Huey Lewis and the News

Movin' On Up – Except this time it's to the West Side. Los Angeles to be exact. For those who have been hiding under a rock lately, Manny Ramirez was sent to the Dodgers along with the remaining $7 million the Red Sox owed for this year in a three team deal. The Red Sox picked up younger and cheaper left fielder Jason Bay from Pittsburgh. The Pirates however, may have made out well too, cutting some costs while picking up youth in Craig Hansen, Brandon Moss, Andy Laroche and Bryan Morris.

Hansen will step in and help the bullpen deal with the loss of Damaso Marte. After being selected in the first round in 2005 and automatically dubbed the closer of the future for Boston, Hansen has been anything other than automatic. The situation may be perfect though for Hansen, who will now be able to shake the pressure and work more on his command. Brandon Moss will jump in to the Pirates outfield along with Nate McLouth, Steven Pearce and Jason Michaels.

The two prospects from the Dodgers are a little less clear. GM Neil Huntington has already stated that Andy Laroche will be given every opportunity to turn his season around and be the everyday third basemen for the Pirates. The questions are: Can his shoulder last a full season and will he still have the power he once possessed? As for Bryan Morris, this was more than just organizational depth filler. Morris has some promise, but he has had some control issues at times. Still, the Pirates will hope the 21-year-old can make his way to the show and help out.

In another deal near the deadline, Ken Griffey Jr. was dealt to the White Sox for reliever Nick Masset and minor-league 2B Danny Richar. Griffey will get a chance to go out and play center for the remainder of the season while Nick Swisher, Paul Konerko and Jim Thome rotate through the DH and 1B spots. This deal opens up the possibility that Konerko could be shipped out through waivers to a team such as Tampa Bay or Arizona if that team was willing to pick up whatever was left of Konerko's $12 million dollar annual salary. More likely though is that Konerko stays with the club and is dealt in the off-season.

The Reds haul was not too bad. On top of losing Griffey's salary, the team was able to get a potential fifth starter in Masset, who was once expected to be a big time prospect for Texas, and a solid backup infielder in Richar. While neither will be expected to be All-Star material, the do fill some voids the Reds had.

In the strangest of the deals, the Angels acquired first baseman Mark Teixeira for first baseman Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Steve Marek. The deal looks bad when you take into account the number of prospects Atlanta gave up at this time last year to acquire Big Tex. Still, it makes the Angels an even heavier favorite to take it all this year while giving the Braves a few more years of cost control over a developing first baseman.  

The last of the noteworthy deals involved the New York Yankees again. This time they dealt off reliever Kyle Farnsworth to Detroit for catcher Ivan Rodriguez. Both sides had obvious needs for their respective sides of the deal and not much analysis is needed here.

Nicks, Nerds and Notes – Khalil Greene may miss the rest of the season after suffering a broken hand this week... Adam Wainwright could be back in St. Louis' starting rotation by late next week... Astonishing news: Nomar Garciaparra is back on the DL... Cardinals' OF Chris Duncan will call it a season after he undergoes surgery to repair a herniated disk in his neck. The injury is being considered career threatening... Joe Blanton is stepping on thin ice in Philly where each of his starts will be scrutinized. J.A. Happ has been recalled and will be waiting in the wings... Dana Eveland was sent down to the minors after having a few rough starts lately... Billy Wagner will have his arm looked at after experiencing some discomfort... Todd Helton may not be back until next season. Tests on Monday will clear up the picture... Chien Ming Wang will most likely not touch the major league fields again until at least late September according to manger Joe Girardi.

Selling the Farm

The minors are in full throttle now with short-season leagues even starting to get into the mix. We'll follow the prospects you should know about and all the major news that can be gathered.

Guys to Eye

Dan Murphy, 2B/OF, NYM
In a disappointing season, the Mets have turned to minor leaguers for help. Previously mentioned Nick Evans is up with the big club and now the squad calls up the prospect of the year, Dan Murphy. Murphy may be a little older and is expected to be more of a right now stopgap, but he could still be useful down the road as the Mets don't have an everyday 2B who really stands out. Still pretty young at only 23, Murphy has hit well this season with a composite line of .315/ .379/ .493 between three levels this year. He's jacked 13 HR while bringing in 69 RBI and has even swiped 14 bags. His K/BB ratio is almost 1:1 which could be useful as an eventual two-hole guy. At this point, the Mets should be willing to take whatever they can get from whoever is willing to give it as they fight Philly and Florida for the NL East with a DL list looking more like a grocery list.

Weekly Wrap-Up

Liriano has been recalled by the Twins with expectation he can help the team steal the Central... Ex-top prospect Val Pascucci continues to hit AAA pitching well with 25 HR for the Mets AAA team... Dallas McPherson's phenomenal week with four long balls put him back atop the minor league home run lead with 39... Phillies top pitching prospect Carlos Carrasco is inching his way up the ladder with his recent promotion to AAA Lehigh Valley... Finally, it is expected that Rocco Baldelli's rehab stint is over and he could be called up as soon as Monday.

Prospect of the Week

Pablo Sandoval - A week after a Giants' pitcher won the award; a Giants' hitter takes it. Sandoval's .421 average with 2 HR and 11 RBI speaks enough for itself. The 21-year-old catcher has been hitting AA since his promotion and this week was just one of many superb ones so far in Sandoval's big season.

WAIT A MINUTE MR. POSTMAN

If you had to choose, who would you rather have as a starter on your team: Homer Bailey or Rick VandenHurk? - Carl, Miami, FL

So basically the question is do I like gunshots better than cyanide? I guess I'd take the cyanide. I think Bailey will eventually turn things around, but much like many of today's fragile-minded youths, Bailey will do it for another team. The hype machine that is today's sports media (such as Yahoo! overstating and overrating when it comes to almost every prospect that puts up a decent AA line) makes it tough for fans to overlook the fact that a kid needs time to adjust. Unfortunately, with kids being pumped up from JV high school coaches all the way to the pros, they expect everything to be easy for them. Then they get hit around and don't seem to know exactly how to handle it. VandenHurk wins here coming from the "green" Netherlands.

In this instance, I think I'd rather take the Hollander (there can only be one) and run with VandenHurk. While Bailey may throw the gas, his secondary pitches are on the verge of non-existent. As for VandenHurk, the Dutchman's curve is plus already if not plus plus. It has enough bite to fool the best of hitters but it lacks the command necessary to make it a true go to pitch. His fastball moves, but he needs to work on that as well.
Both players are only 21, but Henricus has the advantage of coming from a less baseball crazy country. I'll take the hammer over the gas any day and this instance will be no exception. In the words of Musical Youth : Pass the dutchie to the left hand side.

Keep the emails and PM's coming so you can avoid the likelihood that you'll be starting Paul LoDuca this year. To get your questions answered, PM TheSnake at FPM or email pick_six@hotmail.com.


Jake Gott is a writer for FantasyPlaymakers.com. An all around fan of sports, Jake follows the Cardinals of both St. Louis and Arizona as well as the Boston Celtics and the whole NHL. A proclaimed "fantasy nerd", he has hoisted many a belt above his head in league championship glory. To reach Jake, email him at pick_six@hotmail.com or by sending him a message on the FPM site under the name of TheSnake.