Thursday, June 19, 2008

A's ace struggling

Vlae Kerschner, in his latest A's Drumbeat blog for The San Francisco Chronicle writes that Opening Day starter Joe Blanton might need to give way to middle reliever Chad Gaudin for a while.

Not often do you see an Opening Day guy make room for someone who already lost his job. The A's have gotten great starting pitching from an interesting bunch of pitchers. Justin Duchsherer is a converted reliever, Dana Eveland and Greg Smith are rookies, and Rich Harden is good but always injured. All four of these players are doing well this season, leaving Blanton, the Opening Day starter as the one guy who's struggling. Gaudin was in the rotation until Eveland and Smith both edged him out.

Fantasy Impact: Blanton might be the Opening Day starter, but he was mediocre at best in the fantasy world. It wouldn't be a huge hit to lose him, and picking up Gaudin is a risky bet. He might end up back in the 'pen in no time.

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