Ryan Garko was traded to the Aints for Scott Barnes, no relation to Priscilla. Not sure why the Indians traded a cheap guy with 11 homers and a .285/.362/.464 line. Maybe the Giants offered some trinkets to the Indians. Besides his season line, Garko has been hot recently (.429 in his last seven games with two homers). Pac Bell/AT&T/The Fridge That Sandoval Raids is not a hitter’s haven, but Garko should hit in the heart of the order and see every day playing time. Definitely worth pursuing in NL-Only leagues and 12 team leagues, if you’re hurting at corner. The other name worth mentioning is Andy Marte, who was called up by the Indians yesterday. In Triple-A this year, Marte has a .329/.366/.590 line with 17 homers in just under 300 ABs. Not too long ago, Marte was a blue chip prospect in the minors. But Marte’s middle name may as well be Prospect-Shmespect. As in, show it in the majors, Prospect-Shmespect. Marte may get that chance again, but outside of very deep mixed leagues (15+ teams) and AL-Only leagues, you need to take a wait and see approach. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Josh Hamilton – Dropped to 7th in the order. We may need to start calling him Josh 20081stHalfilton. Where’s Brokeback Hamilton?
Daric Barton – Headed to the DL. I’ve already talked too much about this schmohawk.
Bronson Arroyo – The Yankees denied interest in Arroyo. Nice neg.
Jonny Gomes – 2 HRs yesterday vs. two righties. Will be harder for Dusty to bungle The Gomes Situation™ with Dickerson on the DL. Gomes should get the majority of starts… Oh, who am I kidding, Dusty will still find a way.
Tommy Hunter – 7 IP, 1 ER. He could’ve pitched a shutout and I’d be saying the same thing here. Don’t go near him. His minor league stats are yawnstipating. He will leave you crying in the corner of your cubicle.
Billy Butler – 5-for-5, Voice from the future, “Next year Grey will be excited about him in the preseason.”
James Shields – 5 1/3 IP, 5 ER. He’s gonna need a freakin’ shield if I ever run into him on the street. Can’t start him away, can’t start him at home… How does he have a 3.87 ERA on the year? When did he ever pitch good? I don’t remember that. Yesterday, I said to Rudy over IM, “Shields is getting rocked again. What else is knew (sic)?” Rudy, “He usually waits until the 6th or 7th inning.”
Pat Burrell – HR yesterday. Hasn’t gotten hot like I would’ve thought, but there’s still time.
Nick Swisher – 2 HRs. He dedicated both homers to his fallen comrades (his sideburns).
Robinson Cano – I never watch the Yankees because everyone knows about them and ESPN does a fine job of covering every one of their moves/non-moves/possible moves, but I watched them yesterday (cause of freakin’ Shields). Anyway, Cano tried to steal 2nd. He was out by five steps. I have a new contest for next year’s All-Star game festivities, Guys Who Look Fast But Are Remarkably Slow Race Against Guys Who Look Slow But Are Fast. First heat, Cano vs. Pablo Sandoval. Like you wouldn’t watch this.
Randy Wolf – 6 IP, 2 ER. Of course he got no run support. Unlucky like a Wolf.
Josh Beckett – 7 IP, 3 ER, 10 Ks and his 12th win. My AL Cy Young prediction doesn’t look too bad so far. Will depend on how much imagination capturing Greinke’s still doing.
Adam LaRoche – 2-for-4, with two half-homers. Has now started three days in a row. Meanwhile, Lowell trimmed his goatee.
Everth Cabrera – HR yesterday, while Kyle Blanks stole a base. That was nice of Homer Bailey to let Everth hit from second and give Blanks a 59 foot lead off first.
Homer Bailey – 7 1/3 IP, 3 ER. He’s trying to sucker you in. Don’t fall for it.
Ryan Zimmerman – HR yesterday. Might be finally getting hot again. Took about 2 months. Maybe it was my snide comparison of him to Kouzmanoff yesterday (who also homered).
Josh Willingham – Two grand slams yesterday and 4 homers in the last 7 games. When they’re hot, and this even goes for Nationals players, they’re worth owning everywhere. BTW, with 8 RBIs yesterday, guess how many RBIs Willingham has on the season? 39. He recorded a fourth of his RBI total in one game… In almost August. That’s incredible, and not the good kind of incredible.
Garrett Atkins – Started at first, and since Helton usually bats third, Atkins batted third. Jim Tracy must be a disciple of Leyland.
Corey Hart – He gets sizzling. Why do I tell you this? Because he has two homers in the past two games.
Jeff Francoeur – 3 homers and batting .429 in the last seven games. I fully expect him to fall on his face again, but maybe Frenchy’s not toast.
Alfonso Soriano – Grand slam yesterday. He also gets scalding hot for extended periods of time. Or see Hart, Corey, or two above.
Carlos Lee – And another guy who’s finally picking up the pace with 3 homers in his last 7 games.
Wandy Rodriguez – 7 IP, 1 ER, 7 Ks. He deserved more offense. He also deserves the award for Even His Owners Can’t Believe He Has a 2.65 ERA.
Kendry Morales – 2 HRs yesterday. As someone in the comments pointed out the other day, April Grey had Kendry as a sleeper, July Grey had Kendry as a Sell. April Grey says to July Grey, “You’re a moron.”
Brian Fuentes – 4 earned and no outs recorded. Ow… Wait, what? Ouch…
Gordon Beckham – Now has two homers in the past two games. C’mon, Ozzie, move him up in the order!
Garrett Jones – When I saw he had one RBI, I thought for sure he hit a homer and Yahoo just hadn’t scored it. Alas…
Tim Lincecum – 9 IP, 0 ER, 15 Ks. He would’ve had 18 Ks, but Adam LaRoche was in Boston.
Adam Lind – The Jays scored 11 runs, Lind went 0-for-4 — Ticker Tease!
Nolan Reimold – 2-for-3 as he stole his sixth base yesterday. I get it, Michael Bourn is Fred Savage and he’s Judge Reimold.
