• I haven’t said much about him this year, but let’s give some kudos to that Canadian kid. Justin Morneau homered and drove in three runs yesterday to help the Twins take out the Yankees 6-1. He is 4-for-8 in the first two games of this series, and in 129 games overall, Morneau has scored 75 runs and driven in 114. He’s slugging .584 for the year, and is batting almost .350 since the All-Star break. If Morneau doesn’t get serious MVP consideration this year, it will be a travesty.
• You need to take a closer look at Scott Baker for your stretch run in AL-only leagues. Baker held the Yanks to two hits and a run over five innings yesterday to earn his fourth win of the season. While he walked three, he did not allow a home run — the first time he’s done that since April 26. More importantly, Baker helped stem a Twins’ skid and guided them to victory in a place they rarely taste it. That’s just the second win in the past 14 games for Minnesota at Yankee Stadium. It’s also the second time Baker held the Yankees in check this year, beating them in Minnesota on April 14. Baker might be a gamble right now, but with Brad Radke out, he’s got some job security.
• We gotta throw some love A.J. Burnett’s way. When the Jays shelled out $55 million in the offseason for a pitcher with a sub-.500 career record, many eyebrows were raised. Certainly they were banking on getting more than one win prior to the All-Star break from their number two starter. Since then, however, Burnett has won six times, and yesterday he played the role of the stopper, throwing a three-hitter at the Bosox to snap Toronto’s five-game losing streak. That’s two complete games for Burnett now, who, other than a shellacking in Cleveland on Monday when his control failed him, has looked very good lately. A note of caution, though. Why has he been allowed to throw 115 pitches three starts in a row? The Jays have a very good bullpen, and Burnett, who has an extensive injury history, has already flirted with plenty of physical woes this year. Protect your investment, Toronto. It’s a five-year deal and the playoffs are not happening this season.

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By RotoRob
This entry was posted on Sunday, September 3rd, 2006 at 2:00 pm and is filed under BASEBALL, Fantasy Notes, RotoRob. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.