The Devil Rays' reaped immediate dividends on their rotation shake-up as rookie LHP J.P. Howell tossed 8 innings of one run/five hit ball with seven Ks. I am sure he and fellow call-up Andrew Sonnanstine will be a topic of chat conversation. Was mine the only AL-only that picked-up Sonnanstine and left Powell in the pool?
Following yesterday's oh-fer, A's OF/DH Jack Cust is down to a .221 average. Whatever value he had is gone. He is back to being a sweetner in a larger deal.
Speaking of players hitting my college weight, Padres' 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff is stuck in the low 200s. A buy low candidate? What would his owner take? A good 4th OF like Endy Chavez?
Rangers' OF Victor Diaz hit his 6th and 7th HRs of the year in just 64 ABs. He has no walks and should be expected to enter a stretch of Custian proportions, but the Rangers OF is poor so he will likely stick regardless. Think about the averages of this crew: Brad Wilkerson, Sammy Sosa, Nelson Cruz and Marlon Byrd.
There is a nice variety of baseball chats today with Steve Gardner's USA Today one co-leading off with ESPN's Chris Harris. Joe Sheehan, Steve Phillips and Buster Olney provide baseball info in a non-fantasy context. Then Matthew Berry closes out the day with more fantasy talk.
USA Today's Steve Gardner at 11AM.
FMLB with Chris Harris at 11AM.
Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheehan at 1PM.
MLB with Steve Phillips at noon.
MLB with Buster Olney at 1PM.
FMLB with Matthew Berry at 3PM