TLOS Fantasy Update

By Brad Berreman
Love of Sports Correspondent

Hello, fantasy baseball fans and followers!

Are you ready for another edition of The Love of Sports Fantasy Update? Well, I sure hope so.

Keeping up with what has become tradition, here’s my weekly edition of who to add or drop from your rosters this week.

Yes, it’s time once again for Trash ... or Treasure?

Trash

OF Felix Pie, Cubs - Demoted to minors
DH Jose Vidro, Mariners - Is close to coming back from injury, but struggled in April when healthy
C Ryan Doumit, Pirates - Injured, expected to miss a month
OF David DeJesus, Royals - Is struggling and losing starts in CF to Joey Gathright
RP Rafael Betancourt, Indians - Lost primary closer job, therefore lost significant fantasy value
SP Tom Gorzelanny, Pirates - 6.64 ERA so far this season. ‘Nuff said.
RP Clay Buchholz, Red Sox - Injured, 15-day DL. Might lose rotation spot if Colon can stay in rotation
SP Miguel Batista, Mariners - Has a 6.11 ERA so far this season, won’t reach 2007’s 16-win plateau
C/DH Jeff Clement, Mariners - Demoted to minors after hitting just .167 during his big league stint
SP Kevin Slowey, Twins - Has been mediocre, in danger of losing rotation spot when Scott Baker returns from injury
SP Mark Prior, Padres - Had a setback in rehab from shoulder surgery and might not pitch this season now
C Jeff Mathis, Angels - Has been struggling and Mike Napoli has been playing more

Treasure

RP Scott Downs, Blue Jays - Getting some save opportunities
C Chris Snyder, Diamondbacks - Has been the team’s hottest hitter in May
SP Bartolo Colon, Red Sox - Will make season debut this week, if he can stay healthy could be very solid
OF Jose Guillen, Royals - Is hitting .533 since May 7 and has 15 RBI in his last 10 games
OF Jay Bruce, Reds - Isn’t up with the Reds yet, but if they trade Ken Griffey or Adam Dunn he could be called up and be valuable
1B John Bowker, Giants - Is hitting .389 in May, albeit in a mediocre lineup
OF David Murphy, Rangers - Has followed up Rookie of the Month honors for April with a solid May so far
1B Dmitri Young, Nationals - Returns from injury just in time to take over for an injured Nick Johnson
OF Milton Bradley, Rangers - Has been injury prone in his career, but is going very well at the plate
2B Mark Grudzielanek, Royals - Is definitely an option in AL-only leagues
OF Jacque Jones, Marlins - Might be worth taking a flier on and see how he fits in to the Florida outfield
OF Joey Gathright, Royals - Is getting regular playing time, a great source for SBs
RP Masahide Kobayashi, Indians - Should get first chance for save opportunities after Betancourt’s demotion
OF Jim Edmonds, Cubs - Might be worth adding and seeing if he can regain past form
2B Alexei Ramirez, White Sox - Is the White Sox new 2B, could become a solid value particularly in AL-only leagues

Fantasy MVP and LVP for May 12-18

MVP: Alfonso Soriano, Cubs - Hit .516 with 7 HR, 14 RBI and 10 runs scored last week. Seems to be regaining his previous form.

Honorable Mention: Lance Berkman, Astros (.481, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 2 SB), Ryan Braun, Brewers (.345, 6 HR, 10 RBI), Jose Guillen, Royals (.458, 2 HR, 13 RBI)

LVP: Mark Teixeira, Braves - Has been battling back spasms recently, but he hit just .136 with 0 HR and 0 RBI last week.

Honorable Mention: Hideki Matsui, Yankees (.143, 2 HR, 3 RBI), Curtis Granderson, Tigers (.200, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB)

The Love of Sports Fantasy Baseball League

After Week 7 of our fantasy baseball league, Pancakes for Dinner and team owner Scott Rathmill are still setting the pace with a 46-23-1 record, which is good enough to lead Division A by six games over Pedro Cerrano Clones (owned by this writer).

Topping Division B, and owning the league’s second-best record, is Love it When You Fukudome (owned by Mad Love) with a 42-22-6 clip. In second place in Division B, just four games back, is Diamond Notes (owned by Gino Pilato).

Two teams are tied for the worst record in the league: John Gorman’s Afghanistan Banana Stand and Adam Ruggiero’s Minnesota Nice Guys sport matching 24-41-5 records.

Probably the best matchup of the coming week features each division’s second-place team, Pedro Cerrano Clones vs. Diamond Notes. Each will try to put a dent in the division deficits they face.

And finally, here’s my recommendations for who to start and bench in your fantasy lineups this week:

Start

3B Alex Rodriguez, Yankees - An obvious starter when healthy, is expected to return from hamstring injury this week
OF Josh Hamilton, Rangers - Had been hitting well lately and all season
SP James Shields, Rays - Not that you’d bench him, but he has two starts this week (@Oakland, vs. Baltimore)
RP George Sherrill, Orioles - Has 17 saves, which is tied for tops in the American League and all of MLB
SP Ryan Dempster, Cubs - Has made a solid transition back to the rotation, going 5-1 with a 2.35 ERA so far in ‘08
OF Adam Dunn, Reds - Seems to be heating up, has homered in four straight games coming into Monday
SP Vicente Padilla, Rangers - is 6-2 with a 3.16 ERA so far this season
OF Alfonso Soriano, Cubs - Has been swinging a hot bat lately, though two HRs a game isn’t realistic
OF Hunter Pence, Astros - Appears to be re-gaining his 2007 form
SP Cole Hamels, Phillies - Two starts this week (@ Washington, @ Houston), both look favorable
C Kenji Johjima, Mariners - Is hitting .341 with seven RBIs in May after a bad April
2B Ian Kinsler, Rangers - Is a good source for SB and a solid batting average
C Mike Napoli, Angels - Is a good power option at C, and is part of a solid offensive team
SP Jon Lester, Red Sox - Two-start pitcher this week (vs. KC, @Oakland)
SP John Lackey, Angels - Another two-start pitcher (@ Toronto, @ Chicago White Sox), if you picked him up when he was injured this is the week to start him
SS Clint Barmes, Rockies - Has an 11-game hitting streak going
SS Stephen Drew, Diamondbacks - Has been hitting well lately, hitting .360 last week

Bench

SS Jeff Keppinger, Reds - Injured, out 4-6 weeks
SS Rafael Furcal, Dodgers - Injured, 15-day DL as of May 13
1B Nick Johnson, Nationals - Injured, 15-day DL as of May 15
SP Justin Verlander, Tigers - Is getting almost no run support
SP Jake Peavy, Padres - Will miss his first scheduled start his week (Monday, 5/19), but no DL stint yet, definitely worth monitoring his status
DH Travis Hafner, Indians - Is struggling a lot at the plate so far this season
1B Todd Helton, Rockies - His lack of power is troubling, but that has been a trend going back a few years
1B Daric Barton, A’s - Popular pre-season Rookie of the Year pick is hitting just .221 with 2 HR so far
OF Carlos Gomez, Twins - Was injured (wrist) making a spectacular catch last Friday, did not start last Saturday or Sunday
SS Edgar Renteria, Tigers - Has been mired in a slump lately, hitting just .111 since April 21
OF Rick Ankiel - Is nursing an ankle injury and could miss games this week
OF Michael Cuddyer, Twins - Is really struggling of late, with just one hit in his last 16 ABs