MLB

If Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman purchased Nick Johnson and Javier Vazquez at a department store, he would be frantically searching for his receipt right now. Sorry, no returns.

The Washington Nationals attempt at four-straight wins, and a tie for first place in the division, was stymied by Chris Volstad and the Florida Marlins lineup.

Combining for only five base runners on the night, the Nationals had no chance to match the seven runs the Marlins put up on the board, and fell to 13-11 in a 7-1 Saturday night.

Apart from Volstad imposing his 6' 8" self on the Nationals lineup, Washington fans found themselves disappointed as the Nationals club seemed to take a step backward on the night, allowing six earned runs and committing two errors.

With a number of key players getting off to slow starts this season (like half of my NFBC squad), we need to stay alert and active. It is still early, so you have lots of time to make your team better.

One option is to try to buy the slow-starting players at a low price from their owners if they get impatient, but you can also get some for nothing. By keeping one eye on the waiver wire, you can get some quality guys who will turn it around.

Here’s a look at the unheralded players who played well yesterday.

Gio Gonzalez, Oakland A’s
Gio gave up 2 runs on 3 hits with 8 Ks in 6-2/3 innings to improve to 3-1 with a 3.45 ERA.

The Mets beat writers all had posts about Daniel Murphy recovering from his strained knee ligament in Florida, then going to Triple-A Buffalo when he comes off the disabled list. The plan is for Muphy to play first base immediately just to get some at-bats.

Nick Markakis is finally warming up.  Javier Vazquez continues to struggle miserably.  Daisuke Matsuzaka’s season debut was not what people hoped.  Let’s take a look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

Hitters:

I feel bad writing this after a win (the White Sox won today, 7-6 over the Yankees), but there is indeed no rest for the wicked, and this is a question that needs to be answered.

Let me get things started with this: I'm not an Ozzie "fan."

I think he is one of the more overrated managers in baseball, still riding high from can't-miss pitching and power hitting in 2005.

His blowups in the media are infamous, ranging from derogatory terms used to describe hometown sportswriters to his now-tired "blame me, fire me" routine.

Boston Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka , whom I consider to be trade bait for 20 cents on the dollar, made his season debut against the Baltimore Orioles and confirmed my harsh feelings towards him.

Before the 2010 Major League Baseball season began, I really wanted to put the San Francisco Giants atop the division when previewing the National League West .

Instead, I stuck them in second and gave them the NL Wild Card because I figured the more grandiose vision was the product of the fan in me.

Furthermore, I thought granting them a postseason berth was still setting the bar pretty high. Possibly a little too high.

The Rockies have been to the playoffs two of the last three years. They have one of the best lineups in baseball. They have an ace who is 4-0 and has an ERA well below 1.00. They have respect from around the league. Judging by the way the Rockies are playing, it would be easy to guess that these Rockies are less like a playoff team, and more like the Rockies from the "Todd and the toddlers" era.