A lot happened last week in the AL…so let’s get right to it in our tour through the league. I expect this to be a long, somewhat verbose, tour since I have a lot to say today.

American League East

Baltimore Orioles

So…Jay Gibbons hasn’t gotten a hit in his last 22 at-bats, which isn’t good when there is an “at-bat reward system” going on in Baltimore. If left alone, Gibbons will show power, but he is prone to both slumps and strikeouts, so the likelihood of him being a fantasy asset this season is not very good since the at bats won’t be consistent. The Orioles are on the hook for the next 2+ years with Gibbons (and he is owed nearly $12 million in ’08 and ’09 combined), so I am sure they are scratching their heads now wondering what to do. But, of course, that is a problem they brought upon themselves. Maybe they’ll find a taker in July if they eat some of the contract. The Twins can use an outfield/DH type with pop, so that could be an interesting marriage. Certainly it would seem that Gibbons would benefit from a change of scenery.

Boston Red Sox

I really don’t like the Red Sox (I think it’s genetic or something), but I really do like the Red Sox players for rotisserie purposes. I can live with the dichotomy. If you are a J.D. Drew owner, you have been living with his poor performance and now a hamstring problem. He is day-to-day and did play on Monday, but I am sure he isn’t 100%. Such is the nature of the beast when owning oft-injured players. Wily Mo Pena should soak up most of those at bats if/when Drew is unavailable for an extended period of time.

New York Yankees

Nothing like the Red Sox to turn Bobby Abreu around. The much maligned Yankee outfielder wasn’t rolling over to second base this weekend, but went the other way a lot. He had multiple hits and a walk in each game. While his home run power is clearly MIA, he can still do a lot of damage in the runs scored and stolen base portions of rotisserie baseball.

I’d like to highlight Chris Britton now since I think, come August, he’ll be a big part of the Yankee’s bullpen and could work his way into an eighth inning role. Christopher Daniel Britton was an eighth round pick of the Orioles in the 2001 draft. He missed a year of development in 2003 as he was injured (he was hit in the head by a batted-ball), but otherwise progressed nicely through the system. He spent most of the year in Baltimore, bypassing Triple-A completely, and did solid work in middle relief sporting a 3.35 ERA plus a 1.17 WHIP in 54 innings for the Orioles. Britton was shipped to the Yankees over the winter in exchange for Jaret Wright and he did not make the team out of spring training. He was recalled for a few days in April (no hits or runs in his two appearances) but was optioned back to Triple-A. On June 1st, he was recalled back to New York, but did not appear in a game until Monday, where he gave the team 3 IP and allowed only one hit. In Triple-A, Britton had a 0.78 ERA in 23 innings, which includes 26 strikeouts (and no homers). That he wasn’t used at all in the Boston series gives you an indication of the level of trust the team has in his ability. At any rate, I suspect (if he isn’t farmed out soon), he will be thrust into a more meaningful opportunity and perform well. When you are in the Yankee bullpen and perform well, they find work for you to do. Keep him in mind at some point as I believe he could become valuable towards the end of the year.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

So…no more Andy Sonnanstine watch! His time has come. I have rostered him in multiple leagues and we’ll see what he does with his two starts this week. Sonnanstine throws lots of strikes and from a variety of arm angles. He is a guy who could probably confuse the league with different looks early in his career, but might struggle a bit after that. Note that if Sonnanstine pitches well, the Rays might be more willing to dip down to Triple-A (since J.P. Howell was very good on Sunday). At that point, either Jeff Niemann or Jason Hammel would get a recall and the Rays would have to figure out what to do with Edwin Jackson. They might just try to pass him through waivers at this point since he hasn’t shown any progress in a long time and has failed at both being a starter and a reliever. I thought the Majors was not a “developmental league”? At any rate, as far as a recall goes, my guess would be Hammel since he’s been up before and Niemann (the better prospect) could benefit from working on his control. Now if they could just get a pitcher or two for the bullpen, the Rays would be a formidable bunch. Note that they used Casey Fossum yesterday in the eighth inning as a match-up lefty against David DeJesus…and gave up a hit. They probably need to bury Fossum in middle relief at this point.

Toronto Blue Jays

As an owner of Lyle Overbay in multiple leagues, I cringed when I saw him get hit on Sunday with a John Danks’ fastball. I was hoping against hope that it was a finger or a wrist, but knew it was bad when he pointed at his hand to the home plate umpire. Losing Overbay is a huge loss for Toronto since they have been able to win some games where just Alex Rios and Overbay are producing. With nothing in Triple-A to really help out, Matt Stairs will be the beneficiary of almost regular at bats at first base for the Jays with Adam Lind also a regular in the outfield. A good guess for a recall would be Mike Vento, who hits right-handed, plays the outfield and has some Major League experience.

American League Central

Chicago White Sox

Jerry Owens… leadoff hitter? Apparently so in Chicago as the lefty-hitting speed-merchant has been plugged into that slot by Ozzie Guillen in the short-term. Owens has a high turn of speed and on-base skills, so if he is available (somehow) in your league, he could be a good source of short-term stolen bases.

Cleveland Indians

I’ve read about, potentially, Cliff Lee getting sent to Triple-A if he doesn’t turn it around before Jake Westbrook returns. I cannot see that happening at all. If anything, Jeremy Sowers will get the hook since he has no track record of success at the Major League level. All of this talk about Triple-A and Lee is just to re-motivate him, I guess. Lee is falling behind in the count and his batting average on balls in play hasn’t helped (he is 105th out of 140 AL pitchers with 20 or more innings pitched). Lee never did have a high ceiling, but he could be a league-average starter from here on out.

Detroit Tigers

Wanting some more pop, manager Jim Leyland has been inserting Marcus Thames into the lineup at the expense of Sean Casey. Wanting more pop? Detroit leads the Majors in runs and in slugging percentage. They are going to need to find middle relief so expect them to be major players for both Troy Percival and Jay Witasick. The latter was recently granted his release by the Athletics in order to pursue an opportunity that would allow him to pitch more often.  Let’s face it: if you were a pitcher, wouldn’t you want to play for the team that leads the league in scoring and made it to the World Series last season?