Announcing the New Sports Curse

Well, it was bound to happen some time. Sports Illustrated has it's cover curse, we have our "Can't Miss Fantasy Prospect Advice" curse. We're not saying we're big enough to actually rival SI's cover curse, we're just saying we're not listening to our advice anymore. You probably shouldn't either.

Nick Swisher: Swisher has been the cover boy for this new 108 Red Stitches curse. Drafted in our fantasy league in each of the past four seasons (after Swisher's dominating welcome to the majors), Swisher has either run into a wall, had a tough season, or was traded to a team who mis-used him by making him their lead off hitter. Currently, our favorite hard nosed ball player is batting .213 with 13 RBIs. Hard nosed is no longer considered a stat in most fantasy leagues, which lead us to dropping Swisher in favor of the young Joey Votto. Look for Votto to fail miserably within the next few weeks.

Santiago Casilla: One of our latest "touted prospects" for your fantasy team needing a quick boost, here's the update on Casilla, courtesy of Rotowire;

Casilla was placed on the 15-day DL with soreness in his right elbow.

Spin: He left Thursday's game with a right elbow injury, but there's no word yet from his medical evaluation.

Ryan Garko: Could we have screamed any louder on draft day when Garko fell quietly into our laps way late in the draft? Yes, we could, and have. Garko has looked more like a gecko at the plate than his previous self. After hitting 21 dingers last year, Garko was given the keys to first base, and has been spinning his wheels in neutral all year. Four home runs (majority coming in the past week or so) and a scorching .235 BA have left Garko owners (cough...us....cough) pounding our heads into our keyboards.

So, does three players actually qualify as a curse? No, probably not. But just to continue to earn curse points, lets just name a few players in this blog, and see what happens in the next few weeks: Santana, Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Delgado, Wagner, Schneider, Church, Pedro, Alou, Perez.

Yes, I'm a Yankee fan currently watching the Subway Series. Hey, they need help.

Injury Bug Got You Down?

Injury bug got you down? That overpriced outfielder (Soriano) not holding up his end of the bargain? That late draft pickup (Foulke) land back on the DL? Hate seeing the dreaded DTD letters next to your starters name? Hate having to try to play Carnac, wildly guessing whether to sit, bench, or drop a guy?

Here's a quick list of guys you can pick up to keep your fantasy team's head above water until the early season bumps, bruises, pulls, aches, and pains fade away:

1. Santiago Casilla, RP (Oakland). With Keith Foulke spending some time on the DL, the A's found a stop-gap solution to bridge to their closer. Casilla's numbers (to date) are the following:

13 IP, 18 Ks, 0.00 ERA, 7 Holds, and a WHIP of 0.83.

And here's the kicker, only 10% of all ESPN Fantasy Leagues own him. So he's probably yours for the taking.

2. Yunieski Bentancourt, SS (Seatle). Owned by only 8% of all ESPN Fantasy Leagues, is batting .298 with only one home run. He also has zero steals, which should be his strong suit. Yuni is hovering around the .300 mark, and once he gets going, he'll steal his fare share of bases. Might be a good fill in for those Jimmy Rollins owners looking for a quick plug.

3. Chad Gaudin, SP (Oakland). Flying under the radar at a low 21% ownership rate, Gaudin's numbers are gaudy. He's only given up two runs in the last twenty innings pitched, has an overall WHIP of 1.10, and has won his last three starts. Coupled with the fact that he's pitching roughly half his starts in a pitcher cozy ballpark, Gaudin is a steal right now.


4. Jeff Mathis, C (LAA) For all you Jorge Posada Fantasy Owners looking for a replacement, stay away from Jose Molina. Sure he'll get at bats, but not quality at bats like you'd be getting from Jeff Mathis. Before sitting out a few games due to the flu, Mathis was batting .325 with three home runs, ten runs scored, and even has a stolen base. Add a low ownership rating of 1.9%, and you've got a pretty decent option to fill in for (not replace) Posada.