Bobby Cox said that he believes John Smoltz, Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez could all be back in the pen within two weeks.  This comes as a surprise in regards to Smoltz after the news earlier in the week.  With the addition of all three, the Braves will have the best bullpen in baseball, and you can forget about scoring runs after the sixth inning on them.  All three pitchers are legitimate big league closers, and none of them seem to have an ego that will get in the way of making this work.  For a team that has had it’s struggles since Smoltz left the pen, better news would be hard to find.

My thoughts on the fantasy baseball implications after the jump. Continue reading ‘Bravos getting bullpen help soon’

The Tigers activated Dontrelle Willis from the 15-day disabled list today. The first thing that popped into my head was the thought of the D-Train working the 9th. Nothing I have been able to find would indicate that the option has even been discussed at this point. As a matter of fact, Rotoworld.com says he probably won’t be in the pen very long. That’s bad news for the Tigers, because he will push Armando Galarraga out of the rotation. If you haven’t noticed Galarraga, he just might be the Tigers best starter so far this season. Oh, and Todd Jones has closed out each of his seven chances this year.

Does a .366 batting average, ten homers, and eight steals sound like something you might be interested in? What about an OPS of 1.059 to go along with his 37 RBIs? Jay Bruce is currently playing outfield for AAA Louisville, in the Reds organization. The lefty is on track for a June call-up, and could arrive quicker if the Reds trade Ken Griffey Jr. back to Seattle. While he does strike out a lot (39 times so far this year, with only 11 bases on balls drawn), Bruce can straight up rake. Those in need of outfield help may want to keep their eyes on Bruce, and when the 2007 Minor League Player of the Year (Baseball America, Sporting News) will make his ML debut. You can do so by checking back at The Sports Idiot, because we’ll be sure to keep you posted on his progress.

There is a reason why I would never recommend that you draft, or trade for, Eric Gagne. The oft injured right hander is experiencing stiffness in his throwing shoulder, and with Guillermo Mota and Salomon Torres both waiting in the wings, the BrewCrew would be dumb to risk further injuring the former Cy Young winner. Both Mota and Torres should be rostered in all leagues right now, with an edge to Torres being the main target for saves.

It’s being widely reported that John Smoltz has experienced “discomfort” in his shoulder after his last two bullpen sessions. The idea that he could be out “a lot longer” has been floated on several sites, but Smoltz has yet to rule out a late-May return. This isn’t good news no matter how you slice it, but we will remain optimistic about his return until John Smoltz himself says otherwise.

The obvious fantasy impact is a delay in getting that coveted SP/RP closer for Smoltz owners. The other aspect is the bump in value to Rafael Soriano (who could be back as early as late this week) and Mike Gonzalez (who is on target for a late May return) owners, given that both players should be able to get more saves than had Smoltz returned earlier. Gonzalez will likely be the set-up man for Soriano upon his return.

I don’t know how this was missed, but Maxim has put out it’s top 100 list of women who none of us will ever get to meet. Well, none of you, anyway. Last month we went over the FHM list, so in an attempt to be like Fox News (Fair and Balanced, you know) it is our duty to report on the Maxim list as well.

Hit the jump for the list. Continue reading ‘SEXIEST WOMAN ALIVE, MAXIM POLL’

Ken Griffey Jr finally paid off his debt to teammate Josh Fogg.  Apparently Junior owed Fogg $1500 for some unspecified reason, and Kenny decided to pay dude in pennies.  While this might not seem funny to everyone, the fact that he went to the bank and got 60 cases of pennies, totaling 150K little Lincolns, and stacked them in Fogg’s locker is hilarious to me.  What’s next, the old fire cracker in the shoe?  Each case of pennies weighed 16 pounds, and Kenny had this to say about them:

Since neither player will say what the debt was for, it leaves us to speculate.  Did Grump order up a call girl and have Fogg pay her to try and remove himself from it?  Was there a wild night out at the strip club that Fogg charged to keep Kenny’s name off of it?  Gambling debt?  I’ll leave it up to you to decide.

It looks like we’ll have to continue to wait for our first look at Clayton Kershaw in the Majors. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the Dodgers will be turning to Chan Ho Park instead of Kershaw as the 5th starter. So your fantasy impact? None.

First off, I have no connections to this guy.  He’s never met me, emailed me, or even linked to The Sports Idiot.  What he has done, however, is cover ACC basketball recruiting really well.  We all know that David Glenn is the top dog in this arena, and DG’s word is as good as gold.  Arlen is doing a great job, however, and covering things in a much different fashion.  He has updates on John Wall regularly, and right now has some great videos of Derrick Favors posted.  Do yourself a favor, and check out the site.  No matter what ACC school you are a fan of, you will enjoy your stay.

Max Scherzer’s first start was one to forget. His second start came Saturday against the Cubs, and it looks like Mad Max has forgotten about his terrible slate against the Phils. He went six innings, gave up five hits and one walk, but struck out six batters on the way to a no-decision. The only run he gave up was unearned, and his ML ERA is now sitting at 3.14. He lowered his WHIP down to 1.12. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that cancer survivor Doug Davis made his first minor league rehab start yesterday, and when he is ready he will be taking Scherzer’s rotation spot. We’ll keep you updated on this, and let you know the fantasy impact as soon as it’s a little clearer. Speaking of things that are clear, yes, dude has two different colored eyes.