Kaz Matsui's time with the Houston Astros is officially in the books. We are left to wonder his options. Perhaps he will join fellow Japanese export Ichiro Suzuki in Seattle, or maybe he'll head back to Japan and play for the Yomiyuri Giants, the Chunichi Dragons, Yakult Swallows or the Nagasaki Yakuza.

With that, we are left to wonder who will be next to be issued their walking papers with the Astros...

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Ouch.

The tires are flat just a few days after the Reds bandwagon was getting full.

After holding a commanding 9-1 lead, the Reds end up losing 10-9 in stomach punching fashion to the Atlanta Braves.

The Reds jumped out to a eight run lead in the second inning and everything seemed juuuust fine. Rookie Mike Leake had his seventh quality start in eight appearances, going six innings giving up five hits and three runs (one earned).

It’s about time the Houston Astros made a positive move.

That move came in the form of releasing slumping second baseman Kaz Matsui—who has two days to clear waivers.

According to Astros senior director of social media Alyson Footer, the Astros “asked for waivers on Matsui for purposes of granting him release. If he clears wavers in two days, [the] Astros [are] on the hook for [the] remainder of [his] salary.”

Jeff Keppinger will get a majority of the starts at second base, according to Footer.

For once, Jamie Moyer knows what it takes to pitch well and lose. Oh, the irony

Moyer was brilliant for the Phillies as they faced the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night, allowing only two earned runs on four hits and one walk in seven innings, while striking out seven and lowering his ERA to 4.30, in the rematch of the teams that faced each other back in 1986 when Moyer made his major league debut against Steve Carlton.

I know it's way too soon in the Chicago Cubs ownership career of one Tom Ricketts to say too many things about him, good or bad.

All anyone can do is evaluate the man on what he says and, more importantly, what he does.

He says he’s a Cubs fan, and that’s a positive of course. He even met his wife in the bleachers supposedly.

All well and good.

He wants to win by building through scouting and development.

Angel Pagan did something that hadn't been done by a player in 55 years, but the Mets still couldn't win a game.

That's how bad things have gotten, as the Mets fell 5-3 to the Nationals to begin a mini two-game set in D.C.

In place of the demoted Oliver Perez, the Mets brought up knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to fill in. Dickey got off to a flying start—he didn't allow his first hit until the fourth inning.

Before the Nationals got their first hit, the Mets got theirs.

We are here with our third installment of the Clint Eastwood crusade regarding the New York Yankees. If you missed the first installment, click here .

Second installment? Click here .

When one looks at the line of Phil Hughes' start Monday night against the Boston Red Sox, they see five innings pitched, six hits, five earned runs, one walk, and three strikeouts. The big stat, however, was the two home runs, a solo job to David Ortiz and a three-run jack to the newly-rejuvenated J.D. Drew.

In 2007, David Wright had one of the best seasons in Mets history, hitting .325 with 30 HRs, 107 RBI, and 34 steals. That season, Wright only had 115 strikeouts in 160 games (an average of 0.72 a game).

Fast-forward two-and-a-half years later to the 2010 season.

In 40 games, Wright has accumulated 55 strikeouts (1.38 a game), and has batted only .262.

It seems apparent that David Wright is not the player he used to be.

In 2004, the future of the Mets was revealed when David Wright and Jose Reyes were called up to the big leagues.

Every year, there are a handful of players who shock us in the season's opening weeks.

There are nobodies, rookies, and washed-up veterans who emerge as the game's top players by May, while some of baseball's biggest stars make their fans embarrassed to don their jerseys.

In this week's Featured Columnist poll, 16 of Bleacher Report's top baseball writers weighed in on which hot hands and slow starters we should begin idolizing or start worrying about, respectively.

This slideshow showcases 10 hot starters (look for the cold-starter results tomorrow), each with a rating of "the real deal,"