Tidbits

The New York Mets season continues on a downward spiral not seen since... well... the Mets last season or in 2007 (or the Nine Inche Nails album). The Mets lost ten to six to the Brewers last night in Milwaukee. Formerly unbeaten Fernando Nieve went just three and a third, giving up three runs on a eleven hits. Braden Looper picked up the win for the Brew Crew. He went six and a third giving up seven hits and three runs.


And if you are a Mets fan, it may officially be time to duck and cover. Carlos Beltran is going for a second opinion on his bone bruise. The NY Post speculates surgery could be in his future. In a season on the decline, that would send many fans over the edge.


Tim Lincecum was brilliant once again last night. Timmy went the distance on the road against the Cards, striking out eight and shutting out St. Louis. It's amazing how good he is.


And in a league that has been pretty mediocre this year, the Giants have a significant chance at winning the wild card. Currently they lead the NL's chase for the fourth playoff spot. They certainly have the rotation to make a run at it. Lincecum is now eight and two with a 2.37 ERA in 114 innings pitched. He's followed closely by Matt Cain at nine and two with a 2.57 ERA. Jonathan Sanchez has been disappointing so far this season at two and eight and a 5.45 ERA, but has the talent to win on any night. The back end of the rotation has two aging (one more than the other) lefty vets in Randy Johnson and Barry Zito. While Zito will never live up to his contract, he has been serviceable this year and can help this team down the stretch.


Now, can their offense do the job? There isn't much punch to the Giants line up, with Bengie Molina batting cleanup. But all the O has to do is enough to win. With a league leading team ERA (tied with division leading LA) of 3.61, that isn't so daunting at all. Pablo Sandoval has had a great rookie season, living up to the hype from spring training and before. He is batting .336 on the year with 11 homeruns and 39 RBI. If San Fran can either get a big second half from Travis Ishikawa and/or Fred Lewis or pick up a bat (if only Hideki Matsui could play the outfield) I think they'll pull away.


Fantasy Fun

This is the time of year that starts to become very interesting for fantasy owners. Do you own a Doug Davis type who could be dealt to a contender and thus see an increase in wins the rest of the season. Do you have a Matt Holliday type who might be dealt to a more hitter friendly park and see his HRs and RBI increase? Or are you scouting other teams to try and make that deal before the player moves in the majors?

It's highly important to keep an eye on player movement and see how their output will be effected. Obviously, if you are in a NL or AL only league, you have to pay attention to those players switching leagues. If you can position yourself a top the waiver wire for the third week in July (if rotating, you obviously don't want to be there if it is by reverse standings) you could be in place to pick up a mighty big free agent.