Since everyone is doing it, it’s time The Deep End went vampire on the world. When the CW already has a show about those noble creatures of the night, it might actually be too late to join in on the blood sucking. We will persevere nonetheless.
The comparison is apt, for sure. A baseball team in September is an old, cranky thing in need of a boost. Like the Marlins recently learned, a team in the early autumn is either barking at each other (Dan Uggla) or dealing with barking hamstrings (Nick Johnson and Hanley Ramirez), or both. Teams have played over 130 games, there’s just about a month left, so everyone’s playing with nicks, pulls and scratches.

A Penny saved is a Penny earned.  Brad Penny may have been saved by his relocation to the Bay Area.  Photo Credit: Metsfan7

Cue the September replacements. Now the prospects are there for a pick-me up, injecting more young blood into creaky franchises. These guys will spot start, pinch hit, and waive towels from the bench. They’ll bring their youthful enthusiasm to the park.

Most of the hyped young names that you can recognize have already been spotted and drained of their fantasy blood. Sure, it’s great that Buster Posey is finally in the San Francisco clubhouse where he belongs. Bengie Molina’s hamstring required some help. But Posey is long gone from your waiver wire, or he’ll cost you a waiver spot you may not want to give up for a part-time player in a re-draft league.

The players that will actually contribute meaningfully to your fantasy team may not be easy to recognize, but that’s what The Deep End is here for. We’ll help you decide what players to suck dry in your stretch run.

OFFENSIVE OPTIONS

National League:

Josh Thole (C, NYN): Though I did an almost-scathing workup of Thole just this week (http://godblessbuckner.com/2009/08/31/the-mets-call-up-josh-thole/), there are some things to like with the Mets’ young backstop. For one, he’s hot. He was hitting .328/.395/.422 in his first attempt at Double-A this year, and his .291 career batting average in the minors jives with his nice walk rate (over 10%). He can probably put up an okay batting average. But he also lacks a good line drive rate, has minus power (.375 slugging in the minors) and profiles entirely too much like Dioner Navarro to get very excited about. Lightning in a bottle? Maybe. Worth your #1 waiver claim? No.

American League:

Michael Brantley (OF, CLE): Like last week’s Deep End fave Drew Stubbs, and the Yankee’s returning Brett Gardner, Brantley should provide a decent batting average and blazing speed on the basepaths. He walked 258 times to 190 strikeouts in the minor leagues and also stole 149 bases in 499 games. That’s a 48-steal pace for those of you counting on your fingers. With Grady Sizemore hurting, and Travis Hafner still complaining of shoulder weakness, Brantley is the young blood that his team needs.

Jose Guillen (OF, KC): Jose Guillen’s blood probably tastes like dried up sawdust mixed with skunked root beer, but you have to do what you have to do. Just remember that he’s a .271 career hitter with 20-plus home run power, and that if he doesn’t play, Kansas City gets to roll Willie Bloomquist and his 74 OPS+ offense out there at a corner outfield spot. In other words, Guillen will play. And you aren’t paying his salary, so you don’t have to listen when he talks. You just have to hope he’s healthy and hitting home runs.

Alexi Casilla (2B, MIN): Amazingly for a middle infielder with a .196 batting average, the best reason to pick up Casilla is for batting average. I mean, it certainly can’t get much worse. Look at his batting average on balls put in play this year (.236) and last year (.303) and career (.276) and you’ll see that the balls could easily start bouncing his way. Add in the fact that Casilla is batting around .280 over the past month (which was his number for last year), and you may just have someone to put in that MI spot if you need a couple extra singles over the final month.

PITCHING POSSIBILITIES

National League:

Brad Penny (SP, SFO): The idea with Penny was that he played in a good home ball park and could be half a pitcher for you down the stretch. Then he went into Philadelphia and flashed his old 96-plus MPH heat and danced around the strike zone. Perhaps he needed more of a chip on his shoulder, and going to his old team’s major rival will provide him with some good starts at home (vs SD) and a couple grudge matches (vs LAD, @ LAD) before going home for some good spot starts (vs CHI, vs ARI). All of a sudden he looks like an every-start guy in deeper leagues.

Esmerling Vasquez (RP, ARI): Juan Gutierrez is currently the closer after Chad Qualls gruesomely dislocated his kneecap, and Daniel Schlereth (aka Stink Jr.) is the closer of the future after tearing through the minor leagues. But Gutierrez is long gone from your wire, and Schlereth has been inconsistent at the major league level and is not ready to be the big league closer just yet. Add in the fact that the manager said he’s not anointing a closer, and you’re left with Vasquez lurking in the dark, ready to pounce on a save or two when the situation requires.

American League:

Chris Perez (RP, CLE): Maybe there’s something about Perez’ arsenal (94 MPH fastball, 84 MPH slider) that plays better in the Big Boy league. Or maybe people are just unfamiliar with the movement on those offerings. Maybe the trade jolted him out of a malaise. It doesn’t matter. Perez is on fire and in control since he joined the Indians (2.66 ERA, 0.98 WHIP) and he suddenly looks like a Closer of the Future again. Kerry Wood is dealing with soreness in his arm and is having a mediocre season. Perez needs to be owned.

Nate Robertson (SP, DET): He’s never owned a blazing fastball (89 MPH career), but after recent injuries, he was down around 87 MPH and hitters were teeing off on the pitch. His slider is still his best pitch, but with less separation between his fastball and his slider (81 MPH), he was a lesser pitcher. In his comeback start on Thursday night, though, his old fastball was back, and it seemed that his mojo was as well. Because of the offense behind him, Robertson makes a decent flier for those chasing wins (as long as he can stay in the games past the fourth inning in his upcoming starts).

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Eno knows it’s still baseball season, but if you’re interested in dominating your fantasy football league, join the congregation of winners who have benefited from preseason advice from gridiron gurus Scott Engel and Ben Ice! Order PLAY TO WIN Fantasy Football NOW and let the holy men of fantasy football into your heart! Or you can disagree with him at eno@rotoexperts.com or twitter him @enosarris with your thoughts on this week's column or any other fantasy-related questions.

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