Hapless Hafner
So, what happened to Travis Hafner? I don't know. Maybe in the post-steroid era, one needs to accept the fact that bat-speed starts to go in a player's early 30s.

I shook my head every time (and they have come several times in the past few seasons) I read a story about how Hafner is going to come back, going to return to the monster he was in 2006.

When Hafner was hit in the foot on an oh-and-2 count with the bases loaded today, I breathed a sigh of relief. At least the at-bat wasn't going to end in a strikeout or double play.

He's hitting .197 with two homers and five RBIs. He is coming off another injury-plagued year, where he hit .272 with 16 homers and 49 RBIs.

He's 33 now, and he's making eight figures. He's also under contract for a few more seasons. At this point, you have to wonder if a Jake Westbrook and Hafner could have bought us one CC Sabathia, or Cliff Lee.

Yes, it's hindsight. At the time Hafner signed, I wrote positive things about the contract.

But now it looks like a big black hole. That hole might be in Hafner's swing.