With baseball using instant replay for the first time on Wednesday night to give Alex Rodriguez his latest pointless home run (Alex also homered last night to help the Yankees only lose by two), it's obvious we've entered a new age in the sport. Of course, all the opponents of instant replay were against it because they weren't sure where it would end.

Yeah, it only starts with home runs, but soon it will be safe or out, fair or foul, and ultimately, balls and strikes. Well, while it looks like umpires can still judge a pitch's location, we may end up needing robot umpires anyway. The human ones the game utilizes now can't count.

In the fourth inning Thursday, [Sean] Rodriguez struck out on what the scoreboard said was a full-count pitch. But a pitch-by-pitch replay of the at-bat confirmed that Rodriguez actually struck out on a 4-and-2 pitch.

Neither plate umpire Tim Welke nor Angels Manager Mike Scioscia noticed the mistake. At 2-2, Rodriguez said Welke asked Tigers catcher Brandon Inge what the count was.

"He said he thought it was 1-2, and I said I thought it was 1-2 also," Rodriguez said. "He thanked me for my honesty."

See, this is what happens to a sport when they draft players straight out of high school and let them skip college. Their math and counting skills just deteriorate.

Justin Verlander was knocked around for eight runs (five earned) in just 1 2/3 innings by the Yankees on Monday. After the game, Verlander complained to reporters about home plate umpire Chuck Meriwether's "tight zone." When Jim Leyland heard Verlander's explanation, he didn't buy it. From Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press (via Roar of the Tigers):

"You need to have the ability every once in a while to say, 'I stunk' -- not that the strike zone was tight," Leyland said. "You have to say, 'You know what? I was horse (manure).' It's OK, because we're all horse (manure) from time to time. It's good to admit that you're horse (manure) sometimes.

"You turn the page and try to move on. Diversionary tactics are not good."

[...] "Chuck Meriwether had not one thing to do with Justin Verlander's horse (manure) outing. Period."

I don't know, maybe Meriwether's strike zone was a little tight -- I'm sure Sidney Ponson, who gave up seven runs in three innings to Verlander's teammates, was saying the exact same thing after the game in New York's clubhouse. But by giving up at least five earned runs in six of his last eight starts, Verlander has lost the right to offer up any excuse.

Verlander was supposed to be Detroit's ace this year -- he was even my preseason pick for AL Cy Young. Instead, his ERA climbed from 3.66 last season 4.74 through 29 starts this year. The Tigers have been the most disappointing team in the majors this year, and Verlander is as much to blame as anyone. Pointing fingers this late in the season just looks silly.

If you're a baseball fan who likes surprises, then the 2008 season has been a special treat. The Rays are the most notable team that has exceeded expectations, but the Twins, White Sox and Marlins are also surprise contenders.

Of course, those pleasant surprises have come at the expense of several clubs expected to be much better this season. Whether because of a big free-agent signing last winter, a deep October run last season or the (hint, hint) crushing burden of a massive payroll, the baseball landscape is littered with flops as August comes to a close.

The following is a countdown of the seven most disappointing teams this season.

7. Padres: Mired in last place in the abysmal NL West, it's easy to forget that this team won 89 games last year and was a (phantom?) Matt Holliday slide away from a playoff spot. Even when they were winning division titles, the Padres operated on a thin margin. Injuries and underperformance are at the root of their struggles.

Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Brian Giles are the only offensive regulars who have played more than 100 games. Ace Jake Peavy spent a month on the disabled list, while No. 2 starter Chris Young has made only 13 starts. Veteran closer Trevor Hoffman has also been extremely shaky.

The Detroit Tigers don't have much left to play for this season other now that they've fallen to fourth place in the AL Central, so really, the only goal they have is to finish the season without embarrassing themselves. Well, that and try to catch the red hot Cleveland Indians (see, CC Sabathia and Paul Byrd were only holding them back) and reclaim third place.

They won't have Todd Jones around to help them, though, as he has thrown his last pitch this season, and probably in his career.

Todd Jones fought back the tears and forced himself to smile as he walked around the clubhouse Wednesday, hugging each of his Tigers teammates and shaking their hands.

Minutes earlier, in a brief, closed-door meeting, Jones had given them the news: After 16 seasons and 319 saves -- a team-record 235 of them in two tours of duty with the Tigers -- the 40-year-old reliever has probably pitched his last game, at least for the Tigers.

"I'm going home, try to rehab and get better, and see if I can come back," Jones said.

Unfortunately for Todd, the odds of him coming back aren't very good. Even if he can recover from his shoulder injury this offseason in time to pitch next season, there generally aren't many teams in the market for 40-year old relievers with shoulder problems.

We're only a few days away from baseball's waiver trade deadline of August 31, and though there hasn't been nearly as much wheeling and dealing in August as there was in July, there are still a few moves we may see before the deadline passes.

In Detroit the Tigers have placed veteran left-hander and hater of cameramen everywhere Kenny Rogers on waivers, and he may be traded any day now.

Rogers said Monday that he was not aware of any trade discussions involving him. And he did not appear concerned with the prospect of being dealt.

"Dealing in hypotheticals is very difficult -- I'm not one to do that," Rogers said. "I haven't thought about a deadline. I'm not worried about one, that's for sure."

The article in the Detroit Free Press also says that Rogers isn't the only player the team placed on waivers, just that he's one of "several" players. Who those players are, it doesn't say. As for where Rogers will end up, the Red Sox have shown interest in him lately, and I'm guessing if he goes anywhere, Boston will be it.

Though I'm not sure why the Red Sox would want him. He's 9-11 with a 5.09 ERA on the season, and hitters are succeeding at a .312 clip against him since the All Star break. Maybe they're hoping that a move to a contending team will rejuvenate the veteran down the stretch.

The Tigers removed Nate Robertson from their rotation on Friday, and the only surprising thing about it is that they waited this long to pull the trigger. Robertson has been nothing short of awful this year, posting a 6.09 ERA that includes a "perfect" 9.00 ERA in seven starts since the All-Star break.

Now that the Tigers have an opening, will they finally bring Dontrelle Willis back up from the minors? Fat chance. As Jim Leyland told the Detroit Free Press, "The answer, as we speak today, is 100% 'no.' "

Willis has posted a semi-respectable 4.28 ERA in five starts for Triple-A Toledo, but lurking under the surface is an unsightly 1.68 WHIP, thanks largely to his continued lack of control (he has 14 walks to go along with 20 strikeouts).

Will a trip to the bullpen for Robertson and more minor league starts for Willis really help these two lost pitchers re-discover their form? For Dave Dombrowski's sake, I hope it does.

Dombrowski gave Robertson and Willis each a three-year extensions this past winter (I'll admit it, I was actually in favor of Robertson's deal), a collective $50 million investment which has yet to pay any dividends. And because of those extensions, both Robertson and Willis are now completely untradeable, which should make things difficult if ownership demands the payroll be slashed this winter as speculated.

Despite the crackdown on performance-enhancing drugs, pitchers are throwing harder than ever. Eamonn recently passed along speculation that they're managing this thanks to, among other things, energy drinks.

So hey, let's give Kyle Farnsworth half a case of Red Bull and see what happens. This evening's Dugout is after the jump.

I always knew Denny McLain was big in 1968, but I guess I didn't know how big. As if winning 31 games, leading the Tigers to a World Series title and earning every first-place vote for the American League MVP and Cy Young awards wasn't enough, he also appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show performing "The Girl from Ipanema" on the organ.

Oh, and did I mention that he was joined by Bob Gibson, the reigning MVP and Cy Young from the National League, in his encore?

No, really.



I love the internet. Your move, Cliff Lee and Brandon Webb.

On Wednesday morning I wrote about Tigers manager Jim Leyland saying he wasn't sure when he was going to use Joel Zumaya again. Going off of what he'd been seeing from Zoom while on the mound, Leyland felt that something had to be wrong with flame-throwing reliever.

Well maybe Jimmy should start up a psychic hotline, because it turns out his fears for Zumaya were dead on. As it turns out, there's some loose tissue in Zumaya's surgically repaired right shoulder. As a result Joel has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, but don't let that fool you, his season is basically done.

"I think it's great news that we got" on Zumaya, Leyland said. "He blew up scar tissue. It wasn't an elbow, shoulder or anything like that. From my standpoint, that's great, great news.

"Hopefully he'll be ready by spring training -- possibly pitch again this year, but I'm not going to push for that."

I have to agree with Leyland on this one, this is great news for the Tigers. When a pitcher has gone through the type of injuries that Joel has, and throws as hard as he does, everytime you find out he's having some trouble physically you always expect the worst. So finding out that it's nothing major and won't require any additional work being done, it's a huge relief.

Sure, Zumaya's absence is only going to make a weak Detroit bullpen that much weaker, but the odds of the Tigers making a playoff run were very much against them anyway. At least the team can now look forward to having a healthy (fingers crossed) Zumaya for the 2009 season, which would go a long way in helping the Tigers get back to the top of the AL Central.

The Tigers went for broke this year, bumping their payroll from $95 million last season to $138 million this year in hopes of buying a spot in the postseason. In hindsight, it wasn't meant to be: the Tigers sit 8 1/2 games out of the division lead, and considering they've won just three of their past 12, the deficit seems to grow larger every day.

At least there's always next year, right? Yeah, about that ... After footing the bill for baseball's third-highest payroll, owner Mike Ilitch is allegedly putting pressure on the front office to slash costs next year, according to the Detroit News' Lynn Henning.

Ivan Rodriguez was already dealt in a cost-cutting trade, and expensive veterans like Edgar Renteria, Todd Jones and Kenny Rogers almost certainly won't be re-signed or have their options picked up this winter. It'll be hard to unload Gary Sheffield without picking up a substantial portion of the $14 million he's owed next year, but by putting him on waivers this year, the Tigers are at least trying.

Getting rid of the guys mentioned above makes as much baseball sense as it does financially, but will the team go so far as to unload their most productive players? Henning thinks Magglio Ordonez could be sent to bigger market in exchange for cheap prospects. If that happens, it'll be a hard sell to fans, who have filled Comerica Park to 99.3% capacity this summer, to keep turning out in 2009. If the Tigers can't post a winning record with Maggs, why should fans think the team can contend without him? This team has made huge strides the last several years -- it'll be a shame if Ilitch gives up now.