Tim Wakefield going down is just the latest in big players for the Sox getting dinged up.

This is the best of times and the worst of times for fantasy owners. If you have managed to bring your fantasy team into September with a shot at the fantasy gold, you have probably had the good fortune of avoiding serious injury to your players or, at the very least, you have had success replacing those injured studs. As of today, finding those replacements should become even easier as major league rosters expand and all those veterans and young studs wallowing in Triple-A hit the big time. Those call-ups are what make it the best of times.

However, it is the worst of times because major league teams tend not to bother placing injured players on the disabled list. Unless you are in a fantasy league like mine that has a September disabled rule, your fantasy team can be severely hurt by injured players that you are not allowed to replace. For our purposes today, we are going to assume you are in a league that, like mine, recognizes the unique fantasy problems that occur in September. This will allow us to look at some of the players we expect to have big impacts this month without feeling too guilty.

In Boston, recent injuries to Manny Ramirez, Coco Crisp, J.D. Drew, and Tim Wakefield should allow top prospects like right-handed starter Clay Buchholz and center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury to be big time fantasy contributors. Buchholz will start on Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles and I would not hesitate to add him to my active roster, especially in AL-only leagues. They make good pitchers in Texas. Buchholz has been awesome in Double-A and Triple-A this season with miniscule whips, puny walk rates, few hits allowed, and major strikeouts.

Jacoby Ellsbury has stolen 42 bases so far this season. The speed alone is enough for most fantasy owners but Ellsbury is more than just an aggressive base runner. He makes great contact and has great plate discipline, which usually results in great batting averages. He does not have much power but he also is not one of those pathetic minor league slap-hitters that just do not translate to the majors. He is going to play a lot this month. He may not be as free to steal bases in the majors as he was in the minors but the Red Sox tend to make exceptions to their station-to-station philosophy for some players – I expect Ellsbury will be one of them. If you can manage to hold on to him for next year, you may have the AL Rookie of the Year.

The Yankees, who swept through the Red Sox this week in their fight for a playoff spot, have been rebuilding around young players of their own. Joba Chamberlain has already proven to be exactly the pitcher they needed in the bullpen. Phil Hughes has not been as amazing as hyped but he has been generally competent as a regular in the rotation. On Saturday, Mike Mussina will be bumped from the rotation in favor of another Yankee prospect, Ian Kennedy. If you still needed some assurance that General Manager Brian Cashman, and not owner George Steinbrenner, is running things, this is it. At three levels this season, his first as a professional, Kennedy has yet to have a whip that exceeded 1.04. In 149 minor league innings, Kennedy has gone 12-3 with a 1.87 earned run average, 0.97 WHIP, 0.36 HR/9, and 9.97 K/9. He is another one you want on your fantasy roster for September and beyond.

The Houston Astros will be calling up a whole gang of minor leaguers today; among them will be Josh Anderson. Anderson is a speedy center fielder who should provide the Astros with the speed at the top of the order that they lost when they made the horrendous Jason Jennings trade. Anderson is not in Ellsbury’s class, but he might steal more bases. Fantasy owners in NL-only leagues will want to grab him immediately if they need a surge of speed to rise to the top of the standings.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are still technically in the playoff hunt and they are using the fact that they have not been eliminated from the playoffs yet to motivate their players. I guess if they need something to justify trading for the expensive Matt Morris, that one is as good as any. Still, with Chris Duffy out for the season, Nyjer Morgan has been called up and it is not difficult to see the Pirates giving this speedster a bunch of at-bats. Morgan makes good use of his speed getting on base and getting around them. He has stolen 22 bases in just 44 games this season. He will not help in any other categories but if steals is what you need, Morgan can provide them.

The Athletics failed to make their annual second half run into playoff contention. On Friday, they conceded that it just was not going to happen. Third baseman Eric Chavez and outfielder Travis Buck are both out for the remainder of the season and each will have off-season surgery and rehab to look forward to. Mark Kotsay could play but instead will rest his often-creaky back for the rest of the season.  Jack Hannahan, a minor league veteran, will get the chance to play a lot this month. He is not the sexy prospect you might be looking for but he is a solid bat with some pop and an opportunity. This season at Triple-A Toledo, over 336 at-bats, Hannahan hit .295/.422/.476 with 13 homers, 63 RBI, 56 runs and five stolen bases, so you could do a lot worse.

You can send your questions comments and insults to JonWilliams@SportsGrumblings.com and he will be sure to respond.