The Zo Zone

You know you've said to your buddy at least once, "Dude, I totally could be a GM."

Of course you have.

But after watching Jon Lieber allow six hits, three runs, no walks and strike out seven in seven strong innings last night in a 5-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park, you really have to wonder what baseball's GMs are thinking sometimes. Lieber is 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA this season, and a 2.50 ERA in his six starts since returning to the rotation. The Phillies gladly would have traded him in the off-season for bullpen help. They even talked about trading him to the Blue Jays for Alex Rios. Now, I have no problem with the Blue Jays not wanting to trade Rios for Lieber, but what about every other team in baseball desperate for starting pitching?

It very much surprised me that nobody wanted to take a chance on Lieber. He won 17 games in 2005 and finished last season strong after a horrible start. And he certainly would be motivated pitching in a contract year. A team giving up a bullpen arm for Lieber made total sense to me. But the Phillies got no calls. Nobody wanted him.

That's not an exaggeration, either.

A top executive from another team said this winter it was a red flag that the Phillies picked up Freddy Garcia with Lieber still on the roster. Huh? I never saw it that way. I always looked at it like the Phillies had the opportunity to acquire what everybody considered the top starting pitcher available on the market and moved forward, thinking they could move one of their other starters later.

Now you have to wonder what all those other GMs are thinking.

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Ryan Madson threw a scoreless inning in a rehab appearance last night for double-A Reading. He will make another appearance tomorrow and is expected to rejoin the team Tuesday in Florida.

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The Phillies were 4-11 (.267) and the worst team in baseball on April 20. But since Manuel held a team meeting in Cincinnati the next afternoon, this team is 17-10 (.630). That's the third-best record in the National League in that span, a half-game behind the Milwaukee Brewers (17-9) and New York Mets (17-9). So it appears that while the Phillies have been good, they will need to continue to play that way because the Mets and Braves (14-11 in that span) aren't going anywhere.

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Manager Charlie Manuel said he's OK with Garcia being upset about his perceived quick hook in starts. Didn't I call that?

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Ozzie Guillen swore at a media member!

Yawn.

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By the way, I just discovered this on YouTube. (OK, I found it at Randball.) This happened while the Phillies were in San Francisco a couple weeks ago. It was one of the funnier things I've seen in a while. The clip, however, doesn't do it justice. The camera followed this kid for at least an inning or two. The "kill me" look on his face was priceless.