TEXAS RANGERS

24 year-old rookie Ian Kinsler is firmly entrenched as the starting second baseman.  The 7 home runs in 175 AB do not fully tell the story of his power potential.  His low G/F ratio of .69, combined with 13 doubles and a triple show that his power is real.  As he enters his power growth years while playing his home games in Ameriquest Stadium, the home runs should increase.  There is 30+ home run potential here.

Brad Wilkerson expects to have shoulder surgery in the off-season.  His shoulder must be bothering him as he has recently missed games and has produced only 3 extra-base hits in his last 15 games.  Don’t expect big numbers from his second-half. 

LOS ANGELES ANGELS

Jered Weaver, who missed his last start because of bicep tendonitis, should be good to go for his next scheduled start this Sunday against the Royals.

Kelvim Escobar, who has been out with an irritated elbow, is on track to start this Saturday against the Royals.  Joe Saunders has been sent back to the minors.

Adam Kennedy will now platoon with Howie Kendrick at second base.  For the left-handed swinging Kennedy, the platoon makes sense because he is hitting just .167 against southpaws this season.  A platoon for Kendrick, especially only facing left-handers, does not make sense, which means Kennedy could be gone by the trade deadline.  In the bad part of a platoon Kendrick’s value is limited, but it will soar if he is installed as the full-time second basemen.  Kendrick was tearing it up in Triple-A with a .369 average.  He makes great contact, has a little pop and can steal bases.  His lack of plate patience could hurt his batting average.

Dallas McPherson is currently rehabbing at Triple-A, where he is not exactly tearing it up, going 4 for 20.  There are also some rumblings that he could be traded by the deadline.  It is worth keeping Maicer Izturis around to see if third base opens up for him.  Izturis has played regularly since McPherson went down and can be an asset to a fantasy team.  His strong contact rate of 90% and batting eye of 1.27 helps him get on base to take advantage of his speed, 8 SBs in 10 attempts.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS

Jason Windsor has replaced Kirk Saarlos in the starting rotation.  Windsor projects as a back of the rotation type pitcher.  He showed strong skills in Triple-A this year with a 10.21 K/9 and a 3.75 command ratio.  His major league debut at Baltimore was good, 5 innings, 1 ER, 5 hits, 3 K’s and 3 BB’s.  Something interesting to keep an eye on was that 10 of the 12 outs he produced were ground balls.  AL-only leaguers with some roster flexibility can use him when the match-up is right.  It is recommended that you don’t use him in his next start at home against the Red Sox.

Nick Swisher believes that he may have mono.  This is a situation that needs to be monitored as we saw what mono did to Casey Kotchman’s production this season.  Swisher has just 4 extra base hits in his last 20 games.

For those going for it this year in keeper leagues, it is a good idea to trade Eric Chavez to a team building for next year.  Chavez, who is suffering from tendonitis in both forearms, did not play in a post-all-star break game until Monday.  There is a chance that he could go on the DL.  Even if he plays, his power, 5 extra-base hits in his last 36 games and batting average, in that same period down from .281 to .236, have gone AWOL.

SEATTLE MARINERS

The Mariners felt that Shin-Soo Choo did not have the range to play centerfield so they sent him down and have installed Adam Jones as the regular centerfielder.  Jones is a nice prospect with power/speed potential.  However, he struggled with strike outs in Triple-A and at just 20 years old, his power is most likely not yet major league ready.  The Mariners will probably obtain a veteran centerfielder by the August 1st trade deadline.

The only positive thing about rostering Adrian Beltre as a corner infielder is the 10 stolen bases, which equals his output over the previous two seasons.  Even that is a bit of a mirage as he has only three since April 28th.  His power is below average for a third basemen and an 81% contact rate combined with a .41 batting eye means that his .256 batting average is probably as good as it will get.