Another week has flown by, and so comes with it another dose of The Saturday Report. A lot of things happened this week including a rash of injuries, and a couple of interesting contracts you may want to read about so let’s not waste any time.
National League Player News: February 26th:
Jorge Cantu – Marlins: Somehow, Jorge Cantu spooked himself with an ankle injury in late 2009 and, according to him, it was so bad it took three months before he could run. So, this year he will be taping it up for the duration of the season.
Cantu claims he is 100% which is good for a guy who hit .289/.345/.443 with 16 homeruns and 100 RBI, cause if the ankle stays sure, he is a sleeper candidate to out produce those numbers this year.
Pablo Sandoval – Giants: Relax everyone, there is no injury news to report with Big Panda, but he will be joining a super cool fab club that is rapidly expanding in MLB called: Spectacular Spectacles! Sandoval was diagnosed with diminished vision last November reports MLB.com, but now with the aid of the awesome specs Sandoval says he sees the ball much clearer.
If you are a MLB pitcher reading this article—for some strange reason—I would like to offer my sincerest condolences, considering Sandoval hit .395 with 25 homeruns with basically one eye last year.
Brandon Webb – Diamondbacks: Webb’s recovery from shoulder surgery apparently is going well for the 30 year old. He successfully threw a 45 minute bullpen session and seems to be ready to go once the season opens up.
Webb has an Oswalt-like dilemma in the sense that he is a natural workhorse, and it caught up with him last year. The Diamondbacks’ two high end aces (Webb and Haren) are getting up there in age, and have a lot of mileage on their tires, but if they manage to stay healthy they could be huge fantasy players this year.
Scott Olsen – Nationals: Olsen is vehement about getting back to the mound this year, and says quote: "It's going to take hell and high water to keep me off that field on Opening Day. If I can get my arm over my head, I'm going to be there."
I don’t know about you, but he is trying to raise his arm over his head still? Even if he does perform well in Grapefruit League action you have to be a little suspect over whether or not Olsen is rushing things a bit, so be very cautious with him going forward.
Jose Reyes – Mets: The curious case of Jose Reyes and his peculiar hamstring issues are finally coming to end it appears. Reyes says that he is ‘feeling good’ and he began running bases this week at camp. Reyes was stifled by the injury last season only playing in 36 games.
If you are a Mets fan you are probably happy to hear some positive news, if you are a fantasy owner you should be cautiously optimistic about Reyes’ claims. If healthy, though, Reyes is a premier SS who at one time—2007 to be exact—pilfered 78 bases.
American League Player News: February 26th.
Scott Sizemore – Tigers: Sizemore is dealing with some discomfort in his surgically repaired left ankle, and he will probably NOT be ready for the Grapefruit League Opener next week. This isn’t a surprise as the club wants to take a guarded approach with their highly touted rookie who is supposed to replace Placido Polanco.
This is good news for fantasy owners, like me, who already drafted Sizemore and are waiting for the gravy train to leave the station. Yum, yum!
Jamie Shields – Rays: It is projected, now, that Shields will be the opening day starter for Tampa Bay, and while that is good news for him, fantasy owners will be looking for a little bit more out of the 28 year old if they are to trust him in 2010.
Shields went 11-12 with a 4.14 ERA, a 1.32 WHIP alongside a 167/52 K/BB ratio which translates to a rough K/9 rate of 7.8. It’s not bad numbers, but keep in mind his BB rate have steadily increased over the past two years; something he will need to control if he is to have a quality fantasy impact.
Kendry Morales – Angels: Morales’ week has been steadily going downhill for the powerful first baseman, as he is having visa issues that have prevented him from even making camp yet. As if that isn’t enough, he is also dealing with an investigation into a missing 300,000 dollars from his bank account.
Hmmm, let’s see; an inordinate amount of mysteriously missing money, troubles with his visa. I understand from a fantasy aspect he is all yummy looking, but you would be better off avoiding Morales in your draft—if you haven’t drafted already—and let it become someone else’s headache.
Ricky Romero – Blue Jays: Romero finally got out on the mound and threw some batting practice and he is looking great according to Jordan Bastian on Twitter.
Remember this guy? He blasted onto the scene making one of the more intriguing waiver wire grabs in 2009 before falling flat on his face by the end of the season hit. Still, he does have all the right tools and could be in line for an early sleeper for your bench.
Adrian Beltre – Red Sox: Earlier this week Beltre twisted his ankle and Red Sox fans and fantasy owners had a sudden lapse of cardiac arrest over the news. Luckily for everyone, he is just fine. Beltre basically said it looked a lot worse than it actually was and he is feeling “much, much better”.
Beltre is on par to have a breakout season now that he has some comfy new digs that favor power hitters.
For more fantasy news on Hockey – Basketball – or NFL simply click on the blue links.
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And, in case you missed it, my esteemed—and sometimes deranged—fellow staff members decided it would be a fun idea to all get together and give you a breakdown of who we all think will be a breakout player, a bust, and a sleeper candidate at each position.
Each week, we will be focusing our efforts on giving you our insight and projections, while cracking wise on each other in our stuperous funker. Come check it out here!
