MLB: Who's Hot, Who's Not

Who's Hot

• The Yankees - The Rocket's back, A-Rod is hot again, that Giambi problem looks to be going away, and oh yeah, the Yanks have won nine straight. New York is still eight games out of first place in the East, though.
  
  
• Ichiro and the Mariners - They've dropped two tough ones to the Cubs, but Seattle is playing better than anyone could have expected at this point of the season. In the last month, Ichiro is hitting almost .400 with 13 SB. He must have finally realized that this is a contract year.
  
  
• Billy Beane - The A's are playing only average baseball, but the man who helped bring Money Ball to your libraries will be staying around for a while, as Oakland signed him to a seven year extension.
  

Who's Not

• Michael Barrett - After getting tangled up in altercations with teammates Carlos Zambrano and Rich Hill, Barrett has been notified by the club that he will be getting some more time off in the coming weeks. He also needs to take a chill pill, but I'd like to see him take another shot at A.J. Pierzynski first, when the Cubs play the White Sox next weekend.
  
  
• Dan Wheeler - Wheeler lost the closer's job to a head case (who promptly blew a save in his first opportunity), and he has seen his ERA double in the last two weeks. Also discouraging is the fact that I have him on my fantasy team.
  
  
• Eddie Murray - The Hall of Famer and owner of over 3,200 career hits has gotten no love from the Dodgers, who fired him as their hitting coach. They hired Bill Mueller, the one-time all-star, in his stead. For the record, Mueller batted over .300 exactly twice in his career. Murray? Eight times. Perhaps Mueller will prove the better teacher, though.