with Chris from Atlanta
League 17
Week #15
Even though last week was technically the halfway point of the season, the All-Star break gives everyone a chance to catch their breath and take a look back at the first half of the season. I’m no different. I seldom go out of my way to look at the league leaders during the season. But, as a midpoint exercise, I thought I would look at the leaders for each of the ten traditional fantasy categories and make some observations. This week, I will look at the hitting categories. Next week, I will look at pitching.
Note: these stats are up through games played on Friday, July 11th.
Home Runs - Ryan Howard is leading with 28 … no surprise there. Considering that most were expecting Chase Utley to get around 30 for the season, seeing him with 25 (good for 2nd) is quite surprising. The same can be said for Dan Uggla (who has 23 and is tied for 4th).
RBIs - What more can you say about Josh Hamilton’s 93? Great story. No other real surprises here. Maybe seeing Adrian Gonzalez having this type of year hitting in Petco Park.
Average - I see Chipper is already coming back down to Earth. Ian Kinsler’s .332 is good for 5th. Xavier Nady (.319) is 9th? Didn’t know that. I also didn’t know that Cristian Guzman (.317) was 10th. Interesting.
Runs Scored - That Ian Kinsler kid is leading the majors with 82. Utley shows up, tied for 4th, with 67. There is a name I didn’t expect to see … Nate McLouth’s 66 gets him in at 6th.
Stolen Bases - I knew Willy Taveras would steal a bunch of bases this year. He is leading the league with 39 … in limited opportunities. There is that Kinsler kid again! He is tied for 9th with 23 stolen bases. This is the same amount as Hanley Ramirez.
I had the opportunity to keep Kinsler from last season in my Mafia league. I never predicted this kind of success for this year. Who will be the #1 2B next year? Utley or Kinsler?
CC Sabathia traded to the … Brewers? - Just when everyone and their mother predicted that Sabathia would be traded to the Yankees, Milwaukee switches roles from seller to buyer. The future is now for the Brewers. After years of stock-piling talent, they have the pieces in place for a run at the postseason. Sabathia will be a free agent after this year and is just passing through Milwaukee on his way to a richer payday in the offseason.
But Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers began visiting there in the late 16th century. Hey, isn’t “Milwaukee” an Indian name? Yes, Pete, it is. In fact, it’s pronounced “mill-e-wah-que” which is Algonquin for “the good land.”
Wayne’s World quotes aside, the Brewers didn’t give up much to get Sabathia. The Brewers farm system is loaded. They will be sending nine players to the AA Southern League All-Star game. It would have been ten, but OF Matt LaPorta was the centerpiece of the four-player package for Sabathia.
The Brewers new rotation:
Sheets - 2.85 ERA - 1.11 WHIP - 7.90 K/9 - 2.05 BB/9 - 3.86 K/BB
Sabathia - 3.79 ERA - 1.26 WHIP - 8.98 K/9 - 2.74 BB/9 - 3.28 K/BB
Parra - 3.69 ERA - 1.49 WHIP - 7.02 K/9 - 4.50 BB/9 - 1.56 K/BB
Bush - 4.39 ERA - 1.15 WHIP - 5.57 K/9 - 2.19 BB/9 - 2.54 K/BB
McClung - 4.15 ERA - 1.39 WHIP - 7.40 K/9 - 4.28 BB/9 - 1.73 K/BB
For Cleveland, the future is well … in the future. The odds were slim that they would be able to afford Sabathia, so they had to deal him for something. The three players named in the deal will not make much, if any, impact in 2008. LaPorta is at least a year away from contributing, and the two pitchers are far away from contributing. Sitting dead last in the AL Central, the Indians front office is throwing in the towel for this season.
The Indians new rotation:
Lee - 2.31 ERA - 1.04 WHIP - 7.65 K/9 - 1.44 BB/9 - 5.30 K/BB
*Carmona - 3.10 ERA - 1.57 WHIP - 3.57 K/9 - 5.90 BB/9 - 0.61 K/BB
Laffey - 3.45 ERA - 1.27 WHIP - 4.19 K/9 - 2.83 BB/9 - 1.48 K/BB
Byrd - 5.47 ERA - 1.35 WHIP - 3.88 K/9 - 1.50 BB/9 - 2.59 K/BB
Sowers - 7.81 ERA - 1.86 WHIP - 4.02 K/9 - 2.68 BB/9 - 1.50 K/BB
Cleveland has hinted that Matt Ginter will probably fill-in for Carmona until he returns towards the end of this month. The 30-year old Ginter has an unimpressive 4.14 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 5.85 K/9, 2.88 BB/9 and a 2.03 K/BB rate. I would not be surprised to see the Indians using the #5 spot for open auditions for next season.
Unfortunately, this trade appears to not have any major fantasy implications. Sabathia’s value goes up slightly with the move to the National League, but his replacement in the Indians rotation is not worth a fantasy roster spot.
Rich Harden traded to Cubs - Now, this trade has implications, baby! Chicago sent RHP Sean Gallagher, OF Matt Murton, OF Eric Patterson and catcher prospect Josh Donaldson to Oakland for Harden and RHP Chad Gaudin. The Cubs have the highest scoring offense in the National League, and they now have one of the better pitching rotations:
Zambrano - 2.84 ERA - 1.23 WHIP - 5.83 K/9 - 2.84 BB/9 - 2.05 K/BB
Harden - 2.34 ERA - 1.14 WHIP - 10.75 K/9 - 3.62 BB/9 - 2.97 K/BB
Lilly - 4.68 ERA - 1.34 WHIP - 8.43 K/9 - 3.20 BB/9 - 2.63 K/BB
Dempster - 3.13 ERA - 1.16 WHIP - 7.47 K/9 - 3.58 BB/9 - 2.09 K/BB
Marquis - 4.44 ERA - 1.43 WHIP - 4.80 K/9 - 3.53 BB/9 - 1.36 K/BB
If (and it is a big if) the Cubbies can keep Harden healthy for the rest of the season, they will remain the odds-on favorites to represent the NL in the World Series. If Harden should get injured again, look for Sean Marshall (4.10 ERA - 1.37 WHIP - 7.18 K/9 - 3.42 BB/9 - 2.10 K/BB), Gaudin (3.59 ERA - 1.28 WHIP - 6.32 K/9 - 2.44 BB/9 - 2.59 K/BB) or Rich Hill to fill-in as needed.
Let’s turn our attention to the players that Oakland received. Murton and Patterson may see some action at the Major League level this season. The 26-year old Murton is a career .294 hitter with 28 HRs, 106 RBIs and 8 steals in 875 Major League at-bats. He can be a nice 4th or 5th OF for Oakland.
The 25-year old Patterson has only had 46 Major League at-bats, most of which were this year. He does have 1699 minor league at-bats, though. In the minors, he is a career .301 hitter with 44 HRs, 229 RBIs and 125 steals. He might get a call-up in September.
Donaldson, the 22-year old catcher, is batting .269 with 15 HRs, 60 RBIs, and 13 steals in 416 minor league at-bats over the last two years (mostly in Rookie and Single A).
The player with some fantasy impact for Oakland is going to be 22-year old Sean Gallagher. He will take Harden’s spot in the rotation.
The new Oakland rotation:
Duchscherer - 1.78 ERA - 0.86 WHIP - 5.61 K/9 - 1.87 BB/9 - 3.00 K/BB
Blanton - 4.96 ERA - 1.42 WHIP - 4.39 K/9 - 2.48 BB/9 - 1.77 K/BB
Eveland - 3.50 ERA - 1.38 WHIP - 5.75 K/9 - 4.25 BB/9 - 1.35 K/BB
G.Smith - 3.43 ERA - 1.25 WHIP - 6.04 K/9 - 3.83 BB/9 - 1.57 K/BB
Gallagher - 4.45 ERA - 1.36 WHIP - 7.52 K/9 - 3.38 BB/9 - 2.23 K/BB
The A’s rotation is young (Duchscherer is the oldest of the bunch at 30), and it could get younger. Dallas Braden was called up to replace Gaudin as a spot-starter. The 24-year old Braden has a 3.28 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 10.16 K/9, 2.37 BB/9 and 4.28 K/BB rate in 349 minor league innings. Oakland is grooming him as a starter so they will take every opportunity to get him the occasional start during the rest of the season.
Another Oakland pitching prospect to keep an eye on is Gio Gonzalez. The 22-year old had been burning through the A’s system until hitting a bump this season. Even with his rough 2008, he still has a 3.71 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 10.35 K/9, 3.91 BB/9 and a 2.65 K/BB rate in 603 minor league innings. If an injury should fall on one of the starters, Gonzalez could get a call-up.
Wounded Jays - Dustin McGowan is expected to miss at least a month with a torn rotator cuff. The good news is that he should not need surgery. The bad news is that the Jays may shut him down for the rest of 2008. Sitting at 46-47, but in last place in the AL East, and with the news that Vernon Wells will be out until mid-August, Toronto may run up the white flag and look to 2009. This could mean that they become sellers at the trade deadline. The first name to come up will be AJ Burnett.
The Blue Jays rotation:
Halladay - 2.71 ERA - 1.00 WHIP - 7.44 K/9 - 1.29 BB/9 - 5.76 K/BB
Burnett - 5.23 ERA - 1.51 WHIP - 8.95 K/9 - 4.25 BB/9 - 2.11 K/BB
Litsch - 4.01 ERA - 1.26 WHIP - 4.60 K/9 - 1.34 BB/9 - 3.44 K/BB
*Marcum - 2.65 ERA - 1.00 WHIP - 7.84 K/9 - 2.46 BB/9 - 3.19 K/BB
#5 = Tallet or Parrish
Tallet - 3.06 ERA - 1.36 WHIP - 7.64 K/9 - 3.82 BB/9 - 2.00 K/BB
Parrish - 2.77 ERA - 1.08 WHIP - 4.85 K/9 - 2.77 BB/9 - 1.75 K/BB
Marcum is set to return from his elbow injury shortly after the All-Star break. Until then, Tallet and Parrish are auditioning for the #5 spot in the rotation. Parrish’s numbers, above, are from his 13 innings in the Major Leagues this year. In AAA, he had a 2.74 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 9.88 K/9, 3.84 BB/9 and a 2.57 K/BB rate in 82 innings. Whichever player the Jays decide to stick with could have some decent pitch-or-ditch value, depending on the match-up.
The Vernon Wells injury should mean more playing time for Brad Wilkerson. You would have to be really, really desperate to want his .229 AVG, 3 HRs, 19 RBIs and 3 steals on your roster. Kevin Mench, and his big head, were called up to fill Wells’ roster spot.