• Remember Ken Griffey’s “minor” toe injury? It’s now cost him 14 games, and he’s apparently in no rush to return to the lineup. Why should he hurry back? I mean, the Reds were just three and a half games back in the Wild Card when Griffey went down, and they’re 6-8 since, dropping five and a half back and basically done like dinner. What’s the rush? Reggie Jackson probably has no problem with the Kid taking his time. Griffey is just one home run behind Mr. October for a share of 10th place on the all-time list.
• I’m feeling nostaligic today, so we’ll look at some upcoming milestones as current major leaguers add their names beside the all-time greats. Tom Glavine, with 289 wins, gets the Nats on Monday at Shea, with a fantastic opportunity to pull within seven wins of Bobby Mathews in 23rd place. Glavine has been a vastly superior pitcher at home this year (8-2, 2.77 vs. 6-4, 5.02 on the road), so I like his chances, especially against a stumbling Washington club.
• Last night, Pedro Marinez failed for the third straight time to reach double digits in wins and earn his 207th career victory, a total that will tie him for 95th place with Bob Lemon and Hal Newhouser. Pedro clearly still isn’t right. In two starts since coming off the DL, he’s given up 10 hits and seven earned runs in eight innings.
• David Wells is scheduled to start Monday and would also be in line to start the season finale, assuming the Padres don’t opt to go with someone else in what may be a pivotal game as the NL West looks to go down to the wire. If Wells starts both games, that will give Boomer 461 career starts and a share of 69th place with Curt Simmons. Wells says he doesn’t plan on returning for the 2007 season, so this probably is his final chance to pitch in a regular season game, unless he pulls a Roger Clemens.
• Alright, enough with this connection to the past already. Screw it. Let’s look at the future. How about Jeremy Sowers? Because of his late start to the season, not being promoted to the majors until June 25, he won’t receive much in the way of AL ROY support, but man does the future look bright for this kid. He’s 23 years old and did not appear overmatched in the least in his first taste of big-league ball, immediately establishing himself as a fixture in the Indians’ rotation for years to come. The Tribe has wisely shut him down for 2006, given his high innings count between Triple-A and the majors, but I love Sowers’ future. You need to take a close look at him on draft day next year.
• While we’re talking about the future of the Indians, it looks like former catcher Ryan Garko has impressed Cleveland enough with his defense at first that he will be the club’s everyday first baseman to open 2007. He can hit a little, too. Try .299 through 40 games with nine doubles and six homers. Garko has a .371 OBP courtesy of 14 walks against 30 strikeouts. Garko’s emergence saves Victor Martinez owners who possibly faced having him switch to first base.

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By RotoRob
This entry was posted on Friday, September 22nd, 2006 at 1:57 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.