Chone Figgins had a big Week 7 and Mighty Max is calling for a big Week 8 too.

Welcome to the AL edition of The Knot Hole Gang, where each week we take up our position beyond the outfield fences and try to figure out what’s going on down at the ball yard. In particular, we are interested in what the news of the day means for your fantasy baseball team, and we try to figure out what the best course of action is for you. The news portion is followed by a look at Sports Grumblings FFRS Rankings for the coming week. Each week Mighty Max the super computer runs calculations and complex algorithms on every player in the majors to come up with projections on their performance during the week ahead. We’ll take a sneak peek at next week’s rankings (normally for subscribers only!) and try to unearth some sage advice from Max’s work. Now that we’ve somehow inexplicably gotten trapped in third person mode, let’s take a closer look at this week’s AL news.

Tampa Bay Rays

It looks like Troy Percival may be done. Reportedly he flew home to California to discuss his baseball future with his family. Percival has been beset by numerous injury problems in recent years, with shoulder tendonitis being the current issue. The Rays have placed Percival on the 15-day DL, but manager Joe Maddon made it clear he does not expect Percival to come back this time. Maddon told the Tampa Tribune that closer’s duties would go to a committee, but that likely means he is looking for someone to step up for the job. Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell, Dan Wheeler, and Joe Nelson are the most likely candidates for Maddon’s “committee.” It’s anybody’s guess who will grab the brass ring and take the job, but my money is on Nelson. He’s the guy to stash away until the Rays pen shakes things out. *** Scott Kazmir was placed on the DL Friday after the team could not diagnose the cause of his problems thus far. His skill numbers are way off from his career norms, and word is the velocity on his fastball is down three to five mph resulting in less movement and a flat pitch. The latest word is that he could be gone for months, not weeks. *** David Price is probably going to be called up to replace Kazmir in the rotation. Price had a hard time pitching under the strict 75-pitch limit that was imposed on him for his first five outings. He’s been more like his usual un-hittable self in his last few outings with his pitch count raised to 90 per game. If Price is sitting on your waiver wire go and grab him right now. Are you still here? I mean NOW! He is going to be great. Believe it. Now GO!

Toronto Blue Jays

Casey Janssen returns to the Blue Jays starting rotation this weekend after missing the entire 2008 season to Tommy John elbow surgery. Janssen was originally a starter for the Jays, became a reliever in 2007, and now returns to the starting role. During his rehab stint in the minors over the last few weeks, Janssen tossed 23 2/3 innings and had an ERA of 0.76. Don’t go pick him up though, as a two-year layoff is likely to make Janssen very rusty at the start. Give him a chance to shake it off a bit and reevaluate him after two or three starts. *** The Jays sent both Brett Cecil and Robert Ray back to the minors Friday. Cecil and Ray (sounds like a comedy team) did well in their starts against some of the less talented teams, but the Red Sox knocked both of them around in their most recent starts. Given their lack of experience they both performed quite well. I expect that both will be back, possibly again this season, but definitely next spring when they will likely be a big part of Toronto’s rotation. *** After Thursday’s game with the Red Sox, the Blue Jays shipped slugging outfielder Travis Snider back to the minor leagues so that he can play every day. Snider crushed left-handed pitching but flailed at right-handers leading manager Cito Gaston to use him exclusively as a DH against lefties. Snider owners should stash him away if possible, as he will be back at some point this season.

Texas Rangers

There’s some changes brewing in Texas. A hot offensive lineup and the pitching they’re getting from Kevin Millwood, Scott Feldman, and Matt Harrison have the Rangers believing they will contend for the AL West title. So manager Ron Washington is beginning to make some changes to the lineup to figure out which combination of players will give them the best shot at making the dance. The first big change involves first baseman Chris Davis, DH Hank Blalock, and Andruw Jones. Washington finally grew tired of Davis’s slow start and installed Jones at first base, despite the fact that Jones has no ML experience at the position. He likes the tandem of Jones and Josh Hamilton in the middle of the order, which could mean the end of regular playing time for Davis. Blalock is also struggling with the bat, and with each passing day the likelihood that he is dealt by the trading deadline grows. Davis has already amassed 61 strikeouts in just 151 plate appearances, and is on a pace to finish the season with 240 K’s if he were to make 600 plate appearances. The sad news is that while Davis still manages somehow to produce, he does have ten homeruns and 21 RBI, there is simply nothing in his peripheral numbers that indicates he will be any better in the future. In fact, his current production is nothing short of miraculous, the product of a great deal of pure luck and raw muscle, and there is little chance that he can keep it up. Unload Davis now to an unsuspecting opponent, before he loses his job completely. As for Blalock, he should continue to get at bats as the DH, mainly because the Rangers will want to showcase him. Andruw Jones leads a pretty charmed life, doesn’t he? He’s gone from on his way out of the game, to a second chance at redemption, to a part-time job, and now a potential every day player. The fact is, the Rangers are a better team with Jones in the lineup. They are 13-6 when Jones is batting cleanup, and 10-11 when he’s not. If Jones is still sitting on your mixed league’s waiver wire, this is a good time to grab him as a speculative source of power. He’s cut down on the strikeouts, and actually has more walks than whiffs at this point. In fact, if he gets regular every day at bats, and keeps up his current level of performance, Jones just might become a factor in mixed leagues again. Keep an eye on him.

Chicago White Sox

The White Sox made a really weak play to get Jake Peavy. Manager Ozzie Guillen’s comments that he would give Peavy a better chance to win games in Chicago has to be the height of hilarity. The White Sox are the lowest scoring team in the American League, so Guillen’s claim...is pretty lame. *** Mark my words – the buy low window for SS Alexei Ramirez is about to slam shut my friends. If you are in need of a shortstop and have a frustrated “Cuban Missile” owner in your league, now is the time to strike. Ramirez had himself a pretty good week; he batted .300 with two homeruns, four RBI, four runs scored, and a stolen base in his last six games, raising his average to .224 for the season. There is even a rumor that Guillen wants to put Ramirez in the two-hole of the batting order. Ramirez is following the same pattern of improvement as last season, so I expect that by the first week of June we’ll be talking about the Missile lifting off. *** DeWayne Wise’s shoulder is showing improvement in team workouts and batting practice. The current thinking is that he will go on rehab assignment by the end of next week, and rejoin the team by the second week of June. Hopefully, you’re not resting your team’s hopes on Wise. *** To all the Gavin Floyd owners out there, before you get yourself all excited about his eight-strikeout performance Friday night, keep in mind that it came against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The MLB average for team strikeouts is 291, the Pirates have 312, and only eight other teams have struck out more.

Cleveland Indians

Anthony Reyes was forced to leave his last start just three innings into the game due to a sore elbow. The same elbow that caused him to miss the last month of last season and plagued him off and on throughout his career. The main fear is that he could be done for the year. Aaron Laffey left the same game with what appears to be an oblique injury. While there have been no reports on Laffey as yet, oblique injuries can sideline a pitcher for months. All of this just compounds the Indians pitching problems further. Aside from Cliff Lee and the surprising renaissance of Carl Pavano, the Tribe doesn’t have anyone else in the rotation or the bullpen that they can rely on to be a consistent performer. That said, I would avoid Cleveland pitching altogether, trade Lee, Pavano, and Kerry Wood if you own them and replace them with pitchers from other teams. If the bullpen isn’t going to be able to hold games, what’s the use of keeping Lee and Pavano. Same goes for Wood; there is no bullpen to bridge to him, and only two good starters, he is not going to get many save chances and could end up with no more than 20 saves this season. *** It looked like Jhonny Peralta was finally going to be moved to third base permanently, but Eric Wedge reversed course and moved him back to shortstop, presumably to stay. Peralta’s bat has come alive during May, though he’s still not hitting for the kind of power we’ve come to expect. He is batting .333 for the month with 12 RBI in 17 games, and has raised his batting average to .269, the highest it’s been in a month. Peralta owners that stuck with him through the drought are being rewarded now, and should begin to see the power come back soon.

Seattle Mariners

We are entering the time of the season when teams start to consider whether they are buyers or sellers in the trade market. Between now and the July 31^st deadline, players will be brought up from the minors, or suddenly freed from sitting on the bench to get plenty of playing time so that teams can get a good look at them. Several Mariners regulars will likely be available for little more than their salary; among those expected to be on the market are Erik Bedard, Jarrod Washburn, homerun threat Russell Branyan, Adrian Beltre, and Miguel Batista. The pitchers will very likely go to contenders, with the Cardinals being one candidate to make a run at Bedard or Washburn. Tampa Bay has openly expressed interest in Batista to bolster their bullpen corps, and might even be willing to take on Washburn. If you own any of the aforementioned players be aware of the potential for them to go elsewhere in a trade, with the other league being a real possibility. *** Another player whose name has come up in trade rumors for several teams is Yuniesky Betancourt. The Pirates were the most recent suitors for the shortstop/utility player, but the deal that reportedly would have sent Jack Wilson to Seattle fell through. There are several teams that could have an interest in Betancourt including Boston, Kansas City, and Cleveland among others, but from a fantasy standpoint it matters little, as he is practically useless outside of the very deepest of AL only leagues. He’s really only good for a handful of stolen bases and runs scored because his batting average is, well, very average, and he has precious little power. Personally, I don’t see what all the hubbub is about. Betancourt has a career .304 OBP, .281 average, a 53% stolen base success rate, and just 27 homeruns in 2003 at bats. He isn’t exactly a slick fielder either. Color me unimpressed.

Mighty Max Sez

Last week I began giving you a taste of Sports Grumblings FFRS Weekly Rankings as calculated by Mighty Max, our supercomputer. Before I drop this week’s recommendations on you I thought I would check back to see how Max did this past week. Carlos Pena, Nick Johnson, Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler, Felipe Lopez, Jimmy Rollins, Orlando Cabrera, Yunel Escobar, Chipper Jones, Carl Crawford, B.J.Upton, Adam Dunn, Eric Byrnes, Andruw Jones, Josh Willingham, and Juan Pierre were all picked by Max to have top ten performances, or even the top performance at their positions.

He was right on the mark with Johnson (.409, 7 runs), Cano (.400, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 8 runs), Lopez (.364), Pierre (.320, 5 runs), Rollins (.333, 5 runs, 3 SB) Pena (2 HR, 5 RBI, 8 runs), B.J.Upton (5 runs, 3 SB), Crawford (5 runs, 2 SB), Cabrera (2 HR, 5 RBI), Dunn (5 RBI), and Utley (.348, 7 RBI). He missed the mark a bit with Eric Byrnes, mainly because he did not play, as the D’Backs have themselves a rookie that rakes in Gerardo Parra. Kinsler and the two Jones’s, Andruw and Chipper, also fell short of top ten performances, but not by much. Chipper is nursing an injury and has missed several games. This is by no means a comprehensive analysis of Max’s performance, but I’m certain it’s safe to say that Max gets it right over 95% of the time and possibly as high as 98%, provided the players get the projected playing time. With that in mind, let’s see who Max sez will have a big Week 8.

The top performer of the week at first base will be Ryan Howard, who returns to the top spot after a less than stellar Week 7. If he can stay healthy and on the field, Derrek Lee has a very favorable week lined up. Unfortunately, Max cannot tell whether Lee’s injuries will act up, but he’s working on it. Sleeper picks at first base this week are Casey Blake, Aubrey Huff, and James Loney, all of whom should enjoy top performances. At second base Max really likes Brian Roberts and Orlando Hudson, along with Chase Utley as the top performer. Look for Kelly Johnson to have a big week, and Dan Uggla should enjoy a better week than most as he breaks out of his slump. Max also has Ryan Theriot as a sleeper pick here. Jimmy Rollins takes the crown as top SS performer this week, while Max likes Rafael Furcal to rebound this week with some good matchups, and Jhonny Peralta is a sleeper pick to also rebound and have a top performance. Other sleepers for top performances at short this week are Troy Tulowitski and Jason Bartlett. A-Rod will be the top third baseman this week, his first top week since returning from the DL. Melvin Mora is a sneaky pick to have a winning Week 8, along with Pedro Feliz, and Adrian Beltre bouncing back. The top outfielders hold few surprises with Alfonso Soriano, Carl Crawford, and Nick Markakis at the top. But there are a few picks of Max’s that should be a surprise to some, like Milton Bradley, Jeff Francour, and Shane Victorino. All three have struggled at times this season, but should be good to go in Week 8. Finally, if you need a backstop, take a look at Dioner Navarro, Greg Zaun, or Miguel Olivo, as all are expected to be among the top ten performing backstops this week. Best of luck, see you next week out by the center field fence, right by the knothole.