By Mike Dietrich
Player Notes
Ryan Braun – He has been hot, hitting over .335 in AAA and has legit power. He should be a force for the 1st place Brewers.
Casey Blake (.340 2-10) – This is the player we saw two years ago and with the lineup around him, he could continue on this pace.
John Buck (.333 4-10) – Who is the catcher who leads the majors in Home Runs? This guy.
Angel Guzman (1-0 3.50) – He is the closer in waiting as Lou Pinella has named him Ryan Dempster’s successor.
Ryan Madsen/Geoff Geary/Antonio Alfonseca – My pick would be Geary if I had to for the next Phillies closer.
Kevin Kouzmanoff (.482 2-9) – This is what the Padres traded for.
Carlos Pena (.428 4-8) – He is still available due to the non-believers, I have taken the chance.
Jeremy Guthrie (1.61) – Maybe the Leo Mazzone magic is not dead.
Jon Leiber (1-1 3.60) – He has been solid almost every time out. You could do worse on the waiver wire.
Who’s Hot
Tori Hunter (.282 5-18) – His free agent push has begun.
Aramis Ramirez (.346 4-16) – He will out perform AROD the rest of the way.
Justin Morneau (.440 6-12) – The AL MVP is no fluke.
Ichiro Suzuki (.465 10 SB’s) – The best player to ever come from Japan.
Boof Bonser (3-0 17K’s) – A must have name for any fantasy roster.
Randy Wolf (3-0 22K’s) – Two years from Tommy John surgery.  This is what the Phillies were waiting for.
Randy Johnson (2-0 19K’s) – As solid as they come out of the spotlight.
Who’s Not
Frank Thomas (.172 2-4) – He should not be on your team.
Andrew Jones (.157 1-7) – One of the most overrated players in baseball real and fantasy.
Garrett Atkins (.150 1-3) – There has been no bigger bust at 3B than this guy.
Cory Patterson (.135 0-3) – For those of you that got sucked in by last year, shame on you.
Curt Schilling (5.71) – It has to be very hard to pitch while talking the entire game.
Bartolo Colon (6.23) – The only question here is what is growing faster? The scale or his era?
Barry Zito (1-2 7.41) – This may turn out to be the worst contract in the history of baseball.Â
On the injury front; Brett Myers is hurt but even the Phillies do not know who should be the closer. Henry Owens comes back this week but has lost the closer job to Kevin Gregg. Joe Crede may have back surgery, I would drop him now.
Have a great week and thanks for reading!
