Deals could benefit Rockies

There have a bunch of seemingly minor deals over the last couple of days, but some of them could have impacts in both fantasy and real baseball.
-- The Rockies gave up just LHP Josh Outman and middle infielder Jonathan Herrera to get OF Drew Stubbs from the Indians and LHP Franklin Morales and inconsequential minor league RHP Chris Martin from the Red Sox. It wasn't too long ago that Stubbs was a viable center fielder, with plenty of homers and a few homers. Someone in Colorado must like Morales, entering his second stint with the Rockies. Outman has shown some promise in years past, but hasn't extended his encouraging numbers over a full season.
-- In another trade, the Braves required versatile C/OF/1B Ryan Doumit for at least bench strength from the Twins for minor league LHP Sean Gilmartin.
-- The Astros, finally showing some creativity and ability to identify sleepers by trading SS Ryan Jackson, recently acquired on waivers from the Cardinals, to the Padres for 1B/OF Jesus Guzman. He is expected to compete for Houston's first base job but even more likely could be at least a right-handed-hitting DH. Guzman has a bat; Jackson has a glove. In the Texas League, Guzman was a far more impressive performer than Jackson. The downside is that Guzman arrived late in the majors and won't have a very long shelf life. But the Astros didn't have Jackson long enough to miss him and essentially acquired a needed bat for nothing.
-- Another good move, countering some of the Mariners' earlier off-season deals, was resigning OF Franklin Gutierrez. He was injured this season, but if he's physically able he could recapture center field, play some right, be a fourth outfielder/DH or at the very least be a defensive replacement for the lumbering players who could end up in Seattle's outfield. Gutierrez is hardly an automatic out at the plate. The loser in the off-season wheeling and dealing seems to be Dustin Ackley. For his sake, he may be able to escape the Mariners and become a viable 2B/OF somewhere else with a fresh start. He's young enough that he should have some value that could bring back a useful player in a trade.
-- The Padres also reportedly signed RHP Joaquin Benoit for $14 million over the next two seasons, pending a physical.
-- The Diamondbacks reportedly have agreed to resign 1B/3B Eric Chavez for a year.
-- The Royals traded OF David Lough to the Orioles for DH/3B Danny Valencia. This is a lefty batter (Lough) for righty trade. Valencia has more power; Lough is far superior defensively.
-- The Orioles' reported signing of RHP Grant Balfour for 2 years and $14 million makes it a de facto trade of closers after the Athletics acquired RHP Jim Johnson from Baltimore. The O's could be gambling that 2B Jemile Weeks, obtained in the Johnson trade, can be a useful major leaguer. I have my doubts but if he succeeds that could be a bonus.
-- In other news, Rays SS Tim Beckham, a former No. 1 draft pick, underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in a knee. That means he wouldn't be back until somewhere between June and August. I predict that you'll soon hear he'll be ready at the All-Star break, a magical time when so many players seem to heal. And as the break keeps growing, that becomes even more possible.
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Hockey. I seem to be stuck on 63 1/2 points and in third place. I'll pick up a point or so in one category and drop one in another area. The main thing is that I have to avoid continued wrong decisions on goalies. I'm down to six points total in the three goalie categories. Even an average showing in those areas would add 10 1/2 points and put me in second place on most days. Plus/minus also remains a problem. I seem to be taking one step forward and two back.
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Basketball. Through Wednesday, I had a slim 4-3-1 lead this week. Maintaining that would get me up to .500 at last, but I might have to do better to avoid dropping into eighth overall in the 10-team league. There's plenty of room and not a very long way to go to reach the top. Because so many teams are close, it becomes more important to make the right choices and especially to make lineup changes on time.

Hot and Not -- Gutierrez surprises

The players listed here were the major league statistical leaders during the last week. Batting averages are based on 20 at-bats, and ERA and WHIP on seven innings pitched. In most cases, we eliminate batters with an average lower than .280 and pitchers with ERAs above 4.00 from the Hot list. Keep in mind players’ career performance and current-season totals even more than current trends in deciding on whether to keep those players in your lineup.

Hot

Pos. Name, Team H-AB Avg. HR-RBI SB

OF Matt Diaz, Braves 13-21 .619 1-5 1
1B Justin Morneau, Twins 12-25 .480 4-8 0
OF Franklin Gutierrez, Mariners 12-26 .462 1-2 0
2B/SS Maicer Izturis, Angels 11-24 .458 0-2 1
1B Lance Berkman, Astros 10-22 .455 1-3 1
OF Marlon Byrd, Rangers 9-20 .450 3-9 0
1B Cecil Fielder, Brewers 11-25 .440 3-3 0
1B Joey Votto, Reds 11-25 .440 1-4 0
OF Ryan Church, Mets 13-30 .433 0-3 1
1B Albert Pujols, Cardinals 9-21 .429 3-8 1
SS Edgar Renteria, Giants 9-21 .429 0-6 1
3B/1B/OF Mark Teahen, Royals 9-21 .429 0-1 0

This is Gutierrez’s second consecutive week among the majors’ leaders in batting average.

Home runs – Morneau 4; Byrd, Fielder, Pujols, Indians OF Shin-soo Choo, Nationals OF Adam Dunn, Blue Jays OF Adam Lind, Yankees OF Hideki Matsui, Cardinals OF Colby Rasmus, Diamondbacks 3B Mark Reynolds and Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez 3. Reynolds’ strikeouts – and not his criticism of his teammates’ effort – had him on the previous week’s Not list. A-Rod was on the RBI Hot list that week.

RBI – Brewers 2B/3B Casey McGehee 10; Byrd, Choo and Marlins SS Hanley Ramirez 9; Matsui, Morneau, Pujols and Angels OF Bobby Abreu 8. A week earlier, Ramirez was on the home runs Hot list. Abreu’s hot bat has driven in eight runs each of the last two weeks.

Stolen bases – Rangers SS Elvis Andrus and Dodgers OF Juan Pierre 5; Red Sox OF Jacoby Ellsbury 4; Marlins 3B/2B Emilio Bonifacio, Athletics SS Orlando Cabrera, Rays OF Carl Crawford, Rangers OF Nelson Cruz, Red Sox SS Julio Lugo and 2B Dustin Pedroia, Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen and Diamondbacks OF Gerardo Parra 2. Cabrera and Crawford are following up a week on the batting average Hot list as major league leaders in steals.

Runs – Abreu 9; Fielder and Giants OF Randy Winn 8; Byrd, Pujols, Rasmus, Angels OF Vladimir Guerrero and Braves 2B/3B Martin Prado 7.

Throws Pitcher, Team IP ERA W-L WHIP SO/BB

RHP Tim Lincecum, Giants 16.0 0.00 2-0 0.44 17:2
RHP Jason Marquis, Rockies 9.0 0.00 1-0 0.22 3:0
LHP Ricky Romero, Blue Jays 8.0 0.00 1-0 1.00 7:4
LHP Jorge DeLaRosa, Rockies 8.0 0.00 1-0 1.00 6:4
RHP Mike Pelfrey, Mets 7.2 0.00 1-0 1.04 6:2
LHP John Danks, White Sox 7.1 0.00 1-0 0.68 5:0
RHP Ryan Sadowski, Giants 7.0 0.00 1-0 0.57 4:1
RHP Jair Jurrjens, Braves 7.0 0.00 1-0 0.71 6:4
LHP Jon Lester, Red Sox 13.2 0.66 1-0 1.17 17:3
RHP Adam Wainwright, Cardinals 9.0 1.00 0-0 1.00 13:3

Romero is on this list of the majors’ best in ERA for the second consecutive week.

Wins – Lincecum, Rangers RHP Scott Feldman, Diamondbacks RHP Dan Haren, Royals RHP Luke Hochevar, Brewers RHP Braden Looper, Marlins RHP Ricky Nolasco and Astros RHP Roy Oswalt 2.

Saves – Angels LHP Brian Fuentes, Twins RHP Joe Nathan, Yankees RHP Mariano Rivera and Royals RHP Joakim Soria 3-for-3. It was Rivera’s second consecutive 3-for-3 week.

WHIP – Marquis 0.22, Lincecum 0.44, Oswalt 0.47, Orioles RHP Brad Bergesen 0.50; Nolasco 0.56.

Strikeout/walk ratio (10 Ks, at least a 2.5:1 ratio) – Haren 15:1; Dodgers LHP Randy Wolf 12:1; Pirates RHP Ross Ohlendorf 11:1; Nolasco 20:2; Lincecum 17:2; Cubs LHP Ted Lilly 16:2; Brewers RHP Yovani Gallardo 12:2; Twins RHP Nick Blackburn 10:2; Lester 17:3; Dodgers RHP Chad Billingsley 16:3. Lincecum has been among the leaders in K/W ratio each of the last two weeks. Nolasco was on the ERA Hot list the previous week.

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Not

Pos. Player, Team H-AB Avg. HR-RBI SB

3B Kevin Kouzmanoff, Padres 1-21 .048 1-1 0
C/1B Victor Martinez, Indians 1-20 .050 0-0 0
2B Ian Kinsler, Rangers 2-26 .077 1-1 0
OF Jason Bay, Red Sox 2-25 .080 0-1 0
SS Jack Wilson, Pirates 2-24 .083 0-4 0
OF Justin Upton, D-backs 2-23 .087 0-0 0
1B Carlos Pena, Rays 2-21 .095 0-0 0
2B Kazuo Matsui, Astros 2-21 .095 0-1 1
OF Alfonso Soriano, Cubs 2-20 .100 0-0 0
SS/2B Brendan Harris, Twins 3-27 .111 0-1 0

Wilson was on the batting average Hot list last week. This list shows that some really good players had a really bad week.

The week’s hitless wonders were Dodgers 2B Orlando Hudson 0-for-16; Cardinals SS Tyler Greene 0-for-12; Mariners 1B Mike Sweeney and Blue Jays OF David Dellucci 0-for-11, and Phillies C Carlos Ruiz, Astros C Humberto Quintero and Rockies OF Carlos Gonzalez 0-for-10.

Walk/strikeout ratio (10 or more strikeouts) – Harris 0:10; Pirates 1B Adam LaRoche 1:11; Giants OF Aaron Rowand and Mets 3B David Wright 1:10; Mariners 1B/3B Russell Branyan 2:14; Rays OF Pat Burrell 3:10; Bay 4:13. In a fashion typical of his career, Branyan made this list a week after his home runs had put him on the Hot list. LaRoche again followed up a Hot week with a Not week.

Caught stealing – White Sox OF Scott Podsednik 1-for-3; Marlins 3B/2B Emilio Bonifacio and Diamondbacks OF Gerardo Parra 2-for-4; Dodgers OF Juan Pierre 5-for-7. Podsednik has been 1-for-3 two weeks in a row.

The pitchers on the next list each made two starts, doubly damaging their real and fantasy teams.

Throws Pitcher, Team IP ERA W-L WHIP SO/BB

LHP Rich Hill, Orioles 8.2 13.50 0-0 2.54 5:7
LHP Joe Saunders, Angels 9.0 13.00 0-1 2.33 4:8
LHP Cliff Lee, Indians 9.0 10.00 0-2 2.67 6:5
RHP Rick Porcello, Tigers 8.1 9.72 0-2 2.40 3:4
RHP Bronson Arroyo, Reds 10.1 8.71 0-2 2.61 4:6
RHP Rich Harden, Cubs 9.0 8.00 1-1 2.11 10:2
LHP Clayton Richard, White Sox 9.2 7.45 1-1 1.34 9:1
RHP Mike Burns, Brewers 11.1 7.15 1-1 1.41 5:2
RHP Josh Banks, Padres 11.1 7.15 1-0 1.41 4:2
RHP Brad Thompson, Cardinals 11.0 6.55 0-2 1.73 6:3

We warned you about Arroyo in our “Pitchers to seek and to avoid” Article.

Losses – Arroyo, Lee, Porcello, Thompson, Orioles RHP Danys Baez, Pirates LHP Zach Duke, Mets RHP Fernando Nieve, Rockies RHP Joel Peralta, Red Sox RHP Takashi Saito and Mets LHP Johan Santana 2.

Blown saves – Braves RHP Peter Moylan 0-for-2.