By Butters in D.C.

League 14

League 16

The baseball season is six months long, and as it is now the beginning of June, it’s one-third of the way through. It’s not time to start building keeper lists just yet, but it is deep enough into the season to know what you have and where you need to improve. It’s important to be honest with yourself.  What can you reasonably expect from the players on your team the rest of the way?

Over the next two days, I’ll take a look at the player from each A.L. team that has been the most noteworthy, both for good and bad, and I’ll also let you know if there is a player on that team who is flying under the radar - one who might provide big time help for a “minor” cost.

AL East

Tampa Bay Rays - Who would have thought that, with a total combined payroll ($463,263,417) larger than the gross national product of Switzerland, all four other teams would be looking up in the AL East standings at the former laughing stock of baseball?  After all, they have both the second lowest payroll (35,417,697) and the best record in baseball as of Memorial Day.

Biggest Surprise: Many people expected James Shields to take another step forward after last year’s breakout season. Not many expected him to be the 27th ranked player in all of fantasy (5×5 roto). Another year older, stronger, and smarter, Shields has shown that he can make the adjustments needed to be a dominant pitcher.

Biggest Disappointment: Last year, Carlos Pena had a breakout season, hitting .282/46/121/99, making him probably the biggest surprise of the season.  Fantasy GMs who drafted Pena high, or kept him in keeper leagues have been rewarded with a .219/10/31/29 season so far.  If you can move Pena to an eternally optimistic owner, go for it. You won’t miss him.

Sleeping Giant: Where is last year’s Carlos Pena going to come from? Well, probably the only way to answer that is to get a copy of Gray’s Sports Almanac.

The player on the Rays that should have the best second half is Al Reyes. “Huh?” you say? “Last year’s closer?” Yes. Troy Percival is hurt and old, and Dan Wheeler is, well, Dan Wheeler. Third in line to the Rays’ closer roll has to be the guy that proved he could do a decent job, albeit with an inflated ERA, in the same role last year. He’s owned in only 12% of Sporting News leagues, so keep your eye on him, and make a move when the time comes.

Tampa also has a slew of young arms to watch, too.

Boston Red Sox

Biggest Surprise: Jacoby Ellsbury. With 23 steals, 40 runs scored, and a .280 average, Ellsbury’s biggest accomplishment has been getting so much playing time. He’ll continue to play and run.

Biggest Disappointment: Curt Schilling. When the biggest disappointment is a 40+ year old pitcher that hasn’t really been missed, you know the team is stacked.

Sleeping Giant: If Curt Schilling does make it back, he is such a competitor that he could have real value in the stretch run. Just keep an eye on his progress, and be ready to pounce. Clay Bucholtz should come back from injury and the minors when Big Fat Bartolo Colon gets hurt.

Toronto Blue Jays

Biggest Surprise: The Starting Rotation. Doc Halladay is striking people out with a frequency not seen since 2001, A.J. Burnett is healthy (knock on wood), and the “law office” of Marcum, McGowan, and Litsch have all been solid.  Litsch won’t strike anyone out, and his ratios will rise - making him the odd man out of your fantasy squad by the end of the season.

Biggest Disappointment: Alex Rios. Oops.  I guess they should have traded him for Tim Lincecum. After career highs in homers, runs, RBIs, and steals, Rios has taken a dive this year.  Unless he gets in gear, last year could prove to be a fluke.

Sleeping Giant: With this team, what you see is what you get. No big surprises here.

New York Yankees

Biggest Surprise: Mike Mussina. After arguably the worst season of his career last year, Moose has given the Yanks some much needed help in the rotation. Honorable mention goes to Hideki Matsui.

Biggest Disappointment: Derek Jeter. The Captain has been a near lock - well above .300, 15-20 homers and a 20+ steals every year. He’s on pace to hit or come near career lows in every significant fantasy category this year, though.

Sleeping Giant: Do you really think that there’s someone on the most publicized team in all of sports that you don’t already know about? Maybe Jose Tabada could get a shot … if they trade him.

Baltimore Orioles

Biggest Surprise: George Sherrill. Who would have thought that Sherrill might turn out to be the big prize in the Erik Bedard trade?

Biggest Disappointment: The problem on this team is that none of the hitters are performing all that well. Fortunately, none of them are performing horribly, either, so that puts everyone on this list.

Sleeping Giant: Matt Wieters? We’ve seen what Geovany Soto has done.  Maybe Wieters does some damage in a late season call up.  A must-watch for dynasty leagues.

Check back tomorrow, and we’ll turn our guns on the rest of the American League.