And now, three down ...

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1. Mariners. GM Bill Bavasi planned to recommend a return for solid baseball man John McLaren, assuming the team performed at all for him. However, McLaren, who's never been saddled with the "interim'' manager tag, can't be considered safe in Seattle now that the team has gone to sleep on him. The very club that won the last eight games of Mike Hargrove's oft-criticized tenure has now lost 15 of 17 and is all but out of the race. They have played some of the best defense of the year and possess a true ace in King Felix and a magician in Ichiro, but apparently they just don't have what it takes. McLaren was loyal to a fault with Richie Sexson, the bullpen is 10 deep but lacks experience and nobody but Felix Hernandez has won a game since Aug. 24 (he's 3-1, the rest are 0-14).

2. Tigers. The popular preseason pick (sorry about that one, too) has not enjoyed nearly the same type of fortune this year as last. The bullpen struggled after Joel Zumaya was lost for months with a finger injury. Brandon Inge and Craig Monroe (since gone to the Cubs) didn't play up to '06 standards, Gary Sheffield has done nothing in September (no hits for the month so far) and the starting pitching isn't what it was. Justin Verlander and Kenny Rogers have a 1.36 ERA over the past 18 games; everyone else is 8.60.

3. Braves. They went for it, and they came up empty. Now what? Mark Teixeira (12 HRs, 39 RBIs, .322) has done all they could have hoped for when they shipped the gems of their farm system off to Texas ("I give Jon Daniels credit. Great deal for them,'' one competing GM said of the Rangers GM), but they've still gone only 18-20 since that megatrade, effectively ending their postseason hopes. Through '05, they'd won a remarkable 14 years in a row. So maybe they were due for a little misery. The revamping of the bullpen looked like a good idea at the time, as well, but flamethrower Rafael Soriano's been only good (3-3, 3.29), Mike Gonzalez got hurt and manager Bobby Cox got so fed up with Bob Wickman that they released their closer.

Around the Majors

• Terry Francona's done a terrific job, but he erred by pitching to Carlos Pena with a base open on Tuesday night before Boston came back to beat Tampa Bay 16-10. Pena hit his 39th home run (he's one of two AL players with 30 home runs; A-Rod has an otherworldly 52).

• Give Texas and manager Ron Washington props for never giving up. They've been as good as anyone but the Yankees in recent days. They've won 13 of 16 (including that 30-3 game over Baltimore).

• And what's up with Marlon Byrd (.310)? He's been terrific.

• Some people around the Mets say things are better in the clubhouse with Julio Franco gone. They say he was a divisive influence who was constantly second-guessing manager Willie Randolph. "It was obvious he wanted Willie's job,'' one uniformed Met said.

• In addition to what else is going on with him (SI.com reported that he received shipments of steroids in '03-04), the Blue Jays' Troy Glaus has something in common with Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi, as he is now out with plantar fasciitis.

• Good to see someone rewarded for his defense, as Blue Jays' slick-fielding shortstop John McDonald got a two-year deal for $3.8 million.

• If they're so inclined, the Orioles should have no case to void the remaining $11.9 million on Jay Gibbons' contract based on his latest brush with 'roids (SI.com reported that he received shipments, too.). As per the Basic Agreement, they signed it, they're stuck with it. At least that's the way I read it.

• Like I've said, Jerry Reinsdorf is the greatest boss in America. This man is good to his employees, that's for sure. Ozzie Guillen's squad had the worst record in the bigs (61-83, tied with the two Florida teams) when they announced the manager's four-year extension. Word is, if he had the best record, the extension would have been for 40 years.