I wonder if the San Diego Padre management is reading my column. With the high quality content on this site (well, at least the others writers' stuff), I’m sure they are. Something in me says that they were fearful of the venomous invective that would spew forth from my column. So when they saw that my preview for next week was “Why the Padres are making me a furious father”, they took the hint and called up Chase Headley—finally. That has to be the explanation, right? Why else would they have waited so long?

Chase from the left side. Photo Credit:  ISU_79	Chase from the right side. Photo Credit ISU_79

In all seriousness, it was a move that was long overdue. I do like him over the long haul and have him locked up to a long term deal in my primary keeper league. He’s obviously my recommendation of the week. He’s someone to be excited about, but I think you need to keep your expectations realistic about Headley. In 433 at-bats at AA last year he hit .330 with 20 homeruns. If he hits even .315 with 15 homeruns the rest of the year, you should be very pleased. Nor should you complain if he hits .280 and 10. And that’s pretty darn good.

While I’m talking about the Padres, let me just talk about fathers for a moment--Padre. Father. Get it? Yeah, yeah I know. Bill Parcells and Jason Taylor have a better connection. A belated Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there. I hope it was a good one. Fathers Day for me is always bittersweet. The joy of quite recently becoming a father for the third time is countered by the absence of my father who passed away in 2000. So, I do encourage any of you that, if you appreciate even one thing about your dad, take the opportunity to tell him. Before you know it, your opportunities may be gone.

And speaking of capitalizing on opportunities, let’s discuss some possible opportunities for your keeper team. I’ll be accepting the award for Most Uncomfortable Segue later this year…

New York Mets First Baseman
Willie Randolph might have been the first to get the axe, but he won’t be the last on the chopping block either. If the Mets remain below .500 or in fourth place in the division as they currently do, how many players beside David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Johan Santana do you think will not be shopped?  Carlos Delgado will most certainly be Del-going. The one thing that the $16 million a year, nearly 36-years-old first baseman has going for him is that he’s been hot lately. Of course that makes him easier to shop! But even with his recent hot streak, he is still only hitting .241 with single digit HRs (9). Everything is trending down. Delgado’s batting average in the last three years? It has dropped every year. Slugging? It has dropped. On-base? Guess what? That’s right, dropping. RBIs? They too have gone down each of the last three years. HRs is his lone statistical category without a negative slope, but he’s on a pace for his lowest HR total (22) in over a dozen years. Last year was only slightly higher with 24. His last 40+ HR season was five seasons ago. It is not a question of if his value is on the decline, but for how long he will have any value.

I’ll assume I can spare you the explanation of why the players behind Delgado on the depth chart, Damion Easley and Marlon Anderson, are not worth exploring. Expect the Mets to actively pursue a 1B (maybe Mark Teixeira in the off-season), or they might give a long look to Mike Carp, a subject of our own Jason Revelia's Diamond in the Rough series, currently hitting .361 with 9 HR at AA.

Detroit Tigers Closer:
Todd Jones has been playing on borrowed time for a while. The 40-year old closer has had one season in the last ten years with an ERA under 3.50 and/or a WHIP under 1.25. While those might be acceptable numbers from a starter, those are horrible numbers for a closer. At one time, you could at least count on Jones for 50 strikeouts. He has nine. That’s right…nine. He has less for the current season than Brandon Morrow has in his last eight appearances. And with Detroit in eleventh place in the AL, how long before the Tigers start playing for next year?

If you have a couple open IR slots, go get Joel Zumaya now, if he is even available. Don't tell me you're not interested in a guy who had a 10.48 K/9 rate with a 1.95 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in his last full season. Reports are that Zumaya might make it back for the weekend series. If Zumaya is gone already, consider Fernando Rodney. He got rocked on Monday night, but with 3 year numbers including a 1.25 WHIP and a K/9 of 8.8, that should be the aberration within a generally strong string of solid stat lines. Whether its Rodney or Zumaya, it’s a pretty good bet that Jones won’t be the Detroit closer for too much longer. 

St. Louis Cardinals Shortstop:
I feel like I’m picking on those in the “twilight” of their careers, so lets just look at a situation where there seems to be just a general lack of talent. Currently, Cesar Izturis is the starting shortstop for the Cardinals. His six SBs are more than some but far less than many. He’s hitting a robust .250 with an abundance of 1 homerun. Do I need to even mention that both his OBP and SLG are each under .330? His back-up, Brendan Ryan, is not exactly a threat to win the job either. He’s batting .271 with 5 SBs and zero homers. One might say to just give Ryan a chance, but in his 6 year professional career (minors and MLB) he has a combined total of 12 HRs. For those mathematically challenged, that’s an average of just two a year! There are pitchers with more power. Okay, power is not his asset, so it's his speed, right? Well, his best season was long ago at A-Peoria, where he stole 30 bases, but even that’s muted by his 7 times caught stealing. Well, maybe there is another middle infielder on the Cards roster who can play short? Look at his fellow middle infielders:  Adam Kennedy is on pace for his typical mediocre numbers with a .250 batting average, 1 HR, and 4 SBs, while Aaron Miles sports the definition of empty .284 batting average with zero homers and zero stolen bases. The best talent at SS might be Peter Kozma, but even he is only hitting .273 at single A.

The key here is what happens to the St. Louis team. If they fall out of the running, don’t expect too much change. But let's suppose the Cards are still in the wild card hunt come mid-summer. Think they might not go after SS (and 3b and 1b too)?  Carlos Guillen, who sports a .299 average with 6 homers and 6 stolen bases, would be available should Detroit fall out of it. There's one more thing to monitor for those of you in a keeper league. It just might make the dog days of summer a little more interesting.

Next Week: Why “I'd never sleep with a player hitting under .250...not unless he had a lot of RBIs and was a great glove man up the middle”

Mark Strausberg will tell you that his favorite keeper of all time is Tony Meola. Whether you understand that or not, want keeper advice, or want to tell Mark to “keep” his thoughts himself, email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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