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| Like counterpoint Kevin Slowey, Aaron Laffey was far from his best on Saturday night allowing five hits, four walks and four runs over five innings. |
Our View: Laffey has now allowed nine runs over his last two starts covering 10 innings, and he has walked seven while striking out eight in that time. Given his lack of swing and miss stuff he needs to have pinpoint control to be effective, and he hasn't of late. |
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| Grady Sizemore had two more hits on Saturday night, one of them being his 22nd home run of the year for the Indians in their 9-6 loss to the Twins. |
Our View: Did you realize that the 22 home runs Sizemore has hit lead the AL? If only those hitting behind him would pick up the slack and start knocking him in once in a while, we would be talking about a top-10 fantasy season for this offensive force. |
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| The Milwaukee Brewers continue to pursue C.C. Sabathia, but according to a report on ESPN they haven't yet offered a package of players strong enough to entice the Indians. |
Our View: Matt LaPorta would likely be at the center of any deal, but the Brewers have apparently trying to fill in around him with a couple of lesser prospects instead of another blue chipper. If the Brewers cannot work out a deal, the Phillies, Dodgers and Rays appear to still be in on the action according to Buster Olney. |
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| Cliff Lee will be the AL starter for the 2008 All-Star game, the New York Post reports. The southpaw is 11-1 with a 2.26 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 93 strikeouts this season. |
Our View: This news isn't too surprising. Lee seemed like the favorite, although we liked the idea of Mariano Rivera working the first inning of the festivities at Yankee Stadium. |
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| Indians general manager Mark Shapiro doesn't believe the franchise has a closer in their system to properly replace Joe Borowski. "We'll probably have to address that in the off-season," he tells the Cleveland Plain Dealer. |
Our View: Nice. We're sure such words are a boost of confidence for Masa Kobayahi, Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez, and other Indians relievers. |
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| The Indians have signed Jeff Weaver to a minor league deal and sent him to Triple-A Buffalo, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. |
Our View: The newspaper may be fooling their readers by proposing that Weaver may actually help the Indians. Good luck with that. |
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| Kelly Shoppach went 3-for-3 with two RBI in Friday's 12-3 loss to Minnesota. He hit two singles and a two-run homer. |
Our View: That was his second homer over his last three games. He also has registered multiple hits in two of his three outings in July. He is worth starting in AL-only leagues while he is hot. |
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| Paul Byrd was rocked for six earned runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings in Friday's disheartening 12-3 loss to the Twins in Minnesota, with three walks and four strikeouts. He gave up two homers, one to Nick Punto and the other to Delmon Young. |
Our View: Byrd drops to 3-10, and has lost five-straight decisions. He has also given up 23 homers over 17 starts. |
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| Masa Kobayashi may get the first opportunity to earn some saves, but the Indians will likely use a closer-by-committee, according to Indians.com. |
Our View: Kobayashi has been relatively good, at least compared to Joe Borowski, so if you are in need of saves, pick him up, but be warned: the situation could change at any minute. |
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| Brian Slocum has been recalled from Triple-A, according to The Sports Network. Like Jensen Lewis, he is taking over one of the roster spots vacated when Joe Borowski and Rick Bauer were designated for assignment. |
Our View: Slocum was with the Indians in 2006, but was not very good and holds no value in fantasy baseball. |
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| Jensen Lewis has been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to the big leagues, according to The Sports Network. He is taking over one of the roster spots vacated when Joe Borowski and Rick Bauer were designated for assignment. |
Our View: Lewis has been okay in Buffalo, but he does not retain any fantasy value. |
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| The Milwaukee Brewers may be in position to make a trade for C.C. Sabathia very soon, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He believes they might give up top prospect Matt LaPorta in order to land Sabathia. |
Our View: Sabathia would certainly make the Brewers a contender, not only for the National League Central division, but the World Series as well. A duo of Sabathia and Ben Sheets would be very tough to beat. |
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| Rick Bauer will be designated for assignment today, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. |
Our View: Bauer only appeared in four games, throwing six innings. He had a 13.50 ERA and is of no consequence to fantasy owners. |
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| Joe Borowski has been designated for assignment, according to Scout.com. |
Our View: Borowski has been terrible as a closer and the Tribe simply could not afford to keep him. Fantasy players shouldn't keep him around either, as his days as a closer for any team are over. |
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| Joe Borowski's role as closer will be the subject of talks among Indians management on today's off day, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Manager Eric Wedge would not say if Masa Kobayashi will take over that role. "I'm not going to speculate on that. It takes us down a road that doesn't do anyone any good," he said. |
Our View: Borowski blew a save on July 1, upping his ERA to 7.56, and he hasn't pitched since. Kobayashi gave up the game winning home run last night in his second inning of work, but the fact he was going two innings of a tie game says a lot about the team's confidence in him. |
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| Jamey Carroll went 1-for-5 with two RBI in Wednesday's tough 6-5 loss to the division rival White Sox. His hit went for a triple, his fourth of the season. |
Our View: The Indians' second baseman is hitting .285, and recorded an RBI in four of his last six games. He would be a good guy to consider if you could use some depth to your fantasy infield. |
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| Grady Sizemore went 3-for-4 with two RBI in Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the White Sox. Two of his hits went for solo homers. He also stole a base and scored four runs in the game, which took 10 innings to decide. |
Our View: He has 21 homers for the season, with four coming over his last seven games. His stolen base was also his 20th, and he is on pace for his first career 30/30 campaign. |
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| Casey Blake went 3-for-4 with an RBI in Tuesday's tough 3-2 loss to the White Sox. The Indians have now dropped four straight games. |
Our View: Blake extended his hitting streak to eight games, with three multi-hit efforts. He raised his average a few more points to .287, and has emerged as a quality fantasy starter in mixed-leagues. |
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| Cliff Lee only allowed one earned run on six hits over eight innings in Tuesday's close 3-2 loss to the division rival White Sox, with one walk and three strikeouts. |
Our View: He had another strong outing, but was dealt a no decision due to a lack of run support. Lee is 5-0 over his last seven starts, and has only surrendered one earned run in three straight. |
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| Scott Elarton will be leaving the Indians to deal with a personal matter, according to MILB.com. "There's not much I can say," manager Eric Wedge said. "He has some personal things he has to take care of. There's nothing I can say outside of that." |
Our View: Elarton has struggled with his control this season (5.28 BB/9) leading to a terrible WHIP (1.63), but as the mop up reliever in the Indians pen he wouldn't of had much value if he had thrown strikes. Tom Mastny was called up to take his roster spot. |
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| Tom Mastny has been recalled by the Indians to take the spot of Scott Elarton who had to leave the team due to personal reasons, according to MILB.com. |
Our View: Mastny is 1-0 with a 1.71 ERA and 34 K in 26.1 IP at Triple-A Buffalo this year, but he still has to prove he isn't one of the Four-A players who can dominate in the minors but struggle in the majors. He will go into middle relief and have little value at all for now. |
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