Mike Aviles -- With Asdrubal likely out for at least two weeks (and possibly longer), Mike Aviles will step into the starting shortstop role for the Cleveland Indians. He'll bat in the bottom-third of the order, but Aviles is one of the most talented bench players in baseball this year, at least by fantasy standards. He has double-digit home run and steal talent and is average-ish in the batting average department, making him a useful play in deep mixed leagues and, especially, AL-only leagues.
Joe Blanton -- While he's far from what you'd call a good pitcher, Joe Blanton has been incredibly unlucky this year, and that bad luck continued last night. Despite throwing 8 innings of two-run ball with 11 strikeouts and 0 walks, Blanton still failed to get a win with the potent Angels offense supporting him, dropping instead to 1-9 on the year. It's tempting to look at his 4.21 xFIP compared to his 5.94 ERA and say that he's due for drastic improvement, but keep in mind that his ERA has exceed his xFIP by nearly a run and a half from 2010 to 2012. Blanton will get better, but temper expectations and avoid him in mixed leagues.
Mark Teixeira -- In his fourth game of the year last night, Mark Teixeira (who missed the start of the year with a wrist injury) went 1-for-3 with four RBI and his first homer of the season (a grand slam). While the Yankees managed to survive without Big Tex, they're surely happy to have him back in the heart of their order, and fantasy owners are even more excited to get the big power hitter into their own lineups. Teixeira's ability to hit for a high average was hampered once teams started shifting against him, but he's still capable of 25-to-30 home runs and a bunch of RBIs and runs.
Travis Hafner -- Hafner is one of the most underrated players in all of fantasy baseball, if you ask me. His long and checkered injury history keeps most fantasy players away from him, but a lefty with monster power couldn't find a better home than Yankee Stadium. Last night Hafner with 1-for-4 with his ninth home run of the season. He won't play against most lefties (especially once the parade of injured players makes it back to Yankee Stadium), but in mixed leagues that allow daily transactions and AL-only leagues, Hafner has some serious value that gets ignored.
There are over 100 player news blurbs posted in the member area each morning. Members can read the rest of today's player news by clicking here. Not a member? Join today.
