With all the good that new Rays' ownership has done, it looks like their recent decision to gut the staff of the Durham Bulls is a move that makes no sense. All of a sudden Joe Coleman, Richie Hebner amd the Durham trainer are incompetent? Did minor league pitching coordinator Jerry Nyman all of a sudden lose all knowledge as well?

John Tamargo...who had success as a manager in the Mets and Astros organizations is all of sudden a detriment? If they are using him as the scapegoat for the Delmon Young affair why is Young still with the Rays? Or is this a sign that Young will be traded? Tamargo is axed after ONE SEASON in the organization? Is the Ghost of Charlie Finley at play here?

Wonder what guys like Scott Kazmir and Seth McClung and Doug Waechter think about Coleman getting axed? Or guys like Rocco Baldelli and Carl Crawford, who certainly benefited from Hebner's tutelage when they played for Durham. I had to laugh at Andrew Friedman's backhanded compliments about Coleman, the "thanking him for his service," line. It sounded too much like the same line that Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum--oops--Bryan and Joel Glazer used the day they axed Tony Dungy.

And the trainer...what did HE do? Not cut a hangnail properly?

Can't help but wonder what Rays' bench coach Bill Evers is thinking about this. Will he be let go after the season? After all, he and Coleman and Hebner were the Bulls brain trust for quite a few years. I won't be surprised if Evers leaves the Rays on his own volition.

Granted, the Bulls had a poor season and had the off-field distractions. But, I was under the impression that getting players in the minors ready for major league service was a bit more important than winning minor-league championships. Gutting the whole Durham staff in this case is unnecessary.

***********************

Several years ago, outgoing Illinois governor George Ryan declared a moratorium on the death penalty. However, there is a condemned man still in Illinois. He's not in any state prison, but rather at Wrigley Field. This Dead Man Walking is named Dusty Baker.

For most of the season, Baker has been under fire from the Chicago press. Like it is HIS fault that Kerry Wood and Mark Prior have been hurt? That Greg Maddux and Todd Walker were traded? Did Baker tell Nomar to sign with the Dodgers? A manager is only as good as the players he has to work with, a bit of Common Sense that at times gets ignored. Look at the job Baker did in San Francisco all those years. All of a sudden he's stupid and can't manage?

Add into this mix former Cub catcher Joe Girardi. The Marlins skipper has gone on record as saying that managing the Cubs would be his dream job. One small problem, Joey Pit-bull is currently the boss in Miami.

Has a three year contract that's in it's first year. I'd say that's a problem.

Can Joey Pitbull be charged with reverse tampering? Naturally, the Cubs aren't commenting. Can you blame them? If they did pry Girardi from the Marlins, he won't come cheap. Remember that the Devil Rays coughed up Randy Winn to get Lou Piniella from Seattle?

And in 1977, the Pirates gave up All-Star catcher Manny Sanguillen to get Chuck Tanner from Oakland.

You can go back even further.

After the 1967 season, the Mets gave up a pitcher named Bill Denehy to bring Gil Hodges, the original Mets' first baseman (and a man who was still worshipped in the Brooklyn/Queens boroughs) who was the manager of the Washington Senators at the time.

Another point here, Girardi's anal-retentive USMC grooming standards. Look how many Cubs have facial hair. Plus these aren't kids like the Marlins are. Joey Pitbull will find out that some players aren't going to roll over like a dog for him. Plus I doubt he can get away with manhandling players like he did with Scott Olsen.

If Bob Brenly stays on as an announcer, would he have to shave before going on-camera?

Fine. Let the Cubs can Baker and bring in Joey Pitbull. Can you say "player revolt"?

Of course there could be some good out of this. Dusty Baker becomes new Marlins manager. I kind of like that idea.

******************************

You expect a player to do trash talking about a former teammate but a general manager coming out of left field to trash a former player?

Yep, Padres GM Kevin Towers, who for reasons still unknown, decided to trash Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli after serving a brief sentence in San Diego this season.

According to Towers, Mirabelli did nothing but complain about lack of playing time. Somehow, I get the impression that Towers is just being a jerk. He traded for Mirabelli, giving up Mark Loretta who merely went to the All Star game this year. The Padres had just lost Ramon Hernandez as a free agent to the Orioles and traded for Mirabelli who assumed that he would finally be a starter. The Padres then signed Mike Piazza who decided he would still catch instead of playing at first or going to an AL club to DH.

Mirabelli wanted to play more and if he were to be Jason Varitek's backup. He saw that his replacement, Josh Bard, was having a hard time as Tim Wakefield's designated catcher. While with the Sox the first time around, Mirabelli was Wakefield's personal catcher and when the Sox got Bard in the Coco Crisp deal, they figured Bard would be Wakefield's personal catcher.

Instead Bard had 10 passed balls in his stints as Wakefield's receiver.

Mirabelli thought if he was going to be a backup, he was guaranteed to play with Wakefield pitching and asked to be traded. Towers acted like a jerk and wanted to send Mirabelli to the Yankees out of spite. Instead, he did send him back to the Sox for Bard and Cla Meredith.

You'd think everybody would be happy.

Mirabelli was guaranteed playing time when Wakefield was starting and could also get some late innings time to spell Varitek. Bard would be a backup to Piazza but wouldn't have to catch a knuckleball. In fact, he's hitting over .310. And when the Padres recalled Meredith, he surprised a lot of people. You would think Towers would be satisfied.

Nope.

Towers had to badmouth Mirabelli. How the subject of Mirabelli came up, I don't know but Towers painted Mirabelli as a whiner and said that when the trade was made when Mirabelli "called (Padres OF Dave) Roberts and said, 'I guess I'm getting called back to the big leagues,'"

Towers went on to say that no one wanted Mirabelli around.

OK. Mirabelli is hitting below the Mendoza line but his glove work with the knuckler is what makes him valuable to the Sox. And it seems to me that there haven't been any complaints from Fenway about Mirabelli's presence in the clubhouse.

If anything, Mirabelli is puzzled.

"Obviously it was an assassination directly at my character for unprovoked reasons. I've been gone for five months. I mean, to just randomly come after Doug Mirabelli? For what reason? Because you don't like me? I mean, you don't have to like me. Obviously he doesn't like me."

Towers doesn't like Mirabelli, but why? Because he wanted to play? Imagine that, a player who wanted to play! But for Towers to do this out of the blue - both Bard and Meredith have performed well. Is Towers mad that the Sox managed to con him out of a top catching prospect named George Kottaras in exchange for David Wells? Towers get a bit nauseous when he saw David Pauley (acquired for David Roberts before the 2005 season) perform well when he was brought up from AA?

Towers said "I don't miss him. These guys (the Padres) don't miss him."

Mirabelli disagrees.

"The big sign will be if there's guys that are in that clubhouse that know me and if asked and they don't come to my defense in this situation then Kevin Towers is right, maybe I did do something wrong. But I find that hard to believe that they won't come to my defense."

I have a feeling that if nobody comes to Mirabelli's defense, it won't be because nobody likes him. It'll be the fear of retribution from Towers...but on the other hand, players fed up with Towers looking like a jerk may come to Mirabelli's defense as a way to get out of town.

Bottom line, if Kevin Towers wasn't a horse's ass before, he's gone beyond it now.