In the Minors
Dan Straily
If you can pick-up minor leaguers in your league, Straily is an
immediate must buy if he's still available. John Sickels has the lowdown here, but the bottom
line is that Straily has solid stuff, will pitch his home games in Oakland, and
is dominating the hitters' haven that is the PCL since his mid-season promotion
from Double A. Obviously, there are going to be some adjustments in the bigs,
but Straily's the kind of pitcher I like: a control artist that keeps the ball
in the park. Sign me up, please.
Got the Call
When it comes to what Gose might eventually become, the reviews are a mixed bag. A strong
year at AA New Hampshire in 2011 pushed Gose up in the rankings, but as a
21-year-old tools guy Gose is still a work in progress. Will he be a future 20/50 guy, a
base stealing weapon with OK batting averages and not much power, or a big
league bust that can't figure out off speed stuff? Any of these outcomes are
possible. You can't question Gose's athleticism or talent and
everything I've heard about his work ethic is extremely positive, but that
doesn't mean that Gose will excel. For Roto, he's definitely worth an A.L.-only
bid in leagues where you can't keep farm players. He went for $23 in the CBS
A.L.-only analyst league, and it will take at least that much to get him. Keep
in mind, though, that Gose will take a seat against lefties and probably platoon with
Ben Francisco. (never mind, see below) He
also might wind up getting sent back down if/when Jose Bautista comes back
later this season.
In addition: Multiple sources on Twitter
this morning are reporting that Travis Snider was pulled early from his AAA
game last night and his locker was cleaned out after the game was over.
Speculation is that Snider is only coming to Toronto in case Brett Lawrie has
to go on the DL. However, this is just speculation, and it's possible that
Snider might get called up anyway. If you're considering an aggressive bid for
Gose, this is just another tidbit to keep in mind.
In addition to the addition: The Blue Jays and Astros just made a huge swap, sending Francisco
to the 'Stros as part of the deal. This leads me to believe that Snider might
be up regardless of what happens with Lawrie. Both Snider and Gose are
left-handed, so I don't know how this would shake out in terms of playing time.
Really? You're going to
make f***ing make me change this AGAIN?!?!??!
OK, now it's being reported by John Lott that Snider
will play one corner outfield position with Gose playing the other. Rajai Davis
will be pushed into a part-time role.
I've always been a big fan of Turner's, but there are some
big, bright warning lights flashing here that simply cannot be ignored. Turner
has pitched poorly in two Major League starts this year (Jack Moore at Fangraphs does an excellent job of breaking down Turner's troubles in his last outing) and his diminished K/9 ratio isn't something to merely dismiss.
Turner battled through shoulder tendinitis and a dead arm this spring, and
while he was given a clean bill of health, you always have to wonder when
the strikeouts drop if there isn't a greater underlying problem. Turner is 21 years old, and could just be going through a
significant adjustment period, but he's not a pitcher I'd touch right now in
fantasy if I were contending...and he's a tough sell as a $10 keep next year as
well.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
In the Minors
After Dillon Gee went down, there were some reports that Wheeler
might be an option for the Mets' rotation. The team's brass quickly quashed
that notion, but Wheeler still could be in line for a call up if he continues
to dominate at AA. The K rate is down this year, but by all accounts Wheeler
has handled the transition to the high minors extremely well. He should at the
very least be a solid #2 in the long term, and I think that long term could
start as early as Opening Day 2013.
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