Chicago White Sox

FB365's Morning Drive 7/3/09

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:40:00 +0000

In Cincinnati, Chris Dickerson is making a case for the full time centerfield job. As Willy Taveras continues not to get on base (NOT A SINGLE WALK IN THE MONTH OF JUNE!!) Dickerson finds himself with a respectable .288 AVG and .389 OBP. He's not doing much with regards to power or stolen bases, but if by chance Dusty Baker decides to bat him leadoff because, deep breath, HE ACTUALLY GETS ON BASE, then he could see a slight rise in value for NL-only and deep mixed leagues.

Francisco Rodriguez blew the save, his third in 10 days. Nothing new here. Frankie has averaged 5.5 blown saves per season since becoming a full time closer, which is about the norm.

This is what I worried about with Kevin Correia. His fastball velocity was back a little yesterday, but not where it was during is hot streak. You can see from the chart below (via fangraphs.com) the upward trend in Correia's average velocity and how it dropped significantly his last outing. Yesterday's outing is represented with the red dot, which indicates an average fastball velocity of just over 91 mph.

A.J. Happ is becoming an interesting starter to watch. Since converting to a full time starter he has shown a nice progression in K/BB rate. Also, Happ's velocity is showing signs of progression as well. He's currently owned in only 37% of Yahoo! Leagues.

Franklin Gutierrez stays hot. He hit .304 with 4 homers and 3 stolen bases in June.

Pitchers are not giving anything to Albert Pujols and he'll take his walks all day long. The beneficiary? Ryan Ludwick. It's been a struggle this season with healthy and a prolonged slump, but he has 7 hits in his last 5 games and 3 RBI in his last 2 games with Pujols getting on in front of him.

Derrek Lee didn't just hit 2 homeruns last night. He hit 2 pure bombs last night. One was a grand slam and Lee collected 7 RBI on the night. Lee hit .333 and slugged .973 in June.

Will there be a place for Jake Fox to play once A-Ram returns from the DL?

I think I'm done betting against Mark Buehrle.

Friday's Games of the Day

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:40:00 -0800

The Fourth of July Weekend kicks off with a full schedule of games. The Yankees look to start a new winning streak against the Blue Jays. The Brewers and Cubs continue their seesaw NL Central battle. The Brewers need wins to stay ahead in the division because the Cardinals and Reds are battling for positioning in the division. The Mets and Phillies begin a series that will determine which team is in first in the NL East on Monday. These games, and many more, can be found in Friday's Games of the Day.

Toronto at New York Yankees: The Mariners broke the Yankees seven-game winning streak but are 7-3 in their last 10 games. They look to have A.J. Burnett and company start a new win streak against the Jays and Brian Tallet. Four of Hideki Matsui's 6 hits off Tallet have gone for extra bases, with one being a long ball.

Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs: The Cubs took the first game of this series on Thursday. The Brewers and Jeff Suppan look to even the season series back up at 4-4 against Carlos Zambrano. Derek Lee has 21 hits off Suppan with 11 extra base hits (4 home runs). J.J. Hardy is only 2-for-19 against Zambrano. Mike Cameron is worse, 1-for-13 against Zambrano.

New York Mets at Philadelphia: The Phillies have lost 3 straight and are 3-7 in their last 10 games. They're now tied with the Marlins for first place in the NL East. The Mets find themselves only 1 game behind. This series will determine who's in first place in the division come Monday. The Phillies are relying on Rodrigo Lopez to get the win. Wonderful.

Cuba's Aroldis Chapman Defects

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:25:00 -0500

Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN The Magazine reported today left-handed pitcher Aroldis Chapman has defected from the Cuban national team.

According to the report, Chapman defected from the team while they were in the Netherlands competing in a tournament, walking right out of the front door of the team's hotel in Rotterdam.

"I walked out easily, right through the hotel door, and I hopped in a car and left," Chapman told cubaencuentro.com, a Spanish web site. "It was easy. Now the plan is to sign with a Major League team."

Chapman is scheduled to fly to Miami on Thursday, according to a source.

This is huge news on this winter's free agency front because, depending on who you ask, Chapman is the most-hyped player to defect from Cuba since Jose Contreras, but appears to have a ceiling far beyond that of the Chicago White Sox veteran right-hander.

Chapman, 21, is a menacing southpaw who brings a fastball that has been clocked as high as 102 mph to go along with a slider and a curveball. Arangure's report suggests that Chapman may need some development time in the minor leagues because his secondary pitches are "only average."

But Buster Olney, also a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine, wrote in his blog Thursday morning that some scouts have labeled Chapman's slider and curveball as both "plus" pitches. Olney said that some talent evaluators even see Chapman as a "left-handed (Stephen) Strasburg." That's how insanely talented this kid is.

I saw some of Chapman in this year's World Baseball Classic, and he was nasty. His fastball explodes on the hitters -- I guess anything will explode at 100 mph -- and when he throws his secondary pitches for strikes, hitters have no chance.

Chapman posted a 4.03 ERA in 118 1/3 innings last year as a 20-year-old pitching in the National Series in Cuba. Unlike other defectors, Chapman's baby face actually gives some sort of evidence that he is as young as he claims to be.

The one knock on Chapman is his maturity. He has been known to show too much emotion and frustration on the mound -- with the umpire's strike zone, for example -- and doesn't always give his manager, coaches, and teammates the respect they deserve. But at 21-years-old, that isn't all that surprising. But that alone would make it absolutely necessary he apply some polish in the minor leagues.

How does this effect the upcoming free agent class? Well, the two biggest fish in the market were supposed to be Oakland A's outfielder Matt Holliday and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher John Lackey.

But with only s mediocre season thus far in Oakland, a little hype has come off of Holliday and if free agency were to open today, he wouldn't be commanding the dollars that he and his agent Scott Boras were expecting.

Lackey, on the other hand, is set to cash in with a healthy season. But that's the hold up. Lackey has battled early season elbow issues for the last two seasons, and I'm not sure if anybody is completely confident in the health of his elbow.

Nonetheless, with teams so starved for quality pitching, Lackey will get his money if he stays off of the DL for the remainder of the season.

But if Chapman is part of this winter's bidding, he will undoubtedly be the big fish in the pond. Estimates are already coming in between $30 million and $60 million for Chapman, but there is no real precedent for a pitcher this young and this talented who has already pitched on the national stage and has been relatively exposed.

You can expect big market clubs such as the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Angels, and Cubs to be interested in Chapman.

The Red Sox should be in the mix, too, but I wonder how eager they are to spend exorbitantly on another international product that comes this hyped, considering that they paid a total sum of $103 million to get Daisuke Matsuzaka to Boston and he hasn't met expectations.

The A's probably won't be players but the White Sox could be, as both clubs have been known to make dents in international signings (although signing Chapman would not be like signing a 17-year-old prospect).

One issue facing Chapman's stay in the United States is that all Cuban players are required to hand over their passports to Cuban officials when making an appearance outside of Cuba. Assuming Chapman followed regular procedures, he may have a difficult time establishing residency in the U.S.

Teddy Mitrosilis is the author of Ballpark Banter. He also writes for Bleacher Report. You can reach him at tm4000@yahoo.com.

Thursday's Games of the Day

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0800

Thursday brings us another short schedule with only nine games scheduled. Thursday is still filled with good games. The Mets and Pirates finish a series that began in June. Houston and San Diego face off in a matchup of teams just out of last place in their divisions. The Phillies look to beat the Braves and stay in first in the NL East. And the Brewers and Cubs renew their rivalry. Those games and more can be found below.

New York Mets at Pittsburgh: This game is a makeup of the June 3 game that was postponed. If Paul Maholm and the Pirates beat the Mets again, will Carlos Beltran comment again about how the Mets shouldn't lose to the Pirates? The Mets are depleted and throw Tim Redding out there. Adam LaRoche has four homers against the Mets since 2006, including one off Redding.

Houston at San Diego: Because a series between two teams in next to last place is better than a series between two teams in last place. The surprising Wandy Rodriguez takes the mound for Houston. Adrian Gonzalez's status for the game is in doubt, which obviously doesn't help the Padres.

Philadelphia at Atlanta: The Phillies need a win here to keep from falling behind the Marlins in the NL East. The Braves would extend their winning streak to four games if they win. Both JA Happ and Javier Vazquez go for their 6th win. Happ has a 9.00 ERA against the Braves. Chase Utley has a .333 average and 5 RBI against Vazquez.

Players Avoid Winning Managers

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:14:26 -0500

News item, as it were:

Sports Illustrated correspondents in every city interviewed 380 players in May for the poll, though many players declined to answer that particular question, even while knowing they would remain anonymous. SI did not break down the exact vote totals, but listed Piniella first with 26 percent of the vote, followed by Guillen at 21 percent. St. Louis' La Russa (10 percent), the Dodgers' Joe Torre (4 percent), and Cleveland's Eric Wedge (4 percent) rounded out the top five. Players could not vote for managers from their own team.

A little perspective, in the form of winning percentages:

Lou Piniella, .521, one World Series titles and six division titles
Ozzie Guillen, .531, one World Series titles and two division titles
Tony La Russa, .536, two World Series titles, five pennants and 11 division titles
Joe Torre, .540, four World Series titles, six pennants and 12 division titles
Eric Wedge, 502, one division title

So, every last one of them has a winning record and they have combined to win eight World Series, 13 pennants and 34 division titles.

Yes, I can see where that would suck.

Tuesday's Games of the Day

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:50:00 -0800

All 30 teams are on the field Tuesday with three new series' beginning. Derek Lowe attempts to match his April 5 performance against the Phillies. John Smoltz looks for his first win as member of the Red Sox. Cliff Lee attempts to keep the Indians from skidding any further. Randy Johnson and Chris Carpenter face off in the pitching matchup of the day. Andre Ethier and Garrett Atkins look to solve their respective pitching riddles.

Philadelphia at Atlanta: The Phillies take their two-game winning streak to Atlanta to face Derek Lowe and the Braves. Lowe is 7-6, but he opened the season on April 5 by pitching 8 shutout innings against the defending World Champions. That's been his only start against the Phils so far. Joe Blanton pitches for the Phillies. Ryan Howard is a lowly 2-for-22 against Lowe.

Boston Red Sox at Baltimore: It's take two for John Smoltz. This time he faces Rich Hill and the lowly Orioles.

Chicago White Sox at Cleveland: The Indians attempt to halt their losing streak at three with Cliff Lee on the mound. Lee is 1-0 against the White Sox this season, going 7 shutout innings on May 13. Paul Konerko is 16-for-45 with 5 home runs against Lee. He'll have to pick up the slack for teammates Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome who don't do well against Lee.

MLB Top 10: Halos Grab AL West Lead

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:06:55 -0500

Sometimes when I think about this list during the weekend before Mondays roll around, things end up looking a bit differently than I pictured. This was one of those weeks. Over the weekend, multiple winning streaks were snapped, teams unexpectedly played poorly, and my top ten list underwent some major reconstruction. The result? A drastically different list compared to what we would've seen on Friday.

1. Los Angeles Angels (41-32)
The Halos have won five straight, including a series win over the red-hot Rockies last week. They followed up the impressive series win by sweeping the woeful Diamondbacks over the weekend, and they now hold a 1.5 game lead in the AL West over Texas. They get the chance to widen the gap this week when they continue their road trip in Texas, in what some are calling the biggest series for the Angels this year.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (42-35)
Don't look now, but the Rays are only two games back in the AL wildcard race after a successful homestand that saw them take two of three from the Phillies and sweep the Marlins. While they're in third place in the AL East, the Rays would be leading nearly every other division in baseball with their record -- only Detroit and the Dodgers lead their divisions with better win percentages.

3. New York Yankees (43-32)
The third of three teams in the Majors that are on five-game win streaks, the Yankees continued their dominance over the Mets over the weekend, capping off a strong week in which they also took two of three from Atlanta. Thankfully CC Sabathia is fine after an injury scare in Florida, and if Sunday night was any indication, Chien-Ming Wang may have everything figured out. Still, considering that they're only three games behind the Red Sox, you have to wonder if they'd be leading the division if they could figure out a way to beat Boston head-to-head.

4. Colorado Rockies (40-35)
Someone finally slowed them down last week, when the Angels managed to take a series at Angel Stadium. The Rockies don't appear to be rattled, though, considering their weekend sweep over the Oakland A's. With the Giants losing their weekend series in Milwaukee, the Rockies are now only a half game behind San Francisco for both second place in the NL West and the wildcard lead.

5. Detroit Tigers (42-33)
To be honest, I was planning on putting the Tigers at the top of the the list before their weekend series against Houston rolled around. They entered the series winners of seven straight, and were facing off against a pretty mediocre Houston club. What happened? The Tigers lost two of three, and nearly got swept before stealing a win in the 9th inning on Sunday. Still, the Tigers have won 8 of their past 10 games, and deserve a spot in the top half of this list.

6. Seattle Mariners (39-36)
No team continues to irritate teams needing a trade than the Mariners. Not only do they seem to refuse to fall back to Earth, but they're still threatening in the AL West -- not only won't they be selling anytime soon, but they may in fact be buying. This past week, the M's followed up a predictable series win over the Padres with an unpredictable series win over the Dodgers, holders of the best record in baseball. They're now three games over .500, but they'll face a real test this week with an East Coast road trip to New York and Boston. If they can survive that trip, perhaps Texas and Los Angeles have something to be afraid of.

7. Boston Red Sox (46-29)
There haven't been any crazy win streaks lately, but all it really takes to guarantee yourself a playoff spot is to win 2 out of 3 in every series. The Red Sox have lost two straight games exactly once this month, and have only seven losses in total. Considering the slump they finished May with, I'd say that's pretty good, wouldn't you? With David Ortiz hitting again, the Red Sox lineup has started to look more intimidating than it's been all year. With teams like the Orioles, A's, and Royals filling their remaining schedule before the All-Star break, there's no reason to believe that they won't continue to win 2 of 3.

8. Chicago White Sox (37-38)
They're still under .500 and their offense is still very unreliable, but they continue to get good pitching, and are capable of going on a pretty good run if the ball is bouncing their way. The ball definitely bounced their way in the past week, as the White Sox stunned the Dodgers and Cubs for series wins in a six-game homestand. They're still not much of an intimidating club -- you're not going to worry when you see them come up on the schedule -- but they're still only 5 games out of first in the AL Central.

9. Minnesota Twins (39-38)
They finally dropped a game to interleague rival Milwaukee last week, but that didn't stop them from taking another series from the Brewers. The Twins followed that series by going into St. Louis and effectively shutting down every Cardinal bat that didn't belong to Albert Pujols. The Twins, as usual, don't do anything great but do a lot of the little things very well -- even when Joe Mauer appears to suffer the effects of the Sports Illustrated cover curse.

10. San Francisco Giants (40-34)
They did lose a weekend series in Milwaukee, but they were one crazy bottom-of-the-ninth rally by the Brewers away from actually taking that series. Pablo Sandoval continues to carry the San Francisco offense (he's hitting .340 with 11 HR and a .965 OPS), while the pitching does the rest. Following what should have been an encouraging win on Sunday, the Giants now head to St. Louis for a huge four-game series that could have some pretty drastic short-term effects on the NL Wildcard picture. It'll be interesting to see if they can keep this up, or if the lack of offense will come back to bite them before they can trade for a big bat.

Indians Notes: Pavano, Perez, DeRosa, Peralta, Sizemore

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:55:00 -0800

For a team currently sitting 12 games out, in last place, in the AL Central, the Indians certainly provide plenty of topics to talk about. They make it easy to move past the usual "this team is bad" type of post and get into other baseball issues.

First on the list, Carl Pavano. Pavano is 1-2 in 4 June starts with a robust 7.25 ERA. He also sports a .351 batting average against. After going 5-1 in May, Pavano is quickly returning back to Earth and reminding us of the Carl Pavano Yankees fans love to hate. Pavano went 0-3 in April, giving himself a 1-5 record outside of his May brilliance. Yes, I just used Carl Pavano and the word "brilliance" in the same sentence.

In his last three starts, Pavano hasn't made it past the fifth inning. He's also surrendered 23 runs while striking out only 6. Adding to his enigmatic nature this season, Pavano is 2-0 against the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland's Monday opponent. He pitched his only complete game (shutout) of the year against them as well. He's given up only 4 runs to them and has a 2.35 ERA. It's tough to say which Carl Pavano will appear Monday. Ok, not really. Pavano is back to his old self after channeling Walter Johnson or Christy Mathewson for a month. If a pitcher surrounds two good months with a bad one, then he can still be considered a good pitcher. If a pitcher does what Pavano is doing and sandwiches a good month between two bad ones after a few injury-riddled seasons, then he's not a good pitcher.

FB365's Morning Drive 6/29/09

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:19:25 +0000

Grady Sizemore is 6 for 20 since returning from the DL. There may still be time to buy low with owners still worried about a recurrence of his elbow inflammation. I am not incredibly worried about his previous injury. Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus put it this way:

...the medical staff believes that they're beyond the recurrence stage. Bursitis is a painful condition, but once corrected it tends not to recur. It's just the "getting ahead of it" that often takes something like a DL stint or even minor surgery to help.

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9075

Aaron Hill keeps on mashing. 19 homeruns now on the year.

Brad Lidge allowed 1 hit (bunt single) and one walk, but did not allow a run to score in his action since landing on the DL. He got the save, but his stuff and control, slider in particular, did not look so sharp.

Tommy Hanson ran the NL East two headed monster this week and came out 2-0. The strikeouts are not there yet, but his stuff looks very good. I don't think he's going to make quite the impact the pre-season hype built up, but he should be a solid option the rest of the way.

Brad Penny matched up fairly well against Hanson, but was struck by the long ball twice (Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson). I'm not a believer in Penny, but maybe Mark from Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove can convince me otherwise.

Zack Greinke gets it done again, though he is clearly not as dominant as when the season started. I would actually be fine with selling high on Greinke for a top-notch hitter right now. After all Greinke did rank number 11 on Razzball's 20 Risky Pitchers for 2009. Also, strikeouts trending down.

Since I said buy low on Wieters he has gone just about o'fer everything. Killing me Matt, killing me.

B.J. Upton had a 5 star day. A homer, stolen base, 2 runs and an RBI. Can you say HUGE second half?

Alexei Ramirez added his 10th homerun of the season yesterday. He now has 10 homeruns and 11 steals. More importantly "The Cuban Missle" has raised his AVG to .267. Ramirez started out very slow last season as well. Does his game rise with the summer heat? I'd buy low to find out.

Brandon Inge hit a game winning homerun off of Jose Valverde. It was Inge's 18th of the season. I have to admit, I sort of liked the guy after his hot start to the season, but I never would have thought he'd be approaching the all-star break with close to 20 bombs. His K/BB rate is pretty much the same as it was last season, but his HR/FB rate is through the roof.

Matt Gamel batted leadoff yesterday. That's interesting if it sticks.

Was this the turning point for Francisco Liriano? Throwing 92-95 with a slider in the high 80's yesterday. I'm still not convinced, though he kept the ball down nicely yesterday. His last two starts have come against National League foes. His next start against the Tigers will be a big one.

Aaron Cook continues to pull a 2008 on us. Despite allowing 9.1 hits per 9 IP and a 1.61 K/BB rate, Cook continues to put the ball on the ground and get outs. Look, at this point you ride em till he bucks ya.

Jaun Rivera: 44.7% owned in ESPN leagues and 43% owned in Yahoo! Leagues. That's up from 5.3% in ESPN and 4% in Yahoo! On June 9th, but still, .305, 12 HR, 41 RBI...Those numbers are scary close to Carlos Lee right now.

I am going to mention Clay Zavada for 2 reasons. 1) He's awesome. 2) Shout out to Dave from Goose Joak for this sweet 1971 Topps retro card upon request.

Jose Lopez is now 8 for 12 in his last 3 games. He should be in for a nice second half.

As I passed along the other day, it looks more and more like Adrian Beltre will not play through the pain much longer.

Matt Kemp was actually able to fight off Juan Castro for the 7th spot in the Dodgers lineup yesterday. He hit his 10th homer of the year. I bet Mitch Kemp would bat higher than Matt Kemp if it were up to Joe Torre.

Francisco Rodriguez had an embarrassing outing last night. He walked three and allowed one hit, but the bases loaded walk to Mariano Rivera was the kicker. Come on Mets fans! I've watched Frankie pull this kind of stuff for years in Anaheim! Consider yourself lucky he hasn't done it more often in 2009.

Luis Castillo has reached base in all but one game since June 22nd. So why not move him (.279 AVG, .375 OBP) to the 8th spot and hand leadoff duties to Daniel Murphy (.248 AVG, .316 OBP)? Can a Mets fan please help me understand the wacky mind of Jerry Manuel?

How about that Chad Gaudin fella? One hit, 9 K in 8 1/3 innings against the slugging, albeit slumping, Rangers offense. His strikeout numbers are huge over his last 3 starts. His next few starts come against NL West foes. Go ahead and ride him out.

Scott Hairston hit his 9th homer of the season. The bottom line with Hairston is that he has the power for sure and his contact rate and plate discipline have shown improvements over last season. His AVG has been helped by a .347 BABIP and should end up closer to .270. The Padres have a bit of a situation on their hands trying to get playing time between Hairston, Gwynn Jr., Headley and Blanks in the outfield. Deeper leagues will find value in Hairston's power, but he may not get enough regular at bats for standard leagues.

MLB Notebook Looking for Part Time Writers

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 08:40:00 -0800

This is an official announcement for MLB Notebook:

MLB Notebook is looking for Part Time writers. I can't put a number on how many we are hoping to add, because if we get 10 really great writers that apply, I will be tempted to add them all. Here are some details on what being a Part Time writer is all about:

2-3 Posts a week - Could be more if you have the drive to do it, but we only expect 2 each week.
Love of baseball - If you don't love the game, we don't love you.
Writing Experience - We would prefer to add writers who have a proven body of work.
Volunteer - Technically this is a volunteer gig, because we have no real money to pay anyone. However, this could change depending on site revenue. But, even though you aren't being paid, the exposure you get here is beneficial.

This gig is great for someone who writes about a single team for another site (like Ricky does), and wants a place to write about other teams and baseball in general.

If you are interested please contact Zach via email: sportsnotebook@gmail.com

Fantasy Links of the Weekend

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:35:00 -0800

It's the weekend, so there aren't as many links as I'd like. I was still able to find some quality links though. At this point in the season, the waiver wire links, strategy links, and daily prep links are always the best ones out there. Luckily, I have links in each of those categories that will help navigate the weekend.

Hitter Links:

Charlie Saponara says Paul Konerko will have a second half surge.

Gary Gramling says to ride out Jimmy Rollins' slump. Remember, for Rollins slump equals all season. Gramling is still correct, especially for those in keeper leagues.

Impact Analysis: Vladimir Guerrero.

Tom Lorenzo and Brad Rysz discuss Manny's return, Scott Rolen, Andrew McCutchen, and other topics.

Pitcher Links:

Adam McFadden thinks Scott Kazmir, David Price, and others can get be better this season.

Paul Konerko primed for a second half surge

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:19:10 +0000

From 2004 through 2006 Paul Konerko was a fantasy monster. With 35-40 HR, 85-95 R and 100 RBI per year, he was basically the equivalent of Mark Teixeira. Then came a sudden drop in AVG over the 2007 season perpetrated by a .267 BABIP and a drop in line drive percentage. Konerko's fall continued last season when injury and an even lower success rate on balls in play (.247 BABIP) despite a 21.5% line drive rate led to a drop to .240, 22 HR. Now here we are, almost midway through the 2009 season. Konerko seems more like his old self again with a line of .295/.346/.496, 13 HR and 46 RBI. While that is likely great production for his discounted price on draft day, the best may be yet to come.

Two things I love when it comes to hitters. Plate discipline and contact rate. Konerko is doing both. Last season his contact rate slipped to 79.3%, the lowest of his career. It is safe to say that was a fluke as this season his contact rate is back up to 83.4%. Not only that, he is also chasing fewer bad pitches. Result wise, Konerko is also back on track with regard to his ground ball/fly ball rate. Last season, again being a fluky one, Konerko saw a complete reversal in GB/FB rates. As far as his strikeouts go, he's made a significant improvement in that category. Since 2004, Konerko has struck out at least 18% of the time. That rate stands at 15.7% right now.

When it comes to Konerko's fantasy value, homeruns and runs driven in are his too biggest attributes. His 13 homeruns so far are good, but not great. There is reason to believe as the season goes into it's second half that more balls off Konerko's bat will leave the yard. As of now Konerko has hit one homerun every 21.2 at bats. If he holds that pace and reaches 550 at bats, he will end up with 26 homeruns. He's done better in that department over the last two seasons and his HR/FB rate is also lower than it has been in a few years. Both areas concerning the frequency of Konerko's homeruns have room to improve.

The biggest reason I even bring up Konerko and the possibility for a nice second half surge is the ability to get him on your team. He's not likely on many wavier wires, but he is the perfect sort of "medium buy" type player. He's the type of bat that I'd love to trade away a pitcher to get. Johnny Cueto, Zach Duke, even perhaps a Jered Weaver type depending on the depth of your team's pitching. I have also seen him traded recently for Joba Chamberlain and George Sherrill.

I'll always trade pitching for hitting. There are sure to be pitchers that come out of nowhere in the second half of the season, much like the first half. If you can swing a deal for Konerko now, he may just swing your team that much closer to a championship.

Friday Notes: White Sox, Holliday, Manny

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:20:00 -0800

Here are some assorted notes from around the league:

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times says White Sox starter Jose Contreras is drawing trade interest. Other teams are waiting to see if the Sox become sellers as the deadline approaches.
Joe Stiglich of the San Jose Mercury News ponders whether Matt Holliday's struggles at the plate are hurting his trade value.
Nationals manager Manny Acta has received a vote of confidence from team president Stan Kasten.
Paul Konerko thinks the only interleague series the White Sox should play is the White Sox-Cubs series. "I wish the only interleague games were the Cubs," Konerko said.
Andy Sonnanstine or David Price could be sent to the minors when Scott Kazmir returns to the Rays pitching staff.
Bill Shaikin of the LA Times reports Mannywood will return when Manny Ramirez comes back from his suspension.

My thoughts:

Contreras is good, but I don't know if he can be a dominant starter at this point. The trade deadline makes teams do funny things and Contreras' 2-1 record and 1.23 ERA since his minor league stint would attract some GMs. I just don't see him as a big game pitcher.
Holliday isn't going to be an Oakland A come Spring Training 2010. It's just a matter of what Beane gets for him: players via trade or compensatory draft picks.
Ah, the comforting "vote of confidence." You realize Acta won't make it out of the All-Star break now, right?
There's at least some truth to what Konerko is saying. Interleague was created to showcase the New York, Chicago, LA, Giants-A's, Reds-Indians, and Rangers-Astros matchups. The rest of the series' are to generate interest in matchups and teams fans don't usually see their team play.
My initial reaction is Sonnanstine since he's done nothing to prove his worth this season. Also, the Rays rotation is currently righty heavy. Keeping Price would give them two lefties and give Sonnanstine a chance to fix himself at Durham.
Hooray? Hopefully they add some kind of PED incentive to the promotion now.

Buehrle Wants To Play Elsewhere

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:01:42 -0500

Mark Buehrle has no use for Wrigley Field, which is understandable. But the news is he's openly musing about playing for other teams:

"I mean I can't speak for them (critics of Wrigley), but I dislike Wrigley that much," Buehrle told Dan McNeil on the Danny Mac Show on WSCR-AM 670. "I joked around with somebody the other day, saying I don't know if I could even sign with the (St. Louis) Cardinals, as much as everybody knows one day I want to play for the Cardinals.

"I don't know if I could because that means I'd have to go to Wrigley three times, and that's how much I hate going over there."

I don't pay enough attention to Buehrle or the White Sox to know if this is common, but one would think it would some day place him smack dab in the middle of the White Sox jihad against former Sox players.

Friday's Games of the Day

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:30:00 -0800

Friday brings the final weekend of Interleague Play and the second round of some rivalry series'. Those series' are always fun to see even if you're not from Chicago, New York, or Florida. The natural rivalry series is why we have Interleague Play. Friday also showcases a some talent pitchers. We have good matchups in Toronto, New York, Tampa, and Milwaukee.

Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox: This game doesn't really feature a top-notch pitching matchup. But it is the Crosstown Series. It's tied at 1 game apiece after a rain shortened series at Wrigley earlier this month. Alfonso Soriano is 5-for-8 with 3 home runs off Jose Contreras. Derek Lee, on the other hand, is 3-for-16 against Contreras. Can hot hitting beat a history of inability to hit a specific pitcher? We shall see.

Cincinnati at Cleveland: Joey Votto powered the Reds to a 7-5 victory over Toronto on Thursday. He went 4-for-5 with an RBI double, an RBI single, a solo home run and 2 runs scored. We'll see if he can carry that momentum over to Cleveland. The Reds took 2-of-3 from Cleveland last month. The Indians counter with Travis Hafner who is hitting .355 with 3 home runs and 2 doubles in June. The game is in Cleveland, so he'll take up DH duties.

Philadelphia at Toronto: The matchup of two 4-3 starters, Cole Hamels and Ricky Romero, should distract me from the fact the Jays swept the Phillies at home last week. The Phillies should be alright, this is a road series after all. Scott Rolen has a thirteen-game hitting streak that he'd probably like to extend against one of his former teams.