By Robby Wellington – Staff Writer
Three days ago, Troy Glaus played his fifth game at shortstop and with six under his belt and counting, he is now shortstop eligible in most formats. Other than catcher, shortstop is by far the thinnest position in fantasy baseball, meaning that Glaus’ value just went through the roof. If the current owner of Glaus already has a good shortstop, or even if they don’t, go after Glaus hard, as he should be able to at least keep up his current numbers hitting in a rejuvenated lineup in one of the league’s premiere hitter’s parks. I’d rate Glaus ever so slightly behind Tejada and Reyes (120 runs and 70 SBs) but ahead of Jeter. In other words, he’s a top-20 player now. Treat him as such.
Hanley Ramirez was the toast of fantasytown a few weeks ago, but after a 3-for-45 skid, Ramirez is hitting .262 and has been jettisoned in a number of leagues. The speed is still there, however, and I would expect Ramirez to be good for 15-20 steals over the remainder of the season along with a serviceable average (.270 or so) and decent run totals hitting in the 2-hole of the surprisingly solid Florida lineup. In other words, Hanley should be a 10-14 overall shortstop from here on out.
RotoScoop black sheep Adrian Beltre is slowly but surely working his way back into our good graces. After a move to the 2-hole and then torching the NL West, Beltre is finally hitting .250 with an OPS approaching 700. A notorious 2nd half player, Beltre has a very good shot at being a top-12 3rd baseman from here on out. The same can be said for Aubrey Huff, who actually made Beltre look good the last few months. Huff has raised his OPS over 100 points in just the last week, and with a career OPS more than 100 points higher after the All-Star Break, Huff should have some value down the stretch.
Lastly, Albert Pujols came back after almost a three-week layoff, dropping his OPS to a paltry 1.170. Pujols’ owners may very well be fed up with all these missed games and 0-fors. Now is the perfect time to pounce! Never mind, he just went 4-for-4 with a bomb, ending all hopes of owners giving up on the scrub.
And on an unrelated note, I just finished watching Phantom of The Opera right now (it just happened to be on HBO, forcing me to tear myself away from the Tony Danza Show), and I’ve got to say, the Phantom is a complete a-hole, not sure what Emmy Rossum sees in him other than a really great singing voice. I mean, she makes out with the guy seconds after he tries to hang her fiancée, and then gives him her engagement ring (which wasn’t hers to give in the first place). Utterly frustrating on all accounts.
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