Gearing Up N.L.: Week 22 August 29-September 4

Major League Baseball.

For those of you in daily transactions leagues and streaming moves leagues, this is going to be a very busy weekend for you.  Hurricane Irene is wreaking havoc on schedules this weekend on the East Coast.  The Mets have postponed games for Saturday and Sunday.  The Phillies have postponed Saturday night’s game against the Marlins.  As Mike pointed out, the American League schedule could be a mess as well.  Jurrjens, Lee, Minor and Gee are all losing starts.  At a time of the season when playing time is king, you need to run out and grab guys for your line-up who are going to play games over the weekend.

Eric Surkamp.

Surkamp is a prospect who has always been subjected to the question of how his stuff will translate to the majors.  Well, I think we are about to find out.  I cannot imagine why the Giants would not want to stick with Dan Runzler (sorry for the sarcasm), but Surkamp has been down-right nasty in AA (2.04 ERA and 10.4 k/BB).  He gets the Astros who, despite their AA lineup, have been putting up decent offensive numbers from time to time.

Heath Bell.

No surprise to this writer, but apparently a huge surprise to many other fantasy writers, Bell goes nowhere.  One, the Padres did not want to trade Bell to the Giants.  Two, Bell is a Type-A free agent.  Three, Bell wants to negotiate a long term deal.  All of the Luke Gregerson owners out there will have to wait for another year or another team.

Johan Santana/Jon Niese

Niese first: it looks like his final month is in jeopardy.  Intercostal strains are difficult to predict, and with only one month left, it is possible Niese rides the pine the rest of the way.  I would recommend getting a replacement.  Santana owners are sure to be disappointed…it was a good gamble to pick him up and hope for a solid second half.  Unfortunately, Santana has suffered setback after setback, and it looks like his season is over.

Jose Reyes.

Reyes expects to be back next week to pull another hamstring.  He should be on your active roster until he does.

Chase d’Arnaud/Alex Presley.

Both have been activated from the disabled list.  Presley should be immediately placed in your active lineup.  d’Arnaud is a trickier case.  His OPS was less than .600, and he is currently behind Ronny Cedeno on the depth chart.  I would stash him for a week if you can and see what happens.

Tommy Hanson.

Hanson went back to Atlanta to have his shoulder examined once again.  If you followed my advice earlier in the week and hung on to Mike Minor, consider yourself lucky.  Hanson owners, however, need to start thinking about a replacement, at least for the short-term.

Alex White.

First round pick of the Indians, White is now a Rockie.  He did not enjoy his Rockies debut, giving up 5 runs in 6 innings.  He is a long-term keeper still, even in Colorado, and non-contenders should be looking at White this week.

Kevin Kouzmanoff.

Kouzmanoff came to the Rockies this week and will slot right into Ian Stewart’s spot at third base.  The good news for the Rockies, and for all former Stewart owners who pick up Kouzmanoff, is that you will notice almost no difference whatsoever.

Reliever Honorable Mentions.

At this point in the season, it is sometimes better to have a reliever than a starter – here are a few interesting guys to look at this week:

Juan Abreu (just called up, with 74 strikeouts in 57 IP at AAA); Ernesto Frieri (back from the disabled list and capable of striking out 10-11 batters per 9);