Fantasy Baseball Player News

News: The Tigers picked up the club option on Pudge for the 2008 season.

Views: Still a viable catching option for any fantasy team, Pudge will get the bulk of the duty behind the plate next season.

News: Jermaine Dye has reportedly signed a 2 year contract with the Chicago White Sox. The deal is worth 22 million with a mutual option for a third season. Dye has hit 12 home runs since the all star break along with a .311 batting average over that span putting a lackluster first half behind him.

Fantasy Update: Chris Young has 5 home runs in his last 4 games; however, each home run was a solo shot. He's 9-19 over that span with only the 5 RBI. On the season, he has 24 home runs and is batting .240 with 45 RBI. This recent hot streak of four games has helped hide the fact that he was only 5 for 45 in August before this output. He may be worth a gamble right now, if you can convince yourself that slump is behind him.

News: Giambi went deep twice against the Tigers Friday night. Both home runs were solo shots, and he was 2-4 for the game.

Views If you're able to find Giambi on the FA list still, he is worth a shot. He looks fresh at the plate, and he is 8-23 with 4 HR since returning to the lineup August 7th.

News: Cameron Maybin went 0-4 in his Major League debut with 2 strikeouts in a 6-1 loss to the New York Yankees. Maybin had a tough chore facing Andy Pettite in New York.

Views: Well, at least he has arrived. The highly touted Maybin was immediately plugged into left field with his promotion. He looked like he was trying to hit 400 foot shots with each swing. Hopefully he'll find his groove after a torrid stretch upon promotion to double A ball. With the Tigers ultimately releasing Craig Monroe, and Marcus Thames getting occasional starts at 1B and nursing a sore hamstring, it looks as if Maybin will get some decent playing time. He batted in the second spot Friday night with Polanco unable to play due to the flu.

News: Brandon Webb threw his 3rd straight shut out Friday night. His 2 hitter against the Braves stretched his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 42.

Views: Now at 13-8, Webb is sporting a 2.63 ERA. He has won his last 5 starts. Already a fantasy stud, he is giving owners phenomenal starts as they prepare for their respective stretch runs.

Fantasy Views: Ryan Rayburn, a recent callup for the Tigers, is currently batting .358 with 3HR's in 58 AB's. Rayburn has given the Tigers all the reason they need to keep him in the lineup, as he has played second base and all 3 OF positions. He continues to hit the ball hard, and is really not much more then a line drive gap hitter. With the return of Marcus Thames, Rayburn may see a little less playing time, but he's worth a look in deeper leagues.

News: The Tigers activate Marcus Thames from the 15 day DL. He looks to resume platooning at 1B and OF with an occasional start at DH.

View: Thames is an interesting fantasy player. If you have an open roster spot that you just can't seem to fill, Thames can be a good option for those days when you just need to fill an active roster spot from your bench, or you are hoping for some power from an open spot. Thames has all the power in the world, and just lacks the playing time. Just be prepared to stomach a AVG around .250

Fantasy Views:

Dave Bush will start against the Houston Astros tonight in Houston. Bush is 4-1 lifetime against the Astros with a 3.45 ERA in 44 IP. He has shut the Astro's out once in those 6 games. Despite the 5+ ERA on the season, Bush looks like a good start tonight.

Fantasy Views: Baker pitches tonight against the Angels. He's currently sporting a 4.43 ERA and is probably languishing on many Free Agent boards today. If he is and you need some pitching help, looky here:

He is 4-1 since July 1st with really only one rough start when he pitched against the White Sox in Chicago.
1 ER in his last 16 innings. More importantly, he has been keeping the ball in the park. He has a couple starts coming up against Detroit and one against KC. Detroit, despite their totals on the year, have been struggling, and Baker threw 8 innings of 1 run ball against them.
His last 5 starts have seen him drop his ERA from 5.71 to 4.43.

News: Bonderman was hit up for 7 earned runs over 6 innings against the Devil Rays. The Tigers went on to lose 8-2, and Bondo took the loss.

Views: Any Detroit fan will tell you that Bonderman is a true head case. He is his own worst enemy, and seems to be fighting himself more then anything. He looks uneasy on the mound despite his stuff looking fine. He is 0-4 in his last 5 starts, giving up 3,5,10,6, and 7 ER's respectively over this slump. Bonderman will probably miss starting against Oakland, making his next start against the Cleveland. Follow that up with potential back to back starts against the Yankees, and the outlook is not good for Jeremy. I'd recommend shopping him around, but his value is probably the lowest its been for 2-3 years. Now may be a time to stash him on his bench and hope he gets back on track.

News: Milledge had his fourth straight multi-hit game and is finally looking comfortable at the plate (not swinging at every pitch).

Views: Milledge is 9 for his last 16 with 2 doubles and a homer. Look for Willie Randolph to get Milledge a lot of playing time down the stretch.

News: After beating out a throw to first base, Hunter came up hobbling, and was not able to walk off an aggravated hamstring that has been bothering him lately. He exited the game, and was replaced by Jason Kubel

Views: Hunter sat out Sunday's game against Oakland because of the hammy, and he also did not start against the Tigers today. Keep an eye on his status day to day.

News: Marcus Thames went on the DL Today, having hurt himself in Wednesday's 3-2 win over Minnesota. He made a diving catch and injured his hamstring.

Views: Thames has seen some steady playing time the past couple weeks and is hitting .257 with 11 home runs. Those 11 HR have come in 155 at bats, and has been the main reason he's seen more playing time along with Craig Monroe struggling. Timo Perez was called up to replace Thames on the roster.

News: Hall came down awkwardly after scaling the wall in the second inning of Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He left the game with a lower leg injury.

Views: The word is that he sprained his ankle. No word on how long this will keep Hall out of the lineup, but it looks like he may avoid a DL stint.

News: Francis improved to 8-5 and lowered his ERA to 3.56 with seven shutout innings in the Rockies 5-0 win in Houston. Despite a minor hiccup in his previous start, Francis has now limited opponents to two runs or less in nine of his past eleven starts. He's also consistently working deep into ballgames, and has gotten through the seventh in nine of his past eleven starts.

Views: Whether there's a Coors factor or not, Francis is moving himself towards elite status. After last season's solid effort (13-11, 4.16 ERA, 1.29 WHIP), he already was a quality fantasy starter entering 2007. However, after building on it in the first half, it's safe to consider him a quality number two fantasy starter. He'll be tested next week when the Phillies come to town, but he should be in your lineup even though he's facing a top offense in Coors Field.

News: The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that the A's have reached an agreement with the San Diego Padres that would send Bradley to San Diego for a minor league pitcher. There's no word yet on who the pitcher is or whether the oblique injury that led Kansas City to rescind their trade for Bradley will affect the deal.

Views: As much as heading to the worst hitter's park in baseball can hurt a player's value, Bradley's fantasy status can only be helped by him getting on the field. He could end up being that key bat the Padres are looking for in their quest to repeat in the NL West, but you really have to wonder about his ability to stay healthy. Bradley has played in just nineteen games this season, and the current oblique injury could mean that he's still going to be out another few weeks. He has no place on your roster unless you're in a deep or NL Only League until you see that he can actually stay in the lineup for a week or two.

News: Biggio went 5-for-6 with five singles, including the 3,000th hit of his career in Thursday's 8-5 win over the Colorado Rockies. Though Biggio was thrown out trying to extend his 3,000th hit into a double, it did drive in the tying run. Career hit number 3,002 was an infield single that extended the game with two outs in the bottom of the eleventh after the Astros had fallen behind in the top half of the inning. Biggio would also score the tying run later ahead of three other happy Astros on Carlos Lee's walkoff grand slam.

Views: Congratulations to Biggio, and it's nice to see that he finally had a game that might help his six owners. Biggio raised his batting average twelve points to .250 with his five hit night, but still isn't worth your time unless you're in a deep or NL-Only league.

News: Thomas went 2-for-4 with 4 RBI and his 500th career home run in Thursday's 8-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

Views: In other news, he's the same old Frank Thomas... terrific to have if your league values OBP or OPS, but simply a power hitter who will kill your average in leagues that value batting average. Congrats on 500.

News: Garza was called up after Thursday's game. One of the Twins top prospects, Garza was 4-6 with a 3.62 ERA and a 95:31 strikeout to walk ratio in 92 innings at AAA Rochester. He will pitch out of the bullpen for now, but should make his first start July 6 in a doubleheader against Chicago.

Views: He's not up to replace Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, or Boof Bonser in the rotation... for now, at least. You would have to assume that it's a possibility down the road this season, though. Garza entered the year as the Twins' top pitching prospect, in spite of last year's mixed results at the big league level. He certainly figures in their plans for the 2008 rotation, and should be given a chance to prove he's ready at some point this season. Expect him to pitch out of the bullpen temporarily, but eventually supplant Baker in the rotation. He's worth a look in keeper leagues, but probably isn't worth a gamble right away in single-season leagues because he's going to have to work his way into a starting role.

News: Andrew Miller will stay in the Detroit Rotation with the departure of Mike Maroth to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Views: When Nate Robertson returns from the DL, Miller will assume Chad Durbin's spot in the rotation, and Durbin will join the bullpen. The Detroit FreePress reported that Dombrowski and Leyland already made the decision that Miller will stick in the rotation.

News: The Detroit Tigers dealt Mike Maroth to the St. Louis Cardinals Friday for a player to be named later.

Views: With the return of Kenny Rogers, the Tigers were force to shuffle their starting rotation around. It became apparent that the Tigers were looking to keep Andrew Miller in the rotation, and Mike Maroth became the odd man out. Maroth's name has been floating around in rumors the past week. Rogers, Verlander and Bonderman head up the rotation, with Miller and Chad Durbin now filling it out. Another slight shakeup will happen when Nate Robertson returns.

News: In the 8th inning of Friday night's game against Atlanta, Maggs took a pitch square off his hand. It was a 90+ mph fastball that ran in on him.

Views: Magglio wasn't in any obvious pain; however, the Tigers quickly took him out of the game after checking on him. Let's hope its nothing much, but Ordonez owners need to pay close attention to how this unfolds.

News: The news wasn't good coming out of Schmidt's exploratory surgery yesterday. It turned out that he had a frayed bicep tendon, scarring in the bursa sac, and most importantly, a tear in his labrum. After the torn labrum was repaired, Schmidt's season is over.

Views: $16 million for one win. Dodgers trainer Stan Conte says he's hopeful that Schmidt will be ready to throw at the beginning of Spring Training next year. If you're still holding out hope with him on your roster, it's time to just drop him.

News: Baldelli re-aggravated his hamstring injury Monday, and is expected to be out another two to six weeks.

Views: It's time to give one of our regular posters his due. In a season where everyone was looking at Baldelli as a potential breakout star, Shaun was saying he was avoiding him like the plague because he suffered from J.D. Drew disease. If you haven't cut ties already, it may be time to consider doing so. Baldelli continues to look like a guy who has all the talent in the world, but will never be able to stay on the field long enough to show it.