Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. – The cleanup hitters in Thursday's game were Preston Wilson and Carl Everett. They have combined to play in more than 2,500 major-league games, hit 391 homers and make more than $80 million.
Wilson and Everett were on opposite sides in the 2003 All-Star Game in Chicago, but this night they were far, far away from U.S. Cellular Field. They were the DHs for the Long Island Ducks and Newark Bears of the Atlantic League, respectively.
And they weren't the only former big-leaguers on the field.
The joke is on us, because the Rangers starting rotation is pretty damn legit right now. After Sunday, the Rangers now sport the fifth-best starter's ERA (4.25) in the American League.
The battle for the White Sox starting center field job this spring wasn't exactly epic, but when the dust had finally settled, it was minor-league journeyman Dewayne Wise who had emerged victorious against Brian Anderson and Jerry Owens. And when I say victorious, I mean least harmful.
Wise also won the leadoff job in Ozzie Guillen's lineup, but that role only lasted for two games before Guillen replaced Wise with rookie Chris Getz, which seemed to be working well for Wise. Which is why it's too bad that he's going to miss the next four to six weeks after suffering a Grade 3 seperation of his shoulder while making a diving catch during the fifth inning on Monday.
Coming off of a last-place finish in the AL Central, the Tigers are desperate for upgrades all over the place, including at shortstop, but after splurging big last winter, they're looking to do it at a discount.
As such, Detroit has targeted the Red Sox, who have a logjam at shortstop with rookie Jed Lowrie overtaking Julio Lugo in midseason, and the ability to absorb an albatross contract, namely Nate Robertson's or Dontrelle Willis', in recent weeks.
But according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald, those talks have stalled and the chances of a deal between the two clubs is "remote."
The question becomes what now for the Tigers. They'll probably revisit trade discussions with Boston and kick the tires on San Diego's Khalil Greene and Pittsburgh's Jack Wilson, but with the Sox increasingly likely to hold on to Lugo and with the acquisition cost of Greene prohibitive, their options are limited in trade.
They might be even more limited in free agency. Detroit already declined Edgar Renteria's 2009 option and appears unwilling to walk down that road again after only one season. It will certainly be priced out of the Rafael Furcal market and probably the Orlando Cabrera market as well. Add it all up, and the Tigers might be forced to punt the shortstop position in 2009, settling for a platoon of Ramon Santiago and one of the bargain infield options like David Eckstein or Alex Cora.
As Mr. Watson told you yesterday, the Seattle Mariners finally went ahead and did what we'd all been waiting for them to do for a few weeks now: they fired general managerBill Bavasi. In other words, Monday was probably the best day that Seattle sports fans have had in a while, and a cause for celebration.
With the pending move of the Sonics, and the Mariners struggles this season, there hasn't been much to cheer about in the Emerald City lately. Still, while there's some debate in New York about the Mets firing Willie Randolph (was it deserved? did they go about it the right way? etc.), I don't think there's much debate amongst Mariners fans about how they feel for this move. If they're upset about anything, it's probably that Bavasi was the only one to go and that the team can't fire Richie Sexson.
As Watson mentioned in his post yesterday, Bavasi's tenure in Seattle is not one littered with success. He gave questionable contracts to Sexson, Carlos Silva, and Adrian Beltre (though I think Beltre has been a good addition to the club), actually gave Jeff Weaver $8 million to suck for a season, and made trades like sending Carlos Guillen to Detroit for Ramon Santiago. Those are some devastating moves, and yet, that's only part of what Bavasi did to help bring this organization down.
The Mariners will be finishing up a six-game road trip this afternoon at Yankee Stadium, and they'll be hoping to avoid going 0-6. Still, you have to wonder, despite the fact that they haven't won a game on this trip, do they really even want to go back home to Seattle? At least while they're in New York, the home fans can't kill them, so they're safer on the road.
There's probably also some fear in manager John McLaren and general manager Bill Bavasi that they may not hold those titles for much longer. The fans wouldn't exactly cry themselves to sleep at night knowing those two were gone, and they may be getting their wish soon as both have received the dreaded votes of confidence from team president Chuck Armstrong.
"Their positions are secure," Armstrong told MLB.com from his Bellevue, Wash., home. "They are not to be blamed for what's going on.
"In my 23 years, I have never ever seen anything like this. We saw it the other way in 2001. I mean, you have to ask yourself, 'How did the Mariners win 116 games that season with that roster, compared to this roster?' This is just as inexplicable the other way."
Remember how Carlos Guillen said he wasn't ready to make a full-time move to first base next season? Yeah, scratch that: he met with Jim Leyland last week and came away with a brand-new perspective. From Booth Newspaper's Danny Knobler (via DTW):
Leyland has already spoken with Guillen, and Guillen said he had no problem with playing first base, if that's what the Tigers want him to do.
``I know they'll bring in a good (shortstop),'' Guillen said. ``I know it's going to be a good one. I don't know who it's going to be, but I know it's going to be a good one.''
Who might the Tigers consider? The Detroit News notes that Omar Vizquel and David Ecstein (ugh) are free agents and Edgar Renteria might be available in a trade. I'm not sure the first two will be an improvement at all, but Renteria (who's hit .332 with an .860 OPS for Atlanta this year) is awfully intriguing. His lone season in the American League, with Boston in 2005, was a down year for him, but he has enough upside both offensively and defensively that he'd probably be worth it -- depending, of course, on what the Braves demand in return.
Guillen's offensive contributions aren't quite as remarkable as a corner infielder, but they'll still be an improvement over Sean Casey, who nearly hit .300 but also managed just four home runs all season long. As long as the new shortstop is no worse an offensive player than Casey (which rules out internal replacement like Ramon Santiago or a trade for Jack Wilson), it'll be a net gain for Detroit.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
The battle for the White Sox starting center field job this spring wasn't exactly epic, but when the dust had finally settled, it was minor-league journeyman 
Coming off of a last-place finish in the AL Central, the Tigers are desperate for upgrades all over the place, including at shortstop, but after splurging big last winter, they're looking to do it at a discount.
As 
The Mariners will be finishing up a six-game road trip this afternoon at Yankee Stadium, and they'll be hoping to avoid going 0-6. Still, you have to wonder, despite the fact that they haven't won a game on this trip, do they really even want to go back home to Seattle? At least while they're in New York, the home fans can't kill them, so they're safer on the road.
Remember how 
