Fuentes to Twins, Rodney to Close, Walden the Future?

The Los Angeles Angels have sent left-handed closer Brian Fuentes to the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named later. Fernando Rodney will assume the closer role for the Angels. Fuentes will see some save chances for the Twins but as their sole healthy left-hander, Fuentes will often be used in platoon situations.

From MLB.com

"He'll be setup and probably occasionally close if I use [Matt Capps] too much," Gardenhire said. "He gets lefties out pretty [darn] good, plus he can close, too, another very, very good arm out in the bullpen with experience. He should help us out."

The Angels insist that trading Fuentes does not indicate they are giving up on the season. They're right, it doesn't. But it is a good move for a team with little chance of winning and a bullpen loaded with younger and superior talent. It also helps that the Angels are expecting a very good player in return.

From MLB.com

Angels general manager Tony Reagins said the club will "soon" receive a "prospect with upside" as part of the trade and thanked Fuentes for his two seasons with the club. It's still unknown how much of Fuentes' salary will be picked up by the Twins, as there is $1.89 million left on his contract this season.

Reagins and Angels manager Mike Scioscia said the move doesn't indicate they are giving up on this season and building for next season, as veteran reliever Fernando Rodney will serve as the club's closer the rest of the season, and young relievers Michael Kohn and Jordan Walden have impressed so far.

Walden, who has received a lot of attention lately for his gun-busting fastball, is a future closer candidate. He has awesome stuff but failed to develop as a starter. He is now considered a full time relief pitcher by the Angels. According to the Los Angeles Times, Jordan Walden has reached as high as 102 mph with his fastball.

From GazetteOnline.com

“These guys are just cutting their baby teeth right now,” Scioscia said. “They’re taking baby steps, but I think they’ve shown great poise on the mound for youngsters coming up. Becoming a Major League pitcher is a process and this is the first steps of it, but they’ve certainly taking that step and meeting the challenge head-on.”

Fantasy owners should hang on to Brian Fuentes if they are still in need of saves. Fuentes may not get many but his overall numbers should improve as he becomes more of a platoon specialist. Fernando Rodney may be available in shallower leagues and is worth picking up for those in need of saves. Rodney is also the likely closer to start the 2011 season as well. Jordan Walden has a bright future in the Angels bullpen and I see him becoming the full-time closer in 2012. He is an excellent speculation pick for those in re-building mode.

Brian Fuentes Demoted? Matt Kemp Rising! Tomko Dealing?!?!

To baseball in a minute. Has anyone out there seen Whiteout yet? Its based on this Graphic Noveland stars Kate Beckinsale. It has to be worth seeing, right?



Los Angeles Angels manager, Mike Scioscia, is calling Kevin Jepsen a co-closer to Brian Fuentes. "Both guys have been an important part of the back end of the bullpen," Scioscia said on Monday night. "But if there are some matches that could be advantageous [to use Jepsen], we will try to take advantage of [them]." Jepsen is probably gone in deeper leagues but any Fuentes owners still in contention should be checking the waiver wires. I doubt this is a situation that would continue into 2010 but it may be worth grabbing Jepsen in keeper leagues where he is still available. You never know.

I think the St. Louis Cardinals made a serious mistake this season. While I love Matt Holiday and his impact on the Cards playoff chances is undeniable, they should have found a way to do it without losing top prospect Brett Wallace. The Athletics had to deal Holiday. They had no shot at retaining him and offering a player like Holiday arbitration in uncertain financial times can be extremely risky. Wallace may not be a stellar defensive player at third base. He may not even be average. But to dump him when your team has such a glaring hole at the position and such a need for a bat like Wallace...It continues to boggle my mind all these weeks later.

Instead the Cardinals continue to use Joe Thurston at third with a very rare dose of Troy Glaus when his fragile bones allow. Glaus has managed just 18 at-bats this season. Is the defense from Joe Thurston and Glaus so much more valuable than a potential all-star bat? I seriously doubt it.

Is Brett Tomko an improved pitcher or is this just a nice run of good luck for him? His 5.39 FIP says it isn't. His strikeout rate is still a barely mediocre 5.18, less even than his career 5.98 rate. His walk rate is down this year to 2.04 per nine innings. But walks have never really been Tomko's problem. The HR9 starts to get at his problem. He has a career rate of 1.26 which is bad enough but this year it stands at 1.88 which is probably still a sign of bad luck even for Tomko. His FB rate is up significantly but since it hasn't really hurt him I think it is safe to assume that he is being aided greatly by Oakland Collesium (or whatever they call it now). The A's defense and bullpen have also helped Tomko build a 84.8 LOB% which is another sign that luck is playing a huge factor in his performance. I'm sure he's tempting to those that are streaming pitchers down the stretch. I would still stay away. Rostering Tomko is like trading your cow for a sack of magic beans.

RotoCommunity.com has lots of great articles you should check out. But of particular interest may be their expert league fantasy football draft results. My team got destroyed in week one. It didn't help that my thin receiving core was counting on Anthony Gonzalez to step up into a quasi-number one type. I have serious work to do. It is not too late to gain some value from looking at this draft. It could confirm an idea or turn you off on another one.

Over at FanGraphs, Dave Cameron is predicting the rise of the center fielder.

There is so much talent in center field that we could be seeing the dawning of the greatest group of talent to ever play the position at the same time. Seriously, just take a look at the current crop of players manning the position.

This spawned nearly 100 comments from readers. Many had a problem with the groupings that Dave used which in my opinion is a little silly. The groupings have little to do with the overall point -- that this is a historic period for center field talent. A few seemed to have a problem with how Matt Kemp was classified. Some arguing that he is overrated and others that he is potentially the best in the game. A couple of the older guys suggested that the Duke Snider/Mickey Mantle/Willie Mays era was easily the best. This is interesting reading that you'll want to check out.