A strained quadriceps is one thing, but any time you have a tear in any muscle or ligament it’s much more disconcerting. Such is the case with Braves third baseman Chipper Jones.

I don’t own Jones in any of my leagues, but I’m growing quite concerned over his injury. Disabled List Informer talks about the blood pooling in the injured area and while I lack the medical background he does, I would agree with his speculation that a mere four-day hiatus will not be enough time for this injury to heal, and it’s likely this malady will continue to hamper Chipper until he gets an extended break.

Chipper has made some progress. “I did swing the bat today and it felt fine,” Jones told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But a simple quad stretch is painful, so running is out of the question, at least for the next couple days.” In fact, Jones may not play until the Braves open a series against the Angels in Los Angels on Friday. I’m VERY concerned.

I believe that despite Jones’ gaudy numbers and potential for more, considering his average is slightly better in the second half of the season than the first over the course of his career. It’s worth noting that the Braves are 0-6 with Chipper out of the lineup and it’s clear that they want him back in their lineup. I don’t think they’ll rush him, but I don’t think they’ll need to in order to put undue added stress on the injured right quadriceps. He’s been dealing with this injury since April and it’s clearly not getting any better. It has the making of one of those tweaks that is supposed to keep him out a few days, but ends up keeping on the shelf for six weeks. That’s not what the experts are saying, but it’s what I have seen play out with nagging injuries such as these with other players I’ve owned on past fantasy teams. This is why when he puts together a solid string of games again, fantasy owners should strongly consider selling high.

The fine folks over at Fangraphs have posted an interesting discovery…that Braves outfielder Gregor Blanco’s favorite movie is clearly, “Happy Gilmore.” For supporting evidence click here. Seriously, the video clip makes me want to claim him in my fantasy leagues just because.

Knowing when to buy and sell players in fantasy baseball is not unlike playing the stock market. Correctly predicting a streak of excellence or futility is a difficult, but essential ingredient to the success of a franchise. The players that follow are a couple key buy low candidates for fantasy owners looking to make a push in their standings over the remaining few months of the season.

Delmon Young, OF, Twins
Admit it, you thought Delmon would finish off his first 30-30 season in 2008 and the Twins trade with the Rays would be considered a coup. It’s tough to forget he’s just 22 years old and there are plenty of ballplayers his age that haven’t even found their way out of the minors yet. His first homer of the season yesterday against the White Sox may be just the spark he needs to get things going. Over his young professional career, his numbers in the second half of the season are nearly equal to those of the first half of the year minus one notable difference–his batting average. He has hit nearly 30 points higher in the second half than in the first half. It’s safe to say he may finally be getting comfortable with the Twins and while 30-30 is a pipe dream, he is poised to remind us of the kind of elite talent he is over the rest of the season.

Jeff Francoeur, OF, Braves
Francoeur was a popular sleeper among fantasy analysts this spring, but minus a small handfull of games (a two-homer game against the Nationals in mid April and a four-RBI effort against the Mets in late May) he’s been shockingly pedestrian. I was among those analysts that really liked him this spring, and like many of my peers, I still expect him to go on a tear at some point this season. Consider that over his three-year career, he’s hit more homers in July and August than any other months and there is clearly more than a glimmer of hope for him yet.

Erik Bedard, SP, Mariners
This season it’s safe to say there is no bigger disappointment for fantasy owners in regards to lackluster pitching performances than Mr. Bedard. He’s allowed four runs or more in three of his last five starts and looked basically lost in a start against the Rangers in mid may where he allowed seven hits, four walks, six earned runs, and struck out only two in two innings of work. To be fair, he hasn’t been lucky in terms of the number of balls in play falling for hits this season, which is a trend that should level out over the course of the season. Sure, the Mariners aren’t going to provide a ton of run support (the only AL team with fewer runs scored this season is the Royals), but if Bedard pitches even remotely close to as well as he did last season, he won’t need many runs to start piling up the victories. Remember that last season after the All-Star break he went 6-1 and posted an ERA that was nearly a run better than his first half mark while improving his WHIP slightly as well. His strikeouts were up and walks down during May so it’s time to take a chance on him if his owner has lost faith.

Photo courtesy of NY Newsday

There was certainly a draft in my house when the plumber came by to install a new sink for me and felt compelled to leave the front door open and back windows open to create a wind tunnel. That isn’t the kind of draft I’m talking about in this case.

I would be a bit blind if I let the MLB draft pass without comment. Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star had a nice column about the problems with the draft earlier this week. No two seamheads have the same opinion regarding how to cure what ails the draft process, but I have my opinions.

Far to often a player’s contract demands dictate how the entire first round plays out. That is ludicrous if for no other reason than these are ballplayers some of which have never played above high school level. It’s not often I point to the NBA as a source of intellect and logical thinking, but they have each pick in the draft slotted to specific numbers a player can earn for their first three seasons. We are still talking about millions here, not the $27K I made in my first job post college.

There are widly differing opinions as to whether or not teams should be able to trade draft picks or at least the rights to drafted players. People have their reasons, mostly citing a general manager’s ability to leverage his team’s future in exchange for the necessary wins to save his job. Is this really an issue that would run rampant? I’m about giving teams as many ways to build their rosters as possible and if they want to trade draft picks for players who can help them win now (see the Yankees), why handcuff them from doing so? It’s a very shortsighted approach to managing your team, but if it’s what you find to be a more comfortable way of operating, why should the league stand in your way?

Okay, so before I conclude this post I would like to comment on the three players I’m most intrigued to see mature into big leaguers.

1) Pedro Alvarez, 3b, Drafted by the Pirates second overall
The fine folks over at Fangraphs.com wrote a post about Alvarez after having the opportunity to watch the former Vanderbilt star in person when he was playing with Team USA a few summers ago. The columnist Dave Cameron described Alvarez’s short and compact swing that generated a ton of power. He mentioned how the ball jumped off his bat like a trampoline and one drive got from home plate to the wall in what seemed like little more than two seconds. The most telling statement in Cameron’s writeup is one I completely agree with based on what I’ve seen on video and read in the press, “Pittsburgh hasn’t seen a hitter with this kind of ability since some guy named Bonds left for San Francisco.” If you are a dynasty leaguer that allows for holding players in your farm system, this guy should be at the top of your list.

2) Justin Smoak, 1b, Drafted by the Rangers 11th overall
Many scouts viewed him as the best hitter in the draft and he slid this far. As a Jays fan I was hoping he’d slide another six spots, but I realized that was a pipe dream even as the thought crossed my mind. Reports are that he could move fast and it’s interesting that the player most people compare him to is the superstar first baseman the Rangers were forced to trade last year in Mark Teixeira. On top of his hitting prowess, he’s thought to be the best combination of offense and defense at first in the 2008 draft class and while defense means very little to fantasy owners, it does typically result in a team taking a more aggressive approach with promoting him through the ranks of their minor league system. Damn, six more spots is all I needed.

3) Aaron Hicks, OF, Drafted by the Twins 14th overall
Hicks is a few years from roaming the outfield in Minny, but he should be close to ready when the team closes their first season in the new stadium in 2010. Hicks has the athleticism of most five-tool prospects as seen in his near 80 grade arm on the scouts 80 point scale and his 6.6 speed in a 60-yard dash. He’s a switch hitter with quick hands that should produce an above average batting average and above average power once he matures and makes it to the majors. He may be just the kind of rare talent that would force the Twins to move Carlos Gomez to left.

As a lifelong Blue Jays fan and Vernon Wells owner in a couple of my fantasy leagues I admit that I had a grin on my face with yesterday’s news. Wells started a rehab assignment and could return to the lineup by this time next week after being sidelined since May 9 with a broken bone in his left wrist. He was originally supposed to miss at least six weeks and now it looks like it will take a major setback in his rehab to prevent him from returning before that time frame. Wells owners should be giddy right?

Wrong.

I have seen plenty of my players suffer similar wrist injuries over the 16 years I’ve played fantasy baseball and almost ALL of them have dealt with residual effects from the injury over the three to four months that followed. After shagging fly balls a couple weeks ago, Wells told MLB.com, “It just felt a little weak. I’m not used to my hand getting tired from squeezing the glove a few times. That’s the biggest thing.” This is a statement that should be taken seriously. If he is dealing with weakness from simply playing catch, imagine the effect of swinging a bat and connecting on a 90-mph fastball.

I’m cautiously optimistic that Wells won’t be as affected by residual soreness as other past injured players. Why? I point to a post by Disabled List Informer that claims the good news is that his broken wrist is his non-dominant, left wrist. This means he will not have any restriction while throwing, and his top hand while batting (the one that creates a good deal of bat speed) will not be affected.

Fantasy owners who have waited out the injury certainly shouldn’t sell low on him now. Wait until he has a few weeks of at bats under his belt to pass judgment on how well his recovery from the wrist injury is going. Remain patient because he was hitting well (.281, five homers, 24 RBI) in 139 at bats prior to the injury and could provide a boost to your team’s offensive numbers over the remainder of the season.

EDITOR’S NOTE: On another Blue Jays tip, there are well known sources in the fantasy industry calling out closer B.J Ryan and trying to spark fear in fantasy owners in a way most weathermen do when they warn people to stock their shelves with canned goods and board up the windows before a scattered shower rolls through town. Ryan converted 12-of-12 save opportunities before hitting a bump in the road over his last two appearances, blowing save opps against the Angels and Yankees.

Sure, Scott Downs is pitching well, but do the Jays have what’s left of $47 million invested in him over the next three years? Nope. Ryan is their closer and I wouldn’t get too uptight about if he’s blown his arm out again. He hasn’t. He’s been given multiple days off between appearances and just recently past the one year mark from when he blew out his elbow last season. Typically it takes most pitchers a year to make it back, and two years to start showing as much or more strength in the elbow as they had prior to the injury. The fact Ryan has pitched as well as he has should be lauded, not thrown to the wolves the first minute he stumbles.

Photo courtesy of the TimesLeader.com

I don’t need to rehash the injury analysis of Braves pitcher John Smoltz, when the fine folks over at Disabled List Informer have done that for you here. It doesn’t sound good for him to recover enough from shoulder surgery to return and help the Braves next season.

Photo courtesy of Daily Illini.com

Devil Rays outfielder Carl Crawford wasn’t with the team on Tuesday, instead heading out on a road trip, err, air trip to visit renown doctor James Andrews in Birmingham, Alabama. Crawford complained of soreness in his right knee and had to make the trip because local team orthopedist Koco Eaton was in Paris. Manager Joe Maddon told the St. Petersburg Times that the MRI report was good, and he would talk to Crawford before the game to see if he would be available for reserve duty tonight. Maddon added the Rays will be a “little bit cautious with him until the soreness subsides,” but reiterated that “everything seems to be ok.”

“It’s hard to evaluate, [his presence is] so important,” Maddon said. “Having Carl there improves your defense. It improves your offense. It causes much more concern for the other team on the bases. It provides confidence for the rest of the group that he’s there. Listen, he’s our All-Star. He plays the whole game. He plays it hard. If you don’t have him out there, then the entire complexion of the team changes.”

It sounds as though there is no reason for Crawford’s fantasy owners should panic, but I will admit that I own him in one league and the first mini tear that he goes on at the plate to drive up his value a bit I will consider shopping him around. His numbers are slightly down this year so it would be difficult to get as much trade value as we’ve come to expect in past seasons. Wait patiently and strike when the iron is hot.

Arguably the top player in fantasy baseball is day-to-day after picking up an injury during Friday’s games. The Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez reached for a ball in the fourth inning of the game against the Phillies, and the ball didn’t hop off the dirt as he anticipated, hitting his thumb and eventually forcing him out of the game.

X-rays taken during the game were negative, but Ramirez was unable squeeze his thumb following the game, according to the Palm Beach Post. In fact, Han-Ram was unable to grip a bat in the dugout an inning after the injury occurred. Despite those developments, manager Fredi Gonzalez didn’t rule out his superstar playing in the second of three games against Philadelphia on Saturday.

“We’ll check [Saturday],” Gonzalez told MLB.com. “He got hit on the fat part on the left part of his thumb. We’re going to ice him down. Well see [Saturday]. It wouldn’t surprise me if he is back in there.”

Alright Hanley owners, take a deep breath and step away from the waiver wire. The initial test results were positive and while I’m not a doctor, trainer, or physical therapist, this really sounds like a deep bone bruise. It would surprise me if he’s back in the lineup on Saturday, but it would also leave me a bit stunned if he misses more than a couple games. His fantasy owners should check his status on Monday morning, because it would be foolish to bench him this coming week if you didn’t have to.

Photo courtesy of CNN.net

Following a 2007 season plump with 21 homers, 50 steals, and 103 runs, the current season has been as forgettable for Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Byrnes as “Rambo IV.” You can’t help fantasy owners for expecting an encore, but it’s worth noting that his walk rate (bb/(ab+bb) and contact rate (ab-k)/ab) were actually trending down prior to last year’s outburst.

All of that is now a moot point since he won’t have an opportunity to prove he still has some of his 2007 spark left in the tank  after being placed on the disabled list on Tuesday with hamstring injuries. Only on Friday did he announce on a local Arizona radio show that he had tears in both hamstrings. “It’s exactly what we thought,” Byrnes told the Arizona Republic. “I have tears in my left hamstring and a tear in my right one. It’s up high on the left and down low on the right. It’s not going to really change the way we treat it. We’ve been treating it exactly how we should.”

The D-backs won’t rush him back into action, but the 32-yeard old outfielder believes he’ll have no problem returning shortly after the 15-day DL stint.

“Right now, the program might take a little bit longer,” Byrnes said. “If it’s a couple of days longer, fine. “When we get to about Day 10 and I start doing the running and really see how it feels, if I can start running pain free.  If I can start running without any sharp pains – I’ve never been shot before, but I got to imagine (this is similar). It feels like getting shot once in the upper left leg and once in the lower right one. That’s exactly how it feels. Like two bullets are in there.

“If I can start running feeling like I don’t have those bullets in my leg anymore, that would be a good sign. Hopefully it’s only 15 (days).”

Color me skeptical.

While injuries of this variety can show significant improvement within two-to-three weeks, Byrnes has been playing with this injury long enough that I fear he could’ve caused more severe damage. He’s a good player who can be quite productive when healthy, but it’s impossible for me to believe his legs will be healthy enough to allow him the opportunity to attempt many stolen bases yet this season.

The question is with a mere four swipes on the season, can you expect him to reach last year’s total of 21? I don’t think it’s unreasonable to question if he’ll reach 15 stolen bases by the end of the year. That means that if he’s reduced to being a 15-15 or even worse, 20-10 player this season, he’ll be a far more average fantasy outfielder. Last year there were 38 batters who clubbed at least 20 dingers and 34 swiped 15 bags or more. All this comes together and points to selling Byrnes for sixty cents on the dollar.

Photos courtesy of Sports Illustrated

The Giants are without question one of, if not thee, worst team in major league baseball. It’s that reason among others for which fantasy owners are unwilling to roster many players donning a Giants uniform.

Don’t be too quick to write them all off however.

Jonathan Sanchez has enjoyed some success this season and is starting to earn the trust of his manager, Bruce Bochy. “He’s just really growing as a pitcher,” Bochy told the San Francisco Chronicle.”He had it all going tonight, and aside from the command, he was very composed. It’s great to see how poised he has become.”

Sanchez has been a sought after commodity in the deeper keeper leagues I’ve been a part of for the past five years, but should we become believers?

LHP Jonathan Sanchez, Giants (Last 10 Games)

The mixed results above indicate he’s still struggling to put the necessary polish on his command, but the trend over the last three seasons is heading in the right direction–albeit with some bumps in the road.

LHP Jonathan Sanchez, Giants (Last Three Years)

These results are a mixed bag as well, but there is enough reason for fantasy owners to keep Sanchez on their radar in mixed leagues and consider buying low on him in keeper leagues. He’s been drawing 4.3 runs of support per start, so you have to believe he can continue to improve. The only negative is that the Giants are going nowhere fast and Sanchez won’t be able to jump into free agency, as he’s not arbitration-eligible until 2010 at the earliest. Nevertheless, he’s certainly someone for fantasy owners to keep an eye on.