The Astros cut Julio Lugo hours after he was released from jail after posting bond for the misdemeanor assault charge. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
By Dan George, SI.com
The Houston Astros certainly sent a message with their decision to dump Julio Lugo in the wake of his alleged attack on his wife: If you're going to embarrass the team, you'd better be hitting a whole lot better than .246.
Last Thursday, one day after Lugo's wife, Mabel, said he slammed her head against a car and police charged him with misdemeanor assault, the Astros designated the 27-year-old shortstop for assignment. That means they have 10 days to release, trade or sell him, or send him to the minors.
The Astros have indicated the last option isn't really one. One way or another, Lugo has played his last game as an Astro. But even as the team issued a statement saying it would not tolerate domestic violence, GM Gerry Hunsicker acknowledged that Astros officials had been considering alternatives to Lugo, who had two RBIs and three errors in 22 games.
What Hunsicker didn't say was how really, really, really grateful he was that it wasn't Jeff Bagwell or Jeff Kent or some other non-underachieving Astro who had chosen to knock around his wife.
All in all, it just has not been a good season so far for Houston, which despite a three-game weekend sweep of the Florida Marlins, checks in at No. 20 in the latest SI.com Power Rankings.
Bagwell (.317, 10 HRs, 19 RBIs) and Kent (.309-4-19) are off to nice starts, but Lance Berkman, who led the National League with 125 RBIs in 2001, is hitting a mere .239 with three homers and 11 RBIs.
The biggest problem, however, has been the starting rotation. While the relievers have gone 8-5 with a 2.84 ERA (Billy Wagner has six saves in seven chances, along with 18 strikeouts in 18 innings), the starters are 6-11 and 5.21. Chief among the offenders have been Wade Miller (0-3, 6.07) and Brian Moehler (0-0, 7.90). Roy Oswalt (2-3, 3.66) has been better, but hardly the same guy who won 33 games over the previous two seasons.
With the Astros struggling, there have been some whispers that manager Jimy Williams could be in trouble. Owner Drayton McLane insists that's not the case. But if we were Williams, we'd sure be minding our p's and q's -- at least until the Astros get back over .500.
SI.com's Power Rankings
Rank
LW
Team
1
1
New York Yankees Mike Mussina has never won 20 games, a Cy Young Award or a World Series. But at 6-0, he's off to the best start for a Yankee since Bob Turley in 1958. And Turley did all three that season.
2
3
San Francisco Giants Former Blue Jay Jose Cruz Jr. has been a surprising offensive addition, batting .312 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs. But his defense has been even better -- he leads the majors with eight outfield assists.
3
6
Boston Red Sox Is this the season Trot Nixon finally puts it all together? Could be. Nixon traditionally has been a slow starter -- his .245 career average in April is his second worst -- but the 29-year-old right fielder is hitting .344 with two homers and 16 RBIs.
4
2
Kansas City Royals Give Tony Peņa credit for trying to keep things loose. After an 8-1 lead disintegrated to a 10-9 loss to the Blue Jays, Peņa cranked up the clubhouse stereo system. "Hey, nobody died," he said. "I don't want to see my ball club put its head down just because we lost a ballgame."
5
4
Seattle Mariners Bob Melvin really couldn't complain when Bret Boone started running off the field with only two outs -- not when Melvin had made one trip too many to the mound and was forced to remove starter Gil Meche. "I saw Boonie after the game, and he said, 'Skip 1, Boonie 1,'" said Melvin.
6
7
Atlanta Braves After a 4-8 start, they've won 16 of their past 19 to take over first place (my, this looks familiar) in the NL East. And nobody has played bigger than 5-foot-7 second baseman Marcus Giles (.330-4-16).
7
8
Oakland Athletics Pitching in the Bay Area, Mark Mulder has certainly seen fog before, but the two fog delays in his victory over the White Sox in Chicago were something else. "I've never played baseball in anything like that," said the Chicago native. "I remember the Bears-Eagles playoff game [in 1988], that's about it."
8
5
Montreal Expos Zach Day would have been the NL Rookie of the Month for April -- if only he'd been a rookie. Despite his 2-1, 2.48 ERA month, the league rescinded the award after learning he had too much service time. So honors went to Chicago Cubs first baseman Hee Seop Choi instead.
9
10
Philadelphia Phillies Is there anything nicer than throwing a no-hitter the season before you become a free agent? Yep. Doing same and having Scott Boras as your agent. Kevin Millwood qualifies on both counts.
St. Louis Cardinals Kiki Calero, a 28-year-old rookie, may be next in line to close for Tony La Russa while Jason Isringhausen recovers from shoulder surgery. Calero pitched one scoreless inning Saturday, allowing a hit and a walk, to record his first career save.
12
15
Baltimore Orioles Last week, reliever B.J. Ryan got a victory after he picked off a runner with two outs in the seventh, then was replaced after the O's scored three runs in the bottom of the inning. It was the first no-pitch victory in at least 17 seasons, according to STATS Inc.
13
12
Colorado Rockies Baseball's ugly economic system rears its ugly head Tuesday when the Braves start Mike Hampton against the Rockies. Colorado, which traded Hampton to the Braves over the winter, is paying $2 million of the lefty's $12 million salary this season.
14
11
Chicago White Sox GM Kenny Williams thinks Jerry Manual may be too laid back. Williams was visibly upset that Manuel did not go off when an umpire took a game-tying home run away from Joe Crede on April 23. Curiously, after that incident was mentioned in print, Manuel was kicked out in the first inning of the next game.
15
16
Los Angeles Dodgers They're 16-16 and scoring just 3.56 runs a game -- last in the NL -- but nobody's about to count them out in the NL West. Not with a 2.79 team ERA that's nearly a half-run lower than the next-best Montreal Expos.
16
19
Minnesota Twins The strain of chasing the surprising Royals may be showing. "This game is about playing with heart and guts," said closer Eddie Guardado, "and this team is not playing with any heart right now. We are playing like [garbage], to be honest. We need to pick it up. We need to have more intensity, a little more pride."
17
20
Pittsburgh Pirates The starting rotation has a brilliant 2.99 ERA through 30 starts, tops in the majors. But those same starters are a so-so 11-11, thanks to a mere 114 runs scored. Only the Indians and Tigers have scored fewer.
18
13
Florida Marlins A.J. Burnett, out for over a year after elbow surgery, suspects team officials withheld information about a bone spur in his elbow. He should also be upset that Jeff Torborg let him average 111 pitches a game last season.
19
23
Texas Rangers Unappreciated slugger Rafael Palmeiro is zeroing in on 500 home runs. And he ought to think about 600, too. He's averaged nearly 42 homers a season over the past eight years, and he's just 38.
20
21
Houston Astros Jeff Bagwell is the first player since Hank Aaron with 1,300 runs and 1,300 runs batted in his first 13 seasons. All the others are in the Hall of Fame: Lou Gehrig, Al Simmons, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams.
21
17
Anaheim Angels In April, their starters combined for a 10-11 record and 5.48 ERA. Yes, as a matter of fact, Mike Sciosia will be glad to get Aaron Sele and Kevin Appier back from the disabled list.
22
26
Cincinnati Reds Our nominee for quote of the week? Ryan Dempster, after giving up seven runs in one inning on six walks and one hit: "It was one of those times when it was embarrassing to be in a big-league uniform. It was terrible, just ridiculous. I should go to the Gulf Coast League [rookie ball], or they should put me to sleep."
23
28
Toronto Blue Jays Kelvim Escobar's glass is half full. After losing his closer's job, Escobar says he doesn't mind being a starter again because he thinks he'll get more money when he becomes a free agent after the season. "I want to make myself more valuable," said Escobar, he of the 10.13 ERA.
24
25
Arizona Diamondbacks Randy Johnson back on the DL, with Byung-Hyun Kim keeping him company. Curt Schilling giving up a pair of homers his return from same. Our optimism about the Snakes' return to championship form may have been a little premature.
25
22
Tampa Bay Devil Rays Rocco Baldelli batted .364 in April, the highest average by an AL rookie since Kevin Seitzer hit .382 in 1987. He hit safely in 24 of 26 games. Of course, those 27 strikeouts and three walks are still cause for concern.
26
14
New York Mets Mo Vaughn, hitting .190 with more strikeouts (22) than hits (15), insists he has too much pride to keep playing this way. Don't expect him to walk away anytime soon, though -- not when it means giving up some $30 million in salary for this season and next.
27
24
San Diego Padres Mark Quinn, a two-time batting champ in the minors, seemed like a nice pickup for the Padres after the Royals released him this spring. Now San Diego has said so long, too, cutting Quinn from Class AAA Portland last week. He was hitting .298 with three homers and 12 RBI in 16 games.
28
27
Milwaukee Brewers Last Wednesday was a full day for Brooks Kieschnick. After pitching for Class AAA Indianapolis in the afternoon, he was called up by the Brewers that night and got in the game against the Expos, striking out as a pinch hitter.
29
29
Cleveland Indians Among their many problems, they're 2-for-23 ( .087) with the bases loaded. But .234 with runners in scoring position, if you're looking for the bright side.
30
30
Detroit Tigers Outfielder Eugene Kingsale was one of three major leaguers from Aruba recently knighted by the queen of the Netherlands. The honor coincided with the Tigers replacing Kingsale in center field with Andres Torres, prompting sportswriter Tom Kowalski to observe, "Eugene Kingsale was knighted and demoted on the same day."
