5/18 Recap

So I broke the power cord to my laptop, which it turns out is not a good thing to do. It runs about $100 to replace it, but I had a warranty so I'm getting it sent out to me by Wednesday. Hopefully. In the meantime, it's been interleague play, which I hate, so it was an optimal time to miss I suppose since these are basically fake games anyways. Today it was announced that Jeff Clement was being sent down, just as he started hitting. This actually angered me. Angered me to the point that I'm introducing the first AL Incompetency Ratings.

1. Seattle Mariners - I might be influenced by the Jeff Clement move, but this team actually wants to play Jose Vidro. Barry Bonds would be a great option here. They want to contend, but have no idea how to.

2. Los Angeles Angels - Gary Mathews alone would have made them top 5, but they continue to call up players to have them sit the bench. See Brandon Wood and Kendry Morales. Plus Reggie Willits and Juan Rivera, both better than Gary Mathews and Garrett Anderson, sit the bench.

3. Toronto Blue Jays - Any team that thinks they can contend and be better off with Brad Wilkerson and Shannon Stewart in the lineup instead of Frank Thomas and Adam Lind is dumb.

4. New York Yankees - Lots of bad contracts on this team, but they always produce. Plus the youth movement, although not exactly panning out, is the right thing for this team. But when you can throw $40 million at a AAA pitcher, it's not exactly hard to have a good team.

5. Detroit Tigers - Traded an awful lot of pitching for offense this offseason, and did absolutely nothing about their awful bullpen. Not a playoff team with the second highest payroll.

6. Texas Rangers - Still no pitching, although the Josh Hamilton trade was a good excuse for dealing a pitcher. No 1B, and Hank Blalock at 1b doesn't help things very much. Way too many random players with no future getting time.

7. Minnesota Twins - This could just be because I've never liked the Twins, but this team reeks of mediocrity. Craig Monroe over Jason Kubel is bad. And they didn't get nearly the haul the M's did for Bedard for Santana.

8. Baltimore Orioles - This is more based off reputation, as the Miggy T and Bedard teams finally started to show they were going to rebuild. Still a ton of mediocre vets on the team.

9. Kansas City Royals - Not nearly as much to hate about this team as in the past, but still a lot of work to be done. Not a ton of keepers on the current team.

10. Cleveland Indians - Lots of pitching, bad idea to give Hafner that deal, and still can't figure out who is going to play outfield for them. But remains competitive.

11. Tampa Bay Rays - This is basically because of the Jonny Gomes situation. Last year, they would have been much higher, but now they have a stacked lineup and ungodly deep pitching throughout the system. They do still employ Rocco Baldelli.

12. Chicago White Sox - Last year might have been top three, but now all those moves have panned out. I still have a hard time saying a team with Ozzie Guillen at the helm is run well.

13. Boston Red Sox - Stacked top to bottom. They employ JD Drew, which is too bad.

14. Oakland A's - They continue to succeed with guys they get in trades. The Beane hype is real, although I just don't know if this is going to last.

Let's hear the arguements. Really only the top four teams are competent, and that middle section could be juggled concievably. Someone make me a GM, please.

Here's some quick recaps while I have a computer as well.

Red Sox 11, Brewers 7
The Sox are just warming up, although Youkilis is probably playing over his head right now, he's still a good option all year. Maybe a sell high guy, especially with 1B/3B qualifications. It should be noted that Jacoby Ellsbury finally got caught stealing, but it's awful impressive he's lasted this long without it. Josh Beckett has had dominating stuff a lot of the times this year, strking out 9, but today he let up 4 homers. He's going to be fine all year, but if those homers start to return, that ERA is going to climb.

Reds 6, Indians 4
Michael Aubrey was called up and homered, just as Ryan Garko was getting hot. Maybe I should have put them higher. Cliff Lee pitched like human Cliff Lee for the first time all year. I've been amazed he's kept it up this long. He's going to be a great option all year, but not what he was doing. Sell high. Second base is a blackhole for the Indians. I dropped Cabrera today for Izturis, and I don't see him or Carroll doing much.

Nationals 2, O's 1
Jeremy Guthrie continues to pitch well, and continues to have only 2 wins on the season. This O's team isn't nearly as good as it's been playing. Alex Cintron isn't much of an option this year, but if he keeps playing it could be worth a flier.

Royals 9, Marlins 3
Zach Greinke is a stud, and can hit too apparently. Mark Teahen had a good game, homering and stealing a base. He's just an average outfielder. Jose Guillen, however, is for real. Buy. With Jeff Clement being sent down, Miguel Olivo is an intersting option, and he's pretty much claimed the catcher job for now.

Braves 5, A's 2
Justin Duchscherer is a must start. Mike Sweeney is worth a grab in deeper leagues. The power still isn't there but he hit his six double today. Emil Brown has fallen back to earth some, and it should have been expected.

Jays 6, Phillies 5
The whole Brad Wilkerson leading off deal hasn't really gone too well. Shaun Marcum got bumped after a rain delay, and Roy Halladay came in relief to pick up a hold. No word on how that's going to play out, but I would assume Marcum goes on Tuesday and Halladay Wednesday or Thursday. Not that Halladay ever needs rest or anything. BJ Ryan gave um his first run of the year, a homer to Pat Burrell, but still got the save and struck out two. He's safe.

Cards 5, Rays 4
Edwin Jackson pitched well, although 4 BBs in 5.1 isn't great, the 7 Ks are. I'm slowly becoming a believer. Ben Zobrist was called up, and Jason Bartlett hasn't done much to keep his job, so it could be interesting to see how this plays out. Zobrist isn't a great option, at least Bartlett steals some bases.

Astros 5, Rangers 4
I didn't grab David Murphy my league after he was dropped and I'm regretting it already. He's going to be solid it looks like. I'm really buying into Milton Bradley, especially if he can DH and not worry about getting injured as much. Josh Hamilton had the day off but he's fine. Kason Gabbard hot lit up, but he's still an intersting option. He just won't pitch deep into many games.

Rockies 6, Twins 2
Kevin Slowey hasn't done much to impress this year, but he's a nice buy low guy. This is a pretty brual looking lineup the Twins threw out there today, it's amazing they scored two with Redmond, Clark, Everett in the lineup.

Angels 10, Dodgers 2
I'm going to guess Mike Napoli is going to start getting some regular play time, since he's second in homers in the leauge playing half the games. Jeff Mathis takes a big hit. Napoli's power is real, but there won't be much average. Jered Weaver had a good start after a couple bad ones. I wouldn't worry about him.

White Sox 13, Giants 8
John Danks pitched well again. I hate that all these guys I didn't buy into have done so well this year. And they will all year. Orlando Cabrera homered twice out of the leadoff spot. He's going to be good. Joe Crede is up to .279 with 8 homers, but 9 errors. I can't see him being traded this year. Nick Swisher is showing some life too. Strong buys for the slumping Sox.

M's 3, Padres 2
Felix had a good start, it seems like it's been a while since I've been able to say that. Ichiro, of the .280 average, is now up to 20 SBs. I'm guessing his owners aren't complaining too much. Jose Lopez looks pretty good this year too. He's not going to be a stud, and he had a great first half last year too and faded in the second, but he's a good 2B.

Dbacks 4, Tigers 0
Not the A lineup, especially against the lefty, but not an impressive day. Nate Robertson has been awful. He has no value in leagues. Polanco keeps hitting, and soon he's going to be over .300. Sheffield may not make it over .200 anytime soon.

Mets 11, Yankees 2
Derek Jeter finally stole a base. He's been a big disapointment this year. I don't think he's worth whatever it'd take to get him. Chien Ming Wang got rocked, but no worries there either. Johnny Damon is looking like a great sleeper right now, buy low.