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Do you have some trade offers you are consider, but need to bounce them off of someone? Are you pondering a roster move and want a second opinion? Feel free to post your questions in the Fantasy Baseball Questions thread.
Fake Teams Podcast; Episode 10: Let's Make a Deal
Zack and Andrew hosted episode 10 of the Fake Teams podcast on Sunday night, where they discussed the Wil Myers promotion, Rick Porcello, Corey Kluber, Carlos Beltran and also discussed how to make a trade in keeper and redraft leagues. Make sure you listen to the podcast
Josh Johnson back to the old Josh Johnson?
Josh Johnson was once of the top fantasy starters in the game, pitching for the, then, Florida Marlins, but encountered lingering shoulder issues back in 2010 and 2011, but came back to make 31 starts last year. This season, he has made just 7 starts, but last night appeared to show us that he still has the old Josh Johnson stuff, as he shut out the Rockies for 7.1 innings, giving up 5 hits, walking 2, and striking out 10 batters. Since his April 11th blow up vs the Tigers, Johnson has given up three runs or less in four of his last five starts, lowering his ERA from over 11.00 to 4.38. He has gone seven or more innings in two of his three starts since returning from the DL. The Blue Jays have been hot of late, but are stranded in last place right now in the AL East, so there is a chance he gets dealt by the July 31st trade deadline.
Chris Davis just continues to bash
It is no secret that Orioles first baseman Chris Davis is having a break out season in 2013, and last night he continued his hot power production, hitting his 24th home run of the season in the Orioles 5-1 loss to the Tigers. Davis has seen his average drop a bit of late, which was expected, as he is hitting .337-.415-.706 with 24 HRs, 49 runs and 61 RBI, and is on pace for 55 HRs and 139 RBI this season.
Davis is having the kind of season that we all expected from Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, or pretty close to it. Who would you rather have for the rest of the season: Davis or Stanton?
Round'em Up
Tigers starter Max Scherzer is having a better season than Justin Verlander. Think about that for a moment. Last night, he limited the solid Orioles lineup to just one run, the Davis home run, on 7 hits, 2 walks and 10 strikeouts. He is now 10-0 with a 3.08 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and a 116-24 strikeout to walk rate in 96.1 innings this season. He is my AL Cy Young award leader right now, and should move into my Top 10 starters for 2014 if he can keep this up.
One of the more disappointing young hitters this season is Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas, Moustakas has plenty of power, but has struggled at the plate ALL season, and is now in danger of being sent down to AAA. He went 0-3 last night, and is now hitting just .183-.249-.279 with just 4 HRs, 16 runs and 12 RBI in 197 at bats this season. If you own him in a keeper league, you have to either keep him, or package him with another player to upgrade third base or another position.
I have written about Jorge De La Rosa a few times in these pages this season, but he might have had his best start of the season last night, holding the Blue Jays to just one hit, 3 walks and 4 strikeouts in 7.1 innings. He did not factor in the decision, but is now 7-4 with a 3.21 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 15 starts this season. He isn't the strikeout pitcher he was before the Tommy John surgery, but is giving up less than a hit per inning thus far, which is saying something when he makes half of his starts in Coors Field.
Yesterday afternoon, Rangers manager Ron Washington announced that the team was going to give top prospect Jurickson Profar the chance to play left field every day. Well, Profar is a shortstop by trade, so he will have to learn the position before playing in a big league game out there. This helps his owners with position flexibility, but his overall value goes down if you have to stick him in your outfield. He has much more value as a fantasy shortstop or second baseman than in the outfield. The first thing that came to my mind when I read this news is that Ian Kinsler will be a prime trade candidate this offseason, as it sounds like he does not want to move to the outfield to give Profar the second base job.
Rangers outfeilder Nelson Cruz will always be remembered for misplaying that fly ball in right field in the 2011 World Series, but fantasy owners could care less about that fly ball. Cruz had a big night at the plate last night, going 3-4 with 2 HRs, a double, 2 runs and 4 RBI, raising his triple slash line to .266-.330-.532 with 18 HRs, 30 runs, 48 RBI and 5 stolen bases this season, and is on pace for over 40 home runs. I don't see him hitting 40 this season, but 30-35 would not surprise me.