Baseball Quickies.

- At what point do John Gibbons and JP get fired? Gibbons looks hopeless of late and hasn't got a clue how to turn this Blue Jay team around. Granted part of the problem is what JP has given him to work with but he is a piss poor manager and needs to go.

As for JP, you could argue that he should have been given some slack for the injury problems the Jays had last year but the slack is gone. He is assembled an overpaid, aging roster (did you know the Jays position players are the third oldest in the league? That blew me away) with little hope of improvement/avoiding injury. The pitching staff is good but malcontent AJ Burnett is an utter joke. He was jerk when they signed him so why would they have expected him to stop being a jerk once he got paid more?

**Update** Well I guess I got my answer about Gibby getting fired. Bringing in Cito for the rest of the year though? That's just throwing up the white flag on this season and trying to make the fans feel good. What a joke.

- I knew Tampa would be good this year (I predicted they would win 85 games) but I sure as hell didn't think they would be on pace to win 96 games at the 72 game mark. They may slip a bit but there is no reason why they can't win 90 games. Their lineup is great but it is their pitching that has been the surprise. I didn't think their starting rotation would be as deep as it has been.

- I can't believe how bad the Mariners are. I honestly thought they would be good this year but I was expecting Sexson to have a big contract year and Beltre to stop being a stiff (anyone else think he's about 45 years old and lied about his age?), two big mistakes.

- The Tigers have very quietly moved back within 4 games of .500 and are only 7 back of the White Sox. I think the Tigers are going to go on a huge tear in the second half and still win this division by 5 games. Their pitching is coming around now that the weather is warm and they can still win the World Series.

- The NL West is a bit baffling to me. Arizona is not playing as well as I thought they would but they should easily win the division. But I still say they are a scary playoff team because they have a great short starting rotation for the playoffs. I can't believe how bad the Rockies are. They are not going to go on a run again this year, their pitching just isn't good enough.

- The Cubs are for real and are going to run away with the Central. They will win it by at least 15 games when overachieving St. Louis drops to earth. The Cubbies have a great rotation and powerful lineup, even with Soriano out for a month. Their only real question is will their bullpen hold up with Kerry Wood as the closer. If it does they are going to the World Series.