Torii Hunter - A lot can come with a name brand.  Hunter's charisma and highlight reel catches make him a household name.  That makes no difference when it comes to fantasy baseball.  What it does do is help to boost his perceived value.  Hunter's .306, 17 HR, 12 SB line is very front-loaded.  8 of his homeruns came in April when his flyball rate was over 50%.  That rate has fallen back down to his career standards and so too has the AB/HR rate.  9 of his 12 steals came in May and his AVG has gone from .325 in April to .304 in May and .289 in June.  His strikeouts also continue to rise per month.  It's safe to say that the best part of Hunter's season is behind him.  In the second half we'll likely be seeing a good player, but one that will be less valuable for your fantasy team.  Recently traded for: David Wright, Alex Rodriguez, Dan Haren, Ichiro Suzuki, Evan Longoria.

Ben Zobrist - Yeah, he looked pretty legit coming out of the gates when he moved into a full time role, but let's face it, he's not Chase Utley good.  His almost 24% HR/FB rate is sure to regress a little and he strikes out over 22% of his at bats.  June was a significantly cooler month for Zobrist.   I do think he's capable of 10-12 homers in the second half, but the AVG may not get much over .280 or so.  The biggest reason to sell on Zobrist is the proven talent you can get in return.  Recently traded for: Lance Berkman, Josh Beckett, Zack Greinke, Jose Reyes, Bobby Abreu, Chad Billingsley.

CC Sabathia - The ERA and WHIP look good, but look deeper and you might not like what you see.  While everyone is worried about Johan Santana's recent issues, it's Sabathia's strikeouts that have been way down all season long.  His 6.44 K/9 is only a little above league average and he is seeing more fly balls off the bat of opposing hitters than he has in his career.  Think this will get better in the second half?  It could, but there is plenty of risk involved as well.  Sabathia is on course to approach 230 innings this season, which would actually be down from a consecutive three year rise in innings pitched.  Take into account the way (amount of innings) he pitched late last season and into October.  There would seem to be a chance he wears down in August and September of this season.  Even if he doesn't wear down, the fact is that we are looking at a pitcher who's value is still largely perceived off of last season's incredible performance.  Sabathia is the perfect guy to try and deal for a package of players.  In many cases Sabathia would be viewed as the best player in the deal, but he may not be all that different than a second tier starter right now.  Recently traded for:  Scott Kazmir + Ichiro, Manny Ramirez + Carlos Zambrano, Heath Bell + Carlos Lee, Matt Capps + Clayton Kershaw + Hunter Pence and 1 for 1 deals for Miguel Cabrera and Alex Rodriguez.

3 Sell Targets from Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove:

Jason Bartlett. His BABIP is .413. His K rate has increased slightly from last year. He only has 7 home runs. More than two-thirds of his plate appearances have come from the 7-9 spots in the batting order. Continue reading...

Cody Ross hit his 14th bomb of the season of newly acquired Sean Burnett.  Ross is slugging .633 vs. left handed pitching this season. 

Josh Johnson left the game after only 3.1 innings.  No injury, just a rain delay and 4 walks to go with a rising pitch count.

Ricky Romero continues to impress.  He's stranding over 85% of runners and his FIP is a run higher than his ERA before his start yesterday.  Walks and the AL East are my concerns, but he's definitely a guy worth rostering right now.  He's only owned in 33% of Yahoo! leagues.

Brad Bergesen impressed against the Red Sox.  He's not going to strikeout a ton of guys, but he's keeping the ball on the ground and keeping the walks to a minimum.  His next start comes against the Mariners.  If you need a spot start, he's worth another go.

Yovani Gallardo struck out a career high 12 in 7 IP against the Mets.  If Gallardo can reduce his walk rate, he's basically Lincecum light.

Gil Meche, coming off a "dead arm" period, threw 121 pitches in only 6 innings.  His arm looked fine with a fastball sitting in the mid 90's, but minor injuries have been an issue this season.  If I'm A Meche owner (or a Royals fan) I'm not happy about the pitch count at all. 

Billy Butler, 4-4, continues to outperform James Loney, but it seems no one is paying attention. 

Jason Hammel has been pitching well for the Rockies lately.  He's not quite the ground ball pitcher Aaron Cooks is, but he is getting enough groundballs and limiting walks to be an NL-only add.

Troy Tulowitzki got cold just as fast as he got hot two weeks ago.  I think he'll finish with an AVG around .270.

Jimmy Rollins took another o'fer, but so did most of the Phillies against Jair Jurjjens who only allowed 1 hit. 

Justin Verlander was touched up last night.  That makes two less than spectacular starts in a row.  I'm not reading much into it.

Jose Contreras has struck out 8 batters in 3 of his last 4 starts.

Randy Wells pitched well again and got his third straight win.  I'd start him again at home vs the Braves in his next start. 

Johnny Cueto brought back the strikeout last night against the D-Backs.  Of course the D-Backs are second only to the Marlins in team strikeouts. 

Kevin Millwood and Jered Weaver squared off in a battle of the "sell highs".  Neither faired particularly well and neither are likely to repeat their first half numbers in the second half.

Nelson Cruz left with a back injury.  It didn't sound serious, but I never like to hear about back problems.  Keep an eye on the situation.

Albert Pujols did not hit a homerun, but he did go 2-2 with a stolen base.  Can he go 60/20!!?  Not likely, but this is just amazing to watch.

Matt Cain continues to strand runners like crazy.  8 Cardinals left on base and only 3 strikeouts. 

Adam Wainwright struck out a career high 12 in 9 innings.  He's throwing a curveball or slider on nearly 40% of his pitches.  That combined with only 132 innings pitched last season raises a bit of a red flag for potential time missed later this season. 

Don't get me wrong, I like Josh Hamilton. He's an amazing player, when healthy. But Hamilton's played only 35 games this season. Hamilton is expected to play a three-game series with Triple-A Oklahoma City starting Wednesday. It's good to see him on his way back, but he hasn't done much this season to warrant a starting spot in the All-Star Game. I admire the loyalty of Rangers fans, but it's misguided this season. As I've ranted before, All-Star voting should be merit based, not popularity based. Torii Hunter has played the whole season and is doing well in all facets of the game. Hunter deserves more All-Star votes as voting comes to an end.

Baseball's a funny game. A beautiful game.

And the really great thing about it is its length. 162 games. The cream rises to the top. The playoffs, sure, anything can happen. Especially in the first round, which is too short. Should be seven games. Come on, after six months of grinding it out, you can be eliminated in the equivalent of a weekend series? Three lousy games? Ridiculous.

But not in the regular season. In the regular season you have to earn it. A hot streak, a hot pitcher, a missed suicide squeeze won't do it for you. You have to gut it out, and be better than the other teams. Period.

Which is why the Angels are back in first place. Finally. Feels like it's been an entire season already.

And hey, there was a moment there when they were sinking and the Texas Rangers were rolling and things could have turned into 2010. This season could have been lost. Still could be, of course. More than half the season to go. But it doesn't feel like it. It feels like finally, the Angels are starting to play like the team that hit the century mark last year. Actually, I hope they're not that team. I hope they're better. Don't want to see another first round exit (would somebody PLEASE beat the Boston Red Sox in the east!)

They're sill iffy on power, despite the recent surge. Still iffy in middle relief. Still a cold spell away from the annual 'fire Hatcher' chant.

But they're playing better.

Lackey looks like himself again. Vladdy seems ready to get hot. Aybar's playing smart. Rivera is ready. Napoli's swinging at pitches down the middle of the plate instead of taking them for strike three. And Fuentes looks pissed off enough on the mound to be a shut down closer. Hell, it's almost time to get giddy (don't though, that always leads to a losing streak...)

Once concern, though. They're tearing it up against the National League, and as I've stated before, the Angels are the best National League team in the American League.

Will the wins, and confidence, carry over to league play?

This time, I think they will.

Big Papi cranks his 7th of the season.  See above.

Zack Duke improves to 8-5 with 6 IP, 1 ER effort last night.  Duke now has lowered his ERA to 3.09 for the season.  Like other pitchers getting by on groundballs and very few strikeouts (Nick Blackburn, Mark Buehrle, Kevin Slowey) there is always the distinct possibility for a complete falloff.  However, given that all these guys should have cost you very little on draft day, who really cares.  Sell high if you can, just enjoy the unexpected value you've received if you can't. 

Sizemore goes deep for the first time since coming off the DL.  That didn't take long.  More on him later today. 

Joey Votto is a bit rusty.  Don't give up on him just yet.  He was in the midst of a breakout season before taking some time away for some real serious reasons.  He has the power and plate discipline to be a fantasy force in the second half.  I don't think he'll hit anywhere near .350, but .290-.300 with 15 or so homers is realistic. 

Scott Richmond continues to make the best of his opportunities.  I'm still nervous about endorsing Richmond because of his GB/FB rate, which favors flyballs. His 21% line drive rate is a bit high too.  I'd sit him upcoming against the Phillies.

Pat Burrell connected for his second homerun of the season.  Burrell is only owned in 54% of ESPN leagues and there is no doubt that when healthy he can provide plus power.  Much way I liked the pickup of Marcus Thames, I would say the same for Burrell, especially in OBP leagues.

Holy Joe Blanton!  10 K's in 7 IP.  Blanton has been pitching much better since his rough month of May.  His peripherals are actually much improved from last season.  As of yesterday his K/BB rate stood at 2.79, which but him alongside Jered Weaver and just below Felix Hernandez, Cliff Lee and Jake Peavy.  Keep him on your watch list for good matchups.  Toronto is not one of those good matchups. Correction: Blanton's next start would be against the Braves.  That is a go for a spot pickup. 

David Wright goes 4-4 in an 11-0 rout of the Cardinals.  He also added his 19^th stolen base of the season.  Power outage!?  With a .356 AVG and 19 steals, who cares!!

It might be safe to say that Rickey Nolasco is officially back.  7 IP, 7 K, 1 BB in a win against the Orioles.  Nolasco hasn't given up more than 2 ER runs in July and has only walked 5 batters in 4 games.  He walked 3 on June 7th, his first game back from the minors. 

With the news that Marlins closer Matt Lindstrom was headed to the DL, the guessing game began for, "who will be the next Marlins closer?"  Leo Nunez seemed to be the first in line, but perhaps his ankle injury was not 100%.  I had a hunch on Reynel Pinto, but he was brought on to pitch the 8^th.  The save went to Dan Meyer, who has been exceptional for the fish this season.  Reports were that Fredi Gonzalez would use a mix and match to close out games so stay tuned.

Jason Kubel hit his 13^th homer of the season.  Now Kubel's line stands at .311,.373/.512, 13 HR, 40 RBI.  ESPN's "Player Rater" scores Kubel at 6.43, which is higher than the scores of Andre Ethier, Alex Rios, Bobby Abreu, Jermaine Dye, Carlos Lee, Matt Holiday and Nick Markakis.  All of those players listed are owned in at least 90% of ESPN leagues.  Kubel is owned in less than 64% of ESPN leagues.  If he is available and you have the roster space, go get him. 

Nick Blackburn gets hit pretty hard, but still manages to keep the damage to only 3 ER on 11 hits.  Uncharacteristically, Balckburn surrendered 13 fly balls to only 9 ground balls.  More of this type of outing to come.

Both closers struggled in the Kansas City/Houston game.  Joakim Soria and Jose Valverde blew their respective save chances allowing 2 hits and one run each.  They each are well enough along from their DL returns to think this was just one of those days and nothing more like an injury. 

You may have noticed that Joe Torre doesn't think Matt Kemp is a valuable enough hitter to bat in the middle of the order.  Well, last night he batted Kemp 9^th.  He also batted Mark Loretta 6^th.  I love you Joe, but you are driving me freaking insane.  Too much wheatgrass I guess.  All Kemp did was blast his 9th homerun of the season. 

Forget BABIP, Dan Haren is the unluckiest pitcher in baseball!  How does a guy with a 2.25 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 104 strikeouts have a 6-5 record? 

Frank Francisco, fresh off the DL did not come in for the save in a 2-1 game.  Francisco entered in the 8th and pitched a scoreless inning.  C.J. Wilson, who had been filling in for Francisco, was the one to come in and nail down the save.  Here's the quote from the game recap:

C.J. Wilson then retired the side in order in the ninth for his seventh save. Washington is still undecided when Francisco might return to his closer's role. This was just his second outing since coming off the disabled list on Saturday.

But one thing that Washington does like: seven strong innings from his starter, and then Wilson and Francisco finishing up -- no matter in what order.

"That's solid," Washington said.

No Ron!  We don't need solid!  We need to know who is going to close games for the Rangers!  Stop with all this real life, what's best for the team crap!  My fantasy team needs saves!!

I own Frank Francisco in two leagues.

There has been a Garrett Atkins sighting!  The Rockies said they were going to use interleague play to showcase Atkins and shocase they did.  3-4 with a homerun will do the trick.  That raised his AVG to .216.  Ian Stewart took an 0-3 and lowered his AVG to .218. 

3.1 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.  There's the Jason marquis I know and love!

Chone Figgins is now hitting .330, but has only 3 steals in the month of June.  He has been caught stealing 4 times this month and had only been caught stealing 3 times in April and May.  That smells a bit fishy to me.

Eric Aybar has as many steals in June as Chone Figgins.  He stole his 4th of the season last night.  I still think Aybar has 20+ steal ability and it looks like he is sarting to run a bit more. 

Vlad shaved his dreads.  Then he hit a homerun, only his 2nd of the year.  If (and ONLY IF), Vlad continues to DH basically full time, he is a great buy low candidate. 

Russell Branyan has a chance to enter the all-star break with a .300 AVG and 20+ homeruns.  This guys needs to be at the all-star game.  Not only for his performance in 2009, but also for how long he has purservered in a mostly dissapointing career.  I mean Chris Davis has more friggin votes (ranks 5th for AL firstbasemen) and he might be at AAA by the break. 

You can put Brandon Morrow on the backburner now.  Control is still a huge issue and he has made no adjustment to get his fastball down. 

Okay, so he's not Manny. Manny's hair seems to have infinite amounts of hits in it (of course, we now know what else is in it.) Not Vlad's. His hair had become an albatross. A liability. An anchor.

It had turned a power hitter into David Eckstein.

Fooled me. I actually thought it was because Vlad swung at every pitch like he was on deadline. I thought it was because he was so off balance after every swing, he looked like an ice skater about to fall on their you know what. I thought it was because Vlad seemed to think that adjustments were things only for car mechanics.

But it was the hair. There were no more hits left in the hair.

Who knew? He looked like the old Vladdy. Hair flying, bat wailing. But there was no more pop. No more punch. No more power. Vlad was one step away from batting behind Aybar in the line-up. Teams were walking Hunter just to get to Vlad.

The man tied with Lou Gehrig for most consecutive seasons batting .300 with 25 or more homers was being welcomed at the plate like an automatic out. He was worse than that. He was TWO automatic outs. Vlad hit into so many double plays, you could start heading to the refrigerator as soon as he came to the plate.

But no more. Now the anchor has been lifted. The smile is back. The power has returned.

The hair is gone. And hopefully, so is the rest of the American League West.

"With everything we've been through -- the death of a teammate, the injuries, the slumps, we've maintained, we've stayed close," Angels center fielder Torii Hunter said. "It feels good. I might kick back and have me a bottle of milk."