It hasn't been the greatest week for Cubs manager Lou Piniella. Not only is he feeling the heat of the Chicago media with the Cubs scuffling, but he's also gotten into an argument with Milton Bradley in which he called his right fielder a "piece of [expletive]." Regardless of whether the exchange should have ever left the clubhouse or not, it's not exactly the type of thing you want the world to know about.
All of this was done after a recent poll by Sports Illustrated in which Major League players were asked anonymously which manager in baseball they would least like to play for, and which one they'd most like to play for. Guess which one Sweet Lou emerged "victorious" in.
While most people are aware of the struggles that Boston's David Ortiz has been suffering through this season, there's another Dominican slugger located on the other coast that's been scuffling himself. Vladimir Guerrero is hitting a respectable .273 this season for the Angels, but when you're a man with a career average of .322, it's somewhat worrisome.
More worrisome is the fact that Guerrero's power numbers leave a lot to be desired. He may have 393 career homers but only one of them has come this season, and Vlad's only driven in 10 runs to go along with that one homer. Now he did miss about five weeks of action this season, so that's definitely playing a factor in those numbers, but he's just not driving the ball like he used to. So at this point he's willing to do anything to shake out of this slump, and on Tuesday Guerrero said goodbye to his dreadlocks.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Angels general manager Tony Reagins said the answers for the Angels' uncharacteristic bullpen struggles are "in-house."
Unfortunately for the Angels, one of those answers, maybe the only one, just went on the disabled list.
Kelvim Escobar, who represents the Angels' best hope to settle their tattered bullpen, went on the disabled list on Monday with a recurrence of the shoulder problem that cost him the first two months of the season.
The Angels' company line is that Escobar had only a mild setback, similar to one he had in April, and he'll be ready to go in a week. Since he hasn't pitched since June 6, he's eligible to come off the DL next Monday. When he does, he'll try to get the Angels bullpen righted.
Three years later Kendrick has failed to establish himself in a meaningful way at the major league level, and it could cost him his job according to the Los Angeles Times.
With pitch counts becoming so important in recent years it seems as though starting pitchers are working less innings every season. These days if you can give your team six innings of solid work every start you're probably going to end up making a lot of money in baseball because the Roy Halladays of the world are very few and far between. Because of this, bullpens are becoming more and more important for teams.
It's not a coincidence that division-winning teams usually are teams with the best bullpen in their division, and as any baseball fan knows, the bullpen is also the least predictable part of a baseball team, which is why I've always considered Scot Shields to be one of the best relievers in baseball. Since 2002 he's been a very reliable part of the Angels 'pen and has never finished a season with an ERA over 3.86.
MLB Power Rankings:Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
What a zany week for a pair of pitchers with amazing stories: Zack Greinke is America's favorite story right now, somehow managing to be hotter than Twitter. (And if Oprah starts doing him too, I'm just quitting. And I mean everything.) Meanwhile, Rick Ankiel (you may hear word of this "podcast" we're doing about him, but that's because I'm shameless like that), a former star on the mound as well, nearly decapitates himself running into an outfield wall. And yet, life goes on. Just like our Power Rankings.
The tragic death of 22-year-old starter Nick Adenhart is definitely going to be the low point of the Los Angeles Angels' season -- at least let's hope they don't have to deal with another death -- but much less significant problems are continuing to plague the defending AL West Champions. Specifically, they can't escape the injury bug.
As if the Angels didn't have enough problems this year with their tragedy- and injury-stricken pitching staff, now they've lost their best hitter. Vladimir Guerrero is going to be out indefinitely with a tear in the right pectoral.
"Obviously, short of needing surgery, this is a big blow," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Vlad will be reevaluated in a month, and we'll see where we are with it.
"We don't have a timetable right now. We'll see how it progresses. There are some optimistic windows we're getting, and some that might take longer."
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- A series full of drama and emotion got a little more entertaining today, when Josh Beckett whistled a ball past Bobby Abreu's head, inciting a bench-clearing incident that resulted in four Angels getting ejected.
Even after it was all over and the Angels had pulled out another dramatic 5-4 victory, taking two of three in the series, there were some unhappy folks in the winning clubhouse.
"That was as flagrant as anything I've seen in this game, and it's unfortunate," said manager Mike Scioscia, who had to watch the last eight innings of the game on television after he got the boot.
It hasn't been the greatest week for Cubs manager Lou Piniella. Not only is he feeling the heat of the Chicago media with the Cubs scuffling, but he's also gotten into an argument with Milton Bradley in which he called his right fielder a "piece of [expletive]." Regardless of whether the exchange should have ever left the clubhouse or not, it's not exactly the type of thing you want the world to know about.
While most people are aware of the struggles that Boston's 
SAN FRANCISCO -- Angels general manager 
Once upon a time 
With pitch counts becoming so important in recent years it seems as though starting pitchers are working less innings every season. These days if you can give your team six innings of solid work every start you're probably going to end up making a lot of money in baseball because the 
Starting Five
The tragic death of 22-year-old starter 
As if the Angels didn't have enough problems this year with their tragedy- and injury-stricken pitching staff, now they've lost their best hitter. 
