Troy Tulowitzki will not be putting on the uniform anytime soon.
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Busted
The Colorado Rockies may be without their star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki until the All-Star break with a torn tendon in his quadriceps. With Clint Barmes moving over to short for the time being, the Rockies may need to look for a new starting second baseman, and the most talked about second baseman on the block this year, Brian Roberts, could end up in some trade talks very soon if the Rockies can manage to put themselves back in the race for the NL West. The Rockies would love to add a second baseman that is capable of hitting .281 with 8-12 home runs, 50-60 RBI, and 40-50 stolen bases. Just like the Cubs trade rumors, this one is going to get tossed around the rumor mill for a while and then nothing will happen. Expect Roberts to be an Oriole till at least the July 31st trade deadline.
Busted Again
Heading into the season, the Milwaukee Brewers expected to have Ben Sheets and Yovani Gallardo to eat a lot of innings for them, but so far Sheets has missed one start and Gallardo is going to be out for a while with a torn ligament in his right knee. While Sheets appears to be fully recovered from his sore triceps muscle, the Brewers are going to plug in an ineffective Dave Bush in the Rotation while they take a look at the available pitchers to possibly replace Gallardo. A few pitchers to watch during the next couple of weeks will be Rays’ pitchers Edwin Jackson and Jason Hammel. The Tampa Bay Rays will have Scott Kazmir return to the team after starting the year on the DL and they will have to find a place for one of two pitchers to go. Neither pitcher has had a great start to the year, but have both posted better numbers that 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA like Dave Bush. The Brewers would like to give Bush a chance to prove that he can keep runners from scoring before they make a move. Fantasy owners should sit on Gallardo for a while if your league allows you to have a DL spot, otherwise his value just plummeted and you may want to drop him to find a solid replacement for Gallardo.
2009 Free Agent Stock Market
Unless teams start locking up their aces soon, this years free agent class of starting pitchers stands to be one of the best classes in a while. Pitchers like C.C. Sabathia, Brad Penny, Ben Sheets, Jon Garland, A.J. Burnett, and Derek Lowe just to mention names of studs that will be looking for Barry Zito like money this off-season. The most interesting pitchers of the group have to be Ben Sheets and A.J. Burnett who can opt out of his contract at the end of the year. Along with the stud pitchers there is one catcher heading into free agency that just might be the best defensive catcher in the entire league.
Ben Sheets is heading into his free agent off-season and needs to have one heck of a season to show General Managers that he worth the money. So far in his eight seasons in the MLB Sheets is 77-74 with a 3.77 ERA and 1074 strikeouts. When looking at his career record keep in mind that he has played his whole career on a team that has been absolutely atrocious up until last year. On the season Sheets is 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched. Look for Sheets to make 30 starts this year and finish the season with a career high in wins with 17 while maintaining an ERA below 4.00.
A.J. Burnett has a clause in his contract that will allow him to opt out at the end of the 2008 season if he does not want to continue his career as a Toronto Blue Jay. So far in Toronto Burnett is 23-18 with a 4.18 ERA in 52 starts. Burnett has been fairly unimpressive during his stint in Toronto, but we are only one month into the 2008 season and he looks to be fairly healthy for a change. Like Sheets, Burnett is going to have to have a healthy season and pitch very well in order to become a must have free agent this winter. Look for Burnett to once again spend some time on the DL and decide to stay in Toronto for one more year.
Come November, the Boston Red Sox may have to make a very tough decision. Jason Varitek is going to be a free agent and it would be almost impossible for the Red Sox not to re-sign him. Varitek is off to a slow start this season hitting just .256 with three home runs and eight RBI. Last season the New York Yankees gave 36-year-old catcher Jorge Posada a four-year deal worth $52.4 million. While Varitek is not going to ask for the $13 million per year that Posada got, he will likely ask for something comparable to his previous contract. Expect the Red Sox to resign Varitek, but do not expect them to give either the years or money that Posada received. Look for Varitek to get a two-year deal worth around $18 million.
Noteworthy News
The Rockies agreed to terms with infielder Juan Castro on a minor league contract. Castro will start his career as a Rockie with their minor league affiliate Colorado Spring and then get called up to help fill in for the injured Troy Tulowitzki.
The Kansas City Royals have released pitcher Hideo Nomo. It is expected that Nomo will finally retire after failing to make a comeback this season. In four and a third innings this season Nomo is 0-0 with an 18.69 ERA and a 3.23 WHIP. During his 11-year career, Nomo was 123-109 with a 4.25 ERA.
After a 23-year career, Julio Franco has officially retired from the game. In his career Franco hit .298 with 173 home runs, 1,194 RBI, 281 stolen bases, and 2,586 hits.
Boston-raised and bred, and proud of it, John Cloutman tries hard to hide his Beantown homerism, but not too hard. Back from a tour of duty in the current Iraq war, John is in his first year as a columnist for Sports Grumblings but is far from a rookie in sports expertise.