Kind of weird week around the major leagues. Fraudulent teams like the Blue Jays and Marlins continue their steep decline down the division rankings. As of games played Sunday night, only seven teams in all of the majors had winning or losing streaks of more than one game, and only two of those had streaks going either way longer than three games (KC +4, Washington -6). Seems like maybe the dog days of summer are kicking in a little early this season…

At least it wasn’t the catcher’s face this time: Carlos Zambrano continued to do his best Dennis Rodman impersonation when he completely flipped out at home plate after an umpire (correctly) called Pittsburgh’s Nyjer Morgan safe at home plate. Zambrano was unsurprisingly suspended for six games, effectively costing him one start. What was surprising was Zambrano’s reaction – he admitted he was wrong, and he didn’t appeal the suspension. I can’t remember the last time a baseball player didn’t appeal a suspension, especially a starting pitcher. (Trey: What was there to appeal? He beat the shit out of a Gatorade machine…which has since been removed)

There goes the repeat: The Phillies’ starting rotation was already in trouble, with a team ERA of over 5 and a WHIP approaching 1.5. Then they got the news this week that Brett Myers is done for the year. Well, that’ll certainly help. Give me a hand here everybody – I’m completely blanking on pitchers who might be available off of non-contenders that the Phillies should be looking at for the trade deadline aside from Jake Peavy. Randy Johnson? Jeremy Guthrie? Is Roy Oswalt’s contract almost up? I can’t even name one starter in Oakland…(Trey: Talk about dissappointments! I expect the Phillies to make the first move in the upcoming trade bonanza…There is one big name I can see them running after. Erik Bedard)

Your weekly David Ortiz update: Since last Monday, 3-24, 1R, 1BB, 7K, 2 doubles, 0 home runs, 0 RBI. Perhaps the most disturbing part of that stat line is the one walk – Ortiz has been a good OBP guy for most of his career, even in Minnesota. He’s never had a season below a .369 OBP in Boston, and aside from a 10-game season in ’99 he’s never posted a season-long OBP below .324. I’m willing to admit defeat here and say he might be done, at least for ’09. Let the Jim Rice comparisons begin… (No, Ortiz is not a Hall-of-Famer). (Trey: No, let the steroid talk begin. Listen, the guy is in a funk, I don’t think him laying off the juice, IF he did it, would cause him to go to c0mplete crap in one year. It’s probably time for Boston to throw him on the bench for a week or put him in the 7-8 hole)

By comparison: I hate to admit it, but the Yankees might have spent at least $180M wisely this offseason. I’d sure like to see Big Tex in the Red Sox lineup right now.

Big D: Overrated – Team Defense. Sure, 4 of the top six teams in defense are division leaders. But look who else is in the top ten in the standings: Twins (-4.5 Games, 3^rd in division), Blue Jays (-2 GB, 3^rd), Pirates (-7GB, 5^th), Astros (-8.5, 6^th), Padres (-9, 3^rd), Angels (-4.5, 2^nd). Yeah, I’m probably just looking for ways to feel better about the Red Sox ranking 24^th in team defense – thanks again Julio Lugo!. Underrated – Bandboxes. Four of the six division leaders play home games in some of the smallest ballparks in the bigs. The Yankees, Rangers, Brewers and Phillies all play in home parks that are considered to be some of the easiest to hit homeruns out of. For the past decade, the focus has been on pitching. Is the pendulum starting to swing back the other way – just get a bunch of boppers and bash your way to a title?

Trey: Overrated - Bronson Arroyo’s 7-3 start. Ya, that guy is 7-3, with an ERA over 5.  I’m just waiting for that to blow up in his face…it will happen soon. Underrated: Cliff Lee’s 2-6 start. The guy needs run support, which is sad, because the Indians are one of the top offenses in baseball. The guy allowed 12 runs in his 6 May starts.

Coming Soon! The Week That Was Baseball College Edition!

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