If you were playing in an International League-only league this year, Slowey was the pitcher to own. AL-only, not so much.

There is less than two weeks to go in the season. Some fantasy baseball owners are just trying to reach the finish line intact. Others are peaking right now and want a few more weeks. The rest? They are bidding on that guy on the Cleveland Browns who threw all those TD passes yesterday.

In this week’s column, I’ll just make mention of a few players who could help out your team during the duration of the season and also some guys (likely) available now who could help out next season. Next week, we’ll finish up the year with a review of some of the comments I made during the season.

Adam Lind (OF, Tor) – With Lyle Overbay relegated to pinch-hitting and defensive duty, this opens up a spot (against right-handers, anyway) for Adam Lind. Last year, Lind was the Eastern League MVP and played well during a call-up to Toronto. This season? Not so much. Lind’s been only “okay” at Triple-A and is hitting 0.227 for the Jays on the season (in 250 at-bats). He’s only 24, though, so he could make that leap in 2008. Either way, you should think about taking a chance on Lind for next season (or, if desperate, this season).

Kevin Slowey (SP, Min) – Slowey’s been all sorts of good at Triple-A this year. In fact, he was voted the International League’s Most Valuable pitcher. And no wonder…as he finished the season with a 1.89 ERA in 133 innings pitched. That Kevin Slowey, however, didn’t translate well to the Major Leagues. In his 133 innings in Triple-A, Slowey allowed only four homers. In his 48 innings with the Twins this year, he allowed 16 home runs. Slowey did pitch very well yesterday versus the Rangers (six innings, four hits, seven strikeouts). There is a chance he could get two more starts this season. He is another guy you might want to roster either this year or next year if he is floating around in the FA pool.

Juan Rivera (OF, LAA)-- Chances are, Juan Rivera is available in your league’s free agent pool. He doesn’t really play much and should only see spot duty the rest of the way. However, he is only 29 years old and did have a 0.525 slugging percentage in 2006. If he hits in spring training, the club will find a spot for him. Take the plunge now to reap the benefits next season.

Other news and notes…

• You might want to just forget about Jason Botts having a career in the Majors. Even if he did start hitting with some power for Texas, he just strikes out way too often for anyone to have confidence in him. If he was on your radar off his good Triple-A performance this year, I’d replace him with someone else.


• I give Jerry Owens a lot of credit. He is going to finish with 30 stolen bases but I do not know if he is what the White Sox consider the long term solution in centerfield. He is finishing strong, though, and has his OBP up to 0.322. Since all of his value is tied up in stealing bases, he is quite vulnerable to being singled out when he is struggling (since his power is non-existent).


• Fausto Carmona and his 3.33 GB/FB ratio is a double-play ball ready to happen. But so, it seems, is Aaron Laffey. The young-lefty has a 3.70 GB/FB ratio for Cleveland so far. If you add in that ground-ball specialist Jake Westbrook, Cleveland might want to consider using a defense-first approach up the middle next year when these guys are on the hill.


• You try to be optimistic with the Devil Rays following solid performances by Jamie Shields and Andy Sonnanstine, but then Edwin Jackson gives up 14 hits in 4 2/3 innings on Monday….and all that good feeling goes away.

Questions and comments may be sent to donvisco@sportsgrumblings.com