What A Great Idea!!

Maybe the wrong manager named Manuel got tossed last night. New Mets skipper Jerry Manuel, whose team is 3-4 since he took over, got tossed for arguing balls and strikes while Charlie Manuel, whose charges have lost six in a row and counting, stayed in the dugout and watched his offense sleep walk through another game. We have to assume Philadelphia's Manuel doesn't think a tantrum will help the Phils slough off their sloth. What's his second choice?

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It's a good thing fans heeded the advice of MLB and voted early and often; otherwise, Chase Utley might not continue to lead all NL players in All-Star voting given his struggles at the plate. Utley has seen his average drop from .317 to .289 over the last few weeks. One base hit in 29 official AB's will do that.

Utley isn't the only star struggling. David Wright's average has dipped just as dramatically and his hands are turning to stone. An error by the Mets third baseman the other night gave life to the Mariners and heretofore unknown slugging Seattle pitcher Felix Hernandez responded by hitting a grand slam home run in his first plate appearance of the season off of no other than Johann Santana. Afterwards, Hernandez said he swung with his eyes closed, a condition Santana corroborated (though I suppose there might have been a different outcome had his eyes been on the catcher's mitt and not the batter's peepers.)

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Shane Victorino's name is figuring prominently in trade talks these days and one explanation given is that the Phils aren't too pleased with "his situational hitting" according to Paul Hagen. Subtracting Victorino from the Phils lineup will eliminate speed at the top of the order and leave the team with perhaps the most plodding lineup in MLB. Subtract his glove from the defense and the Phils will have arguably the worst outfield alignment in MLB. What a great idea!!

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Another note we hear sounded often when it comes to the Phillies and trade talks is that they don't have much in the way of prospects to deal. Maybe they could offer their number one picks from 2006 and 2007, Kyle Drabek and Joe Slavery, in any deal. On second thought, both have had arm miseries and those are the types of pitchers the Phils tend to acquire not trade!