Tuesday, May 8, 2007

And we wonder why the Rangers don't win...

Why do we wonder why the Rangers don't win? When you make moves like trading John Danks and another stud to the White Sox for Brandon McCarthy, you don't deserve to win. But that isn't even what I'm complaining about this time. Eric Gagne was activated from the DL and of course, he's going back to the closers role. If it ain't broken don't fix it! You know Gagne is going to get hurt again and Otsuka probably doesn't enjoy being toyed with like this. Let Otsuka close, and let Gagne be the setup man -- in between vacations to the DL.

Fantasy Impact: I doubt anybody dropped Gagne when he went on the DL but clearly, he needs to be on your roster if somebody did. And, don't go about dropping Otsuka, you'll regret it when Gagne makes his next trip to the DL -- in probably a week or so.

Zumaya, Igawa, Clemens and More

A couple of thoughts about the happenings of baseball recently:

- Zumaya will miss 12 weeks as he is scheduled to have surgery for a finger injury. Anybody hoping Zumaya would become the closer at some point this year needs to temper their expectations. Zumaya will probably remain in the setup role for the rest of the year but if there are DL spots and you have room he is worth hanging onto because he can contribute with an IP and strikeouts 3 out 4 nights once he is healthy.

- Kei Igawa was sent to class A Tampa after struggling in the majors. Igawa was merely a PR signing to keep up with the Red Sox in Japan but that is one expensive PR signing. Class A seems a little bit harsh, doesn't it? Igawa didn't have any fantasy value to begin with but if you were still holding out hope for him, it's time to drop him.

- More details have surfaced about the Roger Clemens signing. It appears Clemens should be ready to start in the majors by mid-june at the absolute latest. Additionally, Clemens contract includes a similar clause as his contract last year that states that he doesn't have to travel with the team if he is not scheduled to pitch.

- A couple of players have been suspended recently. Scott Proctor, Joe Torre, Matt Capps, and Juan Salas. The Proctor and Capps suspensions were minimal. Joe Torre obviously has no fantasy implications. Salas was suspended for 50 games for violating the MLB's drug policy. But he isn't really fantasy worthy either.

- Brian Lawrence signed with the New York Mets. He is expected to make some minor league rehab starts and then get a shot at the major league rotation. He doesn't really have any fantasy value either.