FanHouse VictorZambrano

Scott Kazmir will start the first game of the Yankees-Rays series at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. I think it's a municipal law that anytime Kazmir and New York City are mentioned in close company, there must be a mention of Victor Zambrano sometime in the next 12 words. It seems the Yankees want to stay on the good side of John Law.

According to the Daily News, they are sending a scout to watch Zambrano throw this week as part of their search for pitching to replace the injured Chien-Ming Wang in the rotation. Desperation is obviously getting the best of the Yankees. Baseball appears to have figured out Darrell Rasner, Sidney Ponson is living on borrowed time and C.C. Sabathia ain't walking through that door.

Still, they may be better served by taping Carl Pavano up and rolling his sack of bones out there. Zambrano didn't make the Rockies out of spring training and went 0-6 with a 9.45 ERA in AAA before earning his release. And, as any Met fan will be happy to tell you, it's not as if he was a particularly good pitcher at any point.

What's the enduring lesson of this entire story? Teach your sons, righty or lefty, how to pitch because no matter how terrible they turn out, someone will give them a shot.

Hey, remember how amazed everyone in the Blue Jays front office was when Victor Zambrano, coming off Tommy John surgery, had himself a nice spring and seemed like a wild-card lock to make the Blue Jays' starting rotation?

Well, that nice spring training turned out to be the highlight of Zambrano's tenure in the Great White North. Today, the Jays gave him his unconditional release.

The only surprise was that it took this long for the Jays to show him the door. After posting an 0-2 record and 10.97 ERA through 8 appearances, Zamby hit the DL back in May with a forearm strain, and had been sucking it up in Triple-A Syracuse ever since.

Seeing how rapidly his star has fallen, it's still hard to believe that Zambrano was one of the guys the Mets got in return for... Scott Kazmir. Oh, the humanity!

The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Milwaukee Brewers (22-10) vs. Washington Nationals (9-23)-8:05PM Est.

The Brewers look to continue their assault on their National League opponents tonight, along with the rectums of their fans, as they try to win their tenth game in twelve tries. Speaking of having your hands in things, Brewers starter Dave Bush has had his hand in the last two Brewers losses. It's time to get physical in Milwaukee, now touch your toes.

Toronto Blue Jays (13-18) vs. Boston Red Sox (20-10)-7:05PM Est.

The Blue Jays are happy to return to Canada after going 0-6 on a road trip in which they saw themselves outscored 44-22. No wonder Vernon Wells is in such a foul mood. Unfortunately for them, things don't get any easier tonight. They get to face Josh Beckett and his 6-0 record and 2.72 ERA. For the Jays, Victor Zambrano makes his second start of the season after lasting only 2.2 innings in his last start.

Detroit Tigers (19-11) vs. Seattle Mariners (14-13)-7:05PM Est.

The Detroit Tigers are unstoppable! Not even ruptured tendons can stop them from winning and they look to get their eighth straight victory tonight against the Seattle Mariners. Jeremy Bonderman takes the mound tonight and would really like to get that second win of the season. Really, it's not fair that Bondo has only one win with the way he's pitched so far this season. Especially when the guy he's facing, Horacio Ramirez, has two somehow managed to get two wins this season despite his 6.64 ERA. Here's to hoping Adrian Beltre wakes up in time.