Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 4/28/08 Minor League Callups, Yankee injury news, more
There were only a handlful of games last night, and one was rained out so not a ton to report on.
The shoulder injury to Yankees catcher Jorge Posada now looks like it is worse than was originally feared. After trying to tough it out for a week Posada finally hit the DL on Monday. Worse news than that is that is he scheduled to meet with Dr James “Tommy John Specialist” Andrews. Now I’m not saying that Posada will have Tommy John Surgery, but there is rarely good news when you go to see Dr. Andrews. It means the injury is significant enough to make an appointment with the one of the best in the business. This could be a huge blow to Posada’s fantasy owners, as most teams don’t carry backup catchers and the talent pool is thin. If you own Posada, I would stash him on the DL until you get word of how long he will be out and hit the free agent wire for Ryan Doumit, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, etc, to see get some production out of that position.
Seattle has called up its top hitting prospect Jeff Clement, and he figures to get a bunch of starts at DH until they figure out where he is going to play. He will most likely take some games behind the plate when Kenji Johjima needs a break, but with Johjima’s contract extension, his future is no longer behind the plate. He could have a great fantasy impact with the bat (although he might only be utility-eligible), so if you have the room, pick him up.
Indians rookie Aaron Laffey made his major league debut Monday night, and lucky him it was against the Yankees. Laffey was cruising, giving up no hits through five, but with most young pitchers, he was bitten by the big inning. The Yanks scored four times in the 6th, chased Laffey, and tagged him with a loss in his first start. He only struck out one, so it wasn’t an eye popping debut, but if you are desperate for pitching, he might be worth a look.
The Angels brought Brandon Wood back to the majors to see if he can recapture the stroke from his magical 2005 season in the minors. Not sure exactly what his role will be, as Howie Kendrick is due back from the DL, Erick Aybar has taken the starting SS job, and Chone Figgins is entrenched at third. Wood did come in as a replacement in a 14-2 blow out last night to the A’s and he did what he does best, strike out. Brandon is more aggressive at the plate than Roger Clemens picking up a date at the Junior Prom. Wood may still have a productive major league career, but that big season was a long time ago now, and it has been followed by low batting averages and high strikeout rates along the way. I need to see some consistent production before I jump back on the bandwagon.
It appears that once big time Diamondbacks prospect Carlos Quentin has nailed down the everyday job in left field for the White Sox. Quentin was one of Arizona’s prized possessions until he struggled upon his callup, and his subsequent shoulder injury made it appear that his talent had left him. Now after healing that injury, it appears as though Quentin is back on track to success. He hit his sixth homer of the season Monday, and drove in his 20th run. More impressive than that, he has his batting average up to .312, which is a little higher than I expect him to be at. Quentin now appears to be worthy of being on a roster if you have a hole in the outfield, and if he wasn’t already scooped up. He could hit 25 with 90 RBI and hit around .285.
Daniel Cabrera is up to his old tricks again. In just 6.1 innings Monday night, Cabrera allowed an amazing seven walks. No wait a minute, it isn’t the seven walks that are amazing, it is the fact with all those base runners he gave up only two runs! Could you imagine if this guy could ever get his head on straight what he would be capable of? But you know what, I’ve finally given up on that pipe dream. Cabrera is what he will always be, a guy with a ton of potential, who just can’t figure it out.
Alex Rodriguez left Monday’s game a little early after feeling a pull in that injured quad. Manager Joe Girardi has already said that the MVP will not play on Tuesday. It will most likely be a day to day thing for the next five to ten days for A-Rod, but my guess is even though he says he doesn’t like to play at less than 100%, he will be in there more often than not.
Matt Cain finally broke into the win column in 2008, and has actually put two nice starts together in a row. Cain allowed no earned runs through 5.1, and struck out only three while walking five. That is the one thing that he also needs to get under control, the free passes. It doesn’t effect him quite like our friend Danny C., but Cain could be so much more if he could stop allowing the base on balls. He is still a top 20 pitcher, and now that he is on a little bit of a roll, you can start praying for some offense out of the Giants.
Speaking of the Giants, the man with the worst contract in history has been demoted. Barry Zito, who now sits at 0-6 will be pitching from the pen. This should come as no surprise, and if for some reason you still had him on your roster, hopefully this is the last straw that causes you to dump him. No word yet on who will take his place in the rotation.
As always, your questions about your team (adds, drops, trades, etc) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee an answer within 18 hours.
I saw wood play in a AAA game last week, and I was not impressed at all. I was sitting a couple rows back behind home plate and got a good view. He had the worst disipline of any player, swinging at literally EVERYTHING. If he’s the strikeout king in AAA he’ll be promoted to a strikeout god in MLB.
For the record, Clement is not up. The team announced that him, as well as Wlad Balentien, will be up “sooner than later.” Both players need to remain in the minors until the 8th to postpone their free agent eligibility. Check out the site for details.