But there is a growing sense around the Rockies that Bell is in trouble, with his team 5-11 and empty seats proliferating around a once-packed ballpark. Increasingly, it seems as if modern baseball economics pressure teams into doing something, anything as seasons start to slide away. And more than ever, it's the manager who pays.

"We're not even thinking about that," Hart said Thursday. "We're just trying to get the club healthy. I feel like the guy with his finger in the dike. We've sprung so many leaks, I just can't stop one. You look at any team. You lose your No. 1 starter (Chan Ho Park), your closer (Jeff Zimmerman), your No. 1 set-up guy (Jay Powell), your situational left-hander (Rich Rodriguez) and your cleanup man (Juan Gonzalez), how do you survive all that?"

You don't. So the manager will. But this could be a volatile situation if things don't improve sooner or later, once some of the wounded leave the infirmary.

Other grumblings

	John Rocker Relief Pitcher Texas Rangers Profile
	2001 SEASON STATISTICS GM W-L SV-OP IP H ERA 6 0-1 1-3 5.2 11 9.53

"Performance," Hart said. "We just weren't getting performance. ... The guy was in the closer's role, and he was getting banged around. We didn't bring Johnny here to pitch in that role. We wanted him to pitch the sixth, seventh, eighth inning rather than pitch in a role where every pitch was magnified. But we had so many guys hurt, and he was a guy with 88 saves and he had experience doing that job. But he just didn't get it done."

The Rangers already have lost eight games they've led after the fifth inning -- which is the difference between a 12-3 start and a 4-8 start. And those losses were beginning to take such a toll, Hart said "we had to jump in pretty quick" and try something else.

Who'd have thought that something would be Hideki Irabu? But Irabu's splitter has been so good and he's had such good control of his fastball, "we thought this might be right up his alley," Hart said. "Fact is, he's got the same stuff as (Kazuhiro) Sasaki."

Still, it's been a long, long time since anyone thought Irabu was an answer, not a question.

"He's just mainly a curveball pitcher now," says one AL scout. "His fastball has no deception, and the hitters are right on the fastball. So he's got to go with the curveball, and he can't locate it at all."

"It wasn't an intentional walk, per se," said one scout present. "But Dave Stewart went to the mound, and the next thing you knew, the catcher, (Raul) Casanova, set up so far outside in the box that Pujols never had to take the bat off his shoulders for four straight pitches. Let's just say there was a lot of comment about that."

"He was fighting for his arm slot the whole game," the scout said. "He had a couple of different arm slots. Once he found it, he was fine. But it tells you it's bothering him a little bit when he's out of the right slot. He always moved it up and down in the past. He could drop down a little bit when he threw his changeup. But that's harder for him to do now. His stuff now isn't nearly as dominant. But it's still better than most."

We should never put anything past Pedro. And he'll still no doubt have his moments. But it's hard to find any independent observer who has seen him this year who thinks he's the Pedro of old.

It isn't the Yankees' system or the Astros' system. But Baseball America just ranked the Tigers ahead of the A's, Indians, Dodgers, Mets, Red Sox and Cardinals, among others. And one scout who covers the minor leagues told Rumblings and Grumblings he would give Detroit's minor-league talent a "B" grade, based just on the number of prospects at Double-A last year.

Best of the bunch: Center fielder Andres Torres. "Torres is the guy for me. He's going to be a good center fielder and leadoff man, but he needs some time."

Most promising pitchers: Kenny Baugh and Andy VanHekken. "VanHekken is going to be a major-league starter. He's the ultimate finesse lefty with the most relaxed delivery you'll ever see. ... Kenny Baugh really impressed me last year, but he's being held back this season because he threw so many innings (in college) last year.

Other position players: SS Omar Infante and 1B Eric Munson. "Infante will be a solid shortstop in the Rey Sanchez mode. He'll never have the power or on-base percentage to be a front-line guy, but he'll put the bat on the ball well and play good defense. ... Munson is overrated. They rave about his bat speed, but I've never seen it play. He's a left-handed Eric Karros."

Other pitchers: RHP Fernando Rodney. "Rodney has a good arm. He throws a pretty consistent 93-95 miles per hour. Nothing of quality offspeed yet, but I think he'll get it and eventually be a good reliever."

And we didn't even include Nate Cornejo or Mike Rivera, because both made the Opening-Day roster (even though Cornejo since has returned to Toledo).

"They can make Ruben Sierra the full-time DH, but the thing it changes most about that lineup is the intimidation factor," says one scout. "There's a psychological impact Edgar has because he's the rock in that lineup. He just has a presence that both teams feel. The other team is scared of Edgar. They're not scared of Ruben Sierra."

So naturally, the Mariners have won six in a row since Edgar went down.

So how could we not say this is the thinnest Braves pitching staff since they became, well, The Braves?

"After 11 years, sooner or later, everybody's pitching is going to get thin," says GM John Schuerholz. "But if our pitching isn't quite what it's been the last 11 years, maybe our offense is. You can't tell by the stats right now. But we think our offense is much better.

"You can't keep everything the same," Schuerholz says. "Our calling card and our trademark for the last 11 years has been dominant pitching. It may not be as dominating as it was in the past. But we think our team is as good and capable of winning as it's ever been."

At the moment, the Braves are ninth in the league in runs scored (through Wednesday) and dead last in slugging percentage. They're fourth in ERA. But most alarming, they've issued more walks than any team in the league, gone to their bullpen the most and committed the second-most errors in the NL.

"My old friend, Tom Ferrick, in Kansas City used to have an expression," Schuerholz says. "He said: 'The stats don't lie.' And the stats don't lie with this team. What these guys have done in the past, they will do again."

	Roger Clemens Starting Pitcher New York Yankees Profile
	2001 SEASON STATISTICS GM W-L IP H K ERA 4 1-2 23.2 25 26 6.46

"The thing that's different this year," says one scout, "is that several times, I saw him try to reach back for the good fastball to get himself out of trouble, and it wasn't there. That's made him more of a split-finger guy, and he can't be as dominating that way. I know he found his fastball as the season went on last year. But he's also almost 40 years old. You can't keep reaching back and finding it forever."

"He really came into his own," says one scout. "And he's not an Enron Field phenomenon, believe me. He hits to all fields. He's got such a good swing -- especially left-handed. And he's improved dramatically from the right side. His swing is so short. He's got a great follow-through. He's the real deal. I don't know about as a center fielder. But offensively, he's for real."