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The speculation is over for Clint Hurdle. The Rockies have scheduled a 2:30 news conference to announce that Hurdle has been relieved of his duties and that Jim Tracy will take over on an interim basis.

The firing comes on the heels of a three-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers, putting the Rockies 10 games under .500 and 14-1/2 games out of first place in the National League West.

Now it's no secret how many Mets fans feel about Brian "Automatic Out" Schneider. Word on the street is he's headed back to the roster either today or tomorrow.

I'm not going to get into why or how Castro and Santos are better served for the job, we've been down that road a few times and frankly tired of beating that dead horse. The unfortunate thing here is that his salary is what will keep Auto-Out in the line-up, not his success on the field.

The Mets made a minor trade to try and bolster their depth as they acquired Padres outfielder Emil Brown for a player to be named later.

With the Mets’ recent rash of injuries, Brown will provide some needed depth at Triple-A for the Bisons in case anyone else gets hurt.

Brown turns 35 in December, and has hit as many as 17 homers on the Major League level. In 2005, Brown hit .286 with 17 homers and 86 RBI.

If he could regain some of that old ability, he could be a reliable option for Buffalo, and could serve as an insurance policy for the Mets.

Here is a curveball at you.

For the Brewers, losing Rickie Weeks in 2009 is a bigger blow than losing Yovani Gallardo in 2008.

I know, at first it sounds outrageous.  How can anyone pretending to know anything about baseball say something so absurd? 

It is not possible that losing a pitcher of ace caliber can be less damaging than losing a second baseman, who throughout his entire career—minus the most recent couple of months—has been under-performing, is it? 

We all have a special place in our heart for that one special team. One where when you think back about them, it will always put a smile on your face. As a fan of the New York Yankees, I love them all. Although I was not alive for a hefty portion of them, the stories I have read and the film I have watched have made me appreciate each and every single one.

Mike Port apparently needs to read the umpires' report before making any kind of determination of what should happen to Todd Tichenor, a fill-in umpire in yesterday's Boston Red Sox vs Minnesota Twins game.

There's no need for Port too look at the report, Tichenor messed up majorly and clearly has shown why he's usually umpiring down in AAA and even that seems too good for him now.

All the events occurred in the seventh inning as well. 

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The Colorado Rockies are playing bad baseball.

Through Wednesday, the team is the second-worst team in the game, slotted right behind the dreadful Washington Nationals with a record of 18-28.

The Rockies were recently swept in a three-game set with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers in abysmal fashion, losing by a combined score of 31-13. 

And they actually managed to look worse than the aggregate score would make it seem.

This Column Originally Published on GetOutofMyBallpark.com

Warning: This post written under the influence of Big League Chew.

Cheer up Nationals fans. A brighter future is just around the corner.

Think I'm kidding? I'm not. No this is real optimism, not some pie-in-thy-sky act.

The Washington Nationals, despite the fact of an MLB worst 13-33 record, a bullpen that couldn't get a little league team to go three-up, three-down, and a surprisingly porous defense, is looking very much like the Atlanta Braves circa 1990.