If you didn’t happen to catch the game last night against the Astros, you missed an odd one.  Roy Oswalt got pulled in the 2nd inning due to injury, and Ryan Dempster was  so bad that he should’ve been pulled.  I guess there was a little rust from his toe injury.  At one point with a man on first and third, Dempster fielded a comebacker and instead of getting the man headed for home, he turned and threw to second for the double play.  The only problem is that he chucked the ball into center field.  “Bad baseball” he called it, and I’d have to agree.

With both starters out it turned into a battle of relievers and it was more like a drunken bar fight than a pro boxing match.  Both bullpens were nothing short of horrendous.  There was a really odd play where Fukudome hit a comebacker at Astro’s reliever Jeff Fulchino.  The ball literally disappeared on the play.  Turns out, it ended up inside of Fulchino’s jersey.  I couldn’t find a video of it yet, but it was one of the craziest plays I’ve ever seen.   But the worst offender of the night was Aaron Heilman.  Which leads me into the offer I have for Jim Hendry before the deadline.

Last night Aaron Heilman was called upon with 2 men on.  As a reliever it’s his job to get out of the jam right?  Not a chance.  In 9 pitches, he managed to let the 2 inherited runners score and then added on an earned run of his own to add to his ridiculous ERA.  He did manage to get one out during the span though.  I wouldn’t complain if this were a once in a while deal, but it’s the status quo for Heilman.  If he comes into an inning with nobody on base, he’s a decent pitcher.  But you put any amount of runners on, and you can put ‘em on the board as soon as Lou signals for the righty.

In 47 innings this year he’s given up 46 hits, 30 walks, and has a 4.56 ERA.  As I said before, when he inherits runners, there’s a good possibility they are going to score.  He’s making $1,625,000 this year.  So Jim Hendry, if you’re listening, here’s my offer.  Cut Heilman now.  Sign me for the rest of the season.  The league minimum is somewhere around $400,000 right?  Give me $175,000 for the rest of the year and I’ll come in late in the ball game with runners aboard and let them come in.  Who knows?  Maybe my 70 mph heater, my curve that doesn’t curve, and my slider that doesn’t slide will fool a few hitters.  But it really doesn’t matter does it?   You’ll be saving close to a millions dollars with this deal, and losing nothing as far as talent is concerned.  This offer is obviously only good until Friday night when the deadline hits.  But if you throw in a case of beer and maybe a few autographs, I’m sure my softball team will be willing to deal me.  Let me know……..