Most of the spin coming out of Cleveland is the "good news" regarding Grady Sizemore, but if you actually read the article, I'm more pessimistic about surgery being in his future than ever. Maybe I'm crazy, but I'd think about selling him for 70 cents on the dollar right now. Maybe even 60 cents.
There isn't a player having a quieter monstrous season than Prince Fielder, who currently leads major league baseball with 62 RBI. Of course, a .344 batting average with RISP isn't too sustainable (he's batting .255 with the bases empty), but it's clear his true ability is that of the hitter he was in 2007 rather than last season, which mainly consisted of a terribly slow start.
David Wright is on pace to finish the year with 10 home runs, 47 stolen bases and one awkward appearance on "Joe Buck Live," my favorite new show. Buck ordering a whiskey sour?! How preposterous!
As president of the Jay Cutler fan club, I'll take great pleasure in watching the Broncos quite possibly finish in last in the AFC West. Of course, the Raiders reside there, so third place is more realistic, but I can't remember ever seeing a worse offseason than Denver's. I actually think Brandon Marshall is a little overrated and looked better because of Cutler, but wow, now he's the next to be traded? On a side note, Eddie Royal is going to be a fantasy monster in 2009. Mark it down. If a draft were held tomorrow, I'd take him ahead of Marshall.
Playing in two keeper leagues – one where I'm currently a buyer and the other a seller – I happen to own Madison Bumgarner in both. I recently entertained dealing him in the former, and luckily the deal fell through, as that would have been akin to selling my first child. There's actually a slight chance this kid could be pitching in San Francisco in September, and I can't think of a minor leaguer I'd rather own. Except for Stephen "Jesus Christ" Strasburg, of course.
With another bomb Tuesday, David Ortiz has four homers over his past seven starts. I was more on the side of "he's done" rather than "buy-low," but this is highly encouraging. I'm not really sure how to treat this recent surge, but at the very least, owners should feel more comfortable including him in trade offers. There's also the chance this portends a nice second half.
Let me get this straight, Donte' Stallworth was sentenced to 30 days (he'll only have to serve 24) in prison for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk (.126 BAC) at 7:30 am?! (Just curious, is there any state where the legal limit is NOT .08?) Listen, I get it, the victim wasn't in a crosswalk, Stallworth immediately called for help and stayed at the scene, he has zero history of trouble in this area, will also have two years of house arrest, driver's license suspended for lifetime, 1,000 hours of community service and paid off the victim's family, but this is a bit absurd, no? According to this logic, Plaxico Burress is looking at approximately 3 hours in the clink. And how must Michael Vick feel? 24 days?!?! He killed a human being!
I'm only going to say this one more time, Joe Blanton needs to be owned in all leagues. He has a 5.17 ERA, but I view him as a top-30 starting pitcher.
Jeff Francoeur is so terrible, the Marlins rejected a swap of him for Cody Ross. And that was absolutely the right call too. Remember all those puff pieces about Francoeur's new approach at the plate during spring training? The writers certainly hope you don't.
Apropos of nothing, I'll now leave you with a classic piece of writing by Larry David.