Sorry folks.

I know. I fail.

I have been slacking big time over the last week. It’s been in the 90′s and low 100′s all week and I’m working a 4 am  to 12:30 shift as well, so it’s hard for me to get notes in when I need to get to bed before half of the games are over.

Expect me to get back up to the norm soon enough.

All-Star Break Decisions – NL Hitters

It’s the All-Star break, and its about that time that you realize if your fantasy team is a winner, a loser, or a contender.  This is your time to make a move.  Whether it be for the future in a keeper or franchise league.   Or for the now if you are going for that coveted championship.  This three day baseball break could be the time to evaluate your team’s season.

To help you out I am going to discuss some players that are either hot, not or just having odd seasons, and what I think you should do going forward.

Milton Bradley has been a mess since coming to Chicago.  He has been booed, he has been ejected, he has been hurt, he has done cartwheels.

He has done just about everything, except hit.  He has 6 HR’s, a .243 avg and only 21 RBI’s.  This was not expected from the man who led the AL in OPS last year and entering the NL’s highest scoring team from 2008.  The OBP is still there at .379, but nothing else seems to be.  Milton says “He’s back”, and hopefully he is.  He has been better of late, but still needs days off.

I would try to move Milton.  To me he doesn’t play enough to be a fantasy guy.  He is always hurt, and needs lots of days off.  Plus he hasn’t had a big injury yet.

Jimmy Rollins is an odd one.  Just two years removed from winning the MVP, is looking more like a journey man SS than an MVP caliber player.  His speed seems to be down.  His SB% is way down from last year, he only has one triple on the year compared to 9 all of last year.  He is hitting more HR’s than last year, but still no where near where he was in 2006-2007.  His BABIP is a bit low, but that could be in part because of the loss of speed.

If it were me I would be looking to shop Rollins for a better SS, or at least one having a better year.

David Wright is having some year.  Only 5 HR’s thus far for a guy with 4 straight years of 26 or more is never good for your fantasy team.  Wright does go into the break with a .324 avg, so he isn’t killing your fantasy team.  The main question is though will the power come around?  He has one HR since June 10, and even his avg is way down sitting at only .285 during that time frame.

David Wright is way too young to be “done”.  Nothing is going right for the Met’s right now.  He is sitting at a .430 BABIP which is artificially inflating his .avg and that’s going to regress.  The last person to have a season of over 300 AB’s with a .400 plus BABIP was Jose Hernandez back in 2002 and he had a .405.

If you are in a keeper league I would hold onto Wright unless you get a massive offer.  If you are in a regular league I would move him for someone who will give you production now.  Wright’s power might come back in the second half, but nothing thus far is pointing to it being a good year for Wright.

Alfonso Soriano does not like to hit anything but a FB.  As a Cub fan I know this first hand.  Its horrible to watch him.  How it took MLB this long to catch up to Soriano I will never know, but they finally have.  For his career Soriano only has positive production against fastball’s, and cutter’s.  For sliders and curve balls he has been bad, especially with the slider.  Finally though pitchers are picking up on this.  Soriano is one of only two full time players who are seeing less than 50% fastball’s (the other is Ryan Howard).  Soriano has now gone from being one of the better bats in baseball, to being actually below average.  All because he isn’t getting as many fastballs.

I would look to move Soriano.  If this keeps up, he won’t be worth hardly anything.  Unless Soriano fixes something or learns how to hit a slider his days as a superstar could be numbered.

Chris Young likes to swing the bat real hard.  He likes to hit home runs, and has amassed quite a few over the past two years, but this year the power numbers are down… way down.  When I think Chris Young, I think of Corey Patterson.  Yes Chris does know what a ball looks like but outside of that they seem to be very similar.  Swing for the fences, play solid D, strike out a ton.  If Young is the C-Patt version 2.0 it might be time to move him.  Young like Soriano cannot hit a slider, and this year cannot hit a fastball either.

I have never been a fan of Young.  I always felt he was just waiting for the league to figure him out.  Maybe they have.  He will never hit for a high average, and doesn’t run a lot either.  I would get what you can for him and move on.

Russell Martin used to hit extra base hits.  Now it seems as though he is comfortable just staying at first.  Russell only has 12 extra base hits on the season.  His IsoP is sitting at a .057, which means that Juan Pierre is hitting for more power than Martin.  At least he is getting on base, he isn’t killing you in the K department, and still taking plenty of walks, so the eye is still there.  I don’t know about that power though.

Both of Martin’s home runs have come in the last month, but even so he only has one double since the beginning of June.  I would hold onto Martin just because you will be selling low.  You might try to buy low on him as well, but it would be a risk.  His power has gone down the last three years, but it has never been at Juan Pierre like levels.  I wouldn’t consider him an elite catcher anymore, but I also wouldn’t call him a bust just yet.  Be patient, but be cautious.  I would pick up another catcher if I were you.

Jay Bruce: Cheaper Adam Dunn?

Jay Bruce quietly hit his 16th homer of the season Wednesday night, providing the only other RBI besides the three run dinger hit by Micah Owings. On the season, Bruce is hitting .217 with 3 SB, 16 HR and 33 RBI. Now, the batting average is pretty crushing for a team ( I know this first hand) but the power we expected from Bruce seems to be there. He’s also got a ridiculously low BABIP at .208 so one should expect him to bring the average up at some point. Sure, he’s probably not going to finish the season hitting over .250, but if he keeps up a decent pace, look for possibly another 20+ home runs from here on out. Also, MAYBE he’ll get you another 6 or 7 steals, which is only icing on the cake. So, in other words, I’m buying low right now if I need power. But if you need more than power, he may not be the best option. Although, we’ve seen this kid’s upside and we must remember he’s only 22.

Micah Owings- Put up a big goose egg in the K department and is only being mentioned because he’s the sole reason for Javier Vazquez’s uglyish line.

Jake Westbrook- Now, I know this may be a little early but it’s hopeful that he’ll be joining the Indians towards the end of this month (Only two weeks away.)  Basically, all I wanted to mention was that I’m avoiding this situation until it warrants me caring. I’m just letting you Indians fans and people in deep, deep, deep, deep leagues know what’s going on.

Scott Podsednik- 2/4, 1 RBI, 1 SB. The 33 year-old dude has eight stolen bases on the season and is hitting for a decent average. If he keeps up this pace he could finish with 20+ SBs on the season while hitting near .300. If you can get anything worth value for him, I’d try. But, if you don’t own him and he’s a free agent, I’d grab him. Only if you’re playing Gordon Beckham at UT, however.

John Danks- 7 IP, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K. ZING! Danks puts up numbers that make people happy. Maybe next week he’ll put up numbers that make people sad, since that’s how he rolls and all.

Juan Rivera- Hitting .316 on the season with 9 home runs. If someone were to ask me: ” What outfielder will hit twentyish home runs with a high .200 average?” I’d guess Juan Rivera. Do what you will with that info….or lack of info.

Roy Halladay- To the DL with a mild groin strain. I don’t think it’s something to poop yourself over as he should be back once his DL time is up or soon after.

Sean Rodriguez- In 205 AAA at bats, Rodriguez has hit 21 HR, 60 RBI, 6 SBs while batting .273. Too bad he’s playing for the wrong team. The team that likes to play old, hacking at eye high pitches, players who are probably three years older than they claim (Vlad, we’re not pointing fingers.) I think Rodriguez would hit home runs if he actually started, but chances of that are pretty slim until Vlad breaks a hip.

Corey Hart- This game is still on progress but he just batted. 3/5 so far with a home run. Eh. He’s on a hot streak, which he sometimes is. Sell.

Victor Martinez- Who’d have thought the two guys fighting for a batting title in the AL would be catchers? It just makes me giggle thinking about it.

Aaron Hill- 3.5, 1 HR, 3 RBI. Go short Blue Jays’ second baseman!

Scott Richmond- 8 IP, 1 ER, 11 K. I wonder if Doc Halladay somehow possessed Richmond for this start.

Jayson Werth- The guy with the unnecessary “Y” strikes again with his 11th home run of the season. Expect a 20/20 season with a semi-poopy average.

Chien-Ming Wang- 5 IP, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Of all the teams in the MLB for Wang to win his first game against, where do the Nats rank? Top? Yeah, too bad he kinda sucked.

Matt Wieters- First Major League home run. Now all of you rookie lovers can gloat until he puts up another O-fer (Tomorrow.)

Brad Penny- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. There were rumors of Penny being a hot commodity, then the Sox decided they like the pitching depth and may not deal him. If you’re going to get 5 innings and 4 walks a game from him, maybe you should reconsider.

Curtis Granderson- 2 HR. 16 on the season. Could we see a 30 HR season from Grandy? Me thinks so.

Edwin Jackson- Even when he gives up three earned, he strikes out seven. His BABIP is still a bit low, so we can still expect more games like this. But, he’s also got a lower walk rate than his average and is giving up far less home runs than in past seasons. I’m thinking this guy is legit.

Chris Iannetta- 2/3, 1 HR. Nine home runs on the season. If he doesn’t get hurt, one could expect 20 HR and a .255 average from him at season end. That means if you’ve stuck with him this long, may as well keep him there.

Troy Tulowitzki- His his ninth home run of the season and over the last week is hitting .375 with three home runs and an OPS over 1.3. Maybe all of those benchings did him some good.

Chad Gaudin- 6 IP, 3 ER, 8 K. If he’s going to give up three earned to the Mariners in Petco, I want nothing to do with him.

Fantasy Football has opened! Sign up for a mock draft.

Yahoo Fantasy Football opened yesterday and I’d like to hold a mock draft this weekend. If you’d like to participate, please let us know.

Be expecting our initial rankings to begin this weekend. Thanks!