Achievers/Bums - 8/12/08

Man, it's weird to see Adam Dunn on a winning team. So, we take a couple of days off, and all hades breaks loose. Carlos Lee and Carl Crawford out for the year? Evan Longoria out three to four weeks? Hey, at least no one was counting on production from those guys in the second half. The Big Donkey to the Diamondbacks? (He'll still hit his 40). USA Swimming is sweeping the nation? Aaron Harang gets rocked in his return to action? OK, I should've seen the last one coming become Aaron Harang hates me and wants to ruin my life.

ACHIEVERS

Michael Phelps/USA Swimming - 4 Gold Medals and counting - I never thought I'd give a crap about swimming and I had Michael Phelps fatigue before the Olympics started, but now I'm eating it up. That bitch-slap our boys put on the French was one of the coolest things I've seen in sports ever. Oh, and in case you missed it - Michael Phelps gets his food on in an epic way.

David Ortiz/Kevin Youkilis - Boston Red Sox - combined 5/9, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 6 R, 3 BB - In a game versus the Rangers that was packed with offensive goodness, these guys were the biggest studs. Honorable mention to Dustin Pedroia, Ian Kinsler and Marlon Byrd.

Gary Sheffield - OF/DH - Detroit Tigers - 2/4, 2 HR - Gary Sheffield hits better when he's angry, which is pretty much always. The Tigers placed him on waivers Tuesday, which will probably make him even angrier, so expect lots of violently struck baseballs off the bat of angry Sheff.

Javier Vazquez - SP - Chicago White Sox - Win, 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 10 K - Vazquez has been rocky so far in the second half, but I still think he can be a hidden gem if you need another SP to help you in the stretch run. He doesn't always get to face the Royals, unfortunately, but he'll rack up strikeouts and get you some wins because he's on a good team.

Nick Markakis - OF - Baltimore Orioles - 2/3, 2B, 2 RBI, SF - Ladies and gentleman, I give you: the new Bobby Abreu. Granted, he's not Bobby Abreu in his prime, but he's the current Bobby Abreu, which is still pretty darn good. He's had a great season so far and he should be a top-15 outfielder next year.

BUMS

Joel Zumaya - RP - Loss, BS, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 BB - Detroit Tigers - Seriously, I miss Todd Jones.

Achievers/Bums - 8/7/08

Achievers
Joel Hanrahan - RP - Washington Nationals -2.0 IP, 2 SVs, 1 K - Hanrahan still might be available in your league, but not for long. I picked up him last night in my HTH league. His appearances won't be a pretty, but a save is a save is a save.

Jonathan Broxton - RP - Los Angeles Dodgers - 1.0 IP, SV, 2 Ks - Broxton has not shown the jitters that he showed last season as closer. With his strikeout potential, he will be a top-five closer next year.

Lastings Milledge - OF - Washington Nationals - 5/9, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs - Milledge had a pretty good doubleheader today against the Rockies, but he won't help you much this season. Click HERE for a good insight into Milledge and the life of a batting coach in MLB.

David Wright - 3B - New York Mets - 3/5, 2B, HR, 2 RBIs - Inspired by Donny's harsh comments, Wright hit a game-winning (I do not believe in the term "walk off") HR in the bottom of the 9th against the Padres. Hopefully for the Mets, he can also pitch in relief.

Raul Ibanez - OF - Seattle Mariners - 1/4, HR - Ibanez's bottom of the 9th home run was Seattle's first GW (see above) of this season. Ibanez is hitting .367/7/24 since the All-Star break. Ibanez is a free agent at year's end. Why is he not playing for the....

Bums

Arizona Diamondbacks offense- The D'backs were shut out for seven innings last night by Charlie Morton. The day before, Randy Johnson's 7/1 IP, 2-run effort was wasted when Jeff Karsten shut them out. While the Dodgers made the bold move of acquiring Manny Ramirez (who has four HRs in six games), the D'backs made no moves for their milquetoast offense, not even acquiring a cheap rental like Ibanez. The D'backs are relying solely on their starting pitching and upgraded bullpen to get them through the stretch run. While their pitching moves have been very wise (the Mets and Cardinals have to be kicking themselves for not grabbing Jon Rauch or Brian Fuentes), but it will interesting to see in retrospect if the D'backs should have grabbed another bat.

Willy Taveras - OF - Colorado Rockies - 1/8, no SBs. You would hope for more from Taveras in a doubleheader at home. If you can tolerate the awful batting average, Taveras is still a great source for SBs, especially if he is one of his hot streaks.

Javier Vazquez - SP - Chicago White Sox - In the first two months of the season, Vazquez started with his usual strong numbers - 5 wins and a 3.43 ERA with 77Ks in 78.2 IP. Since June 1, Vazquez has fallen apart, winning only 3 games with an ERA of 6.23. While the Ks are still there (64 Ks 69.2 IP since 6/1), Vazquez will kill you on ERA and WHIP. I would recommend sitting him or selectively pitching him until he puts together a few good starts.

Brett Favre - QB - New York Jets - While this is still a good move for the Jets, who desperately needed a brand name on their team and somehow upgraded at QB, this trade is fitting justice for Favre. After doing his best to ruin the Green Bay Packers (HERE is a great summary), Favre is sent to AFC purgatory with the New York Jets, where he will inherit a rebuilding team and an unfamiliar offense.

I would expect some glimpses of 2007 Favre (28 TDs, 15 INTs), but probably more of 2005 or 2006 Favre (20 TDs, 29 INTs - 18 TDs, 18 INT respectively). In the off-season prior to 2007, Favre had a rigorous work regime to offset the diminished returns of the past two seasons. Favre spent the 2008 off season "retired" and not committed to playing football. At age 38, it will difficult for Favre to be much of a positive factor if he is not in game shape.

Favre's tenure in New York will be unmemorable. Other great players have finished their careers with "other" teams (Montana with the Chiefs, Jordan with the Bullets/Wizards), but memories of their performances were mere footnotes and quickly forgettable (I forgot Joe Montana even played with the Chiefs until it was mentioned during the Favre saga). However, none of these detours came with the rancor of Favre's break-up with the Packers. Hopefully, Favre and the Packers will be able to put this behind them in a few years, and Favre will be remembered for what did for the Packers and not to them.

Achievers/Bums - 7/27/08

ACHIEVERS

Johan Santana - SP - New York Mets - Win, 9.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K's - Santana has been a disappointment this year because expectations were so high. I was looking at his numbers so far and was surprised to find that they are strikingly similar to Jon Lester's, although Santana has 29 more K's. Lester has obviously had a solid season, but this is not what anyone was expecting from Johan in his debut NL season. He's still a very good pitcher and he turned in a complete-game, six-hitter against the Cards last night, but if I own Santana, I might try to shop him around today and see what I could get. His K/9 is a pedestrian 7.62, which has him looking up at such strikeout kings as Sean Marshall, Wandy Rodriguez and Bronson Arroyo.

Alfonso Soriano - OF - Chicago Cubs - 3/5, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R - Soriano provided some sorely-needed offense for the Cubs. Could this be the beginning of a huge second half as predicted by Brandt?

Jake Peavy - SP - San Diego Padres - Win, 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 10 K's - Peavy finished off a great July, where he went 3-1 with an ERA of 2.12, by dominating the Pirates. His strikeouts are back to what you would expect from him, and he looks like he's in perfect health.

David Wright - 3B- New York Mets - 3/5, HR, 3 RBI - David Wright is a fantasy beast. I feel like he's underrated because he plays second fiddle to A-Rod as a NY third baseman, but I think he has clearly delivered as a top-5 fantasy player this year. In a standard roto league, I'd probably only take Hanley, Berkman and A-Rod over him in a draft right now. His status has gone up as Delgado's production has increased too.

BUMS

Ervin Santana - SP - Los Angeles Angels - Loss, 5 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 5 K's - Santana is who we thought he was. Remember, we thought he sucked on the road back in the day. Last night he reminded us why.

Javier Vazquez - SP - Chicago White Sox - Loss, 7 IP, 6 ER, 11 H, 2 BB, 3 K's - I love it when I try over and over again to trade for a player I covet, but the owner keeps giving me the middle finger, and then, on the same night that guy goes out and fails miserably, my guy, fresh of the DL, starts raking.

Top Five Projected Second Half Achievers - Donny Edition

As I prepare to watch the annual Home Run Derby tonight, I can only hope that Chris Berman will be providing the "back, back, back, back...oh juuust missed..." commentary again this year. Some people hate Berman, but I kind of enjoy him in a sick way. On some level he has to know that he comes off as an egotistical blowhard, but I don't think he cares. According to his bio at Brooks International, he has appeared onstage with Huey Lewis and the News "over half a dozen times" (why not just say seven?) as well as twice with Eddie Money. Who amongst us can make that claim? None of us? That's what I thought. Anyway, here are guys I think will blow up in the second half. Trade for them if you can. Pray for them to get injured if you can't.

Mark Teixeira - 1B - Atlanta Braves - Tex is a classic second-half monster. In 2007 he hit 18 of his 30 home runs and 64 of his 105 RBI in the second half. And that's nothing compared to 2006 when he hit a whopping 29 home runs in the second half. He may end up a Yankee or a Red Sock, which may not improve his numbers as much as you might think, as he has a nice little spot hitting after Chipper and before McCann, but it certainly can't hurt to be in a lineup with A-Rod or Man-Ram/Large Father. The downside of trying to trade for Teixeira is that it's pretty much common knowledge that he's a second-half stud. You'll probably have a tough time acquiring him, but if you're already an owner, hang on for a huge rest of the season for Tex.

Grady Sizemore - OF - Cleveland Indians - Considering the fact that Grady Sizemore has already nearly reached his career-highs in HR's and SB, this actually a pretty bold prediction, but I think this is his big breakout year. He has not been a huge second-half guy in the past, but he is running wild this year, and I think the power numbers are legit. Last week I predicted 40/40 for Grady and I'm sticking to it. And, yes, I am a card-carrying member of Grady's Ladies.

Miguel Cabrera - 3B/1B - Detroit Tigers - Awww, poor you. You used your first draft pick on Miguel Cabrera and he only gave you a .284 BA, 16 HR, 57 RBI & 43 R in the first half (AKA, nearly the identical numbers he had last year in the second half). Not to fear, Miggy is still in a potent offense that is starting to pull it together and he will have a big second half. Worst-case scenario, he matches his first-half numbers and ends up with 32/114/86, but I would project closer to 38/125/100 with a BA around .300. It's worth a try to make an offer on him, especially in a keeper league.


Javier Vazquez - SP - Chicago White Sox - Javier has been striking guys out in near obscurity for years now. Starting your career in Montreal tends to have that effect (see also: Cabrera, Orlando). There was the unfortunate stint in pinstripes in 2004, but since then he's been pretty solid. He's a good pitcher who can catch fire and become your fantasy ace at any moment if you'll just let him. Last year he was 9-3 in the second half with a K/BB ratio of 105/24. He's on a contending team this year and he will continue to get the K's. I think he'll rack up the wins also and I'm buying.

A.J. Burnett - SP - Toronto Blue Jays - I actually picked the Blue Jays to win the AL East this year. Yeah, I was the guy. The main reason was I loved the rotation of Halladay, Burnett and McGowan. Well, Halladay has been good, but the other two have been pretty brutal. But Burnett is a guy who really helped me down the stretch last year, and I had him on this list even before his performance last night against the Yankees. I can see him getting traded to a team like the Cardinals, which would be awesome for him. He's got all of the tools, and if he stays healthy I can see a huge second half for A.J. I think there is enough reward potential there to take the risk in trading for him if you need a SP for the second half.

Others to watch:

Nick Markakis - OF - Baltimore Orioles, Kevin Youkilis - 1B/3B - Boston Red Sox, Sean Gallagher - SP - Oakland A's, Matt Holliday - OF - Colorado Rockies

COMING SOON - Top Five Projected Second Half Bums