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Josh JohnsonNew York Mets @ Cincinnati Reds
T. Glavine (11-3, 3.56) vs. B. Arroyo (9-6, 2.96)
Both Tom Glavine and Bronson Arroyo are leading contenders for the N.L. Cy Young award.  Glavine will try to get the Mets back on the winning track after losing to the Reds after a long rain delay.  Uncharacteristically, it was Duaner Sanchez that blew the game for the Mets, but all in all he’s been one of the best middle relievers in the game.

Houston Astros @ Chicago Cubs
A. Pettitte (8-9, 4.99) vs. C. Zambrano (9-3, 3.23)
Andy Pettitte has been strong since his good buddy, Roger Clemens, came back to the Astros and I’d expect that to continue.  Pettitte will need to be strong as he duels against Carlos Zambrano, who is probably the only highlight in the Cubbies season.

Pittsburgh Pirates @ Florida Marlins
I. Snell (8-6, 4.85) vs. J. Johnson (8-5, 2.48)
I like Josh Johnson. A lot.  Can you tell?  I mean, I did put up his picture in the post, right?  In any case, if he only had four more innings on his season resume, he’d qualify and lead the N.L. in ERA.  So, in my mind, for all intents and purposes, he’s the leader of the league and only fellow rookie, Francisco Liriano (1.94) would be better than him in the majors.  While the Pirates have a bad record, they also have been in A LOT of one-run games, and they come into Florida winning four of six games since the All-Star break.  However, I think Johnson will be shutting them down… totally being subjective though.

Click to continue reading Dealing To The Dish: National League 7-20-06


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Roy HalladayChicago White Sox @ Detroit Tigers
J. Contreras (9-1, 3.48) vs. K. Rogers (11-3, 4.10)
Jose Contreras finally lost his last time out and to his former team, the New York Yankees.  The streak of 17 straight wins is over and it’s time to start anew.  And it couldn’t come at a better time as the White Sox and Tigers conclude their series.  With a 4.5 game lead, the Tigers are in the control seat at this point and Kenny Rogers hopes to build that lead and relax a little bit more in the chair.

Tampa Bay Devils Rays @ Minnesota Twins
J. Shields (4-3, 5.37) vs. J. Santana (10-5, 2.93)
The Twinkies just straight up OWN the D-Rays having won 11 straight games against them.  With a win today, it will be 5 straight series that the Twins have taken from the D-Rays and with Johan Santana taking the hill, it’s pretty much as sure a thing as me eating anything free put in front of my face.

Texas Rangers @ Boston Red Sox
J. Rheinecker (4-4, 4.82) vs. C. Schilling (11-3, 3.42)
This is a makeup game between the two teams from an earlier matchup.  Curt Schilling takes the mound and hopes to continue his successful season against a pretty good Rangers offense. 

Click to continue reading Dealing To The Dish: American League 7-20-06


Justin Verlander, rookie of the year?DETROIT TIGERS

Marcus Thames continues to show that he deserves to be playing regularly.  He now has 19 home runs, 43 RBIs and a .295 batting average.  Until this year, he had always hit poorly against right-handed pitchers.  But he seems to have solved them, as he is hitting .315 with 15 home runs against them.  With a contact rate of 77%, he is most likely not a .300 hitter, but the power skills and gains against right-handers should keep him in the lineup full-time.

It took 8 starts, but Zach Miner finally had a bad outing against, of all teams, the weak KC Royals.  Miner was shining with the mediocre skills of a 5.8 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 1.46 G/F ratio.  His 3.30 ERA could be in for a spike, especially as he faces teams a second time.

Justin Verlander is having a fine rookie season.  Something to keep an eye on is his tiring down the stretch.  Last season was his first season in professional baseball and he pitched 129.2 innings at three different levels.  He has already logged 117.2 innings this season, putting on pace to exceed last year’s innings by a wide margin.  Add in that in the past manager Jim Leyland has been known to overwork young pitchers and there could be some problems later in the year.

Click to continue reading American League Fantasy Notes: A.L. Central


Roger ClemensGreg MadduxColorado Rockies @ Pittsburgh Pirates
J. Jennings (6-7, 3.64) vs. Z. Duke (6-8, 5.15)
What happened to Zach Duke?  Luckily he’s still young enough to turn it around in his career after being dubbed as a pitcher on the rise.  However, will he be able to turn it around THIS season?  I just don’t know, especially with today’s matchup against the hard-hitting Rockies.  At least, they were hard-hitting last night.

Washington Nationals @ Florida Marlins
R. Ortiz (6-8, 4.95) vs. A. Sánchez (2-0, 4.50)
Last time out, Anibal Sanchez matched up against the Rocket, Roger Clemens and won the duel.  Certainly Sanchez can outpitch Ramon Ortiz.  Sanchez is part of a young Florida staff that can be really good in the future.  Florida is seven games out of the wild card (forget about the N.L. East) and conceivably make the playoffs through youthful exuberance.  Although, Hanley Ramirez getting hurt last night could put a damper on that.

Philadelphia Phillies @ San Diego Padres
J. Lieber (3-7, 5.56) vs. M. Thompson (3-2, 4.30)
Jon Lieber could be on his way out and I’m sure he’d love to be in that situation.  Rumored to be leaving Philly before the trade deadline, Lieber has been vocal and letting his thoughts be known about the clubhouse atmosphere and the organization and they weren’t kind words.  The Phils need to win today’s game in order to break even on their West Coast trip.

Click to continue reading Dealing To The Dish: National League: 7.19.06


Could Barry Zito be moving on?Oakland Athletics @ Baltimore Orioles
B. Zito (9-6, 3.30) vs. K. Benson (9-8, 4.59)
With the trade deadline coming in less than two weeks, it’s still very possible that the Athletics may trade Barry Zito, despite being in first place in the A.L. West.  Being an A’s admirer and member of Athletics Nation, I really hope they hold on to him at least until the end of the season (postseason?).  Naturally, since Zito signed with Scott Boras, Zito is all but gone during the offseason, so enjoy the bender coming from the yellow and green uni while you can, folks.

Kansas City Royals @ Boston Red Sox
M. Redman (6-4, 5.38) vs. J. Beckett (11-5, 5.12)
Wow.  Is Josh Beckett really that bad?  I mean, he’s won 11 games and that’s impressive, but look at the ERA.  Thank goodness for the Red Sox offense.  In any case, Beckett will need to pitch a lot better if the Red Sox hope to build a lead again because the New York Yankees are coming on.

Seattle Mariners @ New York Yankees
G. Meche (9-4, 3.87) vs. R. Johnson (10-7, 5.06)
Once again, Melky Cabrera comes through for the Yanks hitting a game-winning homerun in the bottom of the 11th inning.  It’s too bad that he’ll probably get traded, possibly to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bobby Abreu.  When will the Yankees stop spending money the way they do and paying it to players on the decline of their careers, stellar or otherwise?  Build the farm system back up, Steinbrenner.  It worked for you in 1996 and then 1998-2000.

Click to continue reading Dealing To The Dish: American League: 7.19.06


Atlanta Braves are bringing their A game Colorado Rockies @ Pittsburgh Pirates
J. Francis (6-8, 4.15) vs. T. Gorzelanny (0-1, 7.00)
A couple of highly touted youngsters do battle for the title of “best highly touted youngster.”  Okay, so sue me for not being able to get creative for a Rockies/Pirates matchup.  But, c’mon, it’s the Rockies and the Pirates!

Washington Nationals @ Florida Marlins
M. O’Connor (3-6, 4.32) vs. D. Willis (6-7, 3.80)
Dontrelle Willis used to be a hot name on the trading block, but since he’s turned it around after starting off very bad and helping in turning around the Marlins as well, Willis is off the market.  Personally, I like the move as I think that with Willis, Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, Anibal Sanchez, and Ricky Nolasco, the Marlins rotation is GOOD!

New York Mets @ Cincinnati Reds
M. Pelfrey (1-0, 3.60) vs. E. Milton (6-4, 5.19)
Let’s see the Mets score 11 runs in an inning again!  You know, playing at Great American Ballpark in Cincy, they just might be able to repeat the feat.  Of course, the Reds themselves could do it as well.

Click to continue reading Dealing To The Dish: National League 7.18.06


Sidney Ponson where he deserves to be Chicago White Sox @ Detroit Tigerrs
J. Garland (8-3, 5.37) vs. N. Robertson (8-5, 3.36)
This is a great matchup between the top two teams in baseball, who happen to be in the same division - the A.L. Central.  The Sox got swept by the Yankees and must feel a bit dizzy from the knockout.  Will the Tigers take advantage of that?  We’ll see starting tonight.

Oakland Athletics @ Baltimore Orioles
E. Loaiza (3-5, 6.34) vs. R. Ortiz (0-1, 8.68)
Esteban Loaiza got paid a lot of money, well a lot for the typically economical Athletics, and he isn’t giving any sort of value back.  Loaiza will never recapture what he was a few seasons ago.

Kansas City Royals @ Boston Red Sox
B. Duckworth (1-2, 5.40) vs. J. Lester (4-0, 2.89)
The Royals gave the Red Sox a heart attack yesterday, just losing 5-4 with the Sox needing to go ahead late in the game.  Heralded rookie, Jon Lester, will try to make it easier this time around.

Click to continue reading Dealing To The Dish: American League 7.18.06


Arizona Diamondbacks Stephen DrewColorado Rockies @ Pittsburgh Pirates
B. Kim (5-5, 4.89) vs. K. Wells (0-4, 12.42)
I have to be honest here… I have no idea what to tell you about this matchup because it’s so bad.  How about the fact that both teams are last in their respective division, although the N.L. West is so bad, the Rockies are only 4.0 games out of the lead held by the San Diego Padres.

Washington Nationals @ Florida Marlins
T. Armas (6-4, 4.44) vs. R. Nolasco (6-6, 5.00)
The Battle for the Bottom!  Both teams reside at the bottom of the N.L. East, but the Marlins are showing some good signs to being ultra-competitive in a few years, if not sooner.  However, for now, they’re just also-rans and probably pretenders for the N.L. Wild Card.

Atlanta Braves @ St. Louis Cardinals
H. Ramírez (4-3, 4.65) vs. J. Weaver (0-0, 0.00)
Uh oh… here we go.  The Braves are 12.0 games away from the New York Mets, but they are in second place after some time of being in last place.  Is it time to panic for the Metropolitans and the rest of the N.L. East?  I don’t know.  The logical person in me says, “Aw hell naw!”  But, we can’t overlook the Braves winning eight of their last ten games, including five in a row.  If they ever get bullpen help, I think them making a sweet turn to their season is wholly possible.

Click to continue reading Dealing To The Dish: National League 7.17.06


Toronto Blue Jays Ted LillyOakland Athletics @ Baltimore Orioles
J. Windsor (0-0, NA) vs. A. Loewen (0-2, 7.12)
Young prospect versus young prospect!  Those in fantasy leagues should keep an eye on this matchup, especially those in keeper leagues.  We’ve seen some of Adam Loewen who has shown he can K batters (25 in 30.1 innings), but also walk them (21).  Jason Windsor is 12-1 in the minors this season, including 8-0 in Triple A.  Will he be the next in line of great young pitchers to come out of the organization?

Seattle Mariners @ New York Yankees
J. Washburn (4-9, 4.58) vs. C. Wang (9-4, 4.00)
I cannot believe that the Yankees swept the defending world champion, Chicago White Sox over the weekend.  This bodes well for the injured Yankees… although, you have to admit that even with Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui out til possibly September, a team of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina, and to every now and then Randy Johnson is pretty good.

Kansas City Royals @ Boston Red Sox
L. Hudson (2-3, 5.79) vs. T. Wakefield (7-8, 4.05)
The Red Sox’s lead in the A.L. East is starting to get smaller, but thank goodness for them and Red Sox Nation, the lackluster Kansas City Royals come into Beantown.  Nothing like a rag doll to beat around and add a few W’s on the board.  Of course, if the Royals sweep the Sox, it’ll be a sure sign that the unraveling is beginning.

Click to continue reading Dealing To The Dish: American League 7.17.06


Coco Crisp BOSTON RED SOX
The Red Sox quickly found out that Jason Johnson was not the solution to their 5th starting pitcher problem.  Royal castoff Kyle Snyder was called up for a start on Sunday against the A’s, where he up 5 runs in 4.2 innings.  He is likely not the answer either. The Red Sox believe that David Wells could be back in a few weeks to claim that starting spot.

Coco Crisp, who has been very ordinary since returning from a broken finger, could be a good buy low candidate.  His power improved steadily in his first three seasons.  At 26 years of age he was at the right age to take his power up another level this year.  The finger injury has probably affected his poor power production so far this season.  With his G/F right around last season’s output, the power should return as his finger becomes less of an issue.  An added bonus is that he has 9 steals for a team that supposedly does like to run.

Click to continue reading American League Fantasy Notes: A.L. East


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