On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Texas Rangers (19-21) vs. Seattle Mariners (15-25) - 8:05PM Est.

Let's start today's On Deck by taking a trip in the FanHouse Time Machine. We're going to go all the way back to May 8th, 2008. The world was a different place back then. Ok, so the world was really any different as all, as it was just five days ago, but it was sort of exciting!

That was the day when Richie Sexson threw his helmet and charged Kason Gabbard after taking exception to a pitch. Sexson thought that Gabbard's eye-high fastball was meant for his face even though it was over the heart of the plate, and he took umbrage. Of course, had Felix Hernandez not plunked Ian Kinsler earlier in the game after Kinsler homered, none of this would have happened.

Now, here we are five days later, and Gabbard and Hernandez are set to face each other one more time. Will we have an encore?

Remember that talk last week about how Ken Griffey Jr. expects to be traded and wouldn't mind eventually returning to Seattle? Turns out the Mariners might be looking to make it happen. John Hickey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reveals the following on his blog:

Reports out of New York say that Duane Shaffer, in his first season as a special assistant to Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi, was in Shea Stadium Sunday to have a look at Griffey.

The Mariners need two things - someone to get the fans' interest revved up after a horrid start to the season and someone to provide some power to a lineup devoid of many run-producers.

As Hickey points out, Griffey has 10-5 rights, meaning he's allowed to veto any trade. But if the Mariners agree to move Raul Ibanez to DH and put Griffey in the outfield, there's a good chance that Griffey would approve the trade. Plus, while most of the majors seems to be ignoring Griffey's march to 600 home runs, nobody could better appreciate the milestone than the fans in Seattle, many of whom watched him hit most of those dingers before being traded to Cincinnati.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

St. Louis Cardinals (23-15) at Milwaukee Brewers (17-19) - 2:05 PM ET

Milwaukee, already known for its consumption of beer and brats, has been the Tums capital of America this weekend. First, Jason Isringhausen blew a save on Friday after having the Brewers at two outs and nobody on in the ninth inning ... which led to Jason being demoted from the closers role. Then the very next day, there was Eric Gagne blowing yet another save, which was Gagne's ... oh I've lost count this season, how many blown saves is that? Gotta be between 50 and 80 (actually, he only blew a tie game in the ninth, but Gagne did get the loss). And that led Gagne to muse that maybe he should go the same path as Isringhausen. So can anybody here close today's game? Hey, at least extra innings will be fun.

Let's set the scene for those who don't stay up all hours watching west coast baseball: Felix Hernandez comes inside and plunks Ian Kinsler on the shoulder in the fourth inning of the Rangers' tilt with the Mariners. This came after Kinsler took King Felix deep in the second inning, so of course, tensions are going to be a little high after that.

Bottom of the frame, Kason Gabbard takes the mound for the Rangers and retires the first two hitters he faces. Then he throws a pitch eye-high, but not so tight at Richie Sexson. Sexson then immediately charges Gabbard, throws his helmet right at his back, and triggers an all out melee:

Sexson said he fully expected to get hit, given what had transpired and the fact that there were two out with the bases empty, but it was the location that angered him.

"I know the situation there, and he should throw below the shoulder," Sexson said. "But the face? No one should do that ... Throwing the helmet was not good. I know that's not the right way to do it, but at that time I lost it."

Texas manager Ron Washington, not surprisingly, was not happy.

"We got two hitters hit, and if you go look at that replay, Gabbard was nowhere near Sexson's head," Washington said. "I guess he was just frustrated and things got out of control. ... Sexson overreacted. If we'd have wanted to hit him, we'd have hit him ... I thought (throwing the helmet) was (expletive). How tall is he, 6-feet-13? And you go run out there on a little guy and throw a helmet. That's just frustration. The guy is a competitor and he got frustrated."

Rangers broadcaster Tom Grieve proceeded to unload on Sexson during the Rangers broadcast ... highlights of which come after the jump:

Ichiro Suzuki made headlines last season when he said he would "punch myself in the face" if he ever saw himself saying that he was excited about going to Cleveland. How that would actually work aside, not an entirely unfair statement. (Kidding, Cleveland. You totally rock.)

Ichiro has now somewhat changed that opinion. Or at least he realized how to give a backhanded compliment, as evidenced by his latest statement about the Land of Pronk to some local mag named Punch.

'As you know, we came to Cleveland many more times than were expected,' said Ichiro through his interpreter - after they shared a long, animated discussion in Japanese. 'To come all the way from Seattle, as you can imagine, is a headache. That's what I meant by the statement. But the way the fans understood it, they became angry. I think all the booing and the screaming was entertaining for the fans, so I don't think it was a bad thing. And, if I was a fan, I'd boo me too.'

But, we pressed, what do you think of Cleveland?

'Looking back on it, in the four days I spent here, I found a really cool pair of sneakers. So for that, I like Cleveland.'

See, in comparison to wanting to slug oneself in the grille, that comes off like a really nice thing to say, no? But anytime you spend four freaking days somewhere and the best thing you can say about that place is that you "found a really cool pair of sneaker", you hate the place. And you are insulting it. But in a crafty manner.

Unfortunately for Cleveland, I'm sorry. You're going to deal with Ichiro not liking you. The quotes are too enjoyable for the rest of us.

Previously on FanHouse:
Ichiro Is Not a Big Fan of Cleveland
Ichiro Suzuki's Soul Yearns for Daisuke Matsuzaka
Ichiro:"Once I Turn 40, I Can Become A Pitcher."
Ichiro Versus
Baseball Is Snowblind

If the Reds don't pick up his $16 million option this winter, Ken Griffey Jr. will be a free agent for the first time in his career. It's kind of amazing that a guy can have a career that spans two decades and never hit the open market, but it's a testament to his ability that the Mariners and Reds have locked him up with long-term extensions rather than risk losing him.

Of course, he's not quite the player he was when he signed his current deal back in 2000, and now that he's 38 years old, the Reds probably don't have any plans on exercising that option, which means he'll play a starring role in his share of trade rumors this summer. That's something he both understands and expects. From USATODAY.com:

"We're in a tough situation here," says Griffey, whose team improved to 13-20 with Monday's 5-3 win against the Cubs. "We either turn things around or they start getting rid of everybody around here.

"My situation is different only because I can tell them where I want to go. I want to be in position to win a championship. I'm not strong-arming anybody, but that's the way it is."

Griffey, who enters today hitting .229 with four home runs and 15 RBI, says he expects the Reds to approach him before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline seeking his approval for a trade.

The Mariners 6-1 loss to the Yankees on Saturday was the final straw for manager John McLaren. Not only was it the team's fourth straight loss, dropping them to 13-18, but it was another loss in which the Mariners offense struggled mightily. So far this season the Mariners haven't lived up to the expectations put upon them.

After finishing 88-74 last season, and having added a frontline pitcher in Erik Bedard, and innings eater Carlos Silva, many thought Seattle would compete with the Angels for the division title this season. Well, while the pitching staff has done it's job, the offense has struggled all season, and McLaren ripped into them after yesterday's loss.

McLaren ordered the clubhouse door sealed tight this time after his players had filed in following their uninspired 6-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Saturday afternoon. And then, in a rapid-fire tirade that lasted only a few moments, he unloaded on his team with angry words that could be heard echoing in the hallway outside.

When it was over, the clubhouse door finally opened, and a sullen McLaren, voice shaky at times, repeated the verbal criticism for the media in a much lower tone. But it was clear from all involved that he is fed up with the lack of production from a team whose expectations have vastly exceeded results so far.

While the Mariners are hitting .252 as a team so far, not great but not horrible, they're next to last in the American League with a .314 OBP, and have hit only .239 with runners in scoring position. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you have trouble getting runners on base, and then have a tough time getting those few runners across the plate, you're going to struggle.

Whether or not McLaren's tirade will do anything to wake up Seattle's slumbering bats, well, we'll have to wait and see.

Big changes went down with the Seattle Mariner starting lineup on Wednesday evening, as the M's cut Brad Wilkerson and Dan Norton (no, no seriously, this is important) while calling up Jeff Clement and Wladimir Balentien. This seems like totally irrelevant news, but with the Mariners already 4.5 games behind the Angels, it shows some sense of desperation, but also a notion to trust the farm system that the team has built up. Although it's mostly desperation.

Following Tuesday night's 7-2 win over Cleveland, Mariners manager John McLaren suggested changes were imminent.

'It was time,' he said before Wednesday night's game. 'We haven't had much going. We felt it was time to bring new blood in. I'm anxious to see these kids play.'

Clement and Balentien are both top prospects -- Baseball America ranks Clement first and Balentien fifth overall in the Mariners system -- and Wilkerson and Norton are nothing but possibly-possessing-of-upside journeymen at this point.

But before dogging this as a win-now at all costs strategy, it's worth pointing out that both guys are ready for the Show. Clement was posting .397/.535/.692 with five home runs and a 22:12 BB:K ratio in the Pacific Coast League, while Balentien, a Curacao native, was hitting .254/.329/.619 with six homers, three of which came in one game on Monday. He's also already homered in the big leagues.

Fantasy Spin: Clement is going to get full time work, combining to play DH and catcher every day. Balentien is going to start full time in right field. Both guys are fantasy worthy, especially in deep and keeper leagues. Clement is actually the more valuable prospect, simply because of his C eligibility and because Balentien might be a little closer to fellow Curacao native Andruw Jones. That's a good or bad thing depending on whether you're looking for power or average.

When you talked to MLB scouts this spring about what it would take for the Seattle Mariners to overtake the Los Angeles Angels in the AL West this season, to a man they all said just about the same thing. "Oh, it's totally on Mike Morse's shoulders. If Mike Morse doesn't carry this offense all by himself throughout the season, the team has no chance. I mean, Ichiro can only do so much, you know?"

Well the sky is falling, Seattle, because reserve infielder Mike Morse's shoulders just couldn't handle the load, and he's done for the season.

Morse on Tuesday underwent what was termed "shoulder reconstruction" to repair a torn labrum in his dislocated left shoulder, suffered on the April 13 dive.

Surgery was performed by Dr. Edward Khalfayan, the Mariners' medical director. Khalfayan said the surgery "went well," according to a team release.

While Morse didn't sign a release to let the Mariners talk about his injury, it's safe to say he's not going to be back anytime soon. Generally the surgery he had requires a six-month rehab, and Morse probably isn't going to be able to swing a bat for at least four months.

Tis a dark, dark day in Seattle.

The Seattle Mariners are lucky that they are only one game out of the A.L. West division lead, and a game above .500, given that both J.J. Putz and Erik Bedard have already seen stints on the disabled list, only a month into the 2008 season.

Fantasy owners are probably not so fortunate, given the early round status of both pitchers. However, there is good news on the horizon, as both players should be active and pitching by Sunday.

Putz was actually activated Tuesday afternoon in time for the M's game against the Baltimore Orioles, which they won, with his help no less. Putz picked up the save and reportedly hit 97 mph on the gun, needing four batters to record the save after giving up a double to Aubrey Huff to open up the inning. Two strikeouts later, the soul patch was in full effect. Or something like that. Get Putz active in all leagues.