Where do we see these guys in the next month?

[3rice]

Brad Lidge - Coming around from a Knee injury, projected closer but how effective?

Bret Meyers - Shoulder Injury due back in a week or 2, but as the closer or back in the rotation?

Miguel Tejada - Hr masher whos become a doubles hitter, wrist injury could be tricky, will he be the same when back ?

Kerry Wood - Possibly back sooner then later, might be put in the rotation but right now it sounds like in the bullpen. W/ the Cubs unsettled w/ Dempster's injury could Wood possibly try the closing job if Howry/Marmol falter?

Carlos Delgado - After batting 42 hrs last year w/a BA just over .280, hes at .246 and only had 14Hrs for the season, hes also been removed from the cleanup spot. Although this past week he seems to be gettin his timing back.

Jermaine Dye - 44hrs last year, batting .214 right now, battling nagging quad injury, 2nd half player, how about a bounce back?

David Eckstein - Been hurt all season, hard to strike out, batted over .300 last year and could be part of a Cardinals team who might be rejuvinated w/ the return of Mulder and Carpenter.

[jfg]

Delgado's stats from last year were .265, 38 HR. Don't know where you got those stats. Plus, his second half was pretty bad. I don't think he's going to turn it around.

The only other guys on that list I'd take a chance on are Myers and Wood. I don't think I'd trade for Tejada, but I wouldn't sell him either because you wouldn't get much. But, Myers would be worth buying low because he'll be valuable no matter what role he comes back to, and Wood is worth a flyer in deep leagues just because of their bullpen situation. I can't see him not getting the closer job if he does well in relief. I guess in deep leagues I'd take a flyer with Lidge as well, but I don't think I'd start him until he puts together a week of good outings. But, in deep leagues Lidge is probably gone, so let somebody else deal with that.

[cymbaline]

Lidge -- I would expect a high K ratio from him and he should easily reclaim the closer role in Houston since Wheeler royally sucks. High upside and also potential for high implosion factor but not as bad as Wheeler.

Myers -- there are a lot of conflicting reports on him as to whether he's headed to the 'pen or rotation. I would expect rotation would be more logical since Gordon is supposed to beat him back to active status. Also, the Phils have several reasonable options in the bullpen aside from Gordon like Alfonsucka and Madson. The Phils need him in the rotation where he'll likely resume being a good-to-mediocre starter with a high 3's ERA, good K's, good win ratio due to strong RS and reasonable WHIP.

Tejada -- I am not so high on Miguel. Wrist injuries can easily sap power and he hasn't been that much of an HR hitter anyway. Only 14 HR since the 06 all star break and this number seems to be continually dropping. He's obviously off the roids at this point and he's reverting to his true power ability which is probably in the low 20's range at best. I think he'll still hit for average and if your league counts two-baggers, then he'll have more value.

Wood -- I would not expect him to see any action in the near future. There's too much injury history to expect him to be able to throw more than a few innings. His stats should be counted by number of pitches, not innings. I wouldn't touch him unless he's actually already participating in live action and even then I would expect him to shut down within a few games. I don't see the Cubs as turning to him over Howry/Dempster/Marmol since Wood is incapable of staying healthy.

Delgado -- I have him at 38 dings and .265 for 2006, not 42 and .280-something. His production is declining fast but he's a reasonable option if you play him in the platoon. He doesn't hit at Shea and I wouldn't expect this to change. The park is simply too pitcher-friendly. 2007 home-road split .217/.263 and 2006 home-road was .226/.304. He's also 26 points higher on BA against righties over his career. If platooned, it means this is a guy who can only play about 30 of the remaining 70+ games where he is on the road AND facing a righty. I think there are better options unless your league is very deep.

Dye -- Has been a total disaster, but don't forget this kind of poor production isn't out of character for him. He was a very, very bad player for several years in Oakland. Unless he puts together some decent games consecutively, I'm inclined to avoid him. He is also an easy target to pitch around since Crede isn't protecting him. His stock is down and still sinking.

Eckstein -- minimal production aside from BA. Doesn't steal much, doesn't hit for power, and despite hitting in front of Phat Albert, he doesn't score that much either. Not sure if he belongs on anybody's roster except in absurdly deep leagues.