Check out the transaction wire each day and figure out who is the latest major leaguer to go on the DL. Oldtimers tell me that the DL was never used as much when they played.

It does seem like the DL is overworked in today’s game.

Thursday Pedro Astacio came back form the DL which now gives the Mets a rotation of Tom Glavine, Al Leiter, Astacio, Steve Trachsel, and Jae Sao. Not half bad. Now if the Mets could just hit they might challenge in the East.

The Rangers put Ismael Valdes on the DL Thursday which is more bad news for a struggling pitching staff. Sterling Hitchcock is not being used by the Yankees very often. Hitchcock pitched well last night in relief in Anaheim, he would be a welcome addition to the Texas staff.

Kaz Sasaki finally went on the DL and the Mariners brought up Rafael Soriano to bolster their pen which now will feature Arthur Rhodes and Jeff Nelson in the closers role. Seattle plays with a grittiness which can’t be measured, but translates into more wins than one would suspect when analyzing the team.

More baseball news follows:Houston already reeling because of inconsistent pitching from Roy Oswalt (68 MPH curves?), Wade Miller, and Jeriome Robertson, now must replace fourth starter Brian Moehler who went on the DL yesterday with a sore shoulder.

The Expos placed Tony Armas, Jr. on the DL and now have to replace him in their rotation. For ateam like the Expos with little margin for error this will put more pressure on their staff.

Great game for Javier Vasquez who rode a solo homer by Vladimir Guerrero to a 1-0 win over lifeless Arizona Thursday night. Kim threw anothe rgood game for the Diamondbacks who head into Shea Stadium without Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson unless either makes a surprise return this weekend. You won’t need a calculator to count the few runs that will be scored between the Mets and Diamondbacks, probably about five runs per game.

Cleveland hits very poorly against everyone, but does hit lefties a little better. Ted Lilly should continue the A’s domination of the weak teams even though it make take the home team fiv einnings to get to Jason Davis. Similar series coming up as the one just ended with Detroit except Cleveland has some hope to score runs.

Miguel Tejada is so mixed up at the plate that Ken Macha should give the MVP a day off before going to Chicago and NY next week.

Eric Byrnes gets a shot to replace Jermaine Dye in the line up (sore knee) and will have a big weekend against Cleveland.

Giants will face test against Phillies at the Vet. They throw Ainsworth, a AAA call up Jerome Williams, and Foppert against Padilla, Duckworth, and Milwood. Looks like two of three for the Phils.

Cubs go to Colorado which should wake up their bats, trouble is it should wake up the Rockies, too. Look for some runs on the board even though Mark Prior goes for Chicago today. Shawn Estes will be lit up big time this weekend. Just a hunch since he relies so much on his curve ball which may not be controllable in the thin air.

Braves are getting that familiar look again. Shane Reynolds tries for his third excellent start tonight against the Brewers and Ben Sheets.

Cards blew another ninth inning lead last night. Without Isringhausen, the Cards are vulnerable every night. At some point, they will need to go out and get a closer. They will be in tight games with the running Marlins and should have some trouble against the hard throwing Miami Marlin pitching staff.

KC keeps rolling along. Mike MacDougal saves another. Now on to Toronto where SARS has everyone nervous. Roy Halladay’s slow start combined with the Blue Jays bull pen, has Toronto nervous as well.

Mike Mussina is on the hill against the sweet swinging Rangers, a good test for the Cy Young candidate. Colby Lewis is getting better, let’s see what he can do with the Yanks. The Rangers pen is solid with Francisco Cordero throwing 97 MPH bullets, and Urbina coming in to close with his change up.

Casey Fossum and the shell shocked Red Sox head into Anaheim. This will be a good series and looks more in the Angels favor simply because they play very tough games at home.

Mike Maroth goes in Seattle for the absolutely punchless Tigers who stand a good chance of being swept this weekend. Maybe Detroit can trade Matt Anderson for a hitter because they can’t go a whole season with what they have in that line up.

Minnesota and Chicago don’t like each other. Mark Buerhle never misses a chance to pitch against the Twins.

Don’t forget to check out the transactions every morning, you never know who will be on the move, it does make life interesting for the GM’s.