Finally ...

I have good news for L.A. Dodger fans as well as any fantasy owners looking for some pop.

James Loney has been inserted into the regular starting lineup with Nomar Garciaparra being moved across the diamond to third. It's unclear how the latter move will play out, but the 23-year-old Loney has broken out in the month of June with his sudden abundance of at-bats in L.A.

At the time of this post, the Dodgers are back in first place in the N.L. West, thanks in large part to Loney's 3-hit hit night in Arizona. After spending the season' first two months with Triple-A Las Vegas (where he hit .380 last season) , Loney is back with the big club and picking up where he left off last season.

In 2006, the lefty hit .284 with 4 homers and 18 RBIs in 48 games. He also set a National League rookie record and tied the Dodgers' franchise record with a career-high 9 RBI against the Rockies last September. Loney is batting .471 in 2007 as he looks to stick with Grady Little's club. He's put together a 5-game hit streak, which includes four multi-hit efforts, three doubles, two triples and a pair of long-balls ... Not bad.

Anyway, while I'm sure many fans wondered aloud why this opportunity took so long for James Loney (including my dear friend and lifelong Dodger fan dating back to the team's Brooklyn days, Stanley Kaplan), the fact is: He's up now ... so don't sleep and go get him.

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BANE

It was a very frustrating weekend for me in my head-to-head fantasy league, the Shlub Scrumptious league. In a rematch from Week 1 (when I won 7-2-1, thanks in part to some rain delays), my team went up against perhaps the deepest offensive team in the league - with names like Sizemore, Ordoñez and Ortiz.


My squad of Alfonso Soriano, Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez were great. On Sunday, the last day of the fantasy week, my boys forged ahead of Danny Andrews' team, The Dazzlin Dasherss (the kid adds extra letters to certain words - I'm not sure why). My team held slim leads in homers and total bases (in place of batting average), and trailed by a couple of RBI. I was really feeling another victory over Danny, who is the bane of my fantasy baseball existence.

So what happened? Well, Corey Hart of the Brewers hit his 3rd homerun of the week to tie his game in the 9th inning. Then Brian Roberts hit his second homerun of the weekend in Arizona (he has 4 total on the season) to put me one homer and couple bases back ...

How 'bout some insult for your injury? Jason Varitek, who'd already tripled in Boston's finale in San Diego, added a solo homerun just to stick the knife in a little deeper, and putting it out of reach. I lost 6-4 overall, dropping homers 14-12 and total bases 141-136. I mean that sucked.

Things like this tend to happen in both fantasy baseball and fantasy football leagues. Narrow losses eat away at everybody, so don't feel bad. There's always this week.

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SECOND HALF SPECIAL!

What's up everyone ... Haven't posted in a minute because I was visiting my old stomping grounds in NYC. But now I'm back to help people prepare for their second-half drafts and also to help re-tool some squads for the majority of owners in "full-season mode."

Preparing for a New Draft:

I like to call the second-half draft a fantasy owner's mulligan. So much has changed between the start of the season and now, and there are some tough questions to ponder if you're looking you start up a new team. With all the information we now have, the first three rounds will look a lot different than they did in March.
One key to success will be getting players with you're second and third round picks that were definite first-rounders in the preseason. Of course, you'll also have to avoid overrating the guys who look like first-rounders now but who'd never have been picked there a few months ago.

A perfect example of this is Magglio Ordoñez. He's had great years before but now he's leading the Majors in hitting and looking like an M.V.P. front-runner. But is he worthy of a first round pick? I don't think so ... Go ahead and take a shot if he's there in the second round. He is a great player - I just worry about his past injuries resurfacing.

Matt Holliday is also making a case for garnering a first round selection. He was a great third round pick to begin with - maybe even a good second rounder. He's turned into a Top 10 player in many mixed leagues (I'd draft Holliday ahead of Ordoñez).

Here's the point: Breakout seasons from the above two guys and others like Prince Fielder may push some established superstars like Ryan Howard, David Ortiz and dare I say - Johan Santana out of the first round ... and you need to be ready to pounce if any of those guys falls to you in the second round.

You have to take advantage of the people using only the first half of 2007 as a guide to the second half. You must use the big picture to see that some guys who've had disappointing first halves like Howard and Big Papí (still pretty good) - and to a far greater extent Garrett Atkins - will lose some value early in drafts and therefore become far more valuable to you when you pick them up in the second round (or a bit later in Atkins' case).

On the mound, I have a feeeling that a few folks out there may get courageous and make Jake Peavy or Cole Hamels the first pitcher off the board. If this happens, consider yourself very fortunate and take Johan Santana if he somehow falls to you. It won't happen often, but all you need to know about the great lefty is this: since 2004, he's *****32-3 after the All-Star break***** ... 'Nuff said.

Mid-Season Evaluations:

For those fantasy owners trudging along through the full MLB season, the actual midpoint (meaning 81 games into it) is a crucial stage as you try to gain ground or solidify a spot at or near the top of your league. If you have some pieces to part with, I almost always advocate chasing a big star who's been strugging, but a couple of these big names are already starting to come around - except for Andruw Jones (what is going on there?).

I think the guy to really go after is Carlos Beltrán. He's starting to come out of his funk and not coincidentally, the Mets are too. Roy Oswalt hasn't thrilled his fantasy owners either this season, but keep your ears to the ground on this guy. If you hear that someone in your league is disenchanted with Oswalt, it's definitely worth making an offer for him. Forget the bullpen struggles in Houston, this guy is a lot better than he's shown and his value probably won't get any lower (7-5, 3.55 ERA, 1.38 WHIP right now).


In closing, I encourage all my fellow owners to just stay with it and know that there is still time to recover if your struggling and there's always room for improvement - even if you're in first place. Tonight I will share my views with the world once again on Beltway Baseball, inside the 10 PM edition of SportsNite on Comcast SportsNet (Ch. 628 on your DirecTV, Ch. 45 if you have local cable in Montgomery County or something else if live someplace else). Hopefully I'll get to talk to Kelli Johnson again.

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A Conversation with the lovely Kelli Johnson

Is This Guy Serious?

I don't often praise members of the Boston Red Sox outside of Manny and Ortiz, though Kevin Youkilis has come on strong this season as well.

But this post is all about DUSTIN PEDROIA, a little man with a big bat! I've been debating about whether to dedicate a whole post to him, but a 5-for-5 effort against the Giants on Friday sealed the deal. Pedroia could keep putting up big numbers if he continues to bat in front of one of the great run-producing duos of all-time in Manny and Ortiz. Plus he's got that Green Monster out in left field - where high fly balls become homers.

Anyway, the comparison I've been hearing out of Bean-town is to Jody Reed. Admittedly, it sounds funny to call someone 'the next Jody Reed,' but then I remembered that Reed used to eat up the Yankees in the late 80's and early 90's. These days Pedroia is really starting to swing the stick well, and though he doesn't boast a lot of power, his spot in the order makes him look like a good source of runs and average for years to come. I'm just glad the Red Sox don't still have Hanley Ramirez to go along with him.

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Prospects to Big Leaguers

I have to give a big shout out to my man Mitch Tischler for this one. Justin Germano of the Padres is coming into his own at baseball's highest level. He's been working his way through the minors since 2000, before appearing briefly in the Majors in 2004 and 2006. His 7 starts this season are already a career-high. He allowed two runs or less in each of his first 4 starts, got beat up in two straight, then pitched 6 shutout innings against the Devil Rays last night. That may not be the world's greatest accomplishment but hey, he's 5-0.

Most of the glory on the mound in San Diego goes to Jake Peavy and Trevor Hoffman, which is fair. But fantasy owners shouldn't forget about a very valuable and underrated pitcher in Chris Young- a great ERA and strikeout guy. Even Greg Maddux is still holding it down in a lot of mixed leagues.

However, Justin Germano is dangling out there in a lot of mixed leagues, and if you need an option at the back of your rotation, this guy looks like a steal. I always lean toward the N.L. pitchers anyway.

Elsewhere in prospect-land, Matt Kemp is back up with the Big Club in Los Angeles (I'm talking about the real LA, where the Dodgers play - not the imaginary one in which the Angels play). Anyway, this guy was actually a factor last June when he belted all 7 of his career homers.

That seemed like a random power surge, but Kemp is putting together another good month of June this season. He can also steal some bases and could see more action if Grady Little doesn't find an excuse not to play him.

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Falling off a Lidge

Well, the Brad Lidge experiment got off to a terrible start last night in Houston. The Astros' hard-throwing righty surrendered a game-tying homerun to Oakland's Mark Kotsay leading off the 9th inning, as he sought his first save of the season. The Astros later won the game, but I know Lidge's BS (blown save) is certainly upsetting to those owners who plugged him back in upon hearing about his return to the closer's role (I picked him up just in time to insert him into one of my lineups).

But don't worry - I'm not going back on my promise to aid my fellow owners in the saves category. Give Lidge a chance to get reacquainted with the 9th inning before you dump him. Elsewhere in closer news, it looks like Huston Street won't be back by the All-Star break as the A's had hoped. That means Alan Embree will be assured of more time at closer - at least until the A's make a move. Who knows? Maybe the A's will trade for Brad Lidge (as long as Billy Beane doesn't have to pay him).

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