FanHouse Travis Buck

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...
Most average team in the league. It's weird, because there don't seem to be many real weaknesses on team -- but can you really find a bunch of strengths? I hate the term "very average," but this team is pretty close to the mean across the board. As you scroll through ADP charts, you'll find the A's aren't often towards the top of the lists, but they are definitely there. As I said, average.

Considering the A's are at least nine games in back of the Mariners for the wild card, it's not a surprise to see them looking to unload some veteran players. According to at least one report, Shannon Stewart might be the next to go. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Outfielder Shannon Stewart was claimed off waivers by the Cubs, according to a high-placed major-league source.

"I heard something like that," Stewart said before flying with the A's to Detroit. "I really don't know what to say about it. I like the guys here. I like the team here."

The A's can either negotiate a trade with the Cubs or pull back Stewart from the waiver wire.

I'm sure Milton Bradley has his reasons for why Stewart was made available, but strictly in terms of talent, the A's might be better off with Travis Buck in the lineup ahead of Stewart. Though Stewart is hitting .295, he's slugging just .397 and has a .759 OPS. Buck, on the other hand, is hitting .279 with a .829 OPS.

That said, it's not yet a done deal that he's going to be moved, let alone dealt to the Cubs. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs were one of several teams to put in a claim on the outfielder. Since waiver claims are technically secret, there's really no way of verifying the Chronicle's source that the Cubs' bid won. But it certainly makes sense for Chicago to go after him, especially considering none of their current outfielders are slugging over .400 at the moment, either.

(via MLB Trade Rumors)

Things aren't going terribly well for the Athletics right now. They continue to lose players to the disabled list, and they've lost 12 of their last 16 games as they keep falling further and further away from the division leading Angels.

All of which makes you wonder if Billy Beane is getting ready to be a deadline seller rather than buyer.

Oh, yes, the A's. Losers of 12 of their last 16, the traditional early summer sprint toward the front nowhere in evidence. The bullpen is in shards, with players going down left, right and center, and their rehab and return dates being pushed back almost weekly. Rich Harden has been activated from his own injury but has pitched only three times, including two innings of relief Saturday, and seems to be rehabbing on the fly.

Mike Piazza is rumored to be on the block after only 103 at-bats as the new Frank Thomas. And if he isn't moved, the A's apparently want him to catch about half the time, which leaves Jason Kendall in a sedentary predicament. Bobby Crosby and Eric Chavez play, but at nowhere near their established capabilities. And with Kurt Suzuki, Chris Snelling, Jack Cust and Travis Buck (freshly disabled and replaced by Dee Brown) already on board, Kevin Melillo making a brief cameo and Daric Barton savaging the Pacific Coast League, it seems increasingly clear that Billy Beane is thinking young, and thinking about it fast.

Ever since Beane took over in Oakland, the A's have been buyers at the deadline. Always finding that one under the radar player to put the team over the edge and get them into the playoff race. It seems that for all his knowledge of sabermetrics, Beane doesn't have a mathematical answer for players elbows exploding, and hamstrings being pulled.

As of right now Oakland finds itself in third place, 8.5 games behind the Halos, and if they don't make a run over this next week into the All-Star break there's bound to be plenty of changes in Oaktown come August 1st.