The Post-Perlozzo-Era?

BALTIMORE (AP) - The Baltimore Orioles have scheduled a 1 p-m news conference at the Camden Yards Warehouse for this afternoon amid reports they are firing manager Sam Perlozzo.
The Orioles have lost eight straight games and there are reports in The (Baltimore) Sun and on broadcast stations that Perlozzo is being fired.
The team has not publicly announced the reason for the news conference.
The 56-year-old Perlozzo is in his second season managing the Orioles. The Cumberland native had called managing the Orioles his dream job.

Apparently it's his fault they've lost 3 starting pitchers this season and the "new and improved bullpen" is atrocious.

Hey Homer!

Mr. Bailey, the NL's answer to Phil Hughes, will make his big league debut Friday night, in Cincinnati, against the hard-hitting Indians. Good luck Homey! In that park, against that team, you're going to need it. Let's not forget, though, the NL ROY race is wide open, so with a few good starts, he could be in the mix, especially if he's as good as advertised.

A Bronx Bombshell

The Rocket is heading back to New York, much to the chagrin of Red Sox (and probably Astros fans).

Here's what I find interesting. It's May 6, the Yankees are 5 1/2 games back of the Red Sox, with more than 130 left to go. There's no way New York's starting rotation will be : Wang, Mussina, Clemens, Pettitte, and Igawa/Hughes when they host Boston, May 21-23. But they might have all the pieces in place for the series June 1-3 in Boston. Hughes' hamstring injury isn't as bad as they thought, and Clemens already says he's in pretty good shape. After that series, the two teams don't play again until the second half of the season, when they hook up just 6 more times (3 in New York and 3 in Boston).

This really makes the month of May critical for New York. So far, they've won 5 of 6, after going 9-14 in April. If they can keep Boston within striking distance, the games in June and in the second half could determine the division winner. But if they go into another funk, or suffer more pitching staff injuries, Clemens will earn $4.5 million dollars a month to help the Yankees play out the schedule in September. Either way, it looks like George Steinbrenner isn't going down without a fight.

Phil Hughes Will Debut Thursday

This, I find funny. I was just having a conversation with a Yankee-fan member of my family Sunday about how soon the Bombers would bring up Phil Hughes, in light of their pitching woes (including, as a Red Sox-fan friend of mine calls him, Chase Wright Down The Middle).

I told him that a young pitcher's brain is arguably the most fragile part of his body, even more so than his throwing arm. And I said the Yanks would most likely want him to get about 100 innings under his belt at triple-A before even thinking about a call up. But now that their starting rotation makes the Nationals' staff look deep, they're giving Hughes the nod after just three triple-A starts. He'll throw Thursday night at home against Toronto.

Best case scenario: Hughes is great, Wang comes off the DL, only to be joined by Moose and Pettitte, and the Yanks pitching rivals that of the Red Sox and Angels for best in the league.

Worst case scenario: Hughes gets batted around like he did in spring training causing his ego irreparable damage and he peters out as a Can't Miss Kid who somehow did. We'll know more Thursday.

Closer Alert!

In what could be a sign that the Jorge Julio experiment is already over, Henry Owens saved the Marlins' 5-3 victory over the Brewers tonight. He gave up a single to Prince Fielder, and took 19 pitches to get through the 9th, but unlike JJ, Owens threw mostly strikes.

For the year, he hasn't allowed an earned run in 5 innings, but he also has exactly zero strikeouts in those 5 innings- not a great statistic for a 9th inning guy. Plus, he turns 28 in a few weeks, has 9 big league innings under his belt, and has 5 career walks and just 2 career wiffs.

Julio's been awful, no doubt (0-1, 16.88 ERA, 9 hits, 4 walks, 0 K's in 2 2/3), but I'm not sure if Owens is the long-term answer for the fish.

Go Get 'Em Tiger...In July

The man at the center of smudge-gate, Tigers lefty Kenny Rogers, is going to miss at least half of the season. He had to have surgery on his left shoulder to remove a blood clot.

The cats still have a solid rotation with Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman, Mike Maroth, and Nate Robertson, but they will have a tough time replacing him for the next three months. Last year he had 17 wins and sub 4.00 ERA, but a Chien-Ming Wang-esque 99 K's in 204 innings.

Papelbon Back To The Pen!

All of the sudden, Jonathan Papelbon looks like a steal in the 10th round, and Joel Pineiro looks like a complete dud in the 20th, at least according to ESPN.

George Likes Spicy Chicken

And the Cubs like Carlos Zambrano. A week to the day after Treinta Ocho demanded the Cubs sign him before the season, they did. He didn't get the $15M he wanted, and the Cubs aren't locked into a long-term deal, just in case all those pitches (thanks for the post Matt) take a toll on his wing.

I'd say the scoreboard looks something like this...Cubs - 1, Treinta Ocho - 1, NL Central - 0. Now they just need the rest of the staff (Marquis, Lilly, Prior, etc.) to fall into line.

By the way, I think it's pretty sweet that he has an incentive clause in his contract if he wins the sliver slugger award. This was a guy who swung out of his ass last year and there wasn't extra money at stake. I can't wait to see the kind of hacks T.O. takes in '07.

This Jinx Brought To You Courtesy Of The Baseblogger

This came down on the AP wires, literally seconds ago...

BALTIMORE (AP) - Baltimore Orioles pitcher Kris Benson has a
torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder and will almost certainly
miss the 2007 season.
Benson's agent says a recent M-R-I revealed a partial tear. The
injury will require surgery, but the procedure has not yet been
scheduled.

Sorry O's fans. Maybe those playoff tickets are refundable.