Deep Sleepers:

Sean Rodriguez – Second Base

For close to three years, I have been waiting for what might occur in 2010. Perhaps - a date with Jessica Simpson? Er…no actually, I am referencing something probably less likely considering the luck of my poor sweet darling lately in the dating biz; however, one that is finally appearing to have more reality as the season gets closer.

Yes folks, Sean Rodriguez may finally be in position to have a major league breakout type season, filled with impressive extra base power and under-rated speed, this former Angel of Anaheim has the chance of re-birth in another sunny destination with the Tampa Bay Rays. To cop the ultimate straight-up Season One quote from Eastbound & Down’s actress Katy Mixon: “Tampa Bitches!!!” By the way - Does anyone know when Season Two of Eastbound & Downwill air?

In two brief and underused opportunities with the Angels, Rodriguez looked like he was pressing a bit, perhaps holding onto his bat a little too tightly, knowing that at 5.5 seasons of minor league ball suggested that he may never reach the potential that he emitted early in his development. Through 192 big league AB’s, his line of .203-5-14-0 is nothing to get overly excited about. His role was never defined and I feel that this is one case where perhaps a conservative Mike Scioscia didn’t really work out.

I am hopeful that super utility man Ben Zobrist finds a home in right field and the ruthless Joe Maddon ponies up and uses the slick-hitting former 3rd round selection and pride of Miami, Florida before he gets the rap of being a Quad-A player.

We’ve kept a close eye on Sean Rodriguez throughout his hot hitting 2010 spring training – and suggest you keep your ears open for the Rays Opening Day roster announcements! When all is said and done - Maybe S-Rod will also be quoting Katy Mixon when Spring Training finally comes to end in another week…

“Tampa Bitches!!!”

By Scott Woodall

The Deep

Chris Davis - First base/Third Base

We suppose you knew Scott Feldman would have more value then Chris Davis going into 2009!? As I look back on another zany year of Fantasy Baseball I felt a fitting final recommendation on 2009 from yours truly would be the Rangers Chris Davis.

The Texas left hander has been one of the biggest let downs of the 2009 fantasy season (Guilty! We even had him picked for a bigger, better breakout year then our Canadian friend Joey Votto!) But, alas - with a month left of baseball, there is perhaps still hopes of redemption from the towering Texan.

Sure, maybe not to those of us who snapped him up in early rounds back in March drafts. (Uggg!) But to a wise owner who understands that forward thinking is often required in this game…if Crash Davis was fired to the wire when demoted earlier this summer, and still is available, it’s time for forgiveness grasshopper.

I won’t make any concrete predictions on what he’ll accomplish this September (fool me once…) but suffice to say that at this juncture of the season you won’t find better power potential lurking on any waiver wire.

Yep, I believe that despite Davis being the embodiment of failed hype in 2009…a sense of optimism should ALWAYS be in the back of one’s mind – particularly when it comes to young, healthy 6’4 sluggers who play baseball in a tremendous lineup in small, heat infested ballparks!

Those who refuse to take an occasional leap of faith in fantasy baseball – are often left with nothing to play for in the end. Provided Davis doesn’t windmill his way out of our hearts once again as he takes hold of the everyday first baseman’s job from here on out; the big man could reward gambling owners with some very sweet numbers down the stretch.

The Texas Rangers are still very much in the hunt for a AL Wild Card – and so Ron Washington will tread carefully if another Rob Deer impersonation rears it’s ugly head beyond Labor Day. But we reiterate, a better 1B/3B potential won’t be found at this point, so act swift if you’re like me, and you believe in second chances! Mark Reynolds owners are certainly glad they did!

The Dynasty

Eric Young Jr. – Second Base/OF (Soon)

I’ve been stalking Eric Young all season!

Okay, stalking is too creepy a word, but prior to Ben Zobrist attaining 2B eligibility, and a trade where I attained the speedy Chone Figgins I was starving for a 2B – and preferably one who could net some stolen bags.

I prayed the Rockies would call up Eric Young’s boy wonder Jr. Well, although he’s a tad late to the ball for my 2009 needs – I grabbed him in a keeper league anyways. Hopefully Clint Barmes, like former manager Clint Hurdle – will go away…far far away, so Eric Young can attain enough games to gain 2B eligibility in 2010.

His value for the remainder of this season is extremely difficult to predict. Certainly, the Dexter Fowler injury helped jump start his big league debut and Carlos Gonzalez poorly executed Ginsu knife demonstration has allowed us a sneak peek of the speedster – but playing time may still remain an issue this September.

If you still find yourself like I did back in early May…starving for steals, and Julio Borbon is gone – he may be worth the add, otherwise lets enjoy this Road Runners cup of coffee, and draft him in 2010 based on whether or not he cracks the starting lineup, plays second base, and is awarded the lead off spot in Colorado.

By Adam Forsyth

The Shallow

Chris Coghlan – 2B/Outfield (LF)

Tearing the cover off of the ball at a .380 clip over the last month (35/92) while displaying a balanced attack of extra-base power (six 2B, one 3B and 4 HR’s) and the added touch of speed (2 SB’s) Coghlan has lifted his season BA close to .290 after middling away at around .250 for most of the season.

Earlier in the season, he was a hot waiver wire add when he seemingly took over a corner OF spot; however, until recently Coghlan has been minimally attractive to fantasy owners. Creeping up to 32 percent ownership, he is a nice multi-position add for managers seeking a playoff spot as most leagues are entering their final push to the post-season.

The current streak that he is on includes 15 multi-hit performances in his last 22 games, and can be attributed to his high contact rate and patience at the dish. With only 52K’s and a 1.37K/BB ratio, Coghlan has basically taken over the leadoff spot by doing what a leadoff hitter does best. Chris is a key “Cog” in starting the rally of an under-rated Marlins attack.

The Deep

Travis Snider – Outfield (LF)

After starting out the season with a bang, Snider seemed to struggle the rest of his stay in T.O. which ultimately cost him a spot on the roster. He was guarded with caution, mostly hitting in the nine-slot of the Toronto line-up and saw limited at-bats.

At only 21-years of age, the power displayed by this Kirkland , Washington native is Major League type. With the free sale of Alex Rios, it appears that the Jays are willing to not only give him a shot sometime soon to reclaim his role on the team; but also, allow him the chance to be a key piece of the Blue Jays attack.

Now, while it doesn’t necessarily determine job security as being a “cornerstone” in the Jays line-up currently is about as secure as Bartolo Colon’s belt after a visit to the buffet, it should at least provide him a steady home address until he is eligible for arbitration.

Snider will swing and miss with frequency; however, his power will make up for any annoyance. Swatting 13 HR’s in his 160 AAA-Las Vegas AB’s (along with 13 extra-base pokes) while hitting a confidence boosting .319 should give him the type of lift necessary to make his second go-around with Toronto much more successful.

By Ryan Roach

The Shallow

Howie Kendrick - (2B)

After starting the season absolutely atrocious, Kendrick’s fantasy owners felt like the one’s with pie in the face. Howie was sent down to the farm to regain his swing and collect some confidence.

That is exactly what he managed to do at Salt Lake City .

Now that's he's back up with the big club, Howie looks to regain the .300 + AVG. and ring up stats across the board in that potent Angel offense.

With hits in 5 of his first 6 games since being called up, there can be no where to look but up for Kendrick’s 2009 season.

The Deep

Jed Lowrie - (3B, SS)

Nobody is more excited for the "Return of the Jedi" than myself. Lowrie showed great strides in 2008, but has been derailed by injuries for most of the first half of the season.

Now that he's finally healthy, and Julio Lugo won't be stealing any at bats, Lowrie looks to take the field this weekend in hopes to help the Red Sox fill their hole at Shortstop.

Lowrie has a great eye at the plate, and as he showed in his rookie season, he has a knack for coming up with timely hits in the clutch. Something Beantown will need down the stretch if they are to fend off the New York Yankees in the AL East.

Although he doesn't have overwhelming power, Lowrie could be a Red Sox sparkplug in the second half (as he was last year), while providing fans at Fenway with big hits when necessary - and Fantasy owners solid results for those having trouble netting production from 2009 fantasy baseball's  particularly weak crop of shortstops.

By Scott Woodall

The Shallow

Martin Prado – (1B/2B/3b)

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto. Thank-you very mucho, Martin Prado!

Fantasy Baseball has enjoyed the addition of a few nice 2B/3B options in recent weeks.

We mentioned the Milwaukee Brewers Casey McGehee not too long ago, and today we are on board with the Atlanta Braves punchy little Venezuelan – Martin Prado - who actually covers the entire diamond (less SS) as far as eligibility (1B/2B/3B). T

The cat is already out of the bag on the recent NL player of the week, but he still remains widely available in most fantasy formats.

If you need a boost to batting average, or play in a league that uses on base percentage as a stat category, you could do far worse than carrying this Atlanta Braves utility knife, who seldom strikes out, & nets plenty of walks, base hits and doubles…lots of doubles!

Prado has supplanted Kelly Johnson who has landed on the DL, and with his ability to play across the diamond he should get plenty of bats the rest of the season, especially if the bat stays hot. Hitting in front of Chipper & McCann should give him plenty of opportunities to succeed…so don’t be tardy on Marty if he’s still available on your waiver wire.

The Deep

Everth Cabrera – Shortstop (SS)

Need Cheap Speed?

Hmmm…without intentionally trying to sound like a drug dealer we have a solid solution…even though Andy Behrens of Yahoo beat us to the punch. Oh Andy, we love ya man, but we think waaaay too much alike sometimes, and are growing tired of you stealing our thunder!

Anyways…if Emilio Bonifacio doesn’t get your blood flowing, despite his recently added SS – well, here’s another idea…

The San Diego Padres have a new spark plug named Everth Cabrera – who could easily steal somewhere between 20 to 25 bases in the second half of the 2009 season, and possibly even more if he can retain the lead off spot he’s been hitting from of late.

Last season the speedster stole 73 bases while playing for Ashville of the South Atlantic League. Until the Colorado Rockies decide to give Eric Young Jr. a call up, this may be your answer to stock piling bargain priced waiver swipes!

It’s always sweet to net some cheap stolen bases – especially from middle infield spots, & since the switch hitting SS doesn’t have much competition for the shortstop position in San Diego, it makes him that much sweeter!

Everth currently has 7 steals already in his short stint with the Pads, and has only been caught stealing only once.
With that in mind & not to mention the triples chances he should garner while playing in the spacious confines of San Diego’s Petco Park, we think it’s time to take a closer look at this Road Runner! Beep Beep!

By Scott Woodall

The Deep

Casey McGehee – 2B/ 3B

Don’t fret if you never heard of Casey McGehee until this year, I spelled his name wrong three times while blogging this post

Casey McGehee has seemingly come out of nowhere to become a viable option in deep leagues, while his bat remains smoldering. The kicker bonus in Yahoo Fantasy Leagues is the 26 year old righty from Santa Cruz has the coveted Ian Stewart type of eligibility - 2B/3B.

McGehee, who has collected 17 hits in the past 10 games hasn’t officially locked down a full time starter’s role with the Brew Crew, but if he continues to rake the way he has the last couple of weeks that will most certainly come to fruition. Don’t expect steals from Casey at Bat, but he’s proving that batting in front of Ryan Braun is a sweet spot to be in!

If you could use some middle/corner infield help - we would suggest taking a flier on him NOW, because if the hot streak continues, he’ll start to disappear from waiver wires at a break neck pace later this month.

The Shallow

Aaron Cook – Starting Pitcher

Aaron Cook is about as exciting as a roof shingle…

But, roof shingles are important pieces of building any home…

Hmmm…I’m not sure where I’m going with this, so to heck with the house to ballplayer analogy, it’s going on midnight, and as I watch Aaron Cook toss another solid ballgame, I’m thinking - plain & simple – this guy knows how to pitch.

Although not a strike out king, or a sexy young prospect with tremendous upside – Aaron Cook has REALLY been getting’ ‘er done for the past month.

The ground ball specialist has obviously survived the volatile confines of Coors Field for the past eight seasons for a reason. The right hander with the nasty sinker has been an integral reason for the Rockies resurgence since Colorado kicked Clint Hurdle to the curb, and they have been stringing together several victories this month.

If you can pad your K’s from other power arms on your roster, Aaron Cook makes for a decent back end addition to your fantasy rotation, particularly while the Rockie bats remain so hot, and the wins keep on adding up.

Note: WaiverSharks daily column, The Shallow & The Deep will be taking a bit of a breather the next couple weeks to gather our senses, wipe off our dusty baseball pants, and gear up for the 2nd half of the 2009 MLB season.

By Ryan Roach

The Shallow

Ian Stewart – Second/Third Base (2B/3B)

Ian Stewart has had a rather up and down season so far with the Rockies, but ever since the departure of Clint Hurdle, it’s been on the up and up. Stewart leads all Rockies hitters with 12 long balls this year, and has caught fire this month hitting .327 with 5 dingers and 13 ribbies.

He appears to be finally getting enough at bats to not play guessing games each week, and seems to have found a comfort zone, so now may be the time to grab the power plus 2B eligibility as Stewie enjoys a Coors Field home stand.

The Deep

Buster Posey – Catcher (C)

What more can you say about Buster Posey. The versatile Gerald "Buster" Demp Posey III as he is referred to on Wikipedia, can play any position he’s asked of - just ask his coach at Florida State who wouldn’t hesitate to put Posey practically anywhere on the diamond.

Posey is the Giants best hitting prospect and has excelled so far this season at Advanced A ball. In 60 games, Posey has 10 moon shots, 45 RBI’s and a modest .318 average, and he’s even managed to chip in with 5 steals.

If Posey isn’t called up this season, I wouldn’t be shocked, but Buster Posey could make a Joe Mauer type impact next year if the Giants let their youth completely take over at AT&T Park in 2010.

Even Dinger agrees!

So WaiverSharks plans

to do DEEP SHARK WEEK

every June!

(BTW Rockies fans, is Dinger male or female? Just curious...)

Let’s wrap up the Deep

Prospectus Week with

a couple of Rockies

we are rather smitten with!

The Deep

Carlos Gonzalez– Outfielder (CF, RF)

Gonzalez tore up the minors this season; hitting close to .400. After a big league stint with the A’s last season, Gonzalez was shipped to the surging  Colorado Rockies in the Matt Holliday deal.

In Oakland, Carlos Gonzalez displayed his great stroke, but since he wasn’t hitting in Coors, he saw a lot of his “could be home runs” turn into doubles. C-Gone is a natural talent, and I expect his minor league success will carry over to the bigs.

Scour your wire for this rockies rookie, because come July, he may very well be taken in the majority of leagues!

The Deeper

Eric Young Jr. – Second Base (2B)

Speed, speed, speed, speed, speed…ummm…& yep, MORE SPEED!!!

This Eric Young Jr. baseball card may make some of us feel old, as it doesn’t seem all that long ago that Lukes father (Eric Young Sr.) was a Jedi base burglur. The 2009 version of Eric Young is a speed demon, an agile player, with a lively bat. Last season EY2 as he’s sometimes referred to - nabbed 46 bases in 105 games, and is currently on pace to destroy that this year as he’s stole 37 bags in only 53 games.

With the Colorado Rockies searching for a spark in their lineup, Young fits the bill as a top of the order firecracker. Don’t be surprised if this “Hurdleless” group of Rocks tends to take a youthful approach for the rest of 09! Check out the super base stealer's blog!

The Deep

Editors Note: In case you missed it, we are featuring an ALL Deep Fantasy Baseball Pick-ups week in what we are referring to as Deep Shark Week! But we intend to return to making both a Shallow and Deep player suggestion once Fantasy Week Eleven kicks off.

Gordon Beckham – Shortstop/Third Base

Don’t let the hitless start that Gordon Beckham has displayed with the big club influence your opinion of him too much. Remember, he is the second coming of…you can finish that with whatever you have previously read about him!

Truth be told though; Becks was rolling in AA-Birmingham, hitting a shade under .300 with decent numbers across the board. This encouraged a move up to AAA-Charlotte where he continued his white hot start by destroying the offerings of International League pitching at a .464 clip (even if it was only seven games and 28 AB’s)

This display eliminated what loudmouth White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen thoughts were of adding the talented 22-year old as basically Beckham has earned the right to be called up. And if Gordo has anything to say about it, it will likely be for the remainder of the season. Even with a healthy Josh Fields and Chris Getz in the mix, Beckham will more than likely be able to figure out what it takes to remain in the bigs and get a shot at what many pre-season predictions believed, the AL R.O.Y.

Fantasy managers are salivating, as Beckham literally destroyed the ranks of the NCAA for three years at Georgia , and while the power hasn’t necessarily followed him since turning pro he carries the same kind of all-around capabilities and eye at the plate that just cannot be taught. Should the power come, Becks has the all-around talent that is somewhat rare to find in middle infielders. (that is assuming he finds his way there)

Who knows, perhaps the addition will spark the ho-hum Sox offence and give them an additional bat that doesn’t always depend on the long ball for run support.

The Deeper

Sean Rodriguez – Second Base (3B/SS?)

Speaking of power…With the Anaheim (I refuse to call them Los Angeles) Angels current infield set-up struggling to find a power stroke (14 total HR’s by their IF positional players), on the farm with Brandon Wood and Sean Rodriguez leading the way, the Salt Lake Bees infield resembles that of a Murderer’s Row with an impressive 44 ‘taters through 54 team games.

So why is there such an inverted display of power between the big club and their affiliate? Well, we all know that power doesn’t always translate, even from the highest level of talent in the minor leagues, but seriously that is a tremendous difference. Sean Rodriguez was given a sniff last season hitting mostly in the ninth spot of the line-up to protect him and relieve him of any pressures and he seemed to struggle in his 59 game audition.

You would hope that that wouldn’t be an indicator that he can’t hit major league pitching and I would challenge the kid in another call-up placing him in a more hearty line-up position, perhaps a bit of protection from Vladdy, or Morales to allow him to see some pitches. Mike Scioscia is a very bright manager and the staff in Halo-Ville is top-notch, I’m sure that they can settle the differences and have Rodriguez become a successful fantasy contributor.

If I were Howie Kendrick, I would start knocking the ball around soon with some real enthusiasm; otherwise the sound of footsteps behind him could suddenly place him in fantasy anonymity. Rodriguez is the real deal and his power up the middle is something that is rarer than a Honus Wagner rookie card. Alright, maybe not that rare, but I’m sure you get what I am saying.

Ben Zobrist - 2B/SS/LF/RF

At the beginning of May, Ben Zobrist was viewed as a utility Short Stop with a little speed, and ‘maybe’ some pop in his bat, who unfortunately never garnered enough at bats for much fantasy baseball attention.

With some injuries to the Tampa Bay Rays key starting players (Pat Burrell, Akinori Iwamura, and Jason Bartlett) Zobrist has emerged into a bonifiable mixed league swiss army knife, capable of lending a hand to just about anyone’s roster right now. It remains to be seen how the playing time will divvy once Burrell & Bartlett return from the DL, but for now “Zobi”, who just added second base eligibility has become a very useful fantasy baseball commodity. We featured Tampa ’s cult hero last month in The Shallow & The Deep. 

Notable May waiver wire gems who we also considered for Megalodon of the Month were – Los Angeles Dodgers Juan Pierre, Texas Rangers Hank Blalock, and Chicago White Sox Paul Konerko.

May 2009 - CHUM of the Month

Chris Davis – 1B/3B

The burly Texas Rangers first baseman has experienced an awful start to 2009. Drafted as a high round pick by many who were banking on the strong mans power swatting ability – Davis has not been able to cut the K’s that have plagued him all season. Davis was recently benched for a couple games to try and fix the holes in his swing, and with a lot of MLB games left to play in 2009 there’s still a solid chance the big guy rights the ship. If an owner has become disenchanted by the power hitting lefty’s penchant for the whiff – you may want to see if you can grab him for a deep discount, as it’s likely only a matter of time before the Rangers 1st basemen goes on a home run tare.