That doesn't sound like it follows logically. A company under a ton of pressure---as you claim ESPN might be---would be ripe to skip steps in the process, not the other way around. At any rate this is all very speculative. How so? ESPN has to cover their behinds regarding both parties. If they investigate, find something, and retain HR, THEY get sued. If they fire him because one time he hugged someone and somebody else blows it out of proportion, THEY get sued. I'm no lawyer, but punitive damages suck.
Kudos for Prior for getting his ERA under 7, kudos to Boobies for trying to keep his over 7. I assume that's what he's doing, nobody can be that bad. Right?
Arroyo is having a much better year than Glavine right now. I'd take Glavine off, as his ERA is in the high 3's. At this point, I think Webb deserves it, with Z not far behind. Watch out for Carpenter and Pedro. In the AL, the top 3 are probably Halliday, Santana, and Liriano so far. What a 1-2 combo for the Twins. Glavine's name will take him a lot farther, and his win total will likely be higher (which seems to be weighed heavily for the Cy).
I've been clicking back and forth between watching Mr. Can't Keep His Pitch Count Below 100 In Five Innings and the Indians-Tigers game. the ESPN guys were just talking about that play (Stone and Phillips I think) and about how Ozzie said it was a good clean play. I am wondering how you reconcile your unwaivering support for just about everthing Ozzie says and your claim that Thames play was dirty. Looked like a clean play to me. He was well within reach of the bag, didn't go in with his cleats, and no elbows were thrown.
Harang, Capuano, Arroyo, Hoffman, and Isringhausen will probably not get serious consideration. Pedro's injury may bump him off the list. Webb always seems to be forgotten about. I'd say the list is Z, Glavine, Webb, Carp, Penny.