That’s right.  I got through the headline without some cheesy line about Blaine Boyer being dealt a new hand of Cards.  Stop it already.  That being said, the Braves did indeed move Boyer in exchange for Brian Barton, an outfielder in AAA.  How is he doing in AAA this year?  I’m sorry that you asked.  Dude is batting .107 through 28 at-bats.  There is room for hope, however, as Barton did log 82 games with the Cards last year, though he didn’t really light it up.  This move is just strange to me, especially since he will be tying up a spot on the 40-Man Roster.  Which could be the whole point.  Give Barton until June 1 to tear it up, and if he does not, then the decision on who to part ways with for Tommy Hanson will be easy.

This obviously has no impact whatsoever on anyone’s fantasy baseball team, regardless of whatever the settings your moronic commissioner decided to implement.  Carry on.

Chris Carpenter went on the Prior List earlier this week.  Today we learned that dude has a tear in his oblique muscle and will miss four to eight weeks.  The good news for Cards fans is that Mitchell Boggs was not called up to take his place.  Instead they will get to see P.J. Walters take the hill, and he’s already finished for the day.  Walters went four innings striking out seven Cubbies in the process.  He did give up three runs, all of which were earned, and walked two batters to go with his six hits allowed.  You should obviously avoid this guy for now, and sinice he only pitched in one AAA game before being brought up there isn’t much more to tell.

Several people were placed on the Prior List yesterday, so here is a quick rundown of a few and the fantasy impact for you:

Daisuke Matsuzaka.  The Red Sox put him on the 15 Day Prior List due to what is being labeled as “arm fatigue”.  This could mean a few spot starts for Clay Buchholz, the top pitching prospect in the Boston system, or it could mean it’s Justin Masterson time as well.  Do not be fooled by them calling up Hunter Jones, and proceed with caution until you know who will get the nod.  Depending on the matchup, either Buchholz or Masterson could be good plays.  It should be noted that Masterson is already in the Majors.

According to The Journal News’ Peter Abraham, Jake Peavy has already been told that he will be traded.  San Diego Padres GM Kevin Towers was quoted as saying “that train has left the station” to a small group of writers earlier today.  He revealed that there are three teams in the mix, all in the National League (see the Braves, Cardinals, and Cubs), and that a multi-team deal could be a possibility.

The National League limitations have officially pushed the Yankees out of the running, although some do not agree. Either way, this is about to get really interesting.

San Diego Padres GM Kevin Towers has pretty much declared that a deal with either the Cubs, Dodgers or Braves will happen in the coming weeks.  Towers says that said teams are the three of the seven potential teams that Jake Peavy would accept a trade to.  He then went on to say that he is “down the road” in trade talks with two of those teams.  Meanwhile, Towers just played a round of golf with Cubs GM Jim Hendry and followed it up a few days later with some QT at the bowling alley.  Let us hope they shared a real vanilla Coke together, like I used to enjoy while at bowling class at NC State.

ESPN’s Buster Olney is reporting that Jake Peavy gave the Padres an initial list of teams that he would prefer to be dealt to. Tops on the list seems to be Atlanta, who Olney thinks has the best shot of landing him. The Bravos think very highly of it’s current stable of prospects, and it will be interesting to see if they are willing to offer enough to snare Peavy.

The Cubs, Cardinals, Astros and Dodgers finish the list of teams on the table. It’s being reported that the Padres are also in talks with other teams, like the Yankees. It’s obvious that Peavy wants to stay in the NL, so things could get a little complicated if the Padres work out a deal with an AL team. With a full no trade clause in his contract, Peavy doesn’t have to go any where he does not want to. He deserves it, too. Peavy gave San Diego a huge hometown discount when he signed his contract extension a year ago. He would be a free agent right now had he not signed said extension. Brilliant move by Padres GM Kevin Towers. Give your ace an undervalued contract, and then trade him for a load of prospects after a year. It kind of makes him a dirt bag, but a smart one nonetheless.

The Saint Louis Cardinals are going to need some help in the starting rotation if they want to make the playoffs this year. Plain and simple. The likes of Braden Looper, Todd Wellemeyer, “to be named later”, Joel Pineiro and Kyle Lohse setting up the rotation for the next five games just will not get it done. Adam Wainwright is on the Prior List and isn’t coming back for a few weeks. When he does, the staff certainly gets a huge boost. Well, there is also another big boost headed Cardinal fan’s way. Continue reading ‘Can Wainwright & Carpenter Save the Cards?’

When we first told you to ignore Mitchell Boggs, it was based on his performance in the minor leagues. Now there are a lot of people with him on their radar, and you may be one of them. If you are thinking about adding Boggs, make sure you do all of your homework. Sure, he has three wins in only four starts. He also has a 4.37 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. In 22.2 innings of work, he’s allowed 22 batters to reach base, with 11 of them crossing home. You can take a flier of Boggs, but I don’t recommend it. He only has 10 strikeouts, so the only category he has helped anyone in so far is wins.

Personally, I don’t want to sacrifice quality innings for wins. If Boggs were missing more bats and notching more Ks, it would be one thing. He isn’t, however, and despite his six K performance on the 28th, there is no indication that he is going to start piling them up. Keep in mind, that while he struck out those six batters, he also walked four and gave up four hits. So in his six innings of work, in which he earned a win, he still posted a 1.33 WHIP. My advice on Boggs will remain consistent. Not. So. Much.

Just after the Cards activated Mark Mulder off of the Prior List to fill Randy Flores’ spot on the roster, it looks like Jason Isringhausen could be headed to the DL himself. It’s been an injury plagued year for the Cards, who only activated Albert Pujols from the said Prior List on Thursday.

This news only helps to cement Ryan Franklin’s spot as the closer, even though he just blew his second save in seven tries this month. Overall, Franklin has been decent, only blowing four of his fourteen save opportunities. He doesn’t strike out a lot of batters, as he sports a 24:17 K:BB ratio which has helped push his WHIP all the way up to 1.47. His ERA is still below a three, however, and he does have two wins to go with those 10 saves. It’s his job to lose, so Franklin is a keeper if you are in need of saves.