chance of pulling it off. Ted Williams would appear to be very safe at this point.

Wind gusting in Guthrie's sails

Tough no-decision against the Astros tonight for Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie. He worked eight strong innings of one-run baseball (Lance Berkman's 20th HR), but didn't get a win. Baltimore did emerge victorious in extra innings, and Guthrie dropped his ERA down to 3.51. Guthrie threw 74 of his 105 pitches for strikes.

Fantasy Impact: The 29-year-old is getting better with age. Guthrie, a former first-round pick (22nd overall in 2002 out of Stanford), allowed just three hits in this latest gem. Save for a hiccup at Boston last week, this makes for seven quality starts the last eight times out. Guthrie is becoming a high-end fantasy pitcher.