The Morning Cup

Bill Bavasi (Mariners GM) and Willie Randolph (Mets Manager) are shown the door by their employers. Lee Pelekoudas and Jerry Manuel, respectively, will fill in for the dismissed until such time as the clubs find someone else to fire within 3-4 years. Last night the Mariners lost 6-1 to their bitter rivals the Florida Marlins, and the Mets managed to beat the Angels 9-6 apparently just before Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson (whom many have given credit for the resurgence of Ollie Perez), and third base coach Tom Nieto had what must have been a very awkward meeting with Omar Minaya.

Ryan Howard took a break from doing practice pop-ins to club 2 HRs and a triple in the Phillies' 8-2 win over the Red Sox. He now has 19 HRs and 62 RBI for the season, but still an OPS+ of 108, well below his career average of 144.

Jair Jurrjens continues to pitch well as the Braves beat the downtrodden Rockies 7-1. Makes you wonder whether or not there really was a serious offer of Mr. Jurrjens for one Jack Wilson last year. Nevermind, what could the Pirates do with a young right-handed starter with an ERA under 4.00? Don't answer that, because the answer probably includes a visit to Birmingham to meet with Dr. James Andrews.

Mike Fast from The Hardball Times wrote a really interesting article yesterday about Reds pitcher Danny Herrera and his apparent screwball. Now most of us only know the screwball from playing MVP Baseball, or something similar, since the pitch is apparently quite stressful to throw, but Mr. Fast does a very nice job of scouring the pitch f/x data to show just how screwy that screwball is.