The J.R. Towles experience has not exactly gone as planned...

The week began with a few notable disabled list additions, Ryan Zimmerman (shoulder) of the Nationals and David Ortiz (wrist) of the Red Sox. Zimmerman currently has no timetable for his return, and could ultimately miss the whole season. Zimmerman had taken a step back in 2007 after a dynamic 2006 campaign, and this injury could derail his development. Still, stash him away for now, as he could return this season. In the interim, Aaron Boone and Kory Casto are filling in at third base. Both are decent options in deep NL-Only leagues, but certainly nothing more than that.

The entire Red Sox Nation had a collective coronary when it was announced that Ortiz might need season ending surgery. Thankfully for the Sox, Ortiz will be out for a few weeks, assuming that the diagnosis that he does not need surgery does not change, but the question, as always with wrist injuries, is will it sap his power? Ortiz had 13 home runs in 210 at bats this season, which was a slower pace than years past, indicating the wrist may have been bothering him all season. For now, the Sox outfield defense should be better as they can slide Manny Ramirez to designated hitter, and play both Coco Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury in the same outfield. This could benefit their starting pitching for now, which is worth keeping an eye on.

From the "return from injury" department, the Yankees activated Jorge Posada from the disabled list. There are grumblings that Posada is nowhere near 100%, and that he may need off-season surgery, although for the time being, he is back in the lineup, albeit not consistently at this time. His offensive numbers should take a dip for the rest of the year, as he is far from fully healthy, and now may be a time to try to move on his "name brand" value and deal Posada off your squad.

In Cincinnati Reds news, Scott Hatteberg was formally released from the Reds after being previously designated for assignment. This was seen as somewhat of an inevitability, given the emergence of Joey Votto, but was certainly contributed to by the .173 batting average that Hatteberg compiled. At 38, Hatteberg may simply be done, although he has always had on base skills, and may catch on somewhere. Still, he's probably one to avoid even if he does sign somewhere. Meanwhile, the Reds also called up Homer Bailey to pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday. Bailey pitched reasonably well, especially considering that he was going up against a monster lineup in a poor pitcher's park. However, Bailey has some control problems and his four walks against one strikeout are not going to get the job done in the majors. He should still get a few chances to turn things around, but you should temper your expectations, especially from a rookie pitcher with command issues.

Meanwhile, back to the American League, the White Sox bolstered their rotation this week by signing Esteban Loaiza. Back in May, the Dodgers designated the ineffective Loaiza for assignment. Loaiza will supposedly serve as an emergency starter and long relief man. Given that he will not even be starting, and had put up a 5.63 earned run average to date this year, and that he will be moving to a hitter's park means you should avoid Loaiza at all costs.

And finally, one of the hot prospects expected to make an impact this year was J.R. Towles. Unfortunately, when you are being outhit by Brad Ausmus, you are probably not ready for The Show. Although Towles is certainly the future for the Astros, they are going to try and compete for a little while this year, and that means that Ausmus is the best bet. Neither should be targeted, although in a keeper league, Towles is probably a worthwhile guy to stash for 2009. In the meanwhile, he will try to turn things around in Triple-A.

That will do it for this week. See you next time.