Eric Gagne

For those of you who bailed on Gagne because he wasn't the closer anymore well take a look at what he just did, he earned a save. Coach Yost has come out and put Gagne back into the closer role only after 2-3 days of being out of the spot.

Sucks to be the ones who dropped him. He should be on all rosters, even though he seems to make closing a game an adventure.

Billingsley

Chad Billingsley of the Dodgers is currently 2-5 this season but what most people don't see are the real numbers that count for fantasy owners. Billingsley is currently striking out 1.26 batters per inning (48K's through 38IP) and this shows that he has the stuff to get people out. The only problem is when balls are hit they seem to find the holes. The good thing is the hits are staying in the park, with only 2HR's allowed all year.

By looking deeper into the numbers you can see this pitcher is worth a spot on your team because eventually the balls hit into play are going to be hit at people instead of finding the holes. Try and grab this SP if you have room on your team. It should give you a nice boost to your pitching rotation.

King Felix

Well, after a strong start to the season King Felix of the Mariners has lost his last 4 starts and blowing up his ERA from 1.67 to 3.38 in the process. Don't worry about King Felix right now and continue throwing him out there but for people who don't own King Felix, try and see if an owner is scared and is trying to sell. This is a great chance to maybe grab him for a lower than market value which will help you tremendously. Remember, when you deal for a player you don't deal for his past stats, you deal for his future stats. If King Felix tears things up from now on, you reap all the benefits.

Keppinger.......and BRUCE

Jeff Keppinger of the Reds suffered a fractured patella bone and surely heading for the DL. So far, Jerry Hairston will take over at the SS position because he has the most experience at that position.

THE BIGS NEWS is if Keppinger goes to the DL, there will be a spot for someone to be called up...and with all the news about Jay Bruce absolutely tearing up the AAA this might be the chance Baker has to call up Bruce. Jay Bruce deserves to be in the majors. He's batting .328 with 7HR's, 29RBI's, and 7SB.

FOR GODS SAKE, CALL UP BRUCE!!!

Furcal

With Rafael Furcal landing on the 15-Day DL with a lower back strain owners need not to worry just yet. With Furcal batting .366, 5HR, 16RBI, and 8SB...owners should feel a huge pinch in their stats. This SS for the Dodgers was putting up prime time numbers and no player from the waiver wire will ever come close to replacing Furcal's production.

Owners, just sit back and wait for Furcal to heal and come back strong. But make sure to keep your eyes opened to any new developments here on my blog. I will try to keep you posted on any new details. So...just put Furcal on the bench and start to look for a SS on the wire that is hot. Currently, Ramon Vazquez of the Rangers is swinging a hot bat.

Toronto Blue Jays

Just something to think about.

The Toronto Blue Jays have scored a total of 4 runs in their past 4 games. Ouch!

Hot Hitters/Pitchers

The past week.

Hitters
Akinori Iwamura 2B/3B - Rays - 13/33, .394AVG, 6R's, 3RBI's.
Coco Crisp CF - Red Sox - 7/21, .333AVG, 4R's, 2HR's, 5RBI's, 1SB
Mark Kotsay CF - A's - 8/23, .384AVG, 4R's, 1HR, 6RBI's, 1SB

Pitchers
Vicente Padilla SP - Rangers - 12IP, 1W, 10K's, 2.25ERA, 1.00WHIP
Matt Garza SP - Rays - 13.2IP, 1-1, 5K's, .66ERA, 1.1WHIP
Livan Hernandez SP - Twins - 15IP, 2W, 4K's, 2.40ERA, 1.40WHIP

Iannetta

For readers who are familiar with my writing, you all know the need for catchers and how difficult it is to find a catcher that will add value to your team outside the top five catchers in baseball. So I tend to focus on hot catchers and who to watch out for if you were unable to grab a top five catcher in the draft.

Chris Iannetta of the Rockies is swinging the hot bat of late. This highly touted prospect of a few years ago is making me write a post about him. In his past 10 games he's had 11 hits, 3HR's, and 10RBI's. Even though he's not the full time catcher right now, with his hot bat he's been placed in front of Yorvit Torrealba (who is the usual starting catcher) for the majority of games in the past week or so.

For you folks out there, go out and grab Iannetta and put him as your catcher. If he continues this hot hitting he'll be the starting catcher.

Jay Bruce

Jay Bruce of the Reds is currently in AAA-Louisville and is tearing up the league. This 21 year old, highly touted prospect, is batting .328 in 131 at-bats. With 6HR's, 27RBI's, and 7 steals, this prospect has nothing to prove in AAA and is going to be in the big leagues soon!

Dusty Baker has come out and said, "expect Bruce to be called up sooner than later." This is great news for owners who have Bruce in leagues. His 5-tool potential will add great depth to any fantasy roster. Especially those who are in deep leagues.

With Corey Patterson not doing much in 2008 Baker is being forced by Bruce's stats to insert him into the big league lineup. Go out and grab Jay Bruce now!!

Category Attack

During the long fantasy season there are plenty of stats out there that any owner can grab from the wire. The strategy I always use in every fantasy league is to attack certain categories throughout the year.

Attacking a category is when you find players from the waiver wire and put them into your lineup just to increase a specific stat. For example, grabbing Jonathan Broxton and putting him into your lineup to attack your ERA, WHIP, and K's for a few weeks is great. He will give you a boost in those categories and if you need to address another problem you can always drop him and grab another player.

My plan is to do this throughout the season looking at where I need to accumulate stats and then I go out and grab certain players off the waiver wire. The best time to do this is on Monday and Thursday. These two days are when major league teams travel and the schedule is light. If you pick up guys who steal on Monday and Thursday you can easily add 10-15 steals for the year.

If you have a few players on your roster that you aren't afraid to put on the wire you can grab a few players and boost specific categories throughout the year.