Weekend Buzz: Reaching success in different ways
"I am hopeful that there is going to be a tomorrow," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said. "I see Tom being with this club hopefully in September and, if we get into the playoffs, beyond."
If Glavine isn't, the NL's powerhouse team, which already lacks starting pitching depth, will be seriously short in October. Even assuming Pedro Martinez overcomes all of his aches and pains -- he's on the disabled list now with a strained calf muscle -- a Mets playoff rotation without Glavine will include Martinez and ... uh. ...
Orlando Hernandez? His October expiration date is dangerously close.
Steve Trachsel? Sure, he's having a surprisingly good season, but Trachsel is to a playoff rotation what background players are to a major motion picture.
John Maine or Brian Bannister? Maybe, but they're untested.
Dave Williams? Goodness, no.
And going beyond the Mets' World Series aspirations, if Glavine, 40, loses the rest of this season, it could put a serious dent in his 300-win plans. At 287 wins, Glavine should be able to reach the 300 plateau next summer. But if he isn't able to come back this season, he's not close enough for comfort. Consider that, right now, he's 12-6 with a 3.92 ERA.
3. Jamie Moyer's Philadelphia Freedom: Saturday's trade to the Phillies should be excellent for Moyer, and not just because Seattle is sinking faster than the Titanic. Rather, Moyer has landed in the junior varsity league, so there will be no surprise if he immediately dominates.
Look at his former teammate, Aaron Sele. He was done, cooked, over with in the American League. Then he went to the Dodgers this year and suddenly became Renaissance Man. Bronson Arroyo left the vicious AL East and dominated in April and May for Cincinnati before cooling off.
"That should be good for them," said catcher Sal Fasano, a Phillie most of this year until the Yankees acquired him in late July, of the Moyer acquisition. "You don't know for sure, but for a couple of months, it should be good for them. Hopefully it will help them get over the hump and into the playoffs.
"It will be interesting to see how that develops."
Yes, "interesting" is one word for the lazy NL wild-card "race."
4. Mike Hargrove must go: The Mariners are more embarrassing than Chevy Chase was as a late-night talk show host. Fresh off an 0-11 trip through Texas, Oakland and Los Angeles, the Mariners have taken a once respectable season and turned it inside out.
They were one game under .500 and five games behind first-place Oakland when they left home; they are 12 games under .500 and 14 games out of first upon their return this week.
They have lost 20 consecutive games to AL West opponents.
"Everybody in here is together, but it's like we have no daddy," one Mariner told me a few weeks ago while reviewing the skipper's contributions to this year's team.
And if anybody can explain why the Mariners would call up raw center field prospect Adam Jones, play him in a few games, and then ice him on the bench all of last week, I'm all ears.
Hargrove will be fired, it's just a question of when. Given the reprehensible state of affairs in Seattle, this week sure seems like an appropriate time.
5. Greg Maddux, history major: The legend grows. Not only did Maddux win his 329th career game Saturday in San Francisco, he's now 2-0 with the Dodgers and has won four consecutive decisions. Now for the impressive part: During one stretch during his past two starts, he retired 32 consecutive San Francisco hitters -- the final 22 he faced last Sunday and the first 10 he faced on Saturday.
6. Edwin Encarnacion is a relief, but can he relieve?: The Reds third baseman led the majors through Sunday with 20 RBI in August, but what GM Wayne Krivsky really needs for Christmas is about a dozen new relief pitchers. Now Eddie Guardado is on the disabled list? The Reds have spent more on tape and ice for their pitchers this year than the Florida Marlins have spent on players.
7. Here come the White Sox: Back to within 5½ games of the Tigers, leading the AL wild-card chase ... and headed to Detroit for a four-game showdown with the Tigers this week.
8. Fonzie says "Aaaaay" and homers again: Alfonso Soriano becomes the 10th player in history to hit 40 homers and steal 30 bags in a season. And we haven't even heard a trade rumor in weeks now.
9. The Controllin' A's: When Barry Zito issued a walk in the third inning against Kansas City on Saturday, it was the first walk issued in five games by the Oakland staff. Hey Josh Beckett (nine walks in Saturday's Boston-Yankees game), you paying attention? That's one reason the A's, who rank 13th in the AL in batting average and runs scored and last in slugging percentage, have won eight of their past 10 games, are 14-4 in August (25-11 since the All-Star break) and are threatening to pull away in the AL West: They don't beat themselves.
10. Oh, say, can Jake Peavy see: You can't begin to understand how thrilled San Diego catchers are that the Padres' ace finally got a new shipment of contact lenses last week. He's as blind as Mr. Magoo without them and must have a special prescription. He didn't have them during his start a week ago Saturday in Houston. "I thought we were going to have to go to smoke signals," catcher Rob Bowen quipped.
