Opinion

On Sunday, in a move that can be described as nothing more than blaming the easiest target, the Chicago Cubs fired hitting coach Gerald Perry.

General Manager Jim Hendry threw around the cliche sound bites, saying that a "new voice" was needed and that the team's stars aren't performing to their historical abilities.

What Hendry didn't say was: "I paid $30 million for an overrated right fielder and, with a series of questionable moves, destroyed the chemistry on the best team in the National League."

But what was important was that he stuck to the cliches.

Mets ace Johan Santana may be the best pitcher on the planet. He has proven himself throughout his career, first in Minnesota, and now during his first two seasons as a New York Met.

But Santana hardly looked the part of the "best pitcher in baseball" Sunday afternoon. The Yankees lambasted him for nine runs in only three innings of work during the Mets' embarrassing 15-0 dismantlement in the Bronx.

The outing was the worst of Santana's career.

New York Mets' closer Francisco Rodriguez, better known as "K-Rod", blew his first save of the season on Friday night against the New York Yankees.

K-Rod should have earned the save, however, as Luis Castillo dropped a potential game-ending pop-up with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. This error allowed two unearned runs to score, which gave the Yankees the win.

On Saturday, Yankees relief pitcher Brian Bruney, currently rehabbing in Double-A Trenton, was asked about K-Rod's blown save and the Yankees improbable victory.

It was only a matter of time.

After winning more than they lost for the first two-and-a-half months of the season, Reds' manager, Dusty Baker's stopgap line-up cards (beau geste major injuries) are making Dairy Queen bathrooms look sterile.

The Reds have lost seven of their last 10.  They are not scoring.  They are not fielding.  They are not even getting on base to score.

After another shutout and loss on Saturday to the Twins, the Cubs on Sunday made a change and called down to Triple-A Iowa for help. The Cubs didn't recall Jake Fox or another minor league player for offensive support, but rather the Iowa Cubs' hitting coach.

Von Joshua, who has been a hitting coach since 1984 and with the Iowa Cubs for the last four years, was once the MLB hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox.

It seems like a simple concept, bordering on cliche: as Albert Pujols goes, so go the St. Louis Cardinals.

The past week has made this as clear as it has ever been. 

Entering the week, Pujols was riding a slump, at one point going 15 straight at-bats without a base hit. After breaking the hitless streak with an opposite way single in Florida against the Marlins, Cardinals' color commentator Al Hrabosky made a prediction that Pujols would get into a hot streak.

Johan Santana would have become the ace of the Yankees after the 2007 season, if the club agreed to include Phil Hughes in a proposed trade with the Twins. The Yanks at the time overvalued Hughes, and the deal fell through.

Now, Santana leads the Mets. On Sunday the left—hander took a historic beating in the Bronx. He allowed nine earned runs for the first time in his career in a Yankees’ 15—0 romp.

Santana allowed nine earned runs on nine hits in three plus innings and saw his ERA soar from 2.39 to 3.29.

Despite his recent hot streat, rumors have been swirling about the Red Sox' desire to replace David Ortiz.

JJ Hardy, Jeff Francouer, Hanley Ramirez and Adam Dunn's names have been tossed around, but one name that's less famous is Chris Davis. Davis has been knocking the stuffing out of the ball in 59 games.

The Mets came into Friday night’s game with the Yankees in a tough spot. The Yankees had just been swept by the Red Sox and were now 0-8 on the season against them. They had to be hungry, and for the Mets, they had lost a couple of close games against the Phillies that many thought they should’ve won. It was going to be a true test, and until the bottom of the ninth inning, they had passed the test with flying colors.

If only Luis Castillo had used two hands.

A partial tear in Jake Peavy’s ankle ligament may cause experts to shred their perception of the starting pitcher trade market as the baseball season nears the trade deadline, and it’s possible that the Mariners could become the beneficiary.

Peavy’s injury, initially expected to keep the righty out for a month, could keep him out for 8-12 weeks according to recent reports.