Eric Thames (1B-MIL) - We will see whether Jesus Aguilar cuts into Thames' playing time at some point, but $16 million says that Thames will get plenty of rope. The Brewers started Thames in the two-hole between Jonathan Villar and

Dodgers Rotation Current projection: Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill, Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Brandon McCarthy Other possibilities: Scott Kazmir, Alex Wood, Ross Stripling, Julio Urias (May/June) Things are starting to sort themselves out. Right now, the Opening Day rotation projects

Dodgers #4 and #5 starters We still don't know how this will sort out, but attriti on and performance this month will likely result in two guys bubbling to the top. Julio Urias will likely make in the area of

Dodgers outfield At this point, the Dodgers are in flux at every outfield position. We know Joc Peterson will play against RHP and probably several LHP as well, at least initially until he proves definitively that he's a platoon guy.

Adam Wainwright (SP-STL) - Wainwright continued his lack of consistency Tuesday, allowing five runs on 10 hits over just 5.2 innings against the Reds. He was touched for two home runs while walking two and striking out six and seeing

James Shields (SP-CHW) - It's hard to know what to make of Shields' prospects for 2017, but if you like him and want to buy low, chances are you'll be able to. Shields was pummeled for seven runs (six earned)

Roman Quinn (OF-PHI) - I don't know if Quinn is more than a utility guy going forward, but he's certainly making his case to be so this month. Quinn was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored Tuesday and

Jake Odorizzi (SP-TB) - Odorizzi and Chris Archer stayed, while Matt Moore went at the trade deadline. It would not be surprising to see trade talks around Odorizzi and Archer revisited this winter, as the Rays have, as usual, a

Curtis Granderson (OF-NYM) - If you somehow started Grandeson in your DFS lineup Tuesday despite him not being in the Mets starting lineup, wow, congratulations. All Granderson did was enter the game in the sixth inning as a pinch-hitter and

Yulieski Gurriel (UT-HOU) - With Alex Bregman having 12 hits and four home runs in his last seven games, he's clearly locked down an everyday role. Where does that leave Gurriel? Likely in a utility role, seeing time at DH,

Howie Kendrick (OF-LAD) - Lots of guys had good games Tuesday in Philadelphia as the Dodgers tallied 15 runs, but Kendrick's 4-for-5 effort is worth noting. Kendrick fell a double short of the cycle while driving in three and scoring

Manuel Margot (OF-SD) - It's sounding possible in reading some quotes from Padres management that both Margot and Hunter Renfroe may not be up before September 1, but it's hard to buy that. Tuesday, the Padres fielded an outfield of

Melvin Upton Jr. (OF-TOR) - I'm sure you all know by now that Upton has been traded from the Padres to the Blue Jays. Unfortunately for his fantasy owners, it looks as if his value will take a bit of

1 Yoan Moncada BOS 2B A AA Has found his power stroke in AA and is looking like a 2016 callup candidate. 2 Alex Bregman HOU SS A- AAA Playing some 3B and OF now, so expect an August callup.

Jameson Taillon (SP-PIT) - Taillon made his return from a shoulder injury an interesting one Tuesday against the Brewers. Despite taking a 105 mph comebacker off the back of his head, Taillon stayed in the game to allow just one

A small sampling of today's notes.... Tim Anderson (SS-CHW) - Anderson is an obvious upgrade over Jimmy Rollins and Tyler Saladino, but there are some red flags. He did go 2-for-4 with his second stolen base Tuesday and is now

A few of our many prospect notes this week: 1 Yoan Moncada BOS 2B A AA 4 for 10 in first 2 AA games. 2016 MLB stint not out of the question. 2 Alex Bregman HOU SS A- AA .302/.411/.568

Julio Urias - Urias will reportedly make at least one more start after his next start Wednesday against the Brewers. Seems like we've heard that before, but given Urias is looking better and better, the temptation is there to keep

A few of our many prospect notes this week: 1 Yoan Moncada BOS 2B A A+ AA promotion reportedly soon. 36 SB, .426 OBP, and just 3 HR, but 44% of hits for XB's. 2 Alex Bregman HOU SS A-

Jake Odorizzi (SP-TB) - Odorizzi was missing bats Tuesday against the Mariners, striking out nine hitters in 5.2 innings, but he also allowed five runs on eight hits with four walks and one Kyle Seager home run. Odorizzi saw his

A few of our many prospect notes this week: 39 Austin Meadows PIT OF B AA .459 with 5 SB in last 10 games just when he was closing in on dropping off the list. 40 Willson Contreras CHC C

Lonnie Chisenhall (OF-CLE) - Chisenhall has been a disappointment for most of his career after being a top prospect, but he's still done enough to have regular at-bats as an outfielder. Tuesday, Chisenhall went 3-for-4 with his first homer of

A few of our many prospect notes this week: 45 Dan Vogelbach CHC 1B B AA Slumping a bit, but OPS still .925 and could be a nice trade chip this summer. 46 Cody Bellinger LAD 1B B AA

Marcell Ozuna (OF-MIA) - Ozuna's bat continued to sizzle Tuesday, as the center fielder went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, a walk, and two runs scored. Ozuna is now batting a robust .327/.372/.589 with nine homers in 165 at-bats.

Here is a small sampling of today's prospect notes. Hitters: Alex Bregman HOU SS A- AA 1.123 OPS and now playing some 3B. As many HR (9) as strikeouts this year. Bradley Zimmer CLE OF A- AA .273 in last

Rick Porcello (SP-BOS) - Porcello has regressed a bit lately, but overall, it's been a mini break-out season for the former top draft pick. Tuesday, Porcello allowed four earned runs over five innings against the Tigers, resulting in an increase

A few samples from today's notes: Alex Wood (SP-LAD) - Wood may have saves his spot in the rotation Tuesday, holding the Mets to two runs over 6.1 solid innings while allowing just four hits and fanning nine in lowering

Here are a few notes on this week's prospect spreadsheet update. Hitters 7 Dansby Swanson ATL SS B+ A+ Just one pro HR In 140 AB, but we won't argue with the .350 BA. Power should come. 8 Alex Bregman

Jung Ho Kang (SS/3B-PIT) - In NL-only and deeper mixed leagues, Kang is likely already rostered on someone's bench or DL, but if not, keep his name in mind. Kang is currently out with a knee injury, but he has

Noah Syndergaard (SP-NYM) - Syndergaard was my highest-rated Mets pitcher coming into the season, so I liked him quite a bit, but now other than Kershaw and Scherzer, I might not rank any other pitcher higher in terms of rest

Zack Greinke (SP-ARI) - Monday was a glorious day for Dodgers fans, as not only did the boys on blue roll to a 15-0 win over Tyson Ross and the Padres, but Zack Greinke was hammered for seven runs in

Dodgers - Starting Rotation in Flux As usual, injuries have struck the Dodgers' rotation. Brett Anderson is out until at least July after undergoing back surgery. Hyun-Jin Ryu is targeting mid-May for his return from labrum surgery, but a torn

Giants rotation We've already seen Matt Cain miss time with a cyst on his pitching arm, and now Johnny Cueto is having his Saturday start pushed back for unspecified reasons. In all likelihood, Cueto will be fine for Opening Day,

Dodgers Shortstop - Just One Man In an announcement that surprised exactly no one, new LA manager Dave Roberts announced this week that Corey Seager would play shortstop exclusively this year. Most scouts eventually expect that as he fills out,

Matt Wisler (SP-ATL) - Perhaps the Nationals are feeling a bit deflated being out of the playoffs and having to have Jonathan Papelbon as a teammate, but Wisler's seven innings of one-run ball Tuesday was still a nice stat line.

Keyvius Sampson (SP-CIN) - It's going to be an open competition in Cincinnati for 2016 rotation spots and Sampson is looking to stake his claim for one of the five precious spots. Sampson allowed just one run over 5.1 innings

Jason Hammel (SP-CHC) - With a 9.1 K/9 and 3.73 ERA, it's been a productive season for Hammel, even if the recent results haven't been up to par. Tuesday against the Pirates, Hammel lasted just 3.2 innings while allowing four

Ryan Weber (SP-ATL) - It's not often that I see a name in the boxscore that I'm not familiar with, but Weber is that guy this week. Tuesday, Weber tossed six innings of two-run ball against the Phillies, allowing four

Darrin Ruf (1B-PHI) - Ruf had a huge night against the Mets and Jon Niese Tuesday, going 3-for-5 with a home run and six runs driven in. The huge night raised Ruf's disappointing slash to .245/.292/.406. it was his first

Chase Utley (2B-PHI) - It could be a smokescreen of course, but as of this week, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro has stated that he expects Utley to remain with the Phillies through the end of the season. We don't know

Jeremy Hellickson (SP-ARI) - Okay it was just the Phillies, but Hellickson was nonetheless brilliant Tuesday, tossing eight innings of one-run ball (an unearned run) on seven hits with a 6:0 K:BB. The outing lowered Hellickson's ERA to 4.73 though

Khris Davis (OF-MIL) - With the departures of Carlos Gomez and Gerardo Parra, Davis has a clear path to regular at-bats. He had a hit and two RBI Tuesday but is still batting just .230/.318/.407. On the plus side, he

Kyle Schwarber (C-CHC) - Schwarber came up big in the Cubs' 13-inning win Tuesday, going 4-for-7 with a pair of homers and four RBI. All he's done in his first 11 MLB games is bat .410/.439/.744 with three homers and

Dexter Fowler (OF-CHC) - Fowler had a solid game Tuesday in a win over the Cardinals, going 2-for-4 with a double, run, walk, RBI, and his 12th stolen base. With eight home runs, Fowler has provided some level of fantasy

Kevin Plawecki (C-NYM) - Plawecki's fantasy value gets yet another boost due to yet another injury to starter Travis d'Arnaud. Tuesday, d'Arnaud was placed on the DL with an elbow injury. No timetable has been set, but it could be

Danny Espinosa (INF-WAS) - Sure, the Nats scored 16 runs and Bryce Harper homered again, but how about Espinosa's day Thursday? He went 5-for-5 (all singles) with three runs scored. He didn't have an RBI, as all the runners kept

Yunel Escobar (2B/3B-WAS) - Once Anthony Rendon (oblique strain) is ready to return in the next week or at most, two weeks, the Nationals will have to make a decision on their infield rotation. Surely Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman will

Justin Turner (3B-LAD) - With the failed attempt deal Juan Uribe to Atlanta on Tuesday, manager Don Mattingly clarified his third base situation, saying that Turner would be the team's primary third baseman going forward and would start around five

Maikel Franco (3B-PHI) - Franco is off to a nice start in what he hopes is a permanent big league promotion. He went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI in Tuesday's game and is now batting a solid

Starling Marte (OF-PIT) - I always saw Marte as the guy who would settle in as the #2 hitter between Polanco and McCutchen, but he's looking like more of a middle of the order type these days. Tuesday, Marte

Dexter Fowler (OF-CHC) - Fowler has been a spectacular addition for the Cubs this year, filling a need bot in center field and at the top of the lineup. Fowler went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and his sixth

Dexter Fowler (OF-CHC) - Fowler has been a spectacular addition for the Cubs this year, filling a need bot in center field and at the top of the lineup. Fowler went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and his sixth

Mark Melancon (RP-PIT) - Melancon entered Tuesday's game against the Cubs with a two-run lead in the ninth inning, but due up were Anthony Rizzo, Jorge Soler, and Kris Bryant By the time those three were done, the bases were

Odrisamer Despaigne (SP-SD) - Despaigne continued his good fortune Tuesday, allowing just a run on two hits over seven solid innings against the Diamondbacks. His 4:2 K:BB in 11.2 innings indicates a lack of dominance, but if you actually watch

Giancarlo Stanton (OF-MIA) - They weren't intentional walks in the box score, but Stanton went 0-for-1 with three free passes on Tuesday. It sure didn't look like Alex Wood and the Braves wanted any part of the slugger. With Mike

Hunter Pence (OF-SF) - And here come the injuries. The Giants announced Thursday that they fear Pence has a broken forearm. No timetable had been established at the time this was written, but it's probably a safe bet that he'll

Brett Cecil (RP-TOR) - If you're on the lookout for projected non-closers who could become closers by Opening Day, Cecil is one guy to look at. As of now, the role for Aaron Sanchez is TBD at best, as the

Jung-Ho Kang (SS-PIT) - Between the contract and the posting fee, the Pirates are invested to the tune of $16 million over four years with Kang, but he will reportedly open the year as a utility infielder. He obviously wasn't

Andrew Cashner (SP-SD) - Cashner has been good all year when healthy, give Thursday against the Giants was a different story - six on eight hits over five innings against the Giants. Cashner still finishes with a 2.55 ERA in

Here is just a small sampling of the player news and notes available to subscribers each day: Bryce Harper (OF-WAS) - Harper singled twice and doubled in four PA's Thursday, lifting him to .274/.343/.433 on the year. It's not the

A small sampling of the player notes provided to subscribers daily: Giancarlo Stanton (OF-MIA) - By the time you read this, it's possible we'll know more about Stanton's condition after the MVP candidate was taken from the field by an

A small sampling of today's player notes available to subscribers... Mike FIers (SP-MIL) - It's apparently a mismatch no matter what team Fiers faces these days. Thursday was no exception, as Fiers fanned a career-high 14 over six inning of

A small sampling of today's player notes. Ryan Howard (1B-PHI) - Howard may have some deeper league value yet. After going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against right-handers Thursday, Howard blasted an eighth inning grand slam off Houston left-hander Tony Sipp

Yangervis Solarte (3B-SD) - Solarte will apparently be the everyday third baseman and #2 hitter after coming over in the Chase Headley trade. Normally that's a prime spot in a lineup ahead of the team's best hitter, but instead, Solarte

Carlos Martinez (RP-STL) - As a Martinez owner in a couple keeper leagues, I was very worried that the Cardinals were going to turn him into a full-time reliever this year. With Trevor Rosenthal closing, Martinez would have had little

Mike Leake (SP-CIN) - Leake was dialed in Thursday against the reeling Giants, tossing eight innings of one-run ball while striking out 12 and lowering his ERA to 3.41. After allowing 14 runs in 15.1 innings over three starts, Leake

A small sampling of today's player notes available to subscribers: Chase Anderson (SP-ARI) - Anderson was respectable again on Thursday, holding the Brewers to three runs (two earned) over six innings, lowering his ERA to 3.18 in seven starts covering

A sampling of today's 70+ prospect notes available to subscribers: Hitters 2 Kris Bryant CHC 3B A 1.160 OPS gets him to AAA, one step closer to taking over 3B or a corner OF slot in Chicago. 3 Gregory Polanco

A small sampling of today's player notes... David Peralta (OF-ARI) - Peralta made his big league debut this year after spending most of his previous pro career in the Cardinals organization...as a pitcher. He played the outfield in independent ball

A small sampling of the 70+ prospect updates available to our subscribers: Hitters 2 Kris Bryant CHC 3B A Owns Southern League pitching - 1.419 OPS in last 10 G as of Monday's action. 3 Gregory Polanco PIT OF A

Here is just a sample of today's player notes available to subscribers... Luis Valbuena (3B-CHC) - With Mike Olt no longer having the eyesight excuse and batting .158, Valbuena is getting plenty of playing time at third base. Batting fifth

Zack Wheeler (SP-NYM) - Wheeler has had his ups and downs, but he was on the up side Thursday against the Phillies, improving to 2-5 (thanks Mets hitters) after tossing 6.1 innings of one run ball. Mist impressive was Wheeler's

A small sampling of the player notes available to subscribers daily... Odrisamer Despaigne (SP-SD) - Given the environment, it's worth paying attention to any Padres pitcher these days, and this Cuban import may be another success story. The organization is

A small sampling of our notes for our subscribers.... Billy Hamilton (OF-CIN) - Hamilton managed to go 2-for-5 with a pair of singles Thursday against the Padres and NOT steal a single base. Given that he's batting just .266/.302/.385, not

A small sampling of this week's player notes for subscribers. Hitters 1 Byron Buxton MIN OF A Not a good year so far: 3-for-20 and back on the DL with a wrist injury. 2 Kris Bryant CHC 3B A 1.045

Mike Olt (3B-CHC) - The Cubs really want Olt to take the third base job and make it his alone, but whether he can do so has yet to be determined. Olt took a positive step Thursday in a blowout

Ben Revere (OF-PHI) - Revere appears to have recovered from a rib injury, as he's started the last two games against the Braves. He was 3-for-4 with an RBI Thursday, driving in the game's only run. The game took Revere

Starling Marte (OF-PIT) - Marte was 2-for-4 with a walk and his third stolen base Thursday against the Cubs. He's continuing to leadoff, batting .297/.409/.405 through the team's first nine games. Marte was in a mini 3-for-16 slump, so Thursday's

Tanner Roark (SP-WAS) - Roark took the early lead over Taylor Jordan to remain in the rotation once Doug Fister returns from a back injury. Thursday, Roark held the Mets to a pair of runs on six hits over six

Dodgers Second Base Job With Alex Guerrero shipped to the minors, this appears to be a platoon between Dee Gordon and Justin Turner, with Gordon seizing the majority of the at-bats. In fact, after Gordon led off and went 3-for-4

Dodgers second base situation By all accounts, Dee Gordon has won the starting second base job over Alex Guerrero. Both have travelled to Australia for the two-game series against Arizona, but that is likely due to MLB's granting of a

Colorado outfield Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer have the corners locked up, but the battle for the center field job remains on. Drew Stubbs entered camp as the prohibitive favorite given his tools, but right now the leader has to

Dodgers 2B job battle Early reports on Alex Guerrero defensively appear to be encouraging, making him the heavy favorite for this job given the team's $28 million investment. Dee Gordon, Justin Turner, and Chone Figgins represent the competition, but

A small sampling of Monday's player notes: Francisco Rodriguez (RP-MIL) - The Brewers are looking to be sellers this month, and they have a number of quality reliever that would fit right in with contenders such as the Red Sox,

Josh Satin (1B-NYM) - Satin continued his strong run at first base, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a stolen base, RBI, and run scored. He's now batting .382/.485/.600 in 55 at-bats. With Ike Davis back from Triple-A, it remains to

This is just a sampling of today's prospect notes... Hitters: 1 Oscar Taveras STL OF A .803 OPS is a bit of a disappointment, but consider age/level here. 2 Yasiel Puig LAD OF A He's just a freak of nature.

A sampling of today's player notes... Hanley Ramirez (SS-LAD) - With all the hamstring injuries the Dodgers have had this year (Kemp, Crawford, etc.), might the Dodgers need to implement a revised pre-game stretching program? Ramirez has been in and

A sampling of today's prospect notes: Pitchers 1 Archie Bradley ARI SP A 5 BB in 2 of his last 3 starts, but overall - 1.18 ERA and 11.0 K/9. 2 Gerrit Cole PIT SP A 7 shutout innings last

A small sampling of today's notes... Chad Gaudin (SP-SF) - Gaudin was next up Sunday in the Giants' search for a Ryan Vogelsong replacement. Mike Kickham allowed four runs in 2.1 innings in his shot, and Gaudin surrendered just two

A sampling of today's notes... Jonathan Pettibone (SP-PHI) - Pettibone did it again Sunday, tossing seven innings of one-run ball against the Reds to improve to 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA in six starts. His 21:11 K:BB with five homers

Just a sampling of the approximately 70 prospect updates you get each week as a subscriber... Hitters 1 Oscar Taveras STL OF A .967 OPS in last 10 games and probably ready when needed. 2 Jurickson Profar TEX SS A

Roy Halladay (SP-PHI) - After a mini-vacation, Bad Roy Halladay made his return to the rotation Sunday against the Marlins. Doc allowed a whopping nine runs on four hits with four walks and yes, four strikeouts over just 2.1 innings.

Keep in mind this is just a sampling of the 70 or so prospect notes published each week for members. Pitchers 1 Jose Fernandez MIA SP A He's been great and unexpectedly so this soon. Makes at least 20% of

Russell Martin (C-PIT) - Martin had a huge day at the plate Sunday, going 3-for-5 with a double and a pair of home runs to beat Shelby Miller and the Cardinals. Martin's big day has him up to .267/.345/.547 on

Here is a sampling of this week's 70+ prospect notes... Hitters 5 Miguel Sano MIN 3B A Just re-hot right now and wondering if 1.179 OPS will get him to MIN in September. 6 Travis d'Arnaud NYM C A Foot

A sampling of today's notes... Stephen Fife (SP-LAD) - Dodger start pitchers continue to drop like flies, with Chad Billingsley the latest casualty this weekend. Billingsley's elbow is acting up again, and that's probably not a good sign given he

Happy Tax Day everyone. Here is a small sample of today's player notes: Kyle Blanks (OF-SD) - Blanks has been recalled from Triple-A Tucson and will take the roster spot of the suspended Carlos Quentin. Blanks was batting .296/.414/.519 for

Good news! We'll be updating these sheets weekly from here until the end of the season. Here is a sampling of nearly 70 updates this week: Hitters: 1 Billy Hamilton CIN OF A Didn't get the call when Ludwick went

Just a small sampling of today's notes... David Freese (3B-STL) - Freese has been activated from the disabled list, so Matt Carpenter will man second base and push Daniel Descalso to a utility role where he belongs. Freese's playoff exploits

A sampling from today's notes... Justin Maxwell (OF-HOU) - Let's face it here, despite the Opening Day win over the Rangers, the Astros are going to be awful. Jose Altuve should be owned in most leagues, but other than Bud

The Yasiel Puig Phenomenon Through 55 at-bats as of Monday, Puig leading the league in hitting at .527/.509/.855. He's shown contact ability, power, speed, and athleticism that has been compared to the great Bo Jackson. I got to see Puig

Will Carl Crawford be ready for Opening Day? It sure sounds as if he won't. Crawford was recently shut down for a week due to soreness in his surgically-repaired elbow. He is reporting no issues hitting off a tee, but

Dodgers' fifth starter Ted Lilly takes the hill on Thursday for his spring debut, and he's apparently still in competition with three other guys - Chris Capuano, Chad Billingsley, and Aaron Harang. Billingsley allowed two runs on five hits over

Dodgers closer situation Given his $22.5 million contract, it's widely expected (and basically confirmed this month by manager Don Mattingly) that Brandon League will open as the team's closer. This despite Kenley Jansen strikeout out an incredible 41.5% of all

Andrelton Simmons (SS-ATL) - The Braves already traded one shortstop of the future away recently, with Elvis Andrus going to the Rangers a few years ago in the Mark Teixeira deal. They won't make that mistake again with Simmons. Simmons

Jean Segura (SS-MIL) - The transition from Double-A to the big leagues has been predictably difficult for Segura, who despite going 3-for-3 with a walk on Sunday is still batting just .238/.278/.274 in 87 at-bats. He's yet to homer,

Tony Cingrani (SP-CIN) - If you want an underrated pitching prospect to stash for next year, Cingrani could be that guy. He got the call from Double-A on Sunday after putting up a sparkling 1.73 ERA and striking out 172

Trayvon Robinson (OF-SEA) - As a Dodgers fan, I've followed Robinson's career closely and was always enamored with his tools. He made great strides the past couple minor league seasons, but he was just not able to translate that to

Matt Carpenter (3B-STL) - With David Freese in an 0-for-14 slump, Carpenter got the nod at third base on Sunday and he took advantage, going 4-for-6 with a double and three RBI to raise his impressive slash line to .312/.385/.505.

The following is just a sampling of the 70+ prospect notes you'll see this week... Hitters 33 Carlos Correa HOU SS B .596 OPS in 35 games, so not much to be excited about here. 36 Byron Buxton MIN OF

Brett Jackson (OF-CHC) - Jackson got the call on Sunday and was immediately inserted into the starting outfield batting second. It's been a relatively disappointing season for Jackson, who was batting .256/.338/.479 with 15 homers and 27 stolen bases. 47%

Just a sampling of the dozens of daily player notes you would get each day as a subscriber. Josh Johnson (SP-MIA) - Johnson made what could be his final start as a Marlin Sunday, though it's very possible that his

Just a sample of the 70+ prospect notes this week available to subscribers. Hitters 1 Billy Hamilton CIN SS A Relatively slowing down a bit in AA with 8 SB in 11 G, but .528 OBP isn't bad. 2 Wil

Just a sampling of the more than 70 prospect notes we publish each week... Hitters 1 Billy Hamilton CIN SS A 109 SB in 87 games and yes, he gets the bump to AA. 2 Wil Myers KC OF A

Just a small sample of today's player notes: Ben Sheets (SP-ATL) - Well this was unexpected. Starting for the first time since the 2010 season with the A's, Sheets held the Mets to two hits over six shutout innings Sunday.

This is just a sample of our daily notes. Tim Lincecum (SP-SF) - Maybe they will take the All-Star break and push him back to give him a bit more rest between starts than normal, but the Giants need to

Allen Craig (1B/OF-STL) - This is no fluke folks. In close to 2,000 minor league at-bats, Craig is a career .308/.369/.518 hitter. After hitting his 11th homer of the season Sunday, Craig is batting a healthy .311/.382/.608 this season and

Trevor Bauer (SP-ARI) - You can hardly blame the Diamondbacks for not promoting Bauer despite his carving up of Double-A and Triple-A hitters. Dan Hudson and Ian Kennedy are rotation mainstays; Trevor Cahill has a big contract and has been

Hitters 1 Billy Hamilton CIN SS A Last Saturday: on base 3 times, stole 5 bases. 80 SB in first 66 games. 2 Wil Myers KC OF A 45 XBH (24 HR) in first 66 games, so Royals may have

Brad Lincoln (SP-PIT) - Lincoln came into Sunday's action averaging nearly 93 mph with his fastball and he was even better than that Sunday, sitting in the 92-94 range generally, and hitting 95 several times. Unfortunately, Indians batters weren't fooled,

Lots of changes this week as 2012 draftees have started signing and we saw Jorge Soler ink a monster deal with the Cubs. Hitters 20 Jorge Soler CHC OF B+ High-risk / high-reward type of guy, but the Cubs needed

Chipper Jones (3B-ATL) - Chipper is back off his latest DL stint and was in Sunday's lineup for the Braves. He's made it known that 2012 will be his final season playing baseball, but it's pretty clear that when healthy,

Tommy Hanson (SP-ATL) - Shoulder injuries can be troublesome, so I was a little down on Hanson entering the season, but with the exception of a recent start against the Cardinals, he's been just fine recently. Sunday, Hanson did allow

Hitters 2 Billy Hamilton CIN SS A 12 SB in a recent 6-game run gives him 52 in 47 G with a .389 OBP. Free Billy! 3 Wil Myers KC OF A 1.034 OPS in first 12 AAA games. Playing

Starlin Castro (SS-CHC) - Castro profiles as a perennial All-Star, but there is still some work he needs to do to reach his ceiling. Sunday, Castro was 1-for-4 with his third homer of the season and is now batting .313/.322/.432.

Hitters 2 Billy Hamilton CIN SS A 40 SB in 41 G and a .386 OBP. Rumors of an eventual move to CF. 3 Wil Myers KC OF A 1.160 OPS gets him AAA promotion. .333 there through first 15

Dee Gordon (SS-LAD) - Gordon is going to be given a "few days" off in an effort to help him break out of a season-long slump. His K% is relatively reasonable at 19.4%, though with his contact ability, I would

Juan Pierre (OF-PHI) - Pierre was 2-for-4 with a double and RBI Sunday and is now batting a robust .351/.402/.383. He would probably have more than five stolen bases if not for the fact that the Phillies have to have

Hitters 1 Bryce Harper WAS OF A+ Appears he's here to stay, especially with the Werth injury. 4 Billy Hamilton CIN SS A Slowing down. Only 2 SB in last 4 games. Up to 31 on the year. 5 Wil

Brandon Snyder (3B-TEX) - As if the Rangers needed more offense. Monday, Snyder got a rare start at third base, this one against his former team the Orioles. Safe to say it went well, as Snyder went 3-for-5 with a

Hitters 10 Travis d'Arnaud TOR C A- .390 in last 10 games after slow start. We'll see him later this year. 12 Anthony Rizzo CHC 1B A- .384 and ready when needed. LaHair hitting nearly as well for Cubs however.

Summary: Saves Sunday came from Kenley Jansen (2), Sean Marshall (5), Craig Kimbrel (8), John Axford (5), Santiago Casilla (4), and Ramon Ramirez (1). Don't get excited about Ramirez. It was an extra-inning game and Frank Francisco had already pitched

American League 2 Mike Trout LAA OF A+ First 18 games - .400/.463/.600. Wells and Hunter? Both with sub-.700 OPS's. 3 Jesus Montero SEA C A .241/.259/.370, but then again, no one in Seattle is hitting right now. 4 Manny

NL Summary: Saves Sunday came from Rafael Betancourt (5), Sean Marshall (3), and J.J. Putz (5), while we had a pair of East Coast games postponed due to rain. ... Meanwhile, Rafael Furcal had three more hits to raise his

Hitters 31 Nick Castellanos DET 3B B+ Off to a great start with a .410/.442/.564 line in 39 at-bats. 35 Mike Olt TEX 3B B+ .209 through 11 games and still not making near enough contact - 65% CT%. 38

NL Quick Pitch: Saves on Sunday from Sean Marshall and Joel Hanrahan (first of the year for both), and Arizona's Bryan Shaw (his second - more on him in a minute). ... With the news that Brian Wilson is done

Hitters 31 Mason Williams NYY OF B+ Two doubles in debut. .863 OPS and 28 SB in just 68 games a year ago. 32 Jonathan Singleton HOU 1B B+ 4-for-16 to start AA career. Hopefully a big part of

Andrew Cashner (RP-SD) - Cashner is a former first-round draft pick, so it's not a surprise that when he's healthy, he's good. Watching him Saturday, Cashner was in the 98-100 mph range with his fastball. He mixed in an 88

As a reminder, each week from here until the end of the minor league season, we'll provide prospect notes on more than 60 players as well as updates to our Top 50 hitters, Top 50 pitchers, Top 5 prospects in

Dodgers left field job - In going 5-for-47 with just one extra-base hit (a double) through Sunday's games, Jerry Sands appears to have taken himself out of the running for the left field job and likely, a spot on the

Dodgers left field battle - Jerry Sands is hitting just .176 through Thursday, but he may be still alive considering Juan Rivera is at just .200 himself. Rivera though has popped three home runs and he has the $4.5 million

Giants first base - Brandon Belt is a guy who has the potential to provide plenty of upside for fantasy owners at a bargain rate. I can see Belt hitting .290/.380/.500 if given the chance given that he did hit

Dodgers closer - Javy Guerra is likely to enter camp and perhaps the season as the team's closer, but soon enough, it's going to be the Kenley Jansen era. Among all players in baseball history with a minimum of 50

A sample of this week's notes..... Andre Ethier (OF-LAD) - Unless the Dodgers are sold and the current management is swept out, it's looking like Ethier's career with the Dodgers could be coming to a close. The latest incident has

A sampling of this week's prospect updates: Natonal League 12 Brett Jackson CHC OF B+ Has turned it on in August - .369 with 5 HR. 29 K in 20 games however. 15 Jonathan Singleton HOU 1B B+ HR every

Dan Uggla (2B-ATL) - We'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge Uggla, who saw his hitting streak end Sunday, just 23 games short of Joe DiMaggio's major league record. For the record, Uggla entered the streak batting just .173/.241/.327. He

American League 8 Jason Kipnis CLE 2B A- HR binge was a very nice surprise. Should be able to stick around for quite some time. 9 Brett Lawrie TOR 2B A- Start to MLB career couldn't be going any better.

The big news in the prospect world this week is Arizona signing No. 3 overall pick Trevor Bauer. Bauer joins Jarrod Parker and Tyler Skaggs to give the Dbacks arguably the best three-pack of pitching prospects in the game. Mix

Trevor Bauer is the first 2011 draftee to make a debut on the top-50 lists. As others (Gerritt Cole and co.) start to sign, we'll have a bit of shuffling on these lists. As it stands, Bauer inking his name

Sampling of the 70+ weekly updates you get as a subscriber: NL 1 Bryce Harper WAS OF A+ Just .214 in 8 AA games, so cut him loose. Kidding of course. He's still great. 25 Trayvon Robinson LAD OF B+

As a reminder, this is just a small sampling of hte 70+ prospect updates you'll get each week as a subscriber. National League 1 Bryce Harper WAS OF A+ .977 OPS with 19 SB but now the real test comes

Note that this is just a sample of the the 70 or so prospect updates you get each week as a subscriber. National League 1 Bryce Harper WAS OF A+ Mini-slump has OPS down to a paltry .990. We think

Coming soon: The 2011 draftees. Guys like Gerrit Cole, Dylan Bundy, etc. will be added to these lists as they sign on the dotted line. Note: This is just a sample of the more than 70 updates you get each

This is just a sampling of the 70+ updates you get each week here as a subscriber... American League 4 Mike Moustakas KC 3B A 3-for-10 with a HR and 3 BB in first 3 games. Has to be exciting

The following was just a sampling of the more than 100 player notes you'll get here daily as a subscriber... Allen Craig (OF-STL) - Tough break for Allen Craig, who is batting .336/.405/.523, but who is headed for the DL

If you took a look at this week's rankings and wondered where the 2011 draftees are, don't worry, I know there was a draft. It is my policy to not add guys to the prospect rankings until they sign a

Note that this is just a small sample of the 80-100 player notes you get each day as a subscriber. Follow me on twitter - @vtadave Chris Carpenter (SP-STL) - Safe to say the window to "buy low" on Carpenter

Note: this is just a sampling of he 70+ prospect updates you get each week as a subscriber. National League 1 Bryce Harper WAS OF A+ .184 in last 10 games to finish May with a .921 OPS for the

Again, this is just as sample of the 100 or so updates you get each day as a subscriber. Follow me on Twitter - @vtadave Anthony Rizzo (1B-SD) - So what exactly are the Padres waiting for here? We'll get

This is just a sampling of the 70+ prospect updates we do here each week. For the full lists, subscribe today... National League 1 Bryce Harper WAS OF A+ The Nats made it official in the past week, saying no

This is just a sampling of the 100 or so updates we provide daily. Subscribe now to get them all. Oh and follow me on Twitter - @vtadave Lyle Overbay (1B-PIT) - At some point here in the near future,

National League 32 Jaff Decker SD OF B+ 1.000 OPS a result of hot April. Cooled way off in May - .208 avg and 9 BB in 53 at-bats. 33 Trayvon Robinson LAD OF B HR #8 on Monday and

If you're not a subscriber, go ahead and do so for tons more content. Here is just a small sampling: Todd Helton (1B-COL) - Helton seemed to be caught by Father Time and injuries last year, as the borderline Hall-of-Famer

Note that this is just a sample of the 70+ prospect updates we provide every week here. In order to receive all 70 and more, we'd love to have you subscribe. Oh, and follow me on Twitter - @vtadave American

Vicente Padilla (RP-LAD) - Padilla recorded his second save Sunday in a 4-2 Dodgers win over the Mets. Padilla though allowed a run on two hits in the process, evoking memories of Jonathan Broxton and his high wire act.

Note that this is just a sample of the 70+ prospect updates we provide every week here. In order to receive all 70 and more, we'd love to have you subscribe. Oh, and follow me on Twitter - @vtadave National

Summary: Bud Norris was the NL pitcher of the day with his 11-strikeout effort, while Jordan Zimmerman showed great improvement with six strong innings. ... Ubaldo Jimenez saw his ERA continue to rise, while Dustin Moseley continued to outpitch his

* Please note that this isn't a comprehensive list of my top prospects - it's merely a sampling. For the complete lists, please don't hesitate to subscribe... We provide 70+ updates each week. Here is a sample of 20: American

Hanley Ramirez (SS-FLA) - Ramirez was passed this year in fantasy drafts by Troy Tulowitzki as fantasy's #1 shortstop (at least we did here at Fantistics), but the disparity is growing by the at-bat. Tulo leads the NL in slugging

National League 29 Jerry Sands LAD 1B B+ Gets the call to help desperate offense and doubles off Tim Hudson in AB #1. Nice start. 31 Yasmani Grandal CIN C B+ .276 in the early going with 6 of 8

Summary: Ryan Franklin has blown 80% of his save chances, so expect a change to Mitch Boggs or (less likely) Jason Motte. … Speaking of closers, Jonathan Broxton has five saves, but his 1.58 WHIP indicates it’s been a struggle.

Highlights include a 2-HR game from Mike Trout and Jerry Sands homering in four straight... American League 1 Mike Trout LAA OF A+ .214 through four games and then a 2 HR outburst. That's more like it. 39 Nick Franklin

NL Quick Pitch: In the National League, Cole Hamels rebounded with seven strong innings after a tough debut, while Anibal Sanchez and James McDonald continued their struggles. … Matt Holliday (appendectomy) returned after just nine days on the shelf, while

We'll call this one the "Brandon Belt Edition".... lots of good young first baseman in the big leagues already, with Belt and Freddie Freeman on the way and soon enough, Eric Hosmer. I just got done watching Rubby De La

Dodgers notes… My first day out at Camelback Ranch here in Glendale, Arizona for Dodgers spring training was rather uneventful. A few quick observations on a couple key players / situations: Jerry Sands (1B/OF) – Man-crushes…nothing wrong with them. I’m

LA Dodgers Pitching is expected to be this team’s strong suit, but we’re already seeing a reason why the old adage that “you can never have enough pitching” applies. Vicente Padilla underwent forearm surgery this week and is out until

Dodgers Last week I highlighted the obvious situations to watch – closer and left field. This week we’ll dig a bit deeper and focus on third base and what we can expect from Don Mattingly in terms of a lineup.

Today we’ll tour the NL West sans the Rockies… Arizona Diamondbacks: First base: Contenders for this slot include Juan Miranda, Russell Branyan, Xavier Nady, and Brandon Allen. Allen and Nady could also slot in left field if they aren’t selected

Brandon Beachy (SP-ATL) – The Braves are just incredible in terms of their penchant / hard work for developing major league pitching. We know all about prospects like Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado as well as 2010 debutees like Mike

Chris Johnson (3B-HOU) – If you think about the Astros’ 3B situation throughout the years, it’s been a position the organization has really struggled with since the days of Ken Caminiti. Morgan Ensberg had a brief run of success, even

Josh Thole (C-NYM) – The Mets haven’t done a lot right or had a lot go right in the last couple years, but jettisoning Rod Barajas in favor of more playing time for Josh Thole was one of those “right”

Leo Nunez (RP-FLA) – In case you missed it, Nunez has been temporarily removed from the close position in favor of veteran reliever Clay Hensley. Nunez allowed runs in four consecutive appearances last month, culminating in an ugly BS/L in

This is my swan song for 2010, the final version of the Prospect Spreadsheet updates. I hope this feature of Fantistics has helped you in your fantasy leagues this year, and moreso in the future as you build your prospect

Leo Nunez (RP-FLA) – Nunez blew his second-to-league-worst eighth save of the season on Sunday, allowing a pair of ninth-inning homers in a loss against the Braves. Nunez has now allowing four homers in his last four appearances after just

American League 13 Aaron Hicks MIN OF B+ .300/.404/.429 since ASB, but ISO not driven by HRs (none). 5 HR, 18 SB in 378 at-bats. 17 J.P. Arencibia TOR C B+ Will be back next month, but real playing time

Josh Thole (C-NYM) – Thole was given a day off on Sunday, but with the trade sending Rod Barajas to the Dodgers, Thole stands to be the primary catcher the rest of the way. Of course he deserved to be

I hope the prospect updates have helped you out in your leagues this year. I know that they've been fun for me to put together. The one guy I really regret not picking up on earlier for you guys is

Evan Meek (RP-PIT) – Meek struggled mightily in his last outing Friday, allowing four runs on five hits while recording just one out in Houston. The ugly outing took Meek’s ERA from 1.56 to 2.12, but at least now we

Ian Desmond (SS-WAS) – Batting second despite a sub-.300 OBP, Desmond was 3-for-4 against Arizona on Friday to bring his line up to .265/.300/.413. Desmond shocked us with a two-homer game a couple nights ago, but it doesn’t change the

American League 2 Mike Trout LAA OF A 12 hits in last 7 G, so he's heating back up. More power to come. 51 SB. 3 Desmond Jennings TB OF A 6'2", 200 (listed), so have to think power will

If you're wondering where the likes of Bryce Harper and Jameson Taillon are on my top 50s, they won't be there until they sign a pro contract. Both should do so sometime this month, and I've already decided that Harper's

Ryan Howard (1B-PHI) – Howard was forced out of Sunday’s game in the first inning after injuring his ankle sliding into second base. X-rays were negative, so Howard is listed as day-to-day. It sounds like he’ll miss a few days,

Getting closer and closer to an influx of new prospects to the lists, as we're about two weeks out from the 2010 Draft signing deadline. If you're wondering where Bryce Harper will debut in the top 50 hitters, #1 sounds

Jayson Werth (OF-PHI) – I don’t get why the Phillies seem so desperate to move Werth. Sure, if they could get prospects to flip for Roy Oswalt, I’d get that, but the report we got Sunday had them considering dealing

American League 35 Michael Pineda SEA SP B Got to see Pineda pitch on Sunday and came away impressed. I've underrated him. 39 John Lamb KC SP B Not allowing an ER in 30 innings gets you on this list.

Tom Gorzelanny (SP-CHC) – Gorzelanny continues to make the Cubs look foolish (I know, not the newest of concepts) for sending him to the bullpen earlier this year. Sunday, Gorzelanny allowed three runs (two earned) over 6.2 innings to beat

American League 5 Desmond Jennings TB OF A Hits first HR on 6/29. .371 OBP and 20 SB and likely Crawford's 2011 replacement. 6 Mike Trout LAA OF A Only hitting .350 in July to knock him down to .364/.447/.533

Yovani Gallardo (SP-MIL) – Oh boy. If you were watching Sunday’s Brewers game and you saw Gallardo grab his side after throwing a pitch in the third innings, you know right away – oblique. The 24 year-old Gallardo has been

Keep in mind, I'm continuing to add 2010 draftees to the list, but only after they sign a contract. That's why you're not seeing Bryce Harper and others on he list. On Harper, there's a very good chance he debuts

Jenrry Mejia (SP-NYM) – As you probably know, Mejia was sent to Double-A Binghamton to build up his pitch count in order to help the Mets out later in the year as a starter. Mejia posted a 3.25 ERA with

Carl Pavano (SP-MIN) – Pavano is a guy the Mets could have easily signed over the winter, an after Saturday, they’re probably wishing they had. Pavano spun a three-hit shutout against the Amazin’s, walking just one while striking out four.

American League 2 Carlos Santana CLE C A A true beast: 1.300 OPS in first 28 ab with 3:7 K:BB. Playing every day. 6 Desmond Jennings TB OF A .313 in June through 6/21, but 0 HR on the year

Chad Qualls (RP-ARI) – Another appearance, another blown save for Qualls on Sunday, this time against the Cardinals. Qualls allowed three runs in the ninth to allow St. Louis to tie the game, but that now leaves Qualls with an

Baseball held it's annual player draft this week, and as you may have heard, the Nationals didn't go the cheap route, selecitng Bryce Harper with their second consecutive #1 overall pick. In baseball history, no team has ever added this

Mike Stanton (OF-FLA) – Astute fantasy owners in Yahoo leagues may have noticed that Stanton is actually available in the Yahoo database. If he’s yet to be picked up in your league, he’s certainly a guy worth a short. Sure,

American League 3 Jeremy Hellickson TB SP A This is getting ridiculous. 7-4-0-0-0-7 last time out. 67:12 K:BB in 65 IP. 5 Kyle Drabek TOR SP A 8-4-0-0-1-4 last time out. 3.06 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 3.6 BB/9. August debut? 10

American League 3 Jeremy Hellickson TB SP A This is getting ridiculous. 7-4-0-0-0-7 last time out. 67:12 K:BB in 65 IP. 5 Kyle Drabek TOR SP A 8-4-0-0-1-4 last time out. 3.06 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 3.6 BB/9. August debut? 10

Max Scherzer (SP-DET) – Once in awhile, a pitcher just needs a simple jolt of confidence. It doesn’t often mean that rebuild happens in Triple-A, but that’s exactly what happened with Max Scherzer. Sunday was Scherzer’s first start since his

American League 3 Jeremy Hellickson TB SP A 8-1-0-0-1-5 in last start. Might be in big leagues now if he pitched for one of other 29 teams. 4 Mike Montgomery KC SP A Best start yet in AA last time

Blake DeWitt (2B-LAD) – We haven’t updated DeWitt since May 3, so it’s time. Sunday, DeWitt was 2-for-3 with a run scored to bring his batting line to .286/.366/.403. The first two numbers are fine, as is a 0.79 EYE,

American League 11 Brett Wallace TOR 1B A- 70% CT% 2 weeks ago up to 74% now. .987 OPS means bat may be ready. 13 Mike Trout LAA OF A- How's this?: .372 in Apr, .373 in May. 1.018 OPS

follow me on Twitter for closer updates... @vtadave....and coming soon, prospect takes! Chris Carter (OF-NYM) – There are two Chris Carters in professional baseball right now. The “good one” plays for the A’s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, and this Chris

American League 3 Carlos Santana CLE C AAA 8 H in last 5 G. 1.1 EYE overall with a .974 OPS. May debut in June. 6 Desmond Jennings TB OF AAA Just 30 AB due to wrist injury, but he's

Andy LaRoche (3B-PIT) – It wasn’t a great day Sunday for LaRoche, who made two errors while going 1-for-4 at the plate. However, 2010 is shaping up to be LaRoche’s best season. The 26 year-old is batting a solid .307/.384/.432.

American League 28 Hank Conger LAA C B+ .299/.365/.507 and there's more power to come I think. Solid 85% CT%. 36 Ryan Westmoreland BOS OF B Reportedly making very good progress, but we simply don't know much about this injury

Scott Hairston (OF-SD) – Hairston was 2-for-4 with a home run, three runs, a pair of RBI, and two stolen bases Sunday against the Brewers. He’s now batting .271/.357/.542 in a muddled outfield situation. Will Venable and Kyle Blanks have

American League 11 Dustin Ackley SEA 2B A- Back-to-back multi-hit games then goes 1-for-10 to drop to .145 with no HR. 11:11 K:BB is about it. 12 Brett Wallace TOR 1B A- Off to great start with 8 HR in

Kyle Kendrick (SP-PHI) – Overall, the Phillies have a team to be reckoned with, but if there’s ever a weak spot, it’s the back end of the rotation (bullpen too?). Sunday, Kendrick allowed five runs over five innings, including a

National League 7 Mike Stanton FLA OF A Apparently he's feared - 0.31 EYE in AA last year, 1.08 in 2010 plus 1.055 OPS. 14 Dee Gordon LAD SS A- .341, but just 1 BB in 10 games. Raw, but

Ike Davis(1B-NYM) – Reports this week have the Mets promoting Davis from Triple-A sometime in the next week. According to one report, should the Mets wait until after April 19,they would delay Davis’ free agent eligibility by a full year.

American League 4 Kyle Drabek TOR SP A Probably has a better arm than most Jays on the current staff. A June debut seems likely. 5 Neftali Feliz TEX SP A He's the new Texas closer, but Frank Francisco still

Roy Halladay (SP-PHI) – The Astros are quickly becoming the laughingstock of the National League, but whenever a pitcher goes the distance this early in the season, it’s worth mentioning. Halladay allowed one unearned run on seven hits with an

Blake DeWitt (2B-LAD) – We already know DeWitt has won the second base job, beating out Ronnie Belliard and Jamey Carroll, but now we also now know that this won’t be a platoon situation, at least initially. DeWitt will get

Dodgers #5 starter-As of now, the front-runner here has to be Eric Stults. Stults is left-handed, has two big league shutouts on his resume, is out of options, and while it’s early, he’s looked good in camp (two scoreless innings)

Tigers No. 4 and 5 starters – Detroit has a very competitive 1-2-3 with Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, and Max Scherzer, but it’s the other 40% of the rotation that could determine the club’s fate this season. A healthy Jeremy

Dodgers Backup Outfielders – The top three is obviously set with Manny, Kemp, and Ethier, but what about the backups? Reed Johnson was signed this winter to be the No. 4 OF, and he brings with him, a .329/.395/.483 line

Dodgers 2B battle - This is Blake DeWitt vs. Ronnie Belliard. Jamey Carroll is there as well, but more than likely he was signed as a utility man, capable of playing time all over the field. DeWitt of course had

Stephen Drew (SS-ARI) – I was surprised to see that we hadn’t written about Drew since June 29, but the obvious reason is that he’s taken a step back this year. After batting .291/.333/.502 a year ago, Drew has dropped

Andres Torres (OF-SF) – Torres provided all the punch for the Giants in Sunday’s loss to the Dodgers, hitting a pair of solo home runs off Randy Wolf in going 2-for-4. Torres, 31, is batting .257/.339/.522 in 113 at-bats for

Will Venable (OF-SD) – The Padres are giving Venable an extended look as a starting outfielder as they look towards 2010, and as of now, he’s probably done enough to be considered a favorite to start on Opening Day 2010.

Miguel Tejada (SS-HOU) – Tejada was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer Sunday, with the long ball being his first since August 7. Tejada had that 1.048 OPS at the end of April, but since the All-Star break, the veteran has

Chris Young (OF-ARI) – Baseball is a funny game, so should it really be a shocker to see a guy enter a game hitting .181/.293/.344 proceed to hit three home runs and draw two walks? Yes, it was a surprise,

This is the last of the prospect updates for 2009, so I hope you enjoyed the future. As always, feel free to email me with comments/suggestions: dregan@fantistics.com American League 28 Lars Anderson BOS 1B B+ Not that great before the

Juan Gutierrez (RP-ARI) – You’ll probably have more news on this by the time this is published, but Chad Qualls could be headed for the DL with a dislocated kneecap. We’ll see what the MRI reveals, but should Qualls have

Note: Stephen Strasburg will be headling this year's Arizona Fall League play. Be sure to get out there if you get the chance. American League 4 Justin Smoak TEX 1B A Just .240 in 183 AAA at-bats. .930 OPS in

Angel Pagan (OF-NYM) – Corey Sullivan / Pagan / Jeff “.299 OBP” Francoeur isn’t quite the outfield the Mets had in mind this spring, but that’s what the Mets trotted out there on Sunday. Perhaps worse (if that’s possible) was

American League 4 Justin Smoak TEX 1B A .262 August is an improvement, but not seeing the power we'd expect yet (31.5 AB/HR). 8 Jesus Montero NYY C A- .337/.389/.562 will be his final line this year as he's out

American League 40 Michael Saunders SEA OF B .271 with no HR and 14:3 K:BB in 48 at-bats. Playing just about every day. 41 Lou Marson CLE C B .276 in 8 games since trade to Cleveland. Not sure where

American League 30 Aaron Hicks MIN OF B Just .225 on the year, but 15% BB% is encouraging and just needs time for tools to translate. 35 Tyler Flowers CHW C B .277 in 47 at-bats in AAA but oddly

Drew Sutton (OF-CIN) – With his normal leadoff man, Willy Taveras unavailable due to a wrist injury, Dusty Baker managed to find about the only guy with a worse OBP than Taveras’ .279 in Drew Sutton. Sutton entered Sunday’s action

Burke Badenhop (SP-FLA) – With the acquisition of Nick Johnson this week, the Marlins certainly consider themselves contenders, so letting guys “learn” at the major league level isn’t going to happen. Badenhop on Saturday surrendered six runs (five earned) in

Lots of movement this week with the trade deadline just a day a way. The Pirates look to be the big winners so far, acquiring Jeff Clement, Tim Alderson, and a host of others in return for guys who won't

Todd Wellemeyer (SP-STL) – Wellemeyer might very well find himself out of the St. Louis rotation after Sunday’s performance in Philadelphia. Lasting 5.2 innings, Wellemeyer allowed seven runs (five earned) on a whopping 11 hits, walking one, striking out three,

American League 10 Desmond Jennings TAM OF A- On fire: .485 in last 10. .328/.412/.510 with 36 SB and 1.02 EYE. Crawford's replacement? 11 Jesus Montero NYY C A- Just .211 in last 10 games but HR in 2 of

Matt Kemp (OF-LAD) – It was encouraging to see Kemp in the fifth spot in the order Saturday against left-hander Mike Hampton, but Kemp was two slots lower Sunday against the right-hander Russ Ortiz. Just a thought, but Joe Torre

In case you're wondering, I'm not adding 2009 draftees until they sign a pro contract. Stephen Strasburg for example, isn't likely to sign until just prior to the August 15 deadline. American League 30 Lars Anderson BOS 1B B .299

Ryan Hanigan (C-CIN) – Hanigan was 1-for-2 with a walk Sunday after not starting the previous two days after a 3-for-3 effort. Hanigan is now batting a fine .338/.428/.404 in 126 at-bats with a very impressive 12:22 K:BB (1.83 EYE).

Felipe Paulino (SP-HOU) – Paulino returned from a groin injury to post a very impressive 7-3-1-1-0-9 against the Tigers in his last start, seemingly securing the No. 5 rotation spot. Flash forward to Friday and now we’re not so sure.

American League 18 Jesus Montero NYY C A- .304/.377/.478 in 69 AA AB. Doesn't turn 20 until November. Can he stick at C though? 19 Eric Hosmer KC 1B A- ,896 OPS in May but dropped to .590 in June.

Ryan Sadowski (SP-SF) – The Giants have an enviable top four in their rotation, but the No. 5 spot has been a black hole this year due in large part to Jonathan Sanchez. Sadowski will attempt to plug that hole

American League 36 Tyler Flowers CHW C B .311/.411/.607 in June after a poor May. Just .239 vs. RHP vs. .361 vs. southpaws. 38 Brandon Allen CHW 1B B Promotion to AAA looks well-deserved: 8-for-17 with a HR there. Konerko's

Skip Schumaker (OF-STL) – No sense writing about Albert Pujols and his two homers / six RBI day, as we all know how good Pujols is. Instead, let’s look at Schumaker, who went 2-for-4 with a double, walk, RBI, and

American League 22 Ben Revere MIN OF B+ Just .222 in June after a .388 May, but did have 3 hits on Tuesday, so perhaps a surge? 26 Chris Carter OAK 1B B+ .321 with 3 HR in June but

Chris Coghlan (OF-FLA) – Playing left field with Josh Willingham out, Coghlan was one of eight hitters with at least two hits on Sunday, going 2-for-4 with a double and a pair of walks Sunday against the Blue Jays. Most

Michael Bourn (OF-HOU) – Bourn was 2-for-4 with a walk on Sunday, bringing the 26 year-old center fielder to .298/.371/.399 in 208 at-bats. He’s stolen 19 bases in 23 attempts and now has five multi-hit games in his last six,

American League 1 Matt Wieters BAL C A Off to a slow start, but should be more Ryan Braun than Alex Gordon in year one. 5 Justin Smoak TEX 1B A- Just 2 HR for the year, but hard to

Pablo Sandoval (1B/C-SF) – The Giants are certainly glad to have Sandoval back in the lineup after a brief hiatus. Sunday, playing first base, Sandoval had a single and double in four at-bats with an RBI, the third multi-hit game

With nearly two months behind us, this is about the time where prospects who started the season in the big leagues no longer can be classified as prospects. This week, Colby Rasmus, Elvis Andrus, and Trevor Cahill dropped off the

Homer Bailey (SP-CIN) – Bailey was optioned back to Triple-A Louisville on Sunday and at this point, you have to wonder whether the Reds are running out of patience with one of baseball’s best pitching prospects circa 2006/2007. Bailey allowed

American League 24 Ben Revere MIN OF B+ Typical Revere - .410 in last 10 G. 14 SB but just 67% success rate. LH hitter .444 vs. LHP. 28 Chris Carter OAK 1B B+ Just .243 so far in May.

Clayton Kershaw (SP-LAD) - Kershaw was spectacular Sunday, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Marlins before being pulled when the leadoff man, Cody Ross, laced a double to left. Kershaw had entered the inning having thrown 108

American League 1 Matt Wieters BAL C A .303 in last 10 games but just 1 HR in 91 at-bats overall. Still looking at a June ETA though. 8 Matt LaPorta CLE OF A- CLE taking the Brandon Wood approach

Jordan Schafer (OF-ATL) – Schafer was 0-for-3 Sunday, leaving him just 5-for-36 for the month of May. Sure, everybody slumps, but he’s also struck out 19 times in those 36 at-bats and 42 times in 31 games this season. In

American League 1 Matt Wieters BAL C A 7-for-19 in last five games and no, we're not worried about him having just one HR. 9 Matt LaPorta CLE OF A- We'll see how much playing time he get and how

Homer Bailey (SP-CIN) – Bailey’s pounding on the promo door continues to get louder by the start. Saturday, Bailey tossed a complete-game shutout for Triple-A Louisville. This after fanning 15 in his last start. Bailey is 3-0 with a 1.86

Each week here with the prospect updates, we provide a sampling (five starters and five pitchers from each league) of the updates made to our our top 50 hitting and top 50 pitching prospects. Again, this is just a sampling,

Pablo Sandoval (3B-SF) – Moved back into the three-hole Sunday seemed to agree with Sandoval, who went 4-for-4 with a double and his first home run of the season in a 5-4 Giants loss to the Diamondbacks. Since opening with

American League 13 Lars Anderson BOS 1B A- Slow start, but 7-for-13 stretch gets AVG up in the .280s. 0.30 EYE should trend up. 15 Austin Jackson NYY OF A- Big spring and now 12-for-25 with 5 BB in AAA.

James McDonald (LAD) - In just his second start of the season Sunday, McDonald held the Rockies scoreless. That’s the good news. The bad? McDonald was able to record just 13 outs on 95 pitches, as he continually missed with

National League 2 Pedro Alvarez PIT 3B A 3-for-4 with HR and 2B, 4 RBI in 2009 debut. Could they rush him with LaRoche's struggles? 3 Jason Heyward ATL OF A 6-for-25 with 3 XBH but just one walk. .871

National League 2 Pedro Alvarez PIT 3B A 3-for-4 with HR and 2B, 4 RBI in 2009 debut. Could they rush him with LaRoche's struggles? 3 Jason Heyward ATL OF A 6-for-25 with 3 XBH but just one walk. .871

Chan Ho Park (PHI) – A dubious choice for the team’s No. 5 starter job, Park forced the issue after a great spring (2.25 ERA, 25:2 K:BB in 21 1/3 innings). Coors Field was somewhat of a factor Sunday, but

National League 2 Pedro Alvarez PIT 3B A Some think he could be PIT 3B by this summer. May even open the season in Double-A. 3 Cameron Maybin FLA OF A Bonifacio's Opening Day probably keeps Maybin in the eight-hole.

Shawn Hill (SD) – Hill had his contract purchased by the Padres on Sunday and is slated to be the team’s No. 5 starter. Hill battled forearm stiffness this spring before the Nationals finally got fed up and cut him

Scott Baker (MIN) – Big news in Minnesota is Baker unexpectedly opening the season on the 15-day disabled list with what is being diagnosed as shoulder stiffness. Baker finished his spring with a 6.85 ERA and a batting practice-like nine

Josh Hamilton (OF-TEX) - We all know Hamilton has All-Star type ability and is a borderline first round fantasy pick in 12-team mixed leagues. However, I got to see Hamilton up close and personal in Arizona this week and let’s

Preseason Outlook - March 10, 2009 Ryan Franklin (STL) - Not surprisingly, Tony La Russa isn’t quite ready to hand the closer job over to “unproven” rookies Chris Perez and Jason Motte, leaving the door open for Ryan Franklin to

Juan Cruz (KC) – A depressed market leads the Royals to a nice free agent bargain in Juan Cruz, giving him a two-year $6 million deal. Cruz will set up Joakim Soria and is the proverbial heartbeat away from closing

Dodgers 2B The Dodgers clearly aren’t giving Hudson $3.4 million guaranteed (up to $8 million with PA-related incentives) to be a backup. He’s the starting second baseman. This has a couple implications. First, Blake DeWitt will likely begin the year

Minor League Analyst David Regan has updated the 2009 Top 100 Prospect Spreadsheet. David updates the Prospect Spreadsheet throughout the 2009 MLB season.  Here's a peek: TOP 50 HITTING PROSPECTS 11-30 11 Yonder Alonso CIN 1B A- Bat will

Jim Edmonds Edmonds continues to be a surprisingly-valuable asset for the playoff-bound Cubs, going 1-for-4 with a double on Saturday. He’s batting a so-so .236/. 345/.479 in 330 at-bats and while the average is a bit of a liability, Edmonds

Tim Lincecum Lincecum on Saturday – the good: his first career shutout, a complete-game four-hitter in which he struck out 12 Padres. The bad: an unbelievable 138 pitches. With a 17-3 record, 2.43 ERA, and major league leading 243 strikeouts,

Randy Johnson Johnson was scratched from his start on Sunday against the Dodgers due to a sore shoulder. Let Andre Ethier and company rejoice. From all the reports, the injury isn’t serious, with Johnson saying that he just needs a

This week's Prospect Spreadsheet update wraps up my contribution in this area this year. The minor league season is just about over, though guys like David Price are staying down to help their teams through the playoffs. This year's awards

Michael Bourn With the Astros firmly out of the NL Central race, the organization announced a few days ago that Bourn would get the majority, if not all, of the starts in center field through the end of the year.

Clayton Kershaw Entering Saturday’s game against the Phillies, Kershaw had been in the midst of a stretch of five consecutive quality starts, going 2-0 with a 1.45 ERA and a 29:9 K:BB in those 31 innings. Saturday though, the expected

Quite a few new names on this week's top 50s and team top 5s, as the deadline for teams to sign their 2008 draft picks passed on Auguste 15. Due to Major League Baseball's new compensation rules, failing to sign

Pablo Sandoval Sandoval had his contract purchased by the Giants on Wednesday. It seems unlikely that the minor league catcher will supplant Benji Molina, but he could see quite a bit of time between catcher and first base as the

American League 15 Chris Carter OAK 1B B+ 34 HR and excellent 55% XBH%.127 K in 117 games but we'll overlook that for now. 19 Carlos Triunfel SEA SS B .357 since the end of June. 6 HR in July

American League 1 Matt Wieters BAL C A Think he wants a Sept. call-up? .441 in last 10 games. For the year: 1.03 EYE, 1.041 OPS. 5 Matt LaPorta CLE OF A- Just .212 in 52 at-bats for CLE before

Barry Zito I’m pretty sure it was Barry Zito tossing eight scoreless innings against the Padres on Saturday, but with the lineup San Diego is rolling out there these days, it may as well have been horse trainer Nick Zito.

Crazy times for me right now with the prospect spreadsheet. As I type this, the Manny Ramirez / Jason Bay / Jeremy Hermida deal has yet to go through, with multiple prospects rumored to be included in this one. Also,

John Van Benschoten There are some guys you see in box scores and wonder, “Him again? Why?” I had that sort of feeling when I saw that Van Benschoten was going to get the start on Saturday. Predictably (though apparently

American League 30 Lars Anderson BOS 1B B Torrid July got him the AA promotion prior to his 21st birthday. 3-for-14 in AA so far. 37 Beau Mills CLE 1B B .351 in July with 4 HR. May be the

Kevin Kouzmanoff Kouzmanoff isn’t getting much coverage this year for obvious reasons – the Padres are terrible and Kouzmanoff has been consistently average at best. Saturday, Kouzmanoff was 1-for-3 with an RBI single and is now hitting .277/.322/.442, but .308/.369/.488

American League 10 Chris Davis TEX 1B A- .259 with 6 HR in 58 at-bats. That kind of power could keep him around for awhile. 12 Mike Moustakas KC SS A- .304/.380/.478 since his ASB in an otherwise disappointing full-season

Rich Harden Sure it was the Giants, but that didn’t make Harden’s NL/Chicago debut any less impressive. Okay, maybe it did (check out the lineup Bruce Bochy had to roll out there Saturday). Anyway, Harden shined for the Cubs Saturday,

American League 3 Matt LaPorta CLE OF A- Word is he'll report to AA, but Garko owners will want to watch what pos. he plays for CLE. 6 Travis Snider TOR OF A- .313/.371/.469 in June is outstanding for a

Troy Tulowitzki After a rookie year (.291/.359/.479, Gold Glove defense) that normally would have resulted in a trophy in a non-Braun year, Tulowitzki has to be this year’s biggest fantasy bust. Not only is he hitting .166/.246/.298 with three homers

American League 14 Jeremy Hellickson TAM SP A- AA is a huge jump and he was hammered for 8 runs in first start there. Let's see how he recovers. 20 Ian Kennedy NYY SP B+ 1 ER in 16.1 innings

Garrett Atkins With Garrett Atkins, we just assume that he’s going to put up a decent average, 25+ home runs, and 110 or so RBI. This year though, Atkins is a bit behind his normal pace. After batting .319-6-21 in

American League 15 Austin Jackson NYY OF A- Power coming around? 4 HR in June after 3 the first two months. .366 OBP and 12 SB. 19 Desmond Jennings TAM OF A- .324/.457/.486 with 3 SB in 27 at-bats. Just

Rich Hill Rich Hill is sort of like that accident on the freeway that you, despite knowing better, just can’t take your eyes off as you drive by at 5 mph. After striking out 183 hitters for the Cubs last

American League 28 Chris Davis TEX 1B B Oh my. .459 with 5 HR in last 10 G. .339 with 20 HR and 21 doubles this year. 36 Chris Carter OAK 1B B .231 in June, but 14 BB and

Charlie Morton (rookie) - Making his big league debut Saturday, Morton impressed, beating the Angels, allowing three runs on five hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out four. Morton threw 104 pitches (64 for strikes) in picking

Quick note: I will start adding 2008 draftees like Pedro Alvarez and Aaron Crow to the top 50s and team top 5's when they sign a contract officially making them property of the team. Some may consider it folly to

Tom Gorzelanny After entering Saturday’s game with a 7.22 ERA and 28:40 K:BB, it was hard to be optimistic about Gorzelanny’s chances against the potent Arizona offense. There have even been rumors of a Triple-A stint should his struggles continue.

If you're not a subscriber, you may not know that each week, we have between 60 and 80 prospect updates to our top 50 hitters, top 50 pitchers, and team-by-team top 5s. This is just a small sample. I'll move

Carlos Marmol Entering the ninth inning in a save situation, Marmol converted, but not before allowing Scott Podsednik’s first homer of the year and sixth since 2004. It was Marmol’s third save of the season to go with his major

American League 40 Jose Tabata NYY OF B Finally hit first HR on May 21. .275 AVG in May is much better than .200 April mark. 41 Beau Mills CLE 1B B 15 doubles hints at his power potential and

Clayton Kershaw The Dodgers made it official Saturday, purchasing Kershaw’s contract from Double-A Jacksonville and designating the awful Esteban Loaiza for assignment. Loaiza incidentally ends his Dodgers career with these numbers: $8.5 million in pay and a 6.94 ERA in

Jose Bautista Bautista was sitting on the bench yet again on Saturday. With the Pirates 12th in the NL in team OPS, you’d think they could use a guy with a .915 OPS in the month of May. Sure, Bautista

American League 3 Matt Wieters BAL C A Turns 22 next week and with an OPS greater than 1.000, he belongs in AA. 13 Jeff Clement SEA C A- He's not hitting, but the M's will be patient with him.

Shawn Estes Estes will take over the fifth starter role for the Padres this week, making his first start on Tuesday in Chicago. Make sure you activate any and all Cubs hitters for this one. Should Estes somehow survive this

American League 30 Austin Jackson NYY OF B+ 23:17 K:BB and 82% CT% are fine, but where's the pop? 0 HR in 125 at-bats. 43 Jose Tabata NYY OF B Discipline issues and batting just .232. Is 8-for-15 in last

Brad Hawpe Hawpe was 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBI Saturday against the Dodgers. Hawpe has always had his issues versus southpaws, having lost 204 points of OPS against them since 2004, and again this year batting just

American League 36 Carlos Triunfel SEA SS B 3-for-39 in first 9 games, 10-for-33 in last 8. Also 4 SB and 0.50 EYE. 40 Taylor Teagarden TEX C B AAA promotion came quickly and he could be TEX catcher of

Odalis Perez Perez was a surprise and well, laughable Opening Day starter, but I’m starting to think he’s found new life in Washington. With no expectations, Perez has a leg up on the competition for Comeback Player of the Year,

American League 4 Matt Wieters BAL C A .385 with 4 HRs. So far ahead of the other catching prospects it's not funny. 5 Mike Moustakas KC SS A Just .193 in the early going, but 9:6 K:BB offers some

Johnny Cueto It’s good to see that even when Cueto doesn’t have his best stuff, as on Saturday, he can still help his team win. Cueto allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits over seven innings, walking two and

American League 2 Evan Longoria TAM 3B A The wait is over. Aybar's injury opens the door and Longoria should be able to stick in Tampa. 5 Matt Wieters BAL C A- Only 12-for-24 with 3 HR in first 10

Ted Lilly Lilly was awful yet again on Saturday, allowing five runs over 4 1/3 innings against the Phillies. Lilly is now 0-2 in three starts, having allowed 14 runs in 12 2/3 innings with an 8:4 K:BB and an

Michael Bourn The big question surrounding Bourn coming into the season was not his speed or ability to hit for a decent average, but his ability to get on base enough to enable him to stay in the leadoff spot

Dodgers Outfield Pierre v. Ethier. A decision that Dodgers fans and fantasy owners await with bated breath. No decision has been made as of late Wednesday, but the guess here is that Ethier will open as the starting left fielder

Ryan Theriot “The Riot” gets a huge boost in fantasy value if manager Lou Piniella’s decision to use him as the team’s leadoff hitter sticks. Piniella made that announcement Wednesday, and considering Theriot has a .355 career minor league OBP

Dodgers #5 starter Things are starting to sort themselves out a bit here. Candidate #1, the $16 million a year Jason Schmidt won’t be ready for Opening Day after undergoing serious shoulder surgery last year. This really isn’t a surprise

Alex Gonzalez Gonzalez was diagnosed Friday with a “compression fracture” of his left knee, an injury that is expected to sideline him at least three weeks. Looking up “compression fracture” on the Internet (dangerous, I know), I found this on

Rich Hill Hill allowed the only Reds hit of the day on Saturday, with Sean Marshall and Scott Eyre finishing off the team one-hitter. Hill walked one and struck out four and despite allowing 11 flyballs to just three groundouts,

Milton Bradley Thanks to the MLB Extra Innings Package, as I was watching the LAD-ARI game when the immortal Vin Scully began talking about an incident going on in the Padres game involving Milton Bradley. Could he be in the

Steven Pearce We haven't written about Pearce yet this year, but it's time to. I've seen him play a couple times, and without a doubt, this is a kid who is going to hit in the major leagues, period. Where

Ryan Church Are we allowed to admit man-crushes as an analyst? Not sure, but I have a bit of one for Ryan Church. Church was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer Sunday off Atlanta's Lance Cormier. It's been obvious for at

Jeff Suppan After signing his $42 million contract, Suppan has been beyond brutal for a good part of the season, b ut in case you haven't noticed, he's one a bit of a roll lately (for him at least). Suppan

Jose Reyes Reyes is mired in a 6-for-38 slump and although you certainly won't be benching him (don't) at this point in the season, you have to wonder if all that running (92 stolen base attempts, 74 successful - 80.4%)

Matt Diaz Diaz is starting to get more at-bats versus right-handers lately and rightfully so. Diaz didn't start on Saturday, but after a .386/.427/.786 August in 70 at-bats, Diaz deserves to start every day over Willie Harris. Eventually (now?) Bobby

Dustin Moseley Save to say that after Tuesday, Moseley has a good shot at replacing Ervin Santana in the rotation while Bartolo Colon is out. After Santana surrendered five runs while retiring just one batter, Moseley saved the day, working

John Patterson Patterson's injury has certainly been a curious case this year. He pitched seven games, going 1-5 with a 7.47 ERA and 15:22 K:BB, likely pitching many of those games hurt, before he was placed on the DL in

American League 3 Evan Longoria TAM 3B A Just .265 in AAA, but 11:12 K:BB and .531 SLG make up for it. Starting TB 3B next year. 4 Cameron Maybin DET OF A- Gets the surprise call after brief AA

Tim Lincecum Sometimes what seems like a sure thing from a fantasy perspective turns out to anything but. That's the joy (sometimes) of "real"and fantasy baseball. On Saturday, Lincecum recorded his first loss since June 19, allowing six runs over

Andre Ethier Ethier was 1-for-2 Saturday with his ninth homer (a bomb off Arizona's Tony Pena) of the season and two RBI. Ethier continues to share at-bats with Matt Kemp and Luis Gonzalez in left and right field, but at

American League 30 Lars Anderson BOS 1B B He's glad July is past: .194 with 1 HR for the month. At least he did mix in 21 walks however. 34 Kurt Suzuki OAK C B- Just .220 with 2 HR

American League 39 Chris Lubanski KC OF B- Needs to hit better than his .179 AAA mark if he wants to be team's LF next year. 42 Jeff Clement SEA C B- Strange...after a .370 June, Clement is batting just

Scott Olsen Just a kid being a kid, or is there something more here? After getting suspended for reportedly arguing with teammates and a clubhouse attendant, Olsen came out and pitched brilliantly for seven innings in beating the Reds on

American League 16 Adam Jones SEA OF B+ Official call-up hasn't come yet, but reportedly team just wants him comfortable with RF first. 30 Josh Fields CHW 3B B Has raised AVG 30 points in July and is cutting down

Andruw Jones That sound you hear is Scott Boras breathing a sigh of relief. After getting off to a .199/.299/.377 start through June, including 80 strikeouts, Jones is a different hitter this month. He was 1-for-3 with a walk and

American League 22 Daric Barton OAK 1B B+ After hitting .454 in June, A's reportedly considering dealing D. Johnson to make room for Barton. 23 Adam Jones SEA OF B+ Much closer to being ready now than he was last

Ryan Freel Good news on Ryan Freel lately, as the post-concussion systems continue to subside. Freel is currently on a Triple-A rehab assignment, and if things continue to go as planned, he should be able to be activated sometime next

American League 23 Daric Barton OAK 1B B+ Having a pretty good June - .500/.545/.700. Just 5 HR in 275 at-bats but more power will come. 24 Adam Jones SEA OF B+ In 163 fewer at-bats, he's already tied last

James Loney I can't tell you how impressed I am with James Loney. He was 2-for-4 with a triple and a walk on Saturday against the Devil Rays, and even his two out were line drives, one of which could

American League 15 Jacoby Ellsbury BOS OF B+ Prototypical leadoff man: 0.96 EYE, 27-for-31 in SB, and now power. .730 OPS in AAA. 17 Travis Snider TOR OF B+ In a 2-for-15 slump and his 0.36 EYE is very un-Moneyball

So Taguchi Taguchi was 4-for-6 with three RBI on Saturday, raising his line to .307/.378/.421. Entering Saturday's game, there was only a three-point difference in Taguchi's L/R splits, though lately with Chris Duncan back from the DL, most of Taguchi's

American League 2 Brandon Wood LAA 3B Signs of life: .316 with 2 HR and 3 SB in last 10 games. 69..5% contact rate remains the concern. 15 Jacoby Ellsbury BOS OF 8-for-20 in his last 5 games. .296/.379/.373 in

Brad Lidge Astros manager Phil Garner said he's planning to ease Brad Lidge into the closer's role beginning with Sunday's game. Lidge has allowed just two runs in his last 25 1/3 innings, so this was pretty easy to see

Chris Sampson When evaluating pitchers, we usually like to see a K/9 rate of at least 7.0 (or 0.78 K/I) if we're going to endorse a guy for long-term (or any) success. On that note, here are Sampson's numbers over

American League 2 Delmon Young TAM OF A+ 8-for-20 in his last five starts could signal a turn-around. .686 OPS isn't quite what we expected. 7 Evan Longoria TAM 3B A- 3-hit game on Tues. but still just .216 in

Justin Germano Germano continued his excellent run on Saturday, allowing two runs (two solo homers) over six innings in a win over the Brewers. You know you're going good when allowing two runs in six innings causes your ERA to

American League 13 Reid Brignac TAM SS A- 2-for-27 slump brings AVG down to .255. Don't fret, he's still just 21 in AA. 16 Adam Lind TOR OF B+ Hitting just .228 and losing time to the red-hot Matt Stairs.

Anthony Lerew Two innings, three runs, and five hits later, Lerew was pulled from his start against the Red Sox on Saturday. It was thought before the game that a bad outing from Lerew would result in his being pulled

American League 1 Alex Gordon KC 3B A+ He'll hit eventually, but hit eighth in the order the other night and has just six hits in 13 games in May. 2 Delmon Young TAM OF A+ 2-hit game on Tuesday,

Ryan Theriot Theriot has now established himself as the Cubs' everyday shortstop for two reasons: Lou Piniella seems to like him, and he's the only shortstop to provide any semblance of offensive ability since the days of Shawon Dunston. Theriot

American League 1 Alex Gordon KC 3B A+ He's walking more lately, but just not making enough solid contact. Patience is advised. 2 Delmon Young TAM OF A+ Slow start....707 OPS and 20/4 K/BB suggest a breakout may not come

Chris Sampson Sampson turned in another solid effort on Saturday, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing just one run while striking out eight. This coming off a seven-run 14-hit pounding in his previous start was certainly needed from Sampson. The

Mark Hendrickson No, Mark Hendrickson isn't going to carry the Dodgers to the pennant or fantasy owners to their league title, but he's looking like a nice little bargain right now. Last season, Hendrickson lost his rotation spot due to

An abbreviated look at this week's Prospect Spreadsheet Updates: TOP 50 HITTING PROSPECTS From the AL: 1 Alex Gordon KC 3B A+ - Very slow start, but he did hit his first big-league home run. I don't see Triple-A in

Chris Snelling Snelling appears to have taken the LF job from Kory Casto, at least until Nook Logan returns. Snelling made his third straight start on Saturday, going 1-for-3 with a walk, his first homer of the year, and three

David Weathers A new day, a new closer in Cincinnati. While nothing is or has been official in the Reds' bullpen lately, after watching Dustin Hermanson give up four runs while getting just one out on Saturday against the Marlins,

Chan Ho Park was, well, Chan Ho Park again on Monday. The right-hander gave up four runs in three and one-third innings to the Nationals. Park is probably the leading candidate right now to be the Mets fifth starter (especially

Kris Benson was back in the news on Wednesday, with the word that he isn't experiencing much success in rehabbing his torn rotator cuff. Benson, who was 11-12 with a 4.82 ERA and an ugly 88:58 K:BB last year with