http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/359 Recent articles about Jason Kubel en-us The first half of the 2008 Major League Baseball season has been full of surprises, from the Tigers to the Rays to the Padres to the Braves. Most surprising of all, at least to the Phillies faithful, is that at the All Star break the Phillies were in first place atop the National League East. The Phillies are currently a half a game ahead of the Mets and one a half games up on the Marlins. Lets go through the majors and recap the season so far. AL East Perhaps the biggest story in the majors this year is the surprising play of the Tampa Bay Rays, who at the break were just half a game behind the first place Red Sox, and that's with a seven game losing streak. The Rays have been bolstered by one of the most talented young lineups in the majors in years, as well as some timely defense and a great, young rotation led by ace Scott Kazmir. They are definitely the Cinderella, the darlings of the 2008 season, much to the chagrin to their division rivals the Red Sox. Boston fans are upset that some of the media focus and the limelight has been diverted from their beloved Sox. The reigning champs continue to be one of the best teams in baseball, despite losing pitcher Curt Schilling for the year (and perhaps for good) and a decline in production from slugger David Ortiz (including a stint on the disabled list). It looks like this could be the first time in years that the New York Yankees won't make the playoffs. They currently sit six games back of Boston and it just looks like there is too much talent in Tampa and Boston for the Yanks to make up enough ground. That being said, I am loathe to ever count the Yankees out of anything. Red Sox win division. If it wasn't for the Rays, the debacle in the AL Central would be the biggest story of the season. The Tigers, whom I picked to win the World Series, are a disappointing .500 on the season. Even more surprising, the Indians are in last place, 12 games under .500. The Chicago White Sox are sitting pretty atop the Central at 14 games over .500, led by 10 game winner, and former Phillie, Gavin Floyd. Erratic closer Bobby Jenks, despite being on the DL, has 18 saves with a 1.95 ERA. On offense, the White Sox have a tandem of heavy hitting outfielders in Jermaine Dye and Carlos Quentin. I have to admit, I'm not overly impressed by the White Sox. In large part, I think they have overachieved so far this season. I think they will come back to earth, which will leave an opening for the Minnesota Twins to step in and take the division. The Twins, led by first baseman Justin Morneau, DH Jason Kubel, and catcher Joe Mauer, are right on the tail of the White Sox, just a game and a half back, and with star pitcher Francisco Liriano waiting in the wings of AAA, the Twins are poised to move into the post Santana era. Twins win the division. AL West Until the Texas Rangers find someone who can pitch (Vicente Padilla currently leads the team in wins with 10), the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are the prohibitive favorites to win the division for years to come. The Rangers can hit, led by the top individual story of the year Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler and Milton Bradley, but their pitching is a joke. They boast a rotation of Kevin Millwood, Padilla, Jamey Wright and Kason Gabbard. Until they can get at least one pitcher, they could have all the offense in the world, they still won't be able to compete with Los Angeles. The Angels' pitching rotation, which boasts John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver, not to mention closer Francisco Rodriguez who is on pace to shatter the single season saves record, is arguably the best in the majors. Their offense, while not being the power heavy lineup that Texas or Boston has, plays small ball like no other team in the majors. The obvious offensive leader is Vladimir Guerrero, accompanied by Torii Hunter. But the offense works so well because of intelligent baseball guy like Chone Figgins, Howie Kendrick, and Garret Anderson. The Oakland Athletics have basically traded themselves out of contention and the Seattle Mariners have the worst record in baseball. Needless to say, Angels win the division. I think the Rays win the AL Wild card this year. They are too talented to fall behind the likes of the White Sox or Rangers. In the end however, the Red Sox have too much experience and skill to be taken down. They beat the Angels to go on to the World Series. NL West Many commentators are calling this the NL Worst, and it's hard to argue with that. After starting out red hot, division leading Arizona is now one game below .500. That's right. The division leader has a losing record. Need I say more? The reigning NL Champion Colorado Rockies are fourth in the division with a record of 39-57, topped only by the San Diego Padres, an incomprehensible 37-58. The Dodgers are one game back of the Diamondbacks, trailed by the San Francisco Giants in third place. This division is a crapshoot at this point, but the Diamondbacks' pitching, led by Brandon Webb and Dan Haren is just too good and the offense is not going to continue to struggle in the mighty fashion it has over the past month or so. With up and coming stars like Mark Reynolds, Conor Jackson and Chris Young, the Diamondbacks are going to eventually right their ship. Arizona wins the division. NL Central This is the best division in baseball. The Cubs are tied with the Angels for the best record in baseball. Four and a half games behind them are the Cardinals, with the Brewers just a half game behind them. All three of these teams are going to be better in the second half. The Cubs traded for Rich Harden last week, and the Brewers added reigning AL Cy Young Award winner CC Sabathia. The Cardinals are getting ready for the return of Adam Wainwright and former Cy Young Chris Carpenter. Both pitchers are aces on almost any other team in the majors. The Cubs and Brewers already have bona fide aces on their teams in Carlos Zambrano and Ben Sheets, respectively. This is, without a doubt, the toughest division in baseball in some time. I think the Cubs are ultimately the most complete team in the league, and certainly the division. Now let me just say, here and now, there is no way Ryan Dempster continues to pitch this well. He just isn't this good. He will come back down to earth. But even with The Dumpster coming back to reality, the Cubs are bolstered by some serviceable pitching in Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis, in addition to Zambrano and Harden. On offense, the Cubs' lineup reads like it's very own All Star roster, led by Derek Lee, Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez, and Geovany Soto. Cubs win the division. NL East The Phillies came into today with a half game lead over the Mets. The Marlins sit just one game behind the Mets. It is a division up for grabs to say the least. The Marlins boast a talented, young roster rivaled by only Tampa Bay and Arizona. Led by Hanley Ramirez, Mike Jacobs, Dan Uggla and Josh Willingham, they have an offense that puts the in a position to win every night. That being said, their pitching is thin, with Ricky Nolasco leading the team with 10 wins and a 3.70 ERA. The Braves are most likely looking to scrap this year and go into rebuilding mood, if only temporarily. First baseman Mark Teixeira is a free agent at the end of this year and chances are that the Braves are going to move him before the trade deadline. Their pitching is pretty banged up, and old. John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Mike Hampton are all currently on the disabled list. Not to mention that they are six and a half games out of first place. The Mets pose the biggest threat to the Phillies' playoff hopes. Winners of nine straight coming into the break, the Mets are batting .320 as a team during that time. They also only gave up a total of 19 runs over the same span. They are hot, no doubt, led by Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, and Fernando Tatis. But therein lies the problem for the Mets. They have been winning in large part as a result of the contributions of usual bench players like Tatis, Endy Chavez, and Damion Easley. The Mets' pitching is also suspect after you get past Johan Santana and John Maine, neither of whom have been stellar this season. After having a impressive season last year, Oliver Perez is 6-5 with a 4.44 ERA. His record is somewhat deceiving, as he has been wildly inconsistent this year. Pedro Martinez continues to battle being really old. Originally set to return this week, his next start is being skipped. I just don't think the Mets have the talent to overcome a Phils team with a much more potent offense and what could end up being a more stable pitching rotation. The Phillies acquired Joe Blanton from the Athletics Thursday, and while Blanton has not had much of a year so far this season (5-12, 4.96 ERA), he has show some real talent and a change of location could be all he needs to break out. More importantly, the addition of Blanton means that Adam Eaton is out of the starting rotation. Brett Myers is progressing nicely in AAA and is set to return to face the Mets on July 23rd. JA Happ threw a no hitter today in his minor league start and it is only a matter of time before he is brought up to the major leagues for good. The biggest cause for concern for the Mets is that the Phils' struggles have in large part been due to a lack of offense. This coming from one of the most offensively talented teams in the league. Jimmy Rollins, Chasey Utley and Geoff Jenkins are eventually going to turn things around. Ryan Howard continues to lead the league in home runs and RBIs. Pat Burrell is going to eclipse his usual 30 home runs and 100 RBIs. And that's without the possible addition of another bat, like Matt Holliday or Jason Bay. I say this with the caveat that I generally have no faith in the Phillies in ever winning anything, and at the risk of tempting fate, I pick the Phillies to win the division. I pick the Brewers to win the NL Wild Card this year. I'm going to be very cliche and pick the Cubs to win the NL Pennant over the Brewers. I think unless the Phillies add a serious starting pitcher, ala Erik Bedard, they are not going to be able to compete with the Brewers in the playoffs. That will bring us to the ESPN's ultimate dream, a Red Sox Cubs World Series. Bristol could fawn all over the lovable losers from Chicago and Boston. Seriously though, just thinking about it makes me want to throw up. Boston wins, again. (Just threw up again) Should be a very exciting second half. Continue to check out Hot Stove Philly as we bring you all the latest scores, trades, rumors, and general sports drama. Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:54:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292015 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292015 At this point it's impossible to find players on the waiver wire who can help you in all five stat categories. You are better off finding several individual players who are great at producing in one specific category. AccuScore fantasy expert Tim Williams takes a look at some of those players in this week's Waiver Wire Wonders. Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:35:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280972 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280972 With baseball season rapidly approaching the midway point, Screaming Sports' Phil Yoon has decided it's time to examine some early fantasy All-Stars. He continues this mini-series with a look at fantasy designated hitters and rookies, who, as you may have guessed, are led by the Rangers' Milton Bradley. Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:54:47 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279785 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279785 Grady's Ladies must be proud of their guy (that's Indian's CF Grady Sizemore, not Grady Little) after this past week's performance as he topped this week's list of Top 10 MLB hitters for week 11. On second though, I think that his being on top of this list is probably icing on the cake as far as these ladies are concerned. They love him no matter what! But with 8 runs scored, 5 HRs, 9 RBIs, and a stolen base done while hitting for a BA over .300 with an OBP close to .400, I'm sure Indian's manager Eric Wedge is quite fond of Grady, too. The Yankee's 3B Alex Rodriguez finally find his way onto this leader board but was barely held off the top spot by Sizemore. A-Rod had 10 RBIs while hitting .462 with an OBP of .588. Remaining on his June hot streak is Boston's RF J.D. Drew with 4 more homers and 10 runs scored this week, hitting .348 with an OBP of .500 in the absent slot of David Ortiz (DL). Back on this list is after a long absence is Diamondbacks 3B Mark Reynolds who had 4 homers of his own this week with 9 RBIs and runs scored. The next two guys on this list are named Ryan. The first is the 1B of the Phillies (Howard) while the other is the C of the Pirates (Doumit). Howard knocked in 13 RBIs AND had a stolen base while Doumit found his stroke after a short drought upon returning from the DL. Doumit had 4 homers while hitting over .400 in both BA and OBP. Rounding out the top 10 hitters from this past week are the Met's CF Carlos Beltran, the Twin's DH Jason Kubel, KC OF Jose Guillen and Cardinals OF Ryan Ludwick. You can see all 10 player's stats that I used for this ordering below. Date range is always Monday to Sunday of every week. Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:41:19 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278501 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278501 Not quite like Waiver Wire, this piece examines potentially available players that focus on a specific category. If you need some power, we have a suggestion. If you need some speed, we have a suggestion. If you need some K's, we have a suggestion. Unfortunately, these players will not help your fantasy team (most of the time) outside of the category they are listed. Wed, 28 May 2008 07:41:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271647 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271647 Who's hot, who's not in Major League Baseball? We'll get you started with a sizzler, Travis Buck (OF, Oakland Athletics): After a tumultuous first 22 AB's, Buck broke out. He has gone 8-28 (.285 BA), 4 RBI, 5 R, and has recorded a 3B and 6 2B. This is what expert projected out of the young A's outfielder, and now that he's producing, he's worth a look in AL-only leagues, and deeper mixed leagues. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:51:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/256070 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/256070 Are you tired of streamers ruining the integrity of the game in your league? Well you will find no sympathy here. AccuScore fantasy expert Tim Williams explains why streaming is perfectly acceptable, and gives you this week's Waiver Wire Wonders, which includes spot starters like Dana Eveland on Sunday against the Royals. Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:58:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/241945 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/241945 Got a late start tonight, so we are just going to do a bunch of quick hitters. Pitching Giants GM Brian Sabean is one of the more respected executives in baseball, but I have one BIG question for him. What the HELL were you thinking giving $120+ million to Barry Zito? He was pretty awful again today, although he sucked less than he has at other times this year. Zito ran his record to 0-4 with a six inning, three earned run, five walk performance. If you are still holding him on your roster, just grab anyone else. Speaking of awful, I think it is time to panic with C.C. Sabathia. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner got bombed on Wednesday by the suddenly resurgent Tigers. Sabathia only lasted four innings giving up nine runs, while walking five guys and only fanning one. This is two consecutive starts that C.C. has given up nine runs, and he is now 0-3 with a 13.50 ERA. He might still be able to turn it around and have a decent season, but to expect a repeat of last year's brilliance looks like too much to ask. Red Sox rookie Clay Buchholz had his worst start of the season in a 15-9 slugfest loss to the Yankees. Clay didn't get out of the 4th inning and gave up seven earned runs and struck out only two. I don't consider this too much of a red alert on Buchholz season for two reasons. One, the Yankees are going to score a lot of runs, and on better pitchers than Buchholz. Two, he had two productive starts before this one, and every pitcher throws up a stinker every once in a while, especially one as green as Clay. Hold tight. Click below for the rest! Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:36:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/239801 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/239801 In a deep league and can't seem to find that one guy who went undrafted to fill out your lineup? In Desperation Station we offer you a few under the radar players who could fill out your roster and contribute admirably. This week we look at Jason Kubel, Mike Jacobs and Angel Pagan. Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:56:59 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/234223 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/234223 MLB.com reports that the Cincinnati Reds and free agent former Milwaukee Brewers closer Francisco Cordero have come to terns on a four-year, $46 million contract with a with a $12 million club option for the 2012 season and a $1 million buyout. The signing is pending a physical to take place this week. On the West Coast, the AL West champion Los Angeles Angels have more than solified the middle of their batting order with the signing of free agent centerfielder Torii Hunter to hit behind rightfielder Vladimir Guerrero in the lineup. Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:10:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/38872 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/38872 With the All-Star Game set to take place tonight, now is the perfect time to assess your fantasy team and make the proper adjustments to solidify your chances of post-season glory. It is also the time that general managers around the MLB are contemplating whether or not to make a final push for the playoffs or to give a look at young players. Below the GNUru ranks the top 10 second-half sleepers for the 2007 season! Tue, 10 Jul 2007 22:01:13 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/19278 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/19278 The most undervalued positional players in the AL East, including Ryan Shealy, Justin Kubel, Andy Marte, Esteban German, Curtis Granderson, and others. Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:41:35 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/11395 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/11395 Check out this blogger's 2006 All-Rookie team. It's very well thought out from position players to pitchers all the way down to the mascot. It's amazing how deep this rookie class has been and I think he's right to say that this team would easily make the playoffs and would be a serious threat to win it all. For starters, how incredible would this pitching staff be...and that doesn't even include papelbon closing out games? Starting Rotation SP Francisco Liriano, MIN (12-2, 1.96 ERA) SP Justin Verlander, DET (13-4, 2.69 ERA) SP Jered Weaver, LAA (7-0, 1.51 ERA) SP Josh Johnson, FLA (8-5, 2.60 ERA SP Jon Lester, BOS (5-1, 3.49 ERA) The Marlins have 8 players on this list. I wonder if they'll be good in a few years. Sat, 05 Aug 2006 05:35:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/1071 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/1071 Twins Prospect Jason Kubel is starting to take advantage of regular playing time in the Minnesota lineup. He hit his fifth HR of the season in the second inning of tonight's game against Tim Wakefield and the Boston Red Sox. The dinger extends his hit streak to 8 games (12-34 in that span, .353 AVG). Having been compared to Brian Giles, Kubel was set to make a splash in 2005, but tore up his left knee in the Arizona Fall League the winter before. A year and change later, he's healthy and very close to entrenching himself in the Minnesota lineup for years to come. He doesn't strikeout much and hits for a nice combination of power and AVG. He's a great pickup in deep mixed or keeper leagues. His minor league career AVG of .323 and K/BB ratio of 1.08 (184/171) suggests he's one of the better bets amongst rookies to have success over the rest of the season. Fri, 16 Jun 2006 02:04:36 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/318 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/318 Joe Mauer broke a record shared by greats Ruth, Bonds and 2 others. Read on........ In an entertaining game today, the Baltimore Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins 9-7 to even the series. Daniel Cabrera pitched 6 nose-butter innings and managed to keep the Twins on base. For the Twins, Carlos Silva too pitched 6 innings. But whereas Cabrera pitched his way out of jams, Silva got raked. He gave up 5 and then Kyle Lohse took the mound. This was Lohse' first appearance for the Twins after a 4-rotation stint in the minors and posting an encouraging 1.50 AAA era. At the plate, Miguel Tejada homered in the first after lead-off hits by Brian Roberts and Melvin Mora - giving him 52 RBIs on the year. In response to the O's output, the Twins put Punto, Kubel, and Mauer on base to lead off bottom 1st. Batting Clean-up, Torii Hunter popped out to Mora (P5) for out number 1. For outs 2 and 3, Cuddyer hit into a double play 4-6-3. That marked off a frustrating day for the Twins and especially Hunter. Hunter finished the day with 2 dropped balls, zero hits, and 8 runners left on base. After 6 innigs, with the score 5-0, Kyle Lohse started off his return by allowing 3 runs before forcing an out. He would give up another to allow 4 in 2.2 innigs pitched. This appearance only affected his ERA slightly, pushing it from 8.92 to 9.22 after 41 innings pitched. In brighter news, Rondell White did not play again. He has limited himself to 8 at-bats over the past 7 games due to unparalleled poor baseball. The highlight of the game came with no outs and no one on in the bottom of the 9th. Joe Mauer singled up the middle for his second hit of the game and raised his batting average to 0.388 and passing Mike Redmond for team lead (0.375). For the game, Mauer walked twice and singled twice to give him 4 appearances on base for the 5th consecutive game. No other player has accomplished this feat in the history of Major League Baseball. 4 players before Mauer have reached base 4 times in 4 consecutive games, including Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds. Joe Mauer, at 23 years of age, has figured out pro-ball. Sun, 11 Jun 2006 09:26:24 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/276 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/276