A month into the season, there have been a number of startling disappointments, such as the Diamondbacks, Miguel Tejada, the Astros and Torii Hunter.
But the biggest mess is the Mets.
Their play has been so poor, and the criticism so pointed, that by the time you read this, the countdown for the firing of general manager Steve Phillips might be down to hours.
Owner Fred Wilpon and son/COO/hatchet man Jeff Wilpon made it clear by their comments last week that Phillips is to blame for a team with a $120-million payroll and a 12-17 record.
"It's certainly not a lack of money why we're not being successful, so that's evident," Fred Wilpon said. "We provided every resource for this team to succeed."
It's evident to anyone outside the team offices that the Mets have a poorly constructed team with too much money (and playing time) committed to aging veterans who, for whatever lame reasons, aren't contributing, such as Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar, Armando Benitez, Roger Cedeno and even Rey Sanchez (who they signed after gleefully trading Rey Ordonez to the Rays).
The Wilpons, of course, had a say in all the moves but apparently aren't taking any of the blame.
"Fred and I are only as good as the info we get," Jeff Wilpon said.
Having made the offseason decisions to keep Phillips and fire manager Bobby Valentine then to refuse to meet Seattle's compensation demands for Lou Piniella and hire mild-mannered Art Howe, the Wilpons now are ready to do something.
Because they won't be able to clear out all the problem players, they are likely to fire Phillips, promote assistant Jim Duquette to finish the season then go after a big-name GM such as Brian Sabean, to start the total overhaul of a team that, amazingly, was in the World Series just three seasons ago.
"The guys haven't performed as we thought they would perform," Jeff Wilpon said. "But the decisions were made by Steve and the staff that we had the right people here."
HOME OF THE BRAVES: It seemed like only three weeks ago the Braves were buried, stung by a 4-8 start, some dismal pitching by Greg Maddux and a string of injuries.
Then they went out and ripped off a 13-2 streak and finished with the fourth-best April since they moved to Atlanta.
"We had a great month; 17-10 is a tremendous start," manager Bobby Cox said.
Maddux, by the way, has a 1.75 ERA in his past four starts (five earned runs in 252/3 innings). Mike Hampton looked extremely sharp in beating Houston. Roberto Hernandez has been a key piece in their rebuilt bullpen, and the offense has been clicking.
"That's why that 4-8 start was so shocking," Chipper Jones said. "It just seemed like we couldn't put anything together the first 10 or 12 games. But once this offense settled in and started doing its thing, we've been scoring some runs."
The Braves, though, will have to deal with the distractions of a sale, which gained steam with last week's decision to hire an investment banker.
STARRY-EYED: The players (of course) had a reason for agreeing to the plan that gives the All-Star Game winner homefield advantage for the World Series.
They got the All-Star rosters expanded from 30 to 32, got a say in how the reserves are picked and got a promise to explore other ideas, such as a U.S. vs. World all-star format.
WORLDWIDE APPEAL: Reporters seemed to be more interested in last week's first meeting between Japanese stars Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners and Hideki Matsui of the Yankees than the players. There were about 250 media members, 150 or so from Japan, including guest commentator Shigeo Nagashima, a legendary player considered the Joe DiMaggio of Japan.
Was the night any fun?
"I just enjoyed watching you guys," Ichiro said, nodding at the reporters crowding the clubhouse hoping for news to break.
PERSONAL MATTER: Rockies reliever Todd Jones apologized to the team for the reaction to his recent comments about not wanting a gay teammate but did not, in any way, back down.
"I think my only mistake was I made my views public," Jones said.
EXTREME FOCUS: San Francisco's Jason Schmidt delivered a remarkable performance Wednesday, striking out 12 in a three-hit shutout of the Cubs five nights after the funeral for his mother, Vicki, who died of brain cancer at 53.
"This was the highlight of my career, all things considered," Schmidt said, trying to suppress tears. "I went out there and tried to treat it like any other game. I felt a little guilty going out there, not being home, but I'm glad I went out there. I said a little prayer before the game. I said, "It's your will. Just give me this game tonight.' That was it."
Said teammate Barry Bonds: "Incredible."
DUSTY MEMORIES: Dusty Baker was asked a lot of questions during his first trip back to San Francisco with the Cubs, including if he spent a lot of time thinking about losing the World Series to Anaheim.
"I don't think about it much. I think about it when I see the Angels on TV and when I see (Angels manager Mike Scioscia). I haven't been to the zoo to see any monkeys lately," Baker said, referring to the Angels' Rally Monkey.
REDS BLUE: Since a sellout crowd for opening day at the Great American Ball Park, the Reds haven't drawn more than 30,000 and had fewer than 25,000 for five of their past six home games.
AND HOW WAS YOUR DAY?: Brooks Kieschnick had one of the more interesting days in a long time Wednesday. He pitched two innings in relief in the afternoon for Triple-A Indianapolis (allowing two runs on three hits and three walks), was called up by the Brewers, arrived during the game and pinch hit in the sixth, striking out. "That," Kieschnick said, "was definitely a first for me."
The Brewers will use him in relief and as a pinch-hitter.
MYSTERY OF THE WEEK: San Diego's Adam Eaton couldn't explain how he threw a wild pitch in each of his first four innings against Pittsburgh. "My pitches were doing things tonight that I've never seen before," Eaton said. "It was definitely a strange night."
WE'RE NOT MAKING THIS UP: On June 2, the Bisbee-Douglas (Ariz.) Copper Kings of the new independent Arizona-Mexico League are hosting a Ted Williams Night - the first 500 fans receive Popsicles.
"We felt now that he's a resident of Arizona, or at least part of him is, we wanted to do this," Kings GM John Guy said. "As with all minor-league teams, we have to rely on promotions. And this is a heck of a lot cheaper than bringing in the Dynamite Lady."
MISCELLANY: Rafael Palmeiro went into the weekend two homers shy of becoming the 19th member of the 500-homer club. ... Bonds has 62 multihomer games, 10 behind leader Babe Ruth. ... The Indians scored three runs or fewer in 17 of their first 27 games. ... The sale of the Angels is expected to be finalized May 15. ... Florida's Mike Lowell got his first big-league triple in his 2,042nd at-bat. ... When the Royals hit three Boston batters in the ninth inning Wednesday, it was just the second time in major-league history that happened, the first since Sept. 17, 1928. ... Ivan Rodriguez has started taking ground balls at third base for the Marlins. ... The most heated competition in New York might be the agents scrambling to represent Alfonso Soriano, who ditched rep Don Nomura. ... Ex-Ray Greg Vaughn is hitting .333 with three homers and nine RBIs in 11 games for Triple-A Colorado Springs.
- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.
