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I would like to apologize for the long delay since the last post. Shuffling some writers, looking for new ones….

Fantasy football is just around the corner and positional previews will be coming soon!

If you are the owner of any current White Sox player, I’m sure you’re thinking when this power outage will be over.  Konerko, Crede, Dye, all have averages around .200 with little power so far this year.  Konerko hit 2 homers this week and Crede hit one as well.  Dye had to come down to earth after that monster season a year ago.  If you have any of these cats, be patient, they’ll come around.

All the hype surrounding the Red Sox rotation was DiceK, maybe Schilling, but the most consistent and best pitcher has to be Josh Beckett.  He recorded his major league leading 7th  win last night in dominating fashion.  His first pitch of the game was promptly deposited in the OF seats by AlexRios, but settled in and beat the Jays.  If healthy, he can be a guy who can be a streak stopper during the prime of this career.

I have to mention that Barry Bonds hit number 745 last night to move within 10 of the record.   There’s no doubt he is going to break the record, and whether you like him or not, he is an extraordianry talent we may not see again.

Tom Glavine keeps plugging away.  7IP 1 ER and 5K’s last night to improve to 4-1.  I know I was guilty 2 years ago of putting him on the waiver wire and happy to do so.  He has come back to become a solid starter in mixed league.  Until then…

Quick….who is tied with Johan Santana for the most strikeouts?

Yup….James Shields of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Surprisingly owned in ONLY 66% of ESPN fantasy baseball leagues.

Shields’ season-line thus far: 43.1 IP, 3W, 9BB, 45K’s, 3.74 ERA, 1.02 WHIP.

Last night Shields proved his mettle against the solid Twins lineup. The highlight being working out of a 5th inning bases-loaded jam.

Faced with bases-loaded and no outs Shields was looking at Joe Mauer in the batters box and Justin Morneau in the on-deck circle. Not a great situation for any pitcher. Seeking a DP ball, Shields managed to strikeout Mauer and coaxed a DP groundball out from Morneau.

(ED: thanks for the correction Cork)

If he is still on the waiver-wire in your league…you know what to do.

Did you drop Brett Myers when Charlie Manuel moved him to the bullpen? Sprint back to the waiver wire and hope he is still available.

MLB.com is reporting that closer Tom Gordon will have his shoulder examined by team doctors. Manuel stated that the pain is similar to what he experienced last season, which led to a DL stint for Gordon.

Gordon’s age and recent injury status immediately makes Myers a must-add player, if he happens to be available in your league, with some long-term value as a closer.

Since moving to the bullpen Myers has been stellar. Allowing only 1 run while racking up 11k’s. The Phillies are also showing signs of life of late, 6-4 for their last ten and despite a slow start are still contenders.

Other Notes:
Blue Jays Closer Role Still in Question
The Blue Jays gave Jason Frasor the closer role and he has not impressed. Keep a close eye on the situation and if he registers another blown save take a chance on Jeremy Accardo. Accardo has been solid of late and could snatch some saves in the near future.

Need Some Starters?
Take a long look at the Rangers Robinson Tejeda (RP eligible in some leagues) and the smoking hot Jason Marquis. Many of of have been burned by Marquis in the past, but he pitching very well. He won’t offer much help with K’s, but the ERA, WHIP and W’s certainly will!

Chone Figgins will be in the lineup today when the Angels open a series in Kansas City. He missed a month with a hand injury from Spring Training. He went 3-6 in his rehab assignments over the weekend and should be good to go.

If you have been reading this column you know how high I have been on John Maine. Yesterday he threw another gem to collect his 4th win. He went 7 innings, no runs with 8K’s. His ERA dropped to 1.35. The Mets needed someone to step up until Pedro comes back, this gives them 3 nice options when he does return.

Small schedule today, some aces going in favorable situations. Peavy, Halladay, Webb and Hudsin all pitch tonight in games they’ll be favored in. Should be a good night for these guys. Until then…

Tim Hudson is proving that he is back from being mediocre to the dominant pitcher he truly is. He proved his mettle last night with a 12 K, 0 run performance.  He left with a 3 run lead only to have the Brave bullpen blow it in the 9th.  Nevertheless, he will be in the top 5 in Cy Young voting this season.

Jake Peavy trumped that outing with a better one of his own.  Peavy outpitched Brandon Webb with a 16 K (9 in a row at one point) start.   Peavy gave up 2 hits, again the bullpen costing him a victory.  This guy should be considered the best pitcher in the NL right now and with Santana losing his last 2, maybe in all of baseball.

Your yearly Ben Sheets injury happened yesterday in Chicago.  Too bad, he was having a great year, this guy just can’t stay healthy.  That means a Brewer fade in the standings will happen sooner rather than later.

A lot of matinee baseball today as it is travel day among the league.  Cole Hamels gets a start at home with a hot Philly team against Washington.  Expect Hamels to top 10 K’s today.  Josh Beckett and the BoSox play in Camden Yards this evening against Adam Loewen.  Loewen has had trouble gettting out of the 5th innnig lately.  The O’s are struggling, expect more of the same tonight.  I think youre going to start to see the pitching shake itself out in the next couple starts and really separate the men from the boys, and it may have some names we’re not used to seeing.  Until then…

Sure, he’s 1-2 right now. I always thought wins were an overrated stat that you have limited control over, but his 24/5 SO to Walk ratio is very impressive. His ERA is 2.70, which isn’t too shabby either. Things heat up though as he faces arch-rival Yankees for the first time on Sunday. Let the media circus continue.

Just a small update from yesterday, Alfonso Soriano will avoid the DL as of now, but he will miss a week. Again, with hamstrings exercise caution as it wouldn’t surprise me if he landed on the DL soon. Jason Schmidt was the latest casualty of the DL. There is something wrong here. His arm is dead. Has been for a couple years now. He’s admitted that. What were the Dodgers thinking giving him that fat contract. He’ll go off sometime this year and strike out 10, but if you can sell now, do it.

There are some interesting pitching matchups today. Not that anyone in Tampa cares, but two of the best young lefties battle in the Trop today in Bedard and Kazmir. The rubber game in this series should prove to be a good one. Dontrelle Willis gets a home start against the Mets. The Metropolitans send Oliver Perez to the hill. I’m looking forward to seeing that as well. If I was a gambling man, there’s definitely some value in Florida today.

Carlos Zambrano takes the mound in Atlanta to face Davies and the Braves. Zambranos last start against the Reds was disastrous. Only struck out 2 and walked 4 giving up 6 runs. Look for a strong performance tonight. Don’t know if they’re official predictions, but The Cubs should be even money and is worth taking a shot tonight.

Before I go, some minor happenings. Scott Podsednik went on the DL yesterday. Torii Hunter left with a bruised shoulder, but shouldn’t miss any time. The Weaver boys both lost last night and Jeff looks bad, real bad. Juan Pierre is heating up. He may have found a comfort level with Furcal back. The most consistent pitcher this year may be Ramon Ortiz of the Twins with 3 solid outings. He may be someone you can get cheap right now. Thats all for today, until then…

For all you Ichiro owners, you knew a game like this was coming. It had to. Ichiro is just too good to not have a day to kick-start his season; 4-5 4R, a HR, 2 RBI and a SB. Thats production. I have been patiently waiting for his average to hover around .300 at least. Hopefully for all his owners, this is a sign to come.

Speaking of All Stars, Albert Pujols wasn’t too shabby yesterday either. 2 Homers and 5 RBI’s counts as a good day in my book. There’s still more to come though as Pujols is just hitting around .200 for the season with only 3 homers. This sleeping giant will wake up and go on a streak soon.

Pitching matchups for this week are kind of thrown in a loop with all the rainouts. We’ll have to wait until it shakes out to go in depth with that. I do know that Barry Zito owners have to be on suicide watch. He was scheduled to start on Saturday in Pittsburgh, and with rain Saturday and Sunday, Zito gets to hop on a plane and pitch in Denver. I’m not sure how effective he will be. Colorado seems to be a good play today.

The Yankee rotation is an absolute mess. Pavano and Mussina both hit the DL yesterday. The lineup is good enough to win them games, but they better do something about this before it gets out of hand more than it is. I’m sure they’ll pick up an all star at the deadline, provided they’re not out of it by then.

Once the matchup become clearer, I’ll post some edges I think are out there. Until then…

While I am not playing any ESPN leagues this year, I did receive word that things were not going too smoothly thus far. Reminded me of when they opened, and really pushed, the free football leagues…wreaked havoc on drafting and was a bit twitchy. Seems the Kruk commercials have people clamoring for FBB at ESPN.

This is posted on their website:

Open Letter to ESPN Fantasy Baseball Users
By John Kosner
ESPN.com

To all our fantasy players,

I am writing to apologize on behalf of ESPN for the frustration you have had with your ESPN Fantasy Baseball League. The problems you’ve had in this first week are unacceptable.

We have been and continue to devote all of our resources to fixing the problems we have had with live scoring, rosters and waiver wire moves. I am sorry that we have not communicated well enough with you this week. You’ll hear from ESPN again this Saturday afternoon at 5:00 PM EDT. We also have a toll-free number (also on each team and league page) that you can call to talk to a person who can help answer questions (1-888-549-ESPN) or e-mail us at baseball@fantasygames.go.com.

We take great pride in our fantasy products and are doing everything possible to have your League play be smooth and enjoyable. We do appreciate your patience and plan to have everything in order with your League shortly.

Sincerely,

John Kosner and the ESPN.com Fantasy Team

ESPN Free League Problems

I would like to get some objective critiques on the various leagues…maybe a post draft, All-Star break and then post playoffs edition. More and more small, high quality, sites are coming available…side-by-side comparisons of features would be interesting to see.

Todd Helton, the face of the Rockies franchise. No one can argue that. He has been that rock during those years they weren’t any good.

It pains me to write this about him, but what can we really expect out of a declining veteran who has seen his numbers drop in the best hitters park in the world?

During a 5 year span in the height of his career, he hit for 100 plus RBI and hit between 30 and 49 HR’s.

That was then, this is now.

We have watched his power and average decline steadily for several years. Now there is talk he may be traded, with his contract, it would be nearly impossible. I say it won’t help. Perhaps look to trade him now while he has some value or if not hope he gets on a hot streak to start the season and get what you can.