Apologies for the late edition of the Roto Riteup. I know at least five people died holding their breath, but I don’t think a jury could possibly convict me.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yes. No. Maybe? I don’t know. 2012 has been an enigmatic year for the 21-year-old Texan. After being rated highly coming into the year Shelby Miller is the not-so-proud owner of a 5.19 ERA with Triple-A Memphis. To make matters worse, his maturity and makeup have been questioned – or depending on who you speak to, continue to be questioned. But, his in last few starts Miller has surged. Is he  ready to face his most important task to date, helping your fantasy team? Read the rest of this entry »

It’s really, really difficult to overstate just how bad the first base situation is in Los Angeles right now. Of the possibly dozens of different ways to describe how awful James Loney & Juan Rivera are, my favorite might be “Juan Uribe still exists, and even despite that third base isn’t the biggest problem on this club.” Loney (.252/.300/.328 & .265 wOBA entering Thursday) and Rivera (.243/.280/.355 & .271 wOBA) have combined to start 112 of the first 118 games at first base this year, and all the Dodgers have received for that time investment is a combined .268 wOBA, just a tick above Seattle for the worst in baseball. (If we go by WAR, which factors in Rivera’s below-average defense, they are dead last.) I’m not sure what’s more surprising – that Loney has just three homers this year, or that he hasn’t had an unintentional walk since June 23.

This couldn’t have come as any shock to the Dodgers, of course. Loney has been struggling (and mostly failing) to live up to his prospect reputation for years, and re-signing Rivera because of a few good weeks in Los Angeles after being DFA’d by Toronto last year never really made sense in the first place. As the Dodgers upgraded elsewhere with Shane Victorino & Hanley Ramirez this July, they attempted to find a solution at first as well – they were reportedly going after Adrian Gonzalez, and did agree to acquire Carlos Lee from Houston before Lee refused to waive his no-trade clause – but were unable to find a good fit.

Barring a surprising August waiver deal for someone like Justin Morneau, the first-place Dodgers are stuck making their playoff push with this atrocious duo. But does it need to be that way? Down at Triple-A Albuquerque, Jerry Sands is crushing the ball all around the PCL, and with every disappointing day from Rivera & Loney, it gets harder and harder for the Dodgers to justify keeping him there. Read the rest of this entry »

• Dale Thayer looks to be the closer to own in San Diego for the foreseeable future. Padres’ manager Bud Black indicated today that “Street’s injury is going to be past the 15 days.” At this time there doesn’t appear to be an exact timetable for Street’s return, although Corey Brock suggests it “won’t likely come before September.” Thayer has earned six saves in eight chances this season and sports a 3.51 ERA (4.12 xFIP) with a 3.33 K/BB. He’s available in 80 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Read the rest of this entry »

Brandon Belt (ESPN: 15 percent owned; Yahoo!: 18 percent owned)

Were it not for another left fielder in the midst of PED issues, the chatter in the Bay might well be about Brandon Belt finally looking like the player many expected him to be this season. The expectations laid on the 24-year-old may have been too high given his age and lack of experience, but his performance in July (.186/.266/.214 with nary a home run) failed to reach the most realistic or even pessimistic projections. August, however, has been far kinder to the Giants lefty as he has hit .450/.500/.625 in 44 PAs. Read the rest of this entry »

In his three starts with Atlanta, Paul Maholm has allowed just four runs and gone at least seven innings in every start. Each of the runs he has allowed has been via the home run, with only one being more than a solo shot. Obviously this will change, but Maholm certainly looks like he is fitting well in the Braves rotation.
Read the rest of this entry »

Oh Melky.

Melky, Melky, Melky.

How you’ve screwed over so many now.

With word breaking of Melky Cabrera’s indiscretion and subsequent 50-game suspension, there’s been a rush of emotion and not one bit of it is good. Who cares if he came out, admitted the wrongdoing and apologized. You can stuff your sorry’s in a sack as George Costanza would say. Is an apology going to replace a .346 average with a decent mix of power and speed in the middle of the Giants’ lineup during a pennant race? No. Is it going to help fantasy owners who have grown to rely on his production at such a crucial time of the season? No. So really…who cares if he’s sorry?  He might as well have pulled a Sammy Sosa and pretended not to speak English because the end results are the same. Melky cheated, got caught and it’s the rest of the baseball community, both real and fantasy, that suffer.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s about time when you realize you need to make up some wins and strikeouts and start streaming starters, or pick up anyone with a pulse in an Only league. Well, if you have decided on this strategy for your team, then please, avoid these AL starters.

Read the rest of this entry »

I wrote today’s Roto Riteup while on my knees, worshipping the idol known as Felix Hernandez.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Greg Holland saved his fourth consecutive game since the Royals dealt Jonathan Broxton to the Reds. Holland needed 18 pitches, but gave up just one hit and fanned two en route to the save against the Athletics. Since taking over the closer’s gig, Holland has appeared in seven games, going 1-0, 4-for-4 in save chances with a 4.0 K/BB while improving his ERA from 3.54 to 3.21. Holland is available in 53 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Read the rest of this entry »