Daily Linkage – 5/20/2009

Brian Anderson was activated from the disabled list Tuesday afternoon and is expected to resume his role as the White Sox’ starting center fielder. The 27-year-old was pleased with his short rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte. “I got some good at-bats with those guys, and it was just fun to be back in the mix playing baseball,” said Anderson, who missed about three weeks with a strained right oblique.

Anderson left the MLB scene in late April with a relatively impressive stat line — a .268 batting average, .359 on-base percentage and two stolen bases in 56 at-bats. Those numbers won’t gain a player fantasy relevancy in most mixed leagues, but that he’s even making a small splash in AL-only leagues this season says something about his progress as a hitter. Anderson hit just .232 last season with a .272 OBP and was completely off the fantasy map. Now that he’s back in the lineup, let’s get better acquainted.

I don’t expect Brian to hit .350,” Ozzie Guillen told the Chicago Tribune at the beginning of the 2009 season. “A lot of people forget we gave Brian all year long [in 2006] and he never [kept the job]. Now he’s mature, he’s a better player and he knows what he’s doing. I don’t expect him to be comfortable with being a backup outfielder. He should be better than that.”

The Chicago coaching staff has noticed an improvement in Anderson’s approach at the plate.

”I felt good about Brian for a couple years now,” hitting coach Greg Walker told the Chicago Sun-Times in late April. ”We’ve seen pregame work now for two years that we think equates into game performance. We’ve challenged him a little bit where, ‘Hey, it’s time to step it up and start taking this pregame work into games.”

On to the links…

Mark Hinton of CrookedPitch.com outlines several “Fantasy Situations To Avoid.” At the top of his list? The Nationals’ bullpen.

Charlie Saponara of FantasyBaseball365.com asks a bold question: “Is Garrett Atkins done?”

If you haven’t already, check out this week’s “Fantasy Roundtable,” hosted by Razzball.com.

Mark St. Amant of Rotoworld is “crushing” on Adrian Gonzalez this week. “I’ve never managed a Major League game in my life,” St. Amant writes, “but I know how to win every game against the San Diego Padres — never, ever, ever. Ever. Ever pitch. Never. Pitch to Adrian Gonzalez.”

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