FanHouse JorgeJulio

Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.

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Team who could easily end up with the best offense in the National League. The potential firepower of this lineup is mind-boggling. They are going to need it, because the pitching staff has a chance to embarrass itself on a regular basis. They weren't good to begin with, but now Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia have departed.

When you are adding Jorge "Gasoline Soaked Matchbook" Julio to your bullpen, then things have not gone "well" for your team over the course of whatever season it is. At least with regard to the bullpen. And the Braves find themselves in the unenviable spot of having Julio on the roster.

This stems primarily from Rafael Soriano's return to the disabled list and the news that Tom Glavine will be out until at least after the All Star Break.

Julio, 29, had a 5.60 ERA in 15 appearances for Cleveland before he was released at the end of May. He has a 13-33 career record and a 4.40 ERA with 99 saves in 131 opportunities, including 83 saves in a three-season span with Baltimore in 2002-04.

'He's got great stuff,' Braves general manager Frank Wren said. 'If a guy like that's a free agent, just makes sense for us to give him a chance. We signed him to give us some additional depth.'

Say what you want about Wren's inability to grasp that the Braves desperately need to trade for another starter, but the guy can flat out spin a boring, lifeless free agent addition/trade to make it sound good.

See, I would say ... well, actually what I would say probably isn't appropriate, so let's just stink with what Wren said.

Fantasy Spin: Yes, there is one. If you're in a deeper league and have a bench spot, taking a flier on Julio isn't that absurd; he could conceivably get save opps for the Braves and that would make him a nice add. High risk, etc.

There were some rumblings after Brian Fuentes pulled out of the All-Star game that he had a mysterious injury. The speculation by some, including myself, was that Fuentes just wanted some time to figure out his troubles; he had blown his previous four consecutive saves and been demoted as closer. This all didn't matter to Tony La Russa who selected him for the All-Star team anyways. It's not like it was a completely mysterious injury -- we knew it was a sore lat muscle. But it seemed mysterious that Fuentes had only complained about it after performing poorly. Turns out the injury was no joke.

Brian Fuentes has been placed on the 15-day DL with a strained lat. The move is retroactive to July 4th, meaning Fuentes could be back early next week. Manager Clint Hurdle has said that Fuentes will return to the closer role as soon as he's healthy. In the meantime, it's a combination of -- get ready for these big names to blow you away -- Manny Corpas, Jorge Julio, and Jeremy Affeldt -- who will lock up the 9th. Surprisingly, Corpas has been excellent this year, and so has Affeldt. The same cannot be said of Julio. They might not be big names, but they're good enough to get the job done in the meantime. Don't get it twisted though, even with the blown saves, Brian Fuentes is still a top closer in the league, and the above-.500 Rox will eagerly await his return.

Previously at FanHouse:
Justice to Be Served for a Snubbed All-Star: Brian Fuentes to Miss All-Star Game
LaRussa Selected Demoted Closer Brian Fuentes to NL All-Star Team
Brian Fuentes Lives in Blown Save Infamy

This is becoming a headache of sorts for Arizona. Despite losing three in a row, they're still very much in the thick of the NL West race, not to mention the playoff race as a whole, and now they are placing Randy Johnson back on the DL. Johnson started last week against the Dodgers after missing the previous two weeks because of a herniated disk in his back. He's returning to his familiar spot on the DL because of what's being termed lingering back problems.

The interesting thing will be to see if Johnson is placed on the DL retroactively to last week. If so, he'd be eligible to come off of the DL after the All-Star break. If not, then Johnson will most likely be out of the rotation through the first week following the break. Luckily for Arizona, they have pretty incredible pitching depth in the organization, allowing them to summons Yusmeiro Petit for the start. Now, that Jorge Julio trade to Florida is looking better and better for Arizona. The D-Backs' rotation is still in good shape, consisting of Brandon Webb, Livan Hernandez, Doug Davis, Micah Owings, and Petit. Not too bad at all.

Previously at FanHouse:
Randy Johnson Headed to Disabled List
Randy Johnson Has a Herniated Disk
Is Randy Johnson Getting Enough Loving at Home?
Marlins Trade for Closer Jorge Julio

On the same day that Fredi Gonzalez announced that Kevin Gregg would remain the closer of the Florida Marlins upon the return of one time closer Henry Owens from the DL, another wrinkle has been creased as it looks like Florida is on the verge of acquiring Armando Benitez from the San Francisco Giants.

General manager Brian Sabean said on his weekly KNBR radio program on Thursday that, "It's safe to say the bullpen is being reviewed," and that, "we've got to the point where we are going to have to do something, and hopefully within the next 24 or 48 hours we'll resolve it internally or externally. Right now we are exploring options."

After Benitez's complete meltdown at Shea Stadium on Tuesday, which included two balks which advanced the same runner, the Giants have reached their breaking point with Armando. His recent tirade against his teammates for making errors behind him has only served to make the Giants look for any excuse to dump him. Tuesday night was merely the final straw.

From a Marlins standpoint, not only has Armando played in Miami before, but he has been rumored to be returning there since spring training. And I'm very interested to see how much money the Giants eat for the pure sake of getting rid of him. I would think it would be a significant amount, because that's probably the only way the Marlins make this deal ... and it also justifies Gonzalez leaving Gregg in the closer role, because who would spend $7.6 million on a middle reliever? If the Marlins have to pay the bulk of that salary, they almost have to give Benitez the closer role to justify it. We saw with Jorge Julio how much of a disaster that line of thinking can be.

The funny part about the whole thing is that manager Bruce Bochy had said that Benitez needed to have fluid drained from his knee, and that he would be held out of Thursday's game, just as he was held out of Wednesday's save situation. It was easy to assume that Bochy didn't want to expose Benitez to the Shea Stadium fans again, who are still bitter about Benitez's time in New York. Now, it looks like Benitez could be making a handful more appearances against the Mets as a Marlin.

Update: It looks like the trade is official, as the Marlin who's going the other way is middle reliever Randy Messenger.

Previously on The Fanhouse:
Armando Benitez Throws His Teammates Under the Bus
Armando Benitez to Marlins Rumors Start in the Spring
Armando Benitez Rumors Continue
The Jorge Julio Era Ends Before it Begins

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Teams looking for bullpen help are taking a look at Troy Percival, who retired due to forearm issues during the '05 season, but is now pain free and wants back in the show. We know the Phillies are interested, especially if Brett Myers has to miss significant time with his strained shoulder. And we know his former employer ... Detroit, not Los Angeles of Anaheim ... is also interested.

But you can now throw a new team into the mix: the Florida Marlins, who have been searching for a closer since the Jorge Julio experiment proved to be a disaster, and Henry Owens landed on the DL, should be one of the teams looking at Percival when he throws for scouts in SoCal in the next few weeks.

A resident of Riverside, Calif., Percival told the Riverside Press Enterprise the Angels were his top choice. He could end up elsewhere considering the Angels' back-end bullpen depth. Several teams, including the Tigers and Phillies, have expressed interest. "I'm not looking for the highest bidder," Percival told the Press Enterprise. "I'm looking for a good situation where I can get a role, where I'm not just throwing innings to throw innings. I want to get the opportunity to go back and close. I've been a closer my whole life. I enjoy helping young pitchers, and I can bring more to the table than just throwing."

Why anyone would take a guy who hasn't pitched in two years and immediately install them as their closer is beyond me, besides desperation. But the Marlins, without an experienced closer, might do just that ... while the Phillies would probably just put him in middle relief exclusively while Myers heals.

If nothing else, this could set up more bad blood between the Phillies and Marlins as they battle for his services. And bad blood is good theater.

Via: Ben Maller

Previously on The Fanhouse:
Brett Myers Injured Physically
Henry Owens Injured Physically
Jorge Julio Injured Psychologically
Jorge Julio Traded
Troy Percival Bored With Retirement
Troy Percival Has Suitors, Angels Not One of Them
More Hate Between Phillies and Marlins

This is what you call an equal value trade, except in this case, the value on both sides is incredibly low. In fact, this trade is probably only noteworthy because it involves two of the more noticeably awful pitchers in Major League Baseball this year.

The Marlins and the Rockies exchanged horrible pitchers today, as the Marlins gave up a psychologically rattled Jorge Julio and the Rockies dealt an extremely displeased Byung-Hyun Kim, resulting in a total trade ERA of 22.00+. That's, um, really bad.

On the bright side, things couldn't get any worse for either pitcher in their former locales, so a trade might be best for everyone at this point. Kim gets a chance to work on his mechanics with a new, less hostile coaching staff, and Julio can work on whatever mental demons have caused him to struggle so mightily in Florida. Maybe the clean mountain air will clear his head, or something like that.

Neither team's fortunes are going to be changed by this trade, but at least it gives both players a chance at a new start. Whether they make the most of that new start, and lower those ridiculous ERAs, is up to them.

Previously on the FanHouse:
Jorge Julio Needs to Talk It Out
Byung-Hyun Kim's Whining On His Way to the Pen

Ryan Zimmerman provided Nationals fans with what might be their most exciting moment of the season, a walk off grand slam off of Jorge Julio to cap off a five run ninth inning to beat the Marlins 7-3.

It's just a shame hardly anyone saw it.

This game didn't end until 1:42 AM EDT because of heavy rain that caused two delays ... one of them an inexcusable two hours and fifty one minutes. An announced crowd of 19,000 dwindled to about 100 by the time the game ended. The other rain delay was 47 minutes, which made the rain delays a grand total of three hours and 38 minutes.

For Nationals fans, who are already being tortured on a day in, day out basis watching this team limp along, this had to be painful whether they stayed to watch the whole game, left the game early and missed a great ending, or just happened to be watching it on television and fell asleep or gave up on seeing an ending. There was thunder, lightning, a thirty foot puddle in the outfield, and still the umpires found it necessary to hang on to a game between division rivals that are going to see each other plenty this season. I mean, haven't Nationals fans been through quite enough already?

Or could it have been worse for Marlins fans, who had to endure the return of Julio to the ninth inning? Perhaps he needs a little more of that sports psychology. Perhaps so do the fans who stayed at RFK for six plus hours watching rain fall for most of it.

Previously on The Fanhouse:
Jorge Julio Seeks a Sports Psychologist

I doubt that the Florida Marlins will react with the same fury towards their trainer that the New York Yankees did when they fired Marty Miller over all of the hamstrings that have been pulled, torn, and snapped.

But a similar, if less publicized pattern of injuries is happening in Miami, where Henry Owens becomes the sixth Marlins pitcher to see time on the DL this season ... in Owens' case it's tendinitis in his rotator cuff.

Owens has been great for the Marlins as their closer after taking over for the psychologically challenged Jorge Julio, going 2-0 with four saves and a 1.96 ERA this season. And now it looks as though with Owens' injury, Julio will likely reclaim his position as the Marlins closer.

And why not? Jorge Julio is taking up a good portion of the Marlins' payroll. Of course, the Fish would want nothing better than to let Julio come around at his own pace. But if everyone is dropping like flies, then it's just going to have to be time for Julio to stop thinking and just fire away. It's time to put that sports therapy to work.

And it's time for the training staff to make sure that Julio and co. stays on the field.

Previously on The Fanhouse:
Yankees Fire Marty Miller
Jorge Julio Talks it Out

We here at the MLB FanHouse will be musing twice a month until the end of the season on who we think leads the AL and NL Cy Young award races. This is the second installment.

National League: John Maine

The Mets can thank Anna Benson. If you believe the tabloids, it was Anna's plunging Christmas dress at a team function where hubby Kris was Santa Claus for a group of children that was the last straw in trading Benson for Jorge Julio ... and a throw-in named John Maine. Maine is now 5-0 with a 1.37 ERA, and wouldn't it be funny if the Mets came up with a Cy Young award winner in 2007, the season where their starting pitching was widely thought of as just a step above kitchen grime in its usefulness. Maine, who pitches tonight against San Francisco, barely beats out Brad Penny, who after striking out 15 and walking 17 in his first six starts this season, struck out 14 and walked none on Monday night against Florida.

Also in the mix:
Brad Penny: 4-0, 1.39 ERA
Jake Peavy: 4-1, 1.75 ERA 56 K's
Rich Hill: 4-1, 1.73 ERA
Tim Hudson: 3-1, 1.70 ERA

American League: Josh Beckett

At 7-0 after last night's drubbing of the Blue Jays, Beckett is threatening to make a mockery of the Cy Young race. C.C. Sabathia is keeping pace at 5-0. But Beckett's 1.06 WHIP, .219 batting average against, and 2.72 ERA bests Sabathia significantly, and those numbers are before last night's game, where he went seven innings, giving up five hits, only one walk. (Hey, that Hanley Ramirez trade doesn't look so bad now, does it?) Beckett leads a good starting staff, with Daisuke Matsuzaka providing the hype, Curt Schilling providing the biting commentary, Tim Wakefield providing the knuckleball, and Beckett providing nothing more than solid pitching. The Blue Jays announcers tried to hate during Tuesday night's game, remarking that at some point, "this roll's gotta stop ... Beckett's not going to go 35-0". Probably not ... but winning the Cy Young award isn't going to take a 35-0 record.

Also in the mix:
C.C. Sabathia: 5-0, 61 K's
Roy Halladay: 4-1, 2 CG's, 1.06 WHIP
Gil Meche: 3-1, 2.23 ERA