Waiver Wire: July 8th
Some old and new blood for your team…
Jason Giambi | 1B | Rockies | 1% owned
The underperforming Todd Helton is now on the shelf with a back issue, opening up Colorado’s first base spot for Giambi, the former fantasy megastar. Giambi still has the same skills he has throughout his entire career, though his power hasn’t shown up as much with infrequent playing time. He’s still an on-base monster (.382 OBP despite a .234 AVG), and I suspect that his 7.7% HR/FB will go up with more at-bats. He’s going to platoon with Brad Eldred, so just make sure you sit him against lefthanders.
Daniel Hudson | SP | White Sox | 3%
Yanked from the Futures Game roster because of the injury to Jake Peavy, Hudson will assume Chicago’s now vacant rotation spot for the foreseeable future. The 23-year-old shot up the ladder last season (five levels including MLB) and contributed 18.2 rather forgettable innings to the ChiSox. Hudson posted a 3.47 ERA with 10.4 K/9 at Triple-A this year, and really the only problem is that he’s homer prone (1.3 HR/9), not exactly an ideal trait considering Chicago’s ball park. He could contribute a low-4.00’s ERA with a fair amount of strikeouts the rest of the way, but he’s not an every start guy. You’re going to have to pick your spots. Hudson starts against the Royals (and Zack Greinke) on Sunday before the All Star break.
Ownerships rates are based on Yahoo! leagues.
Mike writes about the Yankees at River Ave. Blues and baseball in general at CBS Sports.
I love what Hudson has done in two years. But can he keep himself from walking more than 3 guysper nine in the bigs? Seems to be the only way he can succeed this season, because there’s not a lot of a leather behind him, and the baseball’s trip from home plate to the first row in Chicago is the only thing shorter than a typical conversation between the team’s GM and manager.