The First Domino Falls
 
In the last Corner I thought Miami was angling to have Mike Redmond be the first manager fired, but a nice turn around over the next 10 games put the team back around the .500 mark to remove him from the firing line.  No such turn around for Milwaukee’s Ron Roenicke.  The team started poorly and continued its miserable play and confused outlook long enough for GM Doug Melvin to drop the axe on Roenicke and bring in Craig Counsell, a journeyman infielder in his major league career.  Is he supposed to make Ryan Braun an offensive threat again? Is he supposed to find the fountain of youth for Matt Garza and K-Rod?  This team could be a huge seller at the trade deadline should this type of season continue to unfold. Stay tuned.

Parity, Parity, Parity.

 
In case you just assumed that the Houston Astros would finish last in the AL West like most (me) did, a healthy 10 game win streak has put them on top the division.  Yes really.  The Mariners, Angels and A’s are off to slow and pokey starts due to a variance of reasons, mostly having to do with subpar pitching.  The ‘stros are enjoying a strong follow up season to Dallas Keuchel’s break out last year as well as Collin McHugh showing he is a solid rotation guy.  The rest isn’t pretty which is why they were picked to come in last, but with no one else above .500 they can put some wins in the bank for at least a wild card berth. 

Josh Hamilton

 
Anyone who didn’t see his demise coming during the 2nd half of his last season in Texas needed to get their head out of the sand.  Yes that means you Artie Moreno.  You’re willing to pay your division rivals the Rangers $60 million dollars to get him off your books? That’s bad business and when you as an owner get too close to free agents you can be seduced by a player who tells you he is past that life style.  It’s just a bad look all the way around.  The fact that they got next to nothing from the Rangers because Hamilton refused to approve a trade to Arizona is mind boggling. This is a business, just ask Alex Rodriguez about his milestone home run bonus money. 

The top 5 teams right now in MLB:

  1. St. Louis Cardinals- Losing Wainwright for the year will hurt them come October but for now, in that division?  They just keep chugging along.
  2. Houston Astros- Feels weird putting them here but you can’t argue with results.
  3. Detroit Tigers- With Miggy back to being Miggy the team can ask what’s wrong with V-Mart and his new contract.  As usual questions about the bullpen will keep this team from a title run. 
  4. LA Dodgers- Doing a nice job of holding on without Jansen, Peralta, Ryu, McCarthy and Puig.  Other teams seasons would be sunk already.  Kudos Donnie Baseball.
  5. Kansas City Royals- These guys have been making a name for themselves by telling every other team they aren’t going to be taken for granted anymore like the previous couple decades.  And with a +45 run differential (tops in the majors) they are playing like a repeat visit to October is on the menu.
The bottom 5 teams:
 
  1. Colorado Rockies- They beat out several other teams playing just as poorly by their having given up the most runs in the majors at 131. 
  2. Chicago White Sox- Didn’t they spend a bunch of cash on free agents this winter with an eye on the wild card? – a 38 run differential paints an accurate picture. 
  3. Philadelphia Phillies- Stay strong on the trade demands for Hamels Mr. Amaro, stay strong.
  4. Texas Rangers- How will Hamilton fit into this clubhouse? Manager is gone as well as other veteran pieces whom he felt comfortable with;  injuries not helping matters either.
  5. Milwaukee Brewers- First team to fire its manager, and likely the first to start trading pieces away. Commence the Rebuild horn!