Clearing The Bases

Anyone who listened to the Seamheads Fantasy Baseball Show on Wednesday night heard my co-host, Jeff Brown (Red Sox fan) toast the organization for their decision to play Adrian Gonzalez in right field for the sake of getting David Ortiz some at-bats during the team’s nine game road stretch in National League parks.  I may not have been as hard on the Sox as Jeff was as I do understand the need to give Ortiz, who is having an MVP like season some playing time, but I have to agree with Jeff that it didn’t make much sense to risk the health to your best player for the sake of one game and four ABs.  Why not just sit Gonzo and give him a day off?  Sure you can tell him not to dive for ball, run into walls, or do anything excessive, but at the end of the day, he is an athlete and a competitor and will do what it takes to win the game.

The Yankees have a trio of players coming back from the disabled list in the next 7-10 days and will have some interesting decisions to make on each one.  First Bartolo Colon is set to start Saturday versus the Mets.  Colon has been out a couple of weeks after injuring his leg while covering first base.  Not a shock that Colon would be hurt, he’s not exactly Mr. Universe as far as physique, the question now is can he regain the Cy Young form he showed earlier this season.

What a shame that Erik Bedard had to be placed on the DL, but the good news is that it wasn’t because of an injury to his left shoulder, but to a knee sprain.

Josh Johnson received good news from Dr. James Andrews in that there is nothing structurally wrong with his arm/shoulder but still it seems unlikely that he will toe the rubber before August.  There have been rumors since before the season began that Johnson was an injury waiting to happen and the Marlins certainly haven’t been all that forthright in their handling of Johnson.  One has to wonder if the Marlins may rush Johnson back as they try and build momentum toward their opening of the new stadium next season.  You may think that’s crazy, but we’re talking about Jeff Loria here, the same man who just hired an 80 year old manager for essentially the same reason.

The Cardinals just released Ryan Franklin.  Franklin went from closer to closed out in a big hurry.  Speaking of the Cardinals, I’m starting to believe that Colby Rasmus will never realize his full potential playing for Tony LaRussa.  More Cardinals, David Freese was activated off the DL Monday, don’t forget about him as he has the ability to hit if he can just stay on the field.

Not sure I would mess with success if I’m the Blue Jays.  Jose Bautista has stated in the past that he doesn’t want to play the infield and that he feel much more comfortable in right field.  Is it worth making your best hitter uncomfortable just to try and get a little more offense.  Not like Eric Thames is going to provide much more offense in RF than Edwin Encarnacion would at third base.

Why does no one give Ty Wigginton any respect?   No matter who he plays for, he hits, and the fact that he can play multiple positions certainly can’t hurt.

The fact that the Mets have played so well of late could be the worst thing to happen to them.  If the organization believes that they are serious playoff contenders, than they may not trade players like Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Francisco Rodriguez.  The Mets are playing well, no doubt, but it does seem to be a mirage, and seems unlikely they can carry this through the remainder of the season.  Seems they would be better off starting their rebuilding process a little bit early.  Unless they play to re-sign Reyes, but if owner Fred Wilpon still doesn’t think he’s worth Carl Crawford money, than trading Reyes and getting as many prospects as possible would seem to be the way to go.

Barry Zito is back from the DL, yippee.

Do you realize that Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee had more runs batted in (2) in June than earned runs (1).  That’s just psychotic.  They may not have the greatest offense, but that pitching staff is going to make them awfully tough to beat in a short or long series.  Good thing their starting pitchers throw so many innings also as their closers keep falling.  First Brad Lidge, than Jose Contreras, now Ryan Madson.  Be very careful Antonio Bastardo.

Carlos Pena is doing a nice job of building up his trade value with all of these home runs for the Cubs, but keep this in mind, last season, no team acquiring players at the trade deadline took on more than $5 million, Pena alone would come with that price tag.

Sin-Soo Choo is out for the next 8-10 weeks after having surgery on his thumb, this would be the definition of a lost season.

Speaking of lost season’s, what is wrong with Adam  Dunn?  I understand changing leagues and getting to know the pitchers can be difficult, but this is just ridiculous.  One has to wonder if he is going to start to be benched a little more often in the weeks ahead.

The original plans for Wily Mo Pena was to send him back down to the minors once interleague play was over, but with the way he’s playing it may be someone else on the roster who get the axe.  It’s a good thing for Juan Miranda that Pena doesn’t play first base or it might be his job that would be in danger.

With Jonathan Danks on the DL, Jake Peavy gets his spot in the rotation back.  He’s not the Peavy he was in San Diego, and probably never will be, but he’s still someone to keep an eye on.

The Rangers are contemplating what to do with Alexi Ogando.  Another bad start and Ogando could find himself back in the minors as the Rangers are already thinking about skipping his next start.  The problem is Ogando is really just a two pitch pitcher and the league has caught up with him.  He may be best suited for a bullpen role if he can’t develop a third pitch.

Joe Nathan seems likely to get his closing job back shortly as he fastball velocity is getting back up there.  With Minnesota out of the playoff race, it may not be long until Matt Capps is traded also.

The Indians called up Lonnie Chisenhall earlier this week, not because he was tearing it up in AAA but because the Indians needed a boost to their offense.

The Mariner’s Miguel Olivo was sent for an MRI on his hamstring Wednesday, no word yet on the results but it would be a shame if he’s out for long as he was a nice source of power for Seattle.

Chipper Jones has an ailing left knee, I know, shocking.

Speaking of fragile players, Rich Harden will pitch tomorrow for Oakland.  If you’re in a fantasy league, and desperate, feel free to give him a shot.  Over/under on Harden suffering an injury is July 27.

The Braves Brandon Beachy is quickly turning into a must start and for those wondering about whether or not the Braves will pitch him in September due to an innings restriction, I wouldn’t worry much about that as that DL stint should enable him to pitch all season.

Brian Matusz was lit up once again tonight and it seems to be just a matter of time before he is either placed back on the DL or sent to AAA.

Carl Crawford won’t be back this weekend for Boston but could return sometime next week.

Would be nice to see what kind of numbers Chris Heisey could put up if Dusty Baker would put him in the lineup each and every day.

So much for Jonathan Broxton coming back and regaining the closer’s role for LA.  He had a setback in his rehab and still seems weeks, not days away.