The MLBPA, historically viewed as the strongest of all the major sports unions, has successfully beaten back efforts to install a cap system.Here's wondering if the owners have a better shot at a cap in 2011 if the recession holds on for a couple more years. Certainly owners would argue from the standpoint that decreased revenue streams means a cap is necessary.
Nevertheless, MLB owners "have been trying for one for 20 years," said labor-side attorney James Quinn, outside counsel to the National Basketball Players Association and the NFL Players Association, who has worked for all four major players unions. "I am sure they will try again."
"Anybody that goes over there goes through that," Wedge said. "It's a very underrated position. A lot goes on out there, and you need to know where you need to be."Fantasy Impact: LaPorta ripped 17 home runs in 338 minor league at bats, so the Indians will find a spot for him. He hit a homer every 16 at bats while in the minors, and his .938 OPS in Triple-A is spectacular. He's poised to be a major contributor down the stretch. He's worth an add and maybe even a start immediately.
He has hit safely in 23 of 25 games in the leadoff spot (35 for 112, .313) with 21 of his 54 runs scored, five of his 10 home runs, eight of his 24 doubles, four of his eight triples, and 16 of his 49 RBIs. "It's one of those things where you get comfortable as a hitter," said Drew, who also stole his fourth base of the season Monday. "And I feel real comfortable right now."Fantasy Impact: Moving to the top spot in the order certainly limits RBI output, but batting anywhere in the order can do that to a player in Arizona. The D'backs are punchless outside of Mark Reynolds and now Drew. If Drew keeps things up, he's keep-able again in fantasy play.
Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said the Gold Glove infielder is out indefinitely, and could need surgery because of bleeding in a testicle.Fantasy Impact: Ouch! Especially ouch for fantasy owners enjoying Beltre's recent eight-game hitting streak. He's not the best offensive third baseman, so there are other options out there. In fact, Beltre's Thursday replacement filled in quite admirably. Josh Wilson produced the only Seattle run with a home run. He owns three homers over parts of three MLB seasons dating back to 2005. A lifetime .218 career hitter, Wilson won't make many fantasy rosters.
Beltre was walking stiffly with his legs far apart on Thursday before the Mariners hosted the New York Yankees. He was due to see a specialist, who will decide if surgery is needed.
"They don't want him doing anything, just sitting and resting and icing," Wakamatsu said of trainers.
"They say if it's a major surgery it could be at least a month, maybe more, so there's a chance of that. ... It's healing already, it's just a matter of whether they're going to have to go in and fix it surgically. We'll know shortly."
"It's just tight and sore," he said. "It's probably a small pulled muscle or something like that. I'm just worried about a lingering issue, which I obviously don't want, especially going into a pretty important stretch for us here in the first part of the second half."Fantasy Impact: Lingering injuries are never a good thing. They not only keep players out of the lineup now and again, they also impact statlines. Berkman might need to be benched until he gets back in the game.
"It's almost impossible. You never say never but it's not my focus at all. Those young players are valuable." After LaPorta was dealt for Sabathia, who led the Brewers to the playoffs for the first time in 26 years, Escobar moved up to the top spot in the organizational prospect rankings by Baseball America magazine, with Gamel at No. 2. As badly as the Brewers need starting pitching help with Dave Bush on the disabled list and Manny Parra in the minors, Melvin said the price would be too high if he included Gamel or Escobar. Gamel has been with the Brewers since May 14 and is batting .244 with two homers and 12 RBI in 32 games.Middle- to small-market teams like the Brewers who cannot afford a dearth of big contracts need to hang onto their high-end prospects, because in the end, they get nothing. The traded prospect is gone, and so is the player Milwaukee traded for. We ripped Milwaukee for the Sabathia trade last year, saying mortgaging the future wouldn't bring them a title. This time The Brewers wised up.
"It's almost impossible. You never say never but it's not my focus at all. Those young players are valuable." After LaPorta was dealt for Sabathia, who led the Brewers to the playoffs for the first time in 26 years, Escobar moved up to the top spot in the organizational prospect rankings by Baseball America magazine, with Gamel at No. 2. As badly as the Brewers need starting pitching help with Dave Bush on the disabled list and Manny Parra in the minors, Melvin said the price would be too high if he included Gamel or Escobar. Gamel has been with the Brewers since May 14 and is batting .244 with two homers and 12 RBI in 32 games.Middle- to small-market teams like the Brewers cannot afford a dearth of big contracts need to hang onto their high-end prospects, because otherwise, they get nothing in the end. The traded prospect is gone, and so is the player Milwaukee traded for. We ripped Milwaukee for the Sabathia trade last year, saying mortgaging the future wouldn't bring them a title. This time The Brewers wised up.
“It’s a lot of pressure. You try not to think about it but it’s there. But he has to be happy about the way he pitched,” Johnson said.Fantasy Impact: Johnson knows a thing or two about tossing no-hitters. West knows some things about pitching. He's sporting a 2.22 ERA and has allowed just 14 hits in 24 1/3 innings. He's worth a flier in most formats.
‘‘As a player you go through a thing where you kind of have people that have confidence in you — your front office and your manager having confidence in you — and I really don’t know this situation,’’ said Fields, who entered Monday hitting .242 with three home runs and 21 RBI. ‘‘It’s been weird. Ozzie sat me down the other day and tried to go through it a little bit, but it’s kind of hard to swallow. If I was still at .212 like I was for a while, it would be easier, but pulling my average up and the team getting into second place, it just kind of came surprising, I guess.“I asked [Guillen] a couple of questions, but I have more questions for [general manager] Kenny [Williams] and I haven’t been able to actually sit down and talk to him. I know the draft is coming up and stuff, but we’ll get to sit down here before long and we’ll get to ask all of the questions that I need to.’’Asked if he was frustrated about the timing of the Beckham call-up, Fields responded, “I think so.’’Fantasy Impact: We've alreday felt some of the impact from Beckham getting a look at third. The 23-year-old has yet to produce in any way offensively, but he's stealing at bats from Fields in the process. Fields is a low-end option, anyway, so he's unlikely an important piece on any fantasy roster. It appears as if the White Sox are willing to let the two players battle it out for the job. That might be a good thing for the fantasy owners who pick the right horse.
"They had two third basemen, so I just wanted to make sure that Zobrist was in the game playing third, and I pointed it out to them after the top half of the first," Wedge said.That forced Longoria to sit out, leaving Sonnastine in the No. 3 spot in the Rays' order. The pitcher doubled a run in the fourth, going 1-3 for the game, but he didn't pitch well. Sonnanstine allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings, as his ERA balloons to 7.36
The Rays lost their DH position because of the error, meaning
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Sonnanstine replaced Longoria in the third spot of the lineup.
"We probably don't have Jack [Soria]," manager Trey Hillman said before Saturday night's game against the Angels. "He was a little sore yesterday -- too sore for my liking to feel real comfortable. We'll probably go day-to-day."Fantasy Impact: This situation sounds similar to Brandon Webb's non-injury that turned into a two-month DL stay. Anytime a pitcher suffers shoulder troubles it's a big deal. Soria logged a lot of innings the past two seasons as a young pitcher, logging 69 and 67 1/3 innings at the ages of 23 and 24. It would be unfortunate that all the early success in his career begins to derail him.
Other than Soria's right shoulder being stiff, Hillman said he had no further information and that all medical tests had checked out OK.
"It's kind of new territory for me," Hillman said. "I felt he was a little bit behind to start [the season] and I'm still hopeful that that's what it is. I just don't know. Anything beyond that would be speculation on my part."
Tony La Russa said the Cardinals would likely wait a few more days before deciding on whether to put Ankiel on the 15-day disabled list. The decision depends on his improvement.Fantasy Impact: The more time Ankiel misses, the more chances rookie Colby Rasmus gets to show his promise. Rasmus is certainly worth the flier for a couple of weeks if Ankiel hits the DL.
La Russa says Ankiel is "more sore in some places and not as sore other places."
Ankiel watched from the dugout during Tuesday's loss to the Phillies. La Russa said it was highly unlikely Ankiel could play Thursday in the finale of a four-game homestand.
"I think he's getting so flustered offensively that it just carried over to the whole game," manager Ron Gardenhire said Wednesday before the Twins opened a three-game series against the Orioles. "That's why you send him down. He's just mentally a wreck right now as far as being able to play the game. He's got too many things going on."Fantasy Impact: Tolbert is one of those decent contact types who slugs for nearly nothing. We'd consider stashing Casilla, because he might be back soon, but we weren't excited about him in the first place.
The last straw came Monday night when Casilla didn't hustle after hitting a popup.
"Pop fly and ran with the bat all the way to first base, not really running. And that's just not acceptable," Gardenhire said. "It's just not the way we play the game. Especially after the night before, not running when he bunted a ball."
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