Around the AL: Mariners searching for answers

The Seattle Mariners have the worst record in baseball. And their collective mood isn’t much better.

Team president Chuck Armstrong apparently dressed down manager John McLaren and the coaching staff before a recent game against the Los Angeles Angels, which, not surprisingly ended in defeat. Armstrong wouldn't comment on the matter, but he could be heard yelling behind closed doors in McLaren's office.

When McLaren held court before the game, he said not a single Mariner was exempt from criticism. Asked whether players should begin to fear losing their jobs if the slide continues, he suggested that perhaps it's time.

"We might be a little complacent," he said. "Addition by subtraction has worked, and I'm not saying we're at that point, but I'm sure ownership's not happy putting $120 million on the board and being 17 games under .500. There should be some people knowing that we can't go on like this."

(As long as McLaren’s managerial skills are being so closely scrutinized, it’s worth noting that his math skills need a little work, too. The Mariners actually were 18 games below .500).

Turning his attention to recent conversations with Armstrong and CEO Howard Lincoln, McLaren said, "They're not happy. They shouldn't be happy. I'm sure ownership and our fans, they're not happy. Anybody that's happy in this clubhouse, there's something wrong with them.''

The scene took another turn for the weird when the Mariners’ public-relations staff urged reporters to hustle downstairs immediately after the game, leading to speculation that McLaren had been fired. Instead, players apparently had been instructed to sit at their lockers and be made available — and accountable. That couldn’t have sat well with certain individuals.

Reporters were herded into McLaren’s office after stopping by the clubhouse first — a reversal of the normal post-game routine. Once inside, McLaren let loose with the following rant:

"We're playing our [expletive] off every day and got nothing to show for it,” he said. “I'm tired of [expletive] losing, I'm tired of getting my [expletive] beat, and so have those guys. We gotta change this [expletive expletive] around and get after it. And only we can do it. The fans are [expletive] off, and I'm [expletive] off, and the players are [expletive] off. And that's the way it is. There's no [expletive] easy way out of this. Can't feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve gotta [expletive] buckle it up and get after it. I'm tired of [expletive] losing this, [expletive] every night we bust our [expletive]. It's gotta be a total team [expletive] effort to turn this thing around, and that's it."

McLaren stormed off, his eyes filled with tears.

Later, general manager Bill Bavasi met with reporters in the hallway and backed McLaren’s assessment of the situation — except in much cleaner language.

"That's a good representation of all of us," Bavasi said. "This is a completely demoralizing position we're in right now based on the legitimate expectations."

As for coming up with solutions, Bavasi didn’t sound very optimistic.

"I can't make a deal anyway that can be worth a damn," he said. "I suppose I can go home and sulk. We're here to get this thing to work and turn it around."

More from Bavasi: "This is a problem that includes the general manager and his office, the manager and his staff, and the players to a great degree.”

Showing that he hadn’t lost his sense of humor, Bavasi added: "Right now, the medical guys are doing a great job, and the clubhouse guys are tremendous."

At least the Mariners have that going for them, which is nice.

Sir Sidney’s latest situation

Sidney Ponson has to be running out of chances after splattering another one last week.

The Texas Rangers designated Ponson for assignment after he reportedly voiced his displeasure — in an extremely loud voice — to manager Ron Washington upon learning that he’d be pitching on six days’ rest after working on three days in his previous outing.

It might have been wiser for Ponson to lay low and not draw so much attention to himself.

Ponson reportedly had caused a disturbance in a St. Petersburg, Fla. hotel bar the night before a start, when he barely made it through five innings. Not a smart move for a guy with multiple DUI arrests while pitching for the Baltimore Orioles. The Rangers put him on notice, and were prepared to put him on waivers after the latest incident.

General manager Jon Daniels characterized Ponson as a disruptive presence, and a team desperate for starting pitching let go of a veteran right-hander who was 4-1 with a 3.88 ERA.

Ponson has been with six teams, including four in the last three years. His resume includes two stops in Baltimore and one each in Texas, San Francisco, St. Louis, New York (Yankees) and Minnesota.

"We'll survive,'' Washington said.

Will Ponson?

Trouble for the Tribe

The Cleveland Indians had a rough week, placing starter Jake Westbrook and designated hitter Travis Hafner on the disabled list and having to admit, finally, that both players were injured — something the club hates doing.

The lights are turned on at The Jake, but the Indians love keeping the media in the dark.

Westbrook spent a month on the disabled list with a strained rib cage muscle, made one start upon his return and returned to the DL with a sore right elbow that hinted at Tommy John surgery and will sideline him for the season — and perhaps beyond.

Meanwhile, Indians manager Eric Wedge insisted before a May 26 game that Hafner was getting a routine day off, but the explanation looked suspicious when Hafner wasn’t used in an obvious pinch-hitting situation. Finally, Wedge admitted that Hafner had a strained right shoulder that had been bothering him since spring training. Reporters kept asking Wedge throughout the season if the slumping Hafner was healthy, and each time they were told he was fine physically.

Or maybe not.

Reliever Joe Borowski recently spent a month on the DL with a strained right triceps, an injury that bothered him since spring training. Reporters were told Borowski was fine until the DL move was announced.

Casey at the bat

Casey Blake drove in seven runs for the Indians in a game against the Texas Rangers — the second seven-RBI game of his career.

Why is this noteworthy? Because, according to Elias, the unheralded Blake has as many seven-RBI games as Barry Bonds and Willie Mays combined, and more than Hank Aaron and Carl Yastrzemski combined (zero). In the Indians’ 13-9 win at the Softball Park at Arlington on Monday, Casey Blake had the second seven-RBI game of his career.

Somewhere, there’s a bar bet waiting to be won.

Jeter and the Mick

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter collected his 2,416th career hit last week, an RBI single that moved him past Mickey Mantle into third place on the franchise’s all-time list. He still needs to catch Lou Gehrig (2,721) and Babe Ruth (2,518).

“It’s cool to have as many of anything as Mickey Mantle. Anything. Strikeouts. But I probably already caught him in that,” Jeter said.

Actually, no. Jeter ranks second on the Yankees’ all-time strikeout list, but he’s a long way from Mantle’s 1,710.

Back to the hit list: “It’s kind of hard to believe,” Jeter said. “It’s not something I ever set out to do. I just try to be consistent year in and year out. My friends and family have told me about things like that, but I never really sit down and reflect on anything like that. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t mean anything, but it’s not what I focus on. I just don’t sit around and look at personal things. It’s kind of unfair to your teammates to reflect on personal things when you’re trying to win.”

Slowin’ Loewen

In an attempt to keep him healthy, Orioles manager Dave Trembley announced over the weekend that Adam Loewen would pitch in relief the rest of the season once he’s activated from the disabled list.

Loewen went on the DL with pain in his left elbow and forearm. X-rays, MRIs and CT scans didn’t reveal anything new, besides the screw he had inserted in the elbow last June. The fourth overall pick in the 2002 draft went on an injury rehab assignment at Single-A Frederick this week after throwing a few innings at extended spring training.

The Orioles still view Loewen as a starter in 2009. He’d prefer doing it in 2008.

“I’m not going to rule out the possibility of coming back as a starter this year,” Loewen said in a phone interview with The Baltimore Sun. “I’m going to have to see how things go.”

Here’s how it’s going to go: Loewen, if healthy, will pitch in relief this season. Period.

"I can tell you right now Loewen will not start for the rest of the season,” Trembley said. “He will not start. He will be in the bullpen. I'm trying to protect him. We're trying to cover for him and not put a lot of undue stress and strain on his arm. Mentally, he doesn't have to prepare himself to go out there and throw nine innings or 115 pitches. He's trying to put the cart before the horse. He hasn't even relieved yet, for goodness sakes.”

Getting a little face time

Minnesota Twins rookie Nick Blackburn recently gained some national exposure for all the wrong reasons. He tried to field a Bobby Abreu line drive with his face and ended up with an extremely sore nose and upper lip.

Blackburn survived the incident and made his next start. He also watched the replay four or five times, catching it once on NBC’s “The Today Show.”

Too bad he didn’t catch the ball instead.

"My cousin told me I'm getting more attention for that than if I threw a no-hitter," Blackburn said.

Royals flushed

It had to happen. The Kansas City Royals had to put together a 12-game losing streak this season so we wouldn’t mistake them for anyone else.

The Royals have lost 10 games or more in a row four times since the start of the 2005 season. By comparison, the rest of the AL teams have combined for three streaks of 10-plus games during that span — Tampa Bay twice in 2005 and Seattle in 2006.

Boston, Minnesota and Anaheim/Los Angeles haven’t lost more than six in a row during that stretch.

Heading into the weekend, the Royals were averaging 3.66 runs per game, last in the league. Since 1990, only seven AL teams have scored fewer than four per game:

Team	Season	Runs per game	Final record
Cleveland	1991	3.56	57-105
Detroit	2002	3.57	55-106
California	1992	3.57	72-90
Detroit	2003	3.65	43-119
New York	1990	3.92	67-95
Tampa Bay	1998	3.83	63-99
Seattle	1990	3.95	77-85

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