Whew, it's great to be back home and writing from the comfort of my own house. We had to take a trip up to Tacoma, WA last weekend for a big birthday celebration for my son, who'll be one on Wednesday. My wife's family is Korean, so we had a big first birthday bash with a ton of food, and a couple of unique cultural ceremonies. While it was fun, the party was a ton of work, so I'm surprised I was able to compose a column articulately. But we survived and life goes on!

Now that I'm back, I've had a good chance to dig into the waiver wire to see who looks good and what good players are getting cast aside prematurely. Man did I find some gems for you! Read on...

CALL-TO-ARMS
Get your starting pitchers here!

Clayton Kershaw, SP, LAD
The top SP prospect in the minors is finally with the big league team, and he needs to be owned in all formats.  It's likely too late to snag him in any active league, but you need to see if your league is sleeping on him.  He's a rookie, so there will be roadbumps, but this ride is worth taking.

Pedro Martinez, SP, NYM
Pedro is scheduled to start on Tuesday, and his first two outings will be on the road against the Giants and the Padres.  Even if the team keeps his pitch count in check, he should have no problem dealing with those two bottom-feeding offenses.  If you don't trust him long-term, he's worth using for streaming purposes for the next week at least.

Clay Buchholz, SP, BOS
When you play like crap for over a month and then get hurt, anxious fantasy owners sometimes abandon ship.  This is one case where they should not.  Aside from having a ton of win opportunities with all the Red Sox run support, Clay is a power pitcher who can deliver over 9.0 K/9.  He has suffered through some pretty bad luck with a BABIP of .376, so things are sure to turn around when he gets back in the lineup.  Don't let some other owner pick him up to beat you as he gets his ratios back in order.

Matt Garza, SP, TB
I considered highlighting Matt Garza on May 19, but he just happened to get shelled while I was writing the column that weekend, giving up six ER at St. Louis.  Perhaps I should have left him in my column.  In the two starts after that shelling, Garza has yielded only two ER in 15.1 IP, and his stats over the last month include a 2.52 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, and a 4-1 record.  Matt isn't a big strikeout artist, so periodic brainfarts like the aforementioned loss at the hands of the Cardinals will happen.  However, if he sandwiches every blowup among seven quality starts (7-of-8 starts after April 2 were QS), I'm willing to overlook that shortcoming.  Go get him.

Andrew Miller, SP, FLA
I'm not a huge Andrew Miller fan, but his work over the past month has been stellar (2.43 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 28:10 K/BB ratio, 3-2 record, only one HR yielded in 29.2 IP).  Whether he can keep it up is still a question, especially for a guy who has had two games with zero Ks.  If you keep putting the ball in play, teams will score.  I'd avoid him in head-to-head formats due to the inconsistency, but he makes for a useful end-of-the-rotation option in really deep mixed leagues and NL-only.

SWINGING FOR THE FENCES
Lacking home runs?  Stuck with a dearth of stolen bases?  Here are some ideas to better shore up your offense.

Eric Chavez, 3B, OAK
Don't expect any miracles here given his injury history, but Chavez has the DH role and spot starts at 3B in his near future, at least until the Big Hurt returns from the DL.  If you are in dire need of 3B help, you could certainly do worse.  Take a shot and see if Eric can rekindle a little of the fleeting magic that he showed a few years ago.

Jay Bruce, OF, CIN
Given the hype machine on the 2nd best hitting prospect to be called up this season (after Evan Longoria), you probably already missed out on Bruce when he was called up.  If not, grab him, pretend he isn't striking out a bunch (which will happen, trust me) and enjoy the crazy production everywhere else.  Don't be surprised if his BA is low, as rookie callups tend to struggle against the top talent pitchers.  Still, he could be a stud from day one if he is even better than expected.  Either way, it'll be fun to own him from here forward, particularly in keeper leagues and NL-only.

Eric Byrnes, OF, ARI
Last year was an anomaly, much like Adrian Beltre's 48 HR season a few years ago.  Still, Byrnes has proven himself to be a Mike Cameron clone, who'll challenge 20-20 with a low BA by the end of the year.  His horrific performance so far has been caused by a lingering hamstring strain, which is the reason they've sent him to the DL for a couple of weeks.  If he can get healthy, Byrnes can still deliver another 12-15 HR and 15-20 SB.  He was dumped in a couple of my leagues, which was surprising until I looked at the numbers.  I expect him to return in full health and to look like the Eric Byrnes of old, so stash him away on DL if you have the space.

Jason Giambi, 1B, NYY
Giambi was on several preseason sleeper and rebound candidate lists, and he is starting to look the part lately.  In the past month, Jason is raking to the tune of six HR, a .328 BA, 14 RBI, 11 Runs, and six 2B.  He also has as many BB as Ks (13), so his OBP is in elite territory.  If you can afford to have a no-show once or twice a week to get a boost in power and OBP (the BA won't hold up), Giambi is a solid and cheap power source worth owning.

Luis Castillo, 2B, NYM
I was stunned to find Castillo on the waiver wire in half of my leagues over the weekend.  Sure, he started the season slowly, but the dude had off-season surgery and was expected to come out the gates at a snail's pace.  He now has 3 HR, 9 SB, 18 RBI, and 27 Runs, AND he had a 0.5 K/BB ratio in the past 30 days.  In the stacked Mets lineup, those numbers won't fall off drastically so long as Luis can stay in the lineup.  If I needed a 2B, I'd certainly give him a tryout.

Alexi Casilla, 2B, MIN
Casilla's minor league track record doesn't blow me away, but sometimes a guy can just find a way to play out of his head for an extended period of time.  Casilla was called up the second week of May to replace Brendan Harris at 2B, when the team chose to move Harris back to his natural position at SS.  Harris won't be starting at 2B again any time soon -- That's what watching your replacement post a .340 BA, .389 OBP, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 7 Runs, and 1 SB in only 47 AB will do (not to mention Harris's bad performance and the return of Nick Punto over the weekend to steal more AB).  Casilla could cool off and come back down to earth, but I'd ride him while he is hot and cross my fingers in a desperate 2B situation.

Tommy Landry thinks he knows everything.  Tommy Landry knows he knows nothing.  Such is the path he takes.  Fantasy existentialism or something.  Think you know better?  Email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to comment, debate, or call him out!