SEATTLE MARINERS

Jarrod Washburn is likely done for the year after straining his right calf in last Tuesday’s start.  Washburn secured a nice free agent contract after pitching over his head in 2005 with a 3.20 ERA.  This year his surface stats of an 8-14 record and a 4.67 ERA better reflect his soft skills of a 4.96 K/9 and a .98 G/F ratio. 

Ryan Feierabend figures to get the starts in Washburn’s place.  The 21-year-old southpaw spent most of the season in Double-A, where he impressed with a 9.16 K/9.  However it is a big jump to the majors and his high Double-A BB/9 of 3.22 and ERA of 4.29 suggest that there is some work to be done.  Avoid him in all formats.

After a monster first-half of 20 home runs and 70 RBIs, Raul Ibanez has faded in the second-half to 9 home runs and 44 RBIs.  The overall numbers of 29 home runs and 114 RBIs look great, but chances are it is a career-year for the 34-year-old Ibanez that was fueled by an unsustainable first-half.

The Mariners are wisely shutting down 20-year-old Felix Hernandez after his start tomorrow in Chicago.  He has pitched 179 innings so far this year.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS

Despite having a losing record of 11-13, Kelvim Escobar is finishing off a solid season with a 3.40 ERA.  His K/9 is at a career low, but still solid, 7.05.  He has made up for that with a career low BB/9 of 2.4 and by inducing groundballs on 47% of balls put into play.  Look to him as a very good starting pitcher option for a fantasy team in 2007.

Two former hot prospects may not be in the Angels’ 2007 plans.  The team has not received any encouraging news on Casey Kotchman, who has been out with mono.  General manager, Bill Stoneman does not seem too happy that Kotchman was not able to return this season.  At this point he cannot be counted on for next season.  It looks like the Angels are planning to upgrade at third base next year, which would leave Dallas McPherson out of the mix.  He missed most of the second-half of the season with back problems.  When he has played this year, he has shown nice power with 6 home runs in 110 AB.  But his terrible contact rate of 65% and batting eye of .16 mean he will be a serious drag on a fantasy team’s batting average.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS

Rich Harden finally returned from a long DL stint with a start against Cleveland last night.  Being held to a limited pitch count, he looked healthy, striking out 7 in just 3 innings.  2006 has been a lost year for Harden, who besides a short 4-inning stint in June, had been out since April 26th with elbow problems.  But if healthy in 2007, his 2005 numbers of a 8.5 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, and a 1.33 G/F ratio are the skills of an upper-echelon starting pitcher.

One would be hard pressed to find a pitcher with at least 16 wins who has a weaker skill set than Joe Blanton.  A low 4.89 K/9 is not impressive when combined with a 1.17 G/F ratio.  He will be overvalued in 2007.

TEXAS RANGERS

Mark DeRosa’s strong season of 13 home runs, 72 RBIs and a .305 should make him a regular in 2007.  Besides opportunity there is not much of a difference in DeRosa’s approach from previous seasons.  His low fly ball rate of 29% means that the 2006 home run total is as good as it will get.  The mediocre contact rate of 81% and batting eye of .46 are not those of a .300+ hitter.  It looks like 2006 was a career year for the 31-year-old DeRosa.

After going just 2 for 4 in stolen base tries in the first-half, Ian Kinsler is 8 for 10 in the second-half of the year.  That is encouraging that he now has 20+ steal potential in addition to 20+ home run potential.