Brownie Points: Quentin making slumping Byrnes look worse

First, let me go on record that (1) I pushed for the Diamondbacks to sign Eric Byrnes and (2) I approved of the decision to go after Dan Haren - whom Arizona obtained, in part, from the pieces gained in the Carlos Quentin deal with the Chicago White Sox.

Read Jerry Brown's blog, 'Brownie Bytes'

Of course, I'm also a member of the media, so I can still second-guess decisions (man, I love my job).

Arizona general manager Josh Byrnes surely loves to see his team atop the baseball heap in mid-May, but watching his left fielder deliver a .214 batting average (thanks to a 6-for-62 slump) in the first year of a $30 million contract must feel like a pointy rock in his sneakers.

Making matters worse is the fact that Quentin, the odd man out in the Arizona lineup, continues to blow up in Chicago.

Quentin's grand slam Wednesday night in Anaheim was his 10th homer of the season - which leads the American League - and his 34 RBIs are second only to Josh Hamilton of Texas (44). Put those numbers in left field and Arizona might be on the verge of clinching the division already.

Now let's keep in mind that Quentin is a career .240 hitter and blew up like this once before, early in 2006, before the National League pitchers figured him out (.214 last year). But if Eric Byrnes can't get this turned around soon and he starts dragging the team down with him, this will become even more of a sore spot.

THAT'S TUR-A-BULL

Charles Barkley owes the Wynn Casino $400,000 - which according to his normal blackjack bet, is 16 straight losing hands at $25,000 a pop.

This is just a drop in the vault for Sir Charles, who once claimed he lost $2.5 million in one six-hour period and won back $700,000 over Super Bowl weekend in 2007.

Barkley told a reporter Thursday that not paying the marker was an oversight and he's going to make things square. Overlook a $400,000 gambling loss? What a busy guy.

QUICK HITTERS

I'm enjoying watching the D-Backs play, but there is one thing that should keep Arizona's spikes on the ground: After Thursday's win, they were 11 games over .500 for the season, and Brandon Webb was 9-0. So when he doesn't pitch, they're the Dodgers.

If Jerry Reinsdorf wanted Mike D'Antoni as his head coach, he should have made an offer. He had a week and you can hit a 7-iron from his house in Paradise Valley to D'Antoni's.

The truth is, the Bulls dragged their feet. They wanted a defensive-minded assistant and a little discount off the top - to which both D'Antoni and the Suns would have had to contribute. But when the missed opportunity made the Bulls look bad in front of their fans, Reinsdorf and GM John Paxson started flinging mud in a vain attempt to conceal the real culprits.

J.J. Redick wants out of Orlando. The Magic don't want him, either. The Suns need shooters at a cheap price, and Redick is signed through the next two years at an average of $2.5 million. When it comes to shooting, he may not have written the book, but he did do the video.

Sorry I didn't resume Brownie Points in time to give you Big Brown (a friend of the family) as the easy Kentucky Derby winner and the best Triple Crown threat in more than a decade. Don't be spooked by all the pretenders since Affirmed in 1978. Big Brown is the goods.