Dustin Hermanson: This ain't 2005 no more

Dustin Hermanson was asked by the Cincinatti Reds to go down to AAA. He said he wouldn't pitch for AAA and he was released. Hermanson was thought to be the leading canidate for the 9th inning job but a lousy spring forced the Reds to either demote him or release him. The simple truth was he wasn't pitching well enough to make the team despite his 2005 season when he helped the White Sox win the World Series as the closer. Last season was almost completely lost to injury and he still hasn't returned to anywhere near the 2005 form. It is likely he will sit out the season and may announce his retirement. It didn't seem like there were many teams vying for his services before and if he is unwilling to pitch in the minors I don't see anything happening. Perhaps Cleveland might have some interest in him? Whatever the case may be, if you picked up Hermanson...drop him.

Additionally, avoid the Reds closer job at all costs. It looks like its going to be another messy closer by situation.

Blockbuster deal going down in Chicago

Jim Hendry is at it again. With no regard for the salary or the team needs, he again struck a deal. It had been rumored that the Mets would have interest in Zambrano if he hit the open market but with the deadline to resign Zambrano coming to a close, instead they nabbed him before he hit the open market. In return for Zambrano the Cubs will recieve OF prospect Lastings Milledge, Starting Pitcher Mike Pelfrey and a Minor Leaguer to be named later. The deal is contingent on the Mets reaching a long term deal with Zambrano in the 48 hour time frame the Cubs have allowed. Upon hearing that Zambrano would not sign a long term deal with the Cubs, the offers for Zambrano went way down and this was the one that the Cubs deemed to be the best. The other interested parties are rumored to have included the New York Yankees, the Detroit Tigers (who recently lost Kenny Rogers), the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the surprisingly the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox names surfaced as well. Pelfrey will join the Cubs rotation as the #4 starter. Ted Lilly will start opening day. Milledge will start the season in AAA unless the Cubs can swing Jones before tomorrow -- which is unlikely. The Minor Leaguer to be named later is expected to be Single A pitcher Kevin Tomasiewicz. Hendry and Minaya both declined comment because the trade is not official yet.

Remember you heard it at MLB Front Office First! Bringing you all of your April Fools day news.

MIA in LA

Chone Figgins and Jered Weaver will both start the season on the DL. Make sure you pick up a replacement before todays game. Neither should be out for more than the 15 days but make sure you pick up someone to fill their spot in the lineup. Neither of their replacements on the Angels are really fantasy worthy although Macier Izturis was decent last year.

Can Cantu?

Jorge Cantu, pushed out of a starting job at 2nd by BJ Upton was sent to the minor leagues. He immediately asked to be traded. He really isn't a minor league player and isn't too far removed from that 28 HR season back in 2005. He is still only 25 and has a lot of potential despite a very dissapointing season last year (he was battling a foot injury all last year). Most managers will probably drop him so if he does get traded make sure you jump right on him and pick him up. Tampa Bay would be smart to trade him for a pitcher of some sort.

Tampa Bay Surprise

In two surprise moves, both Elijah Dukes and BJ Upton will be starting on opening day. They could both provide late round value in fantasy leagues and are both certainly worth a mid-round pick in Dynasty and very large Keeper leagues. Dukes will be starting in center and Upton will be starting at second. If Upton can gain eligibility at 2nd, he could be money in that position. Think Ian Kinsler, Josh Barfield grouping with the potential be even higher. As for Dukes, he pushed Rocco Baldelli out of the outfield but don't worry, Baldelli will be the DH and will get plenty of time in the outfield.

Josh Towers

A sleeper I mentioned earlier was Josh Towers and today he won the 5th spot in the Blue Jays rotation. In deep AL only leagues he is worth picking up. He could be good for an ERA around 5-5.5 and a decent amount of wins. He's not much of a fantasy machine but it wasn't too long ago he was posting very decent numbers as a decent pitching prospect. He is worth a shot to return to that though in deep AL only leagues. Give Towers a chance.

Gearing up for the season

The season is quickly approaching and my content has been...going down?!? I appologize but I have been very busy preparing myself for the season and haven't had a lot of time to post.

A couple of relevant notes:

- Roto Hog opened the market today. If you are playing Roto Hog, there has been a lot of fluctuation already so you should check it out.

- If you haven't bought Xtra Innings on Sports Blurb yet you should do so...otherwise you won't be able to read my weekly Head 2 Head article over there!

- Be sure to check out the Fantasy Man F.E.E.D over at Fantasy Baseball Express

- Subscribe to get MLB Front Office every night via email on the right hand side bar!

- Kenny Rogers had surgery and will be out for a long time. If you have him, drop him.

- Seth McClung was sent to the minor leagues, he was thought to be the front runner for saves in Tampa -- I guess not.

- Eric Gagne will start the season on the DL. Otsuka owners rejoice!

Thats all for now. Feel free to email me any and all fantasy or baseball related questions you have!

Quick Notes

A couple of quick notes:

- Mark Prior was sent to the minors today by the Cubs so he can attempt to regain the form that had him pitching in the playoffs in 2003. He apparently wasn't happy about it but then again who would be? He's worth giving a shot when he comes back up.

- Matt Garza was beat out for the last spot in the rotation by Carlos Silva. Silva has no fantasy value, however Garza will get that spot sometime this season and he has sleeper value then

- My Statistical Oddities Part 2 is up on Roto Hog. Check that out and tell them how much you like me! Joke.

- My weekly article on Sports Blurb will be up tomorrow. Make sure you buy the Xtra Innings package so you can read that. Its worth the money, trust me!

- For those of you in REALLY deep leagues, Tony Pena Jr. is the starting SS in KC beating out Angel Berroa who was demoted to the minors. Again, unless you're in a 20+ person league you shouldn't care about that. AL only leagues shouldn't really even care unless your 14-16 person leagues.

- Jorge Julio is closing for the Marlins as I'm sure you've all heard. If no one has picked him up yet in your league, Jump on That!

- Wade Miller officially won the 5th spot in the Cubs rotation. In 16 or 20 person mixed leagues he may be worth a look. He's also worth a look in NL only.

Calling All New Yorkers

When I see stories that talk about New York sports Hero's I feel compelled to spread the word. The Boogey Blog this week has a great story about one of the best man that ever played in a Yankee uniform, Bernie Williams. Williams hasn't shown up to Spring Training this year, but that hasn't discouraged the Yankee Nation. Boogey Blog details in their story how they Yankees should really send Williams off into the sunset.

Ok -- So I really have no connection to NY Sports but I thought this was a cool idea anyway. Go ahead and check it out.

AL Only Sleepers

I recently got an email from a reader about AL Only Saves. He Asked:

Hey Brad,Love the tiered tankings.Do you have a feel for deep AL prospects / sleepers?

Here are a couple of guys I recomended to him:

Thanks. Not sure how deep your league is but a couple guys to take a look at:


Alexi Casilla - Twins 2B/SS of the future, in a full season he could steal 50. Think Castillo in his prime.
Gavin Floyd - White Sox starter doesn't have the best stuff and may eventually find himself in the pen but he should make the rotation this year.
John Danks - The Brandon McCarthy trade is going to look great for the White Sox.
Brandon McCarthy - 4.50 ERA is expectable.
Gustavo Chacin - Starter was gold a couple of seasons ago -- was injured last year but should bounce back.
Josh Towers - Think one year farther down the line than Chacin and one heck of a bad season but they are paying him a lot to play in the minors and if he can make it back into some teams rotation he could be a decent last round AL only pick.

Obviously there are always the guys like:

Phil Hughes - Stud Yankees SP, Best SP in the minors and should be up by years end
Alex Gordon - Stud 3B
Mark Teahan - Moved to OF for Gordon but still has OF elig.
Delmon Young - Future STAR. He's the kind of guy you imagine 50/50 things about. Ok not really but you get the point.
Akinori Iwamura - Talked of working on speed. Should get lots of playing time for D-Rays

Hope this helps.