No intro today. I’m too busy eastwooding empty chairs around the house. I, too, want to scold that invisible Kenyan President for having the audacity of being born in the foreign country of Hawaii. If you need context, I’m not sure what happened the other day, but I was flipping channels and saw Clint Eastwood having a 20 minute stroke. I figured someone would call an ambulance or shaman or something to help out, but then I finally realized, via the commentary afterwards, that Eastwood was scolding invisible Obama. I didn’t even know Mr. Obama could turn invisible. Crazy stuff. Doesn’t that mean he has a superpower? I mean, besides being a super socialist? “Ever since then, I’ve been a man on a mission. I mean, what do you say to people? Do you just, you know, I know, people were wondering, you don’t, handle that okay.” Yeah, I’m pretty sure he was still having a stroke.
Waiver Man Cometh
The Reds have brought up Didi Gregorius as part of their first wave of September call-ups. While he would normally be discussed in my Minority Report, we can go ahead and label him a Waiver Man Cometh after arriving to the show. A toolsy high-ceiling middle infielder from Curacao, he’ll never be a huge home run threat, but Gregorius can offer a good amount of line drive pop and above average speed to the tune of 20-25 SB’s over the course of a full season. While most believed that Billy Hamilton would get called up to fill a pinch-running role, that had little chance of happening due to the fact that he would be required to be protected on the 40-man roster and a corresponding move would need to occur. Pick him up now in terms of future value.
Southpaw 25-year-old Andrew Werner was recently called up by the Padres. A non-drafted free agent out of the University of Indianapolis, his call-up had been surprising since he had pitched 23.1 innings with an ERA of 5.79 in Triple-A. However, his FIP of 2.81 told a different story, and so far in the big leagues he has started twice with an ERA of 3.00 and 9 K’s with 4 BB’s. He throws a fastball in the high 80’s and mixes in a change-up and curveball. While he doesn’t have a high ceiling and is most likely a back-end starter if everything goes right for him, if you need a pitcher, he could help you out in home match-ups at PetCo.
There’s really nothing much to say about Lew Ford and Nate McLouth. They are only in the post because they seem to be getting at-bats for the wild card contending Orioles. Which isn’t a good thing, mind you. Ford was hitting 331/390/550 in Triple-A and is a career 270/345/401 hitter, so there might be a chance of something here. But that something hasn’t arrived yet. In his last 46 PA’s, he’s produced a 186/222/395 slash. But, given a choice, I’d rather go with Ford than McLouth, as he’s been able to match Ford with an equally sucky slash of 201/277/306, but a much longer rate of 159 PA’s.
Though he’s slipped in the prospect rankings over the last two season, Bryan Anderson is still seen as having a good enough future to stay in the big leagues and be a contributor at catcher for the Cardinals. Known as a left-handed slugger, he was called up last Tuesday. While he will most likely back-up Yadier Molina on a regular basis, there might be some sprinkling of power here if you need a body for your second catcher spot.
A fastball/slider/splitter reliever, Ryan Mattheus is having a pretty good season in context of middle relievers. While his FIP of 4.28 isn’t anything special, he’s been helped with a low .232 BABIP fueling a 2.39 ERA. Numbers don’t have to normalize over the course of the season for bullpen guys, so Mattheus might help with empty innings, which, depending on your wire, might be worth something. Heck, you might even vulture some holds.
Fauquier County Hospital
Out since August because of a wrist injury, Peter Bourjos is expected to be activated from the DL this week. While he’s sorely under performed from last year’s numbers, he might be worth a look if you have a need for speed. So far on his rehab, Bourjos has hit .364 with 3 triples.
While Sean Rodriguez has had some moments, they weren’t during this season. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list from Triple-A after punching a locker following a game. It’s estimated that at least two-three weeks is needed. He might be called up, when healthy, to give the Rays more positional flexibility. He offers a 270/330/420 ceiling, but there are huge question marks if he’ll ever get there.
Even though Dee Gordon was transferred to the 60-day disabled list this past Thursday to make room on the 40-man roster, he’s expected to be activated during this upcoming scoring period after recovering from thumb surgery. Even though he was hitting only .229, there is some speed potential here.
Minority Report
Drafted in the 9th Round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, Cavan Cohoes hails from Germany and was a two-time All-European shortstop. He looks pretty fluid in the field, and has a quick motion on his transfer and throw, which makes it seem likely that he can stay in the middle-infield. Standing at 6’2″ and 185 lbs., Cohoes projects to have power with decent contact skills. His ceiling could be something like Stephen Drew, pre-injury.
Selected 350th overall in the 2011 MLB draft, Seth Maness isn’t going to blow anyone away, but he does have a good idea of how to pitch. Underrated because of a lack of an overpowering fastball, he makes up for it with a solid change-up and pinpoint command and control. Just to give you an example, since being promoted to Double-A, in 123.2 innings pitched, he only has 9 BB’s. Right now, his ceiling is that of a #3 starter and he reminds me of a Brad Radke clone.
