What's wrong with the Smutt?

The Smutt Peddlers are in a big slump. The defending champs are mired in a three-game losing streak, which has come after an eight-game winning streak.

Joe held the top spot in the league for a long time, but now his team is clearly beatable. So what exactly has happened?

For one, it's been close losses. 10-8 to Ken, 9-8 to Jack and 11-8 to Ricky. Three good teams he's lost to.


I spoke to Joe personally Sunday night after the loss to Ricky, and it's clear he was not happy with his team. Joe called out Magglio Ordonez, who recently received honorable mention for Worst Draft Pick and Least Valuable Player.

"History says he's a big-time hitter, and hes in a big-time slump right now," Joe said when asked why he still had him. "I don't have to play him, so why not keep him?"

But after discussing Ordonez, Joe admitted he may have gotten a bit complacent after establishing himself as the team to beat this year.

"I don't know, I guess the eight-game win streak made the manager believe he could coast," Joe said. "He played golf all weekend. It's summer time and it's been busy at work. We just switched to a whole new office. It's just been a lot of shit going on."

But, Joe, that sounds like an excuse - something Shea has said about why he hasn't set his lineup at times...

"He's got (three) wins all season," Joe said. "So let's just put it that way."

Joe didn't shy away from the fact that he planned to have internal discussions about two things: trades and steroids. When he started 0-1-1, Joe gave his players Deca, a steroid supplement, and he recently said he will look into it as a possibility again.

"We'll see," he said. "The All-Star break is coming up, and it'll give us a little bit of a break so they might not need any kind of pick-me-up. We'll see how it goes."

As far as trades go, sources have told me that Joe is looking into shopping Matt Garza, A.J. Burnett or Andy Pettitte for another bat.

This week, he faces Adam, who has jumped out to a big 11-2 lead thanks to an incredible managerial decision to bench Johnny Cueto.

Lately, that's just been Joe's luck.