Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Before the season started, I was rough on Derrek Lee. I named him the biggest bust on the Cubs for this coming season and included him on the list of "five guys to lose" your fantasy league. I even predicted Mike Fontenot would hit more home runs than Mr. Lee. Obviously, it sounds outlandish now, in hindsight, as Lee clubbed his 35th home run Tuesday night. In the process, he established a new career high in RBI with 109. His OPS is the second-highest it's ever been -- trailing only his insane 2005 season when he did an Albert Pujols impersonation.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Ervin Santana went 16-7 with a 3.49 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 214 strikeouts last season. The promising 26-year-old has yet to rekindle the success in 2009, though, due mostly to arm injuries. Still, we know the potential he possesses, which is why there's no reason to give up on him halfway through the season. Any sign of a turnaround is sure to give fantasy baseball owners hope.
Thursday night, we got a glimmer. Santana dominated the A's. He worked 8 innings and struck out 4, while only allowing 3 hits, 1 earned run and 2 walks -- garnering the win in the process.
It's always nice to know how secure a closer's job is and who's next in line if somebody loses their 9th inning job. Each week The Closer Report will give you that information. And if that wasn't good enough we'll rank the closers from top to bottom.
Here's an interesting statistic. Somewhere between 30 percent and 40 percent of the closers who are listed as the the team's official closer will not be in that role by the end of the season. It's the case every year. Whether a closer loses his job due to injury or just plain can't get the job done, you're going to learn that you can find saves on the waiver wire throughout the season. You just have to know where to look.
I always love good redemption stories and the surprises they bring for fantasy owners. But through just one week of the season, looks can be deceiving ... or hints of something entirely palpable. The dilemma with rotisserie league outcasts like Bedard and Hafner is you're dealing with this nagging birdie in the back of your mind telling you this can't be real.
From now until the regular season begins, Fantasy Flings is where you'll find interesting story lines about your favorite teams from Spring Training. If there is a position battle, a nagging injury, a comeback story or a youngster making a surge for the "big club" we'll let you know the fantasy implications.
Atlanta Braves The problem with signing 36-year-old free agents is that they tend to get hurt a bit more than younger players. New Braves left fielder Garrett Anderson tweaked his right calf in warm-ups and will miss two to three weeks; maybe more. Matt Diaz in left field is not good for the Braves and it sure as heck isn't any kind of answer for your fantasy team. There is good news in camp, however, Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless inning today giving up only one hit and striking out one in his bid to return from right elbow surgery. Derek Lowe was next to untouchable pitching four perfect innings today striking out six and walking none.
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.
Meet the ...
Biggest offseason losers. At least that's what pessimists will try and tell you, anyway. The Braves -- and new GM Frank Wren -- seemingly made blunder after blunder in 2009, losing Rafael Furcal at the last minute, whiffing on A.J. Burnett, letting John Smoltz walk and failing to land Jake Peavy. But the reality is that Wren actually did a pretty darn good job assembling a talented squad that can certainly compete in the NL East in 2009. Oh, and they'll provide some nice fantasy value as well.
As Mr. Watson told you yesterday, the Seattle Mariners finally went ahead and did what we'd all been waiting for them to do for a few weeks now: they fired general managerBill Bavasi. In other words, Monday was probably the best day that Seattle sports fans have had in a while, and a cause for celebration.
With the pending move of the Sonics, and the Mariners struggles this season, there hasn't been much to cheer about in the Emerald City lately. Still, while there's some debate in New York about the Mets firing Willie Randolph (was it deserved? did they go about it the right way? etc.), I don't think there's much debate amongst Mariners fans about how they feel for this move. If they're upset about anything, it's probably that Bavasi was the only one to go and that the team can't fire Richie Sexson.
As Watson mentioned in his post yesterday, Bavasi's tenure in Seattle is not one littered with success. He gave questionable contracts to Sexson, Carlos Silva, and Adrian Beltre (though I think Beltre has been a good addition to the club), actually gave Jeff Weaver $8 million to suck for a season, and made trades like sending Carlos Guillen to Detroit for Ramon Santiago. Those are some devastating moves, and yet, that's only part of what Bavasi did to help bring this organization down.
I won't go over the dead horse that is the injury-riddled Atlanta Braves bullpen. I will, however, point out that Mike Gonzalez is returning tonight for the first time in over a full calendar year, after a lengthy bbq eating stint, to pitch for the Braves.
It seems pretty, pretty likely, given that John Smoltz and Rafael Soriano are both currently disabled, that Gonzo could be the closer until he gets hurt too for the remainder of the season.
'He's throwing good, they say,' said Cox, who envisions using him in key situations late in games from the get-go. 'Hopefully we can count on him for the very end - eighth and ninth. If he's back to his old form, it's a huge plus.'
The news is finally positive for a Braves team that has endured watching Rafael Soriano return to the disabled list this week with the same elbow problems that kept him out for the first two months and John Smoltz's attempt to return as closer end in season-ending shoulder surgery.
See? Gonzo could close out of the gate. Or simply tear his rotator cuff on the first pitch. The latter is the most likely scenario if you have followed the Braves at all this year.
Fantasy Spin: Grab Gonzalez now -- the Braves are somehow still potent despite dealing with tons of injuries, and he could provide nice saves totals, if he can stay healthy. Soriano might still nab the gig when he comes back, but if Gonzo deals immediately, there's no guarantee.
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.
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.
Apparently the ghosts of deceased Native Americans finally decided to take matters into their own hands in regards to team names like "Braves" and "Indians" this baseball season. I'm not going to get into the whole discussion on the insensitivity of these names because that's neither my inclination nor my job.
Still, it's quite eerie they way these two franchises in particular have been plagued this year.
Both were expected to be contenders for the World Series, chock full of fantasy gems. Instead the disappointments and injuries are plentiful, and sometimes hand-in-hand.
The most recent casualty is Victor Martinez, and he already fit the bill as a bust. He's normally picked in the first five rounds (earlier many times). His owners have been treated with pathetic numbers this year relative to expectations (.277, 0 HR). And now he's on the DL with a bum wing (inflamed right elbow, if you must know ... but "bum wing" is so much more fun). The catcher could be out until the All-Star break, so this is a big blow to both the Tribe and your fantasy squad. Unfortunately, I believe you have to sit on him in fantasy, because he's liable to get hot when he does come back and no one will give you anything valuable for an injured bust in a trade.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
It's always nice to know how secure a closer's job is and who's next in line if somebody loses their 9th inning job. Each week 
From now until the regular season begins, 
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
As 
I won't go over the dead horse that is the injury-riddled Atlanta Braves bullpen. I will, however, point out that 
When you are adding 
Apparently the ghosts of deceased Native Americans finally decided to take matters into their own hands in regards to team names like "Braves" and "Indians" this baseball season. I'm not going to get into the whole discussion on the insensitivity of these names because that's neither my inclination nor my job. 
