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On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Before the season started, the Detroit Tigers were the popular pick amongst baseball fans and experts alike as the eventual World Series champion. After adding Miguel Cabrera to a potent lineup that already included hitters like Magglio Ordonez, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Guillen, Curtis Granderson, and Ivan Rodriguez, there was talk that the Tigers would score 1,000 runs this season.

Who knew they'd need to? Though most people were aware that the Detroit bullpen would be a problem area, I don't think anybody thought they would be as bad as they have been in 2008. So now here we sit on August 7th, and the Tigers find themselves in a tailspin.

After building up some momentum in recent weeks to get back into the AL Central race, the Tigers have now lost six in a row to fall three games under .500. They're also on the verge of being swept by the division leading Chicago White Sox and falling 9.5 games out of first place, which could effectively end any hope they have of playing this October.

So will the Tigers pull the plug on their season tonight, or are they going to rise up and start mauling people again? Find out after the jump.

Mariners fans aren't used to seeing their general manager Bill Bavasi in buyer mode at the end of July, but thanks to a strong first half they find themselves in new exciting territory. The Mariners are looking to add another starting pitcher to their rotation and have been scouting a couple pitchers for a while now.

For instance, Bavasi sent Dan Evans to Boston to have him watch Javier Vasquez pitch against the Red Sox on Thursday and Jose Contreras later today. Contreras is definetely available, and Vasquez could probably be had if the right deal was offered.

He's had a few preliminary talks with other teams, and they all keep asking about the same player, Adam Jones. They can keep asking, but Bavasi isn't going to budge when it comes to Jones.

"There's the obvious one. But he's not going anywhere. There's nobody good enough available."

The reason the Mariners don't want to trade Jones is because of his potential, and the fact they plan on bringing him up and playing him in the outfield at some point this season. It doesn't mean that Seattle won't be able to pull off a deal though, because they still have other intriguing prospects in Wladimir Balentein, Ryan Feierabend, and Jeff Clement they'd be willing to part with.

Ozzie Guillen had quite the adventure on Thursday trying to return from his home in Miami to Baltimore in time for the White Sox game in Baltimore. He had made arrangements to fly on a private plane with his family, and Javier Vazquez's family to Baltimore.

Well, the best laid plans....

Guillen was wondering whether he would arrive in time for the game after mechanical problems scratched his first private flight from Opa-locka Executive Airport, and an engine problem on a plane that flew from the Bahamas he was to take was canceled.

A plane from Orlando eventually picked up Guillen, his wife Ibis and one of his sons and Javier Vazquez and his family, but a brief storm postponed their departure by another 30 minutes.

"The first day when the players come in [for spring training] the first thing I say is, 'Don't be late.' I'm the manager and I'm real late. They're killing me right now, everywhere. They're making fun of me. It's going to be a lot of money. Whatever the fine is, I'm going to pay double because I'm the manager of the club. Now I regret saying that because I don't know how much the fine is. No matter what it is I will pay double. I should pay double."

Of course, after watching his bullpen nearly blow a 9-2 lead in the 9th inning by allowing five Orioles runs, I'm sure that Ozzie wouldn't have minded so much if his bullpen didn't get to Baltimore in time for the game.