Yet another one bites the dust
 
Bud Black was shown the door in San Diego this week.  Can’t say we didn’t see this one coming either.  The team isn’t competing the way new GM AJ Preller wants/thinks it should be.  Preller didn’t hire Black and with the rough start the formula was complete for a dismissal.  The team named their AAA manager to replace Black but that’s not the move a team loaded with talent needs to make a move in the standings.  What new skipper Pat Murphy really needs is for pitchers Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross to remember how to throw strikes consistently. Some offensive punch out of Matt Kemp wouldn’t hurt either. 

 

What the F@#k ??
 
Jeff Luhnow is a hated man.  I feel comfortable saying that because the team he used to be employed by before joining the Houston Astros as their GM, the St. Louis Cardinals, hacked the Astros computers and accessed player profiles, scouting reports and internal trade discussions.  We do need to point out that Luhnow left amid some hard feelings in 2011, and I have a feeling we will find out he was not kind to a certain employee or two.   The Feds are involved and when that happens someone goes to prison, not the white collar kind with conjugal visits the Shawshank Redemption kind.  The Patriot Act makes this a virtual certainty to happen. 
 
The degree to which this information affected the game itself is probably miniscule but just like Deflategate in the NFL, it damages a team and organization’s reputation.  It would be a shame if this was one guy getting back at Luhnow, because now the Cardinal Way as they like to call it is now tarnished.  Hopefully the players are able to deal with the impending media circus well enough to hold onto the division, it’s not their issue to deal with, its management’s.  I’m sure Tony LaRussa will be getting a phone call from the FBI and MLB on the matter. 

 

Top 5 teams right now:
  1. St. Louis Cardinals- We will see if hackgate damages the on filed product, more importantly Lance Lynn and his tender pitching arm need to come back healthy after his 15 days on the DL are over.
  2. Houston Astros- Getting quality starts from young call ups in rotation.  McCullers looks like he’s solidified the middle of the rotation, but they still need another arm for a playoff push.  7 game losing streak simply showed they aren’t elite team... yet. 
  3. Kansas City Royals-  I’m honestly surprised it took this long for a team to stuff the ballot box for all their players.  Probably have 4 representatives but 8 starters? I can’t wait to see the ridiculous rule MLB puts in place to curtail this for next year.  
  4. Pittsburgh Pirates- This team gels like no other! Liriano pitching like its 10 years ago. Cole making case for the Cy Young, and Charlie Morton is 5-0 with a 1.62 ERA.  The offensive hero has been Jung Ho Kang, their Korean import who seems to have found a home at the hot corner, allowing Josh Harrison to solidify 1B and push Pedro Alvarez to a pinch hitting role. 
  5. Toronto Blue Jays-  An 11 game win streak helped get them back into a weak AL East.  The charge was spearheaded by team, and possible league, MVP Josh Donaldson.  The pitching hasn’t killed them during the stretch but likely will revert back to below average sooner rather than later. 
The bottom 5:
  1. Boston Red Sox-  Stop trying to be cute, and make a trade for some rotation help before the division is too far gone.
  2. Seattle Mariners- They went for it in the off season, and again last week in trading for slugger Mark Trumbo, except he immediately got dinged up and fell in line with the rest of the team and hasn’t hit.  The rotation needs healthy versions Iwakuma and Paxton badly. 
  3. Colorado Rockies-  Perpetual bottom three team.  Can’t figure out how to bring along pitchers since the start of the franchise, may as well go back to trying to score 10 a game and see how that works. Only bright spot is 2B LaMahieu, hitting over .340. 
  4. Milwaukee Brewers-  They need to convince someone that Garza and Lohse are serviceable so they don’t suit up for this team anymore.
  5. Philadelphia Phillies-  Could be a long next three to five years in the City of Brotherly Love.