Others on the hot seat

	MAILBAG Got a question or comment for Jon? Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

• Greg Walker, White Sox hitting coach. Anyone take a gander at these averages lately? Darin Erstad, .258, Tadahito Iguchi, .235, A.J. Pierzynski, .216, Paul Konerko, .202, Jermaine Dye, .214, Rob Mackowiak, .163, Joe Crede, .202, Juan Uribe, .224. (Jim Thome's hitting .340 and Scott Podsednik .303, but both are hurt).

Ozzie Guillen made an admirable stab at supporting Walker, saying, "Believe me, when you are the hitting coach or pitching coach, you have a miserable summer. You can never have guys in the lineup swing the bat at the same time ..."

The flaw in Guillen's argument, of course, is that you shouldn't have a time where everyone (or almost everyone) is swinging the bat this bad, either.

• Jim Hendry, Cubs GM. I admit it, I liked his $300 million in moves. I thought his team would be a lot better. And maybe it still will be. But the defense isn't great, the starting pitching is thin, they don't really have a shut-down closer and manager Lou Piniella looked like he was going to split his gut early. Plus, for a while it looked as if the decimal point needed to be adjusted in Alfonso Soriano's new salary. Until the past couple days, when he homered, he looked to be worth $13,600, not $136 million.

Hendry will have a new owner in coming months, when Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell sells the club. Assuming he sells to a business man (and not a lottery winner), and barring a turnaround, that person may notice that the won-loss record still isn't matching the dollars spent.

• Charlie Manuel, Phillies manager. They're the "team to beat," (according to shortstop Jimmy Rollins) and most teams are doing just that; they're beating them. The Phillies lack a spark, their bullpen is weak (that part's not Uncle Charlie's fault) and they've been dreadful against their main competition, going 2-9 vs. the Braves and Mets.

• Jim Hickey, Devil Rays pitching coach. Poor guy. He got the ax as Astros pitching coach, and he must feel like he's in a lower league with the D-Rays staff. I kept hearing in spring training how Jae Seo has a new pitch. Funny, I believe he's had that gopherball in his repertoire for quite some time.

• Mike Hargrove, Mariners manager. He came into the season on the hot seat and remains so despite a decent 12-10 start. Good man in a tough spot for a team that underachieved last year with a superstar who could bolt at year's end. Even if Seattle plays to its abilities, and the recent absence of mega-talent Felix Hernandez doesn't help its chances, you have to wonder whether Hargrove could be sacrificed to keep Ichiro, who is eligible for free agency after the season.

• Cashman and manager Joe Torre. A couple Yankees players (notably Derek Jeter) and now Don Zimmer, Mel Stottlemyre and Lee Mazzilli, have come out in support of Torre. Moreover, Zimmer and Stottlemyre, who may still be carrying grudges over their ousting, have tried to pin the Yankees woes on Cashman.

Stottlemyre told Fox's Andrew Siciliano, "It is my understanding George has kind of backed off and left everything up to Cashman ... They just haven't gone about setting up their pitching staff the right way." In Stottlemyre's case, that seems somewhat ungrateful since Cashman defended him to the media for years, through the gross underachievement of Jose Contreras, Javier Vazquez, Esteban Loaiza, Jeff Weaver, Kevin Brown and mostly any Yankees starter who wasn't a superstar in his prime.

But hey, these are rough times, and you can't entirely blame the ex-coaches for sticking up for their friend. Torre even got some public support from Steinbrenner recently, but the manager will need a major comeback by his team if he's to return next year.

Cashman had a bad month, but Steinbrenner hasn't truly been happy with Torre for years. The Boss is particularly annoyed by Torre's misuse of the bullpen, including the recent calls to summon Pettitte for relief. "I thought he was supposed to be brittle," Steinbrenner is alleged to have said to several of his people. Good point.

Around the Majors

• That Josh Beckett trade doesn't look so bad today. While Florida certainly is thrilled with shortstop Hanley Ramirez, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, and right-hander Anibal Sanchez, who threw a no-hitter last season, Beckett (6-0) is the leader for the AL Cy Young award so far. Pitching coach John Farrell is getting a lot of the credit for Beckett, who fell in love with the fastball last year.

• So as not to tax Jonathan Papelbon the night after a 35-pitch blown save, Red Sox manager Terry Francona used Mike Timlin in a save situation Wednesday. Good call.

• World Series MVP David Eckstein is one of many Cardinals struggling, and he's been dropped to eighth in the batting order two straight days. However, any on-field disappointments are nothing compared to the misery surrounding the club after the death of pitcher Josh Hancock.

• Oliver Perez lost the plate in one game, walking seven Phillies on April 11, but has come back with a big correction, whiffing at least nine in each of his past three starts.

• Ryan Langerhans spent fewer than two days with the A's. After being acquired Monday, he went 0-for-4 with two whiffs and an error in center field in a two-game split Tuesday, then was traded Wednesday to the Nationals -- who appreciate that type of play more -- for outfielder Chris Snelling. Langerhans told A's writers: "I've enjoyed my stay here."

• Anyone else besides first-base coach Tye Waller notice that Todd Walker still had the tag on his jersey when he singled against Boston Wednesday night?

• A's right-hander Rich Harden looked ready to take the step to stardom, but he just can't seem to shake the injury bug.

• Speaking of bugs, Pavano is reported by the New York Times to be off to see Dr. James Andrews. Hate to be cynical, but anyone think we'll see him back on the mound again before next spring?

• That borrowed time Tom Gordon's pitching on may be coming to a close. Just 3-for-8 in save opportunities, he's off to the doc, too. If this is it for Gordon, he's had a great career. But what will Philly do? It's already short in the 'pen.