Don't Forget Mother's Day

The weekend is nearly upon us, and before you jump in the shower to make yourself beautiful or handsome for your significant other, here are some of my thoughts revolving around the diamond as we head into a wonderful weekend of baseball. Oh, one other thing. Don’t be a bum and remember it’s Mother’s Day this Sunday. You don’t have to go and buy something fancy for your mama, but at least get her a card and write something heartfelt in it – they love that more than a new coffee machine anyway.

Jeremy Bonderman, out while working on strengthening his shoulder, is apparently hitting 90-91 mph with regularity on his fastball as he nears a minor league rehab assignment. Still just 26 years old which is pretty amazing, Bonderman was once an up and coming star who struck out 202 batters while winning 14 games in 2006. Since then it has been one physical setback after another. I wouldn’t put too much stock in his rehab until he takes the hill and we can see how he responds in actual game situations. He could end up being a fine AL-only addition, but I say you need to make him prove he is worth it before you blindly throw out a big FAAB bid on a guy who is coming off a terrible season (5.55 K/9, 1.22 K/BB, 1.56 WHIP in just 71.1 innings) despite a somewhat decent ERA of 4.29.

Chris Coghlan seems to have the Marlins in a bit of an excited phase – kind of like a college kid at the thought of a drunken party on Saturday night where there will be about 25 single gals looking for a good time. Coghlan, a second baseman who could also see time at third base if Emilio “I was great for two weeks but now I’m awful” Bonifacio doesn’t start hitting soon. Coghlan was simply tearing up Triple-A this season hitting .348 with a .990 OPS and 22 RBI in 24 games, and he figures to get a real shot at some substantial playing time which should pique the ears of NL-only participants. In 483 ABs last season at Double-A Chris hit .298-7-75-83 with 34 steals, showing that he could be highly productive. Still, he only has 24 games played above Double-A, so it would be wise to avoid blowing your FAAB budget on him.

I think ESPN only spent 25% of Sportscenter today talking about Brett Favre. What an improvement in their coverage the world of sports. What is that tagline of their, the Leader in World Wide Sports Coverage or something like that?

Ryan Freel is the newest member of the Cubs after being brought over in a deal with the Orioles. Freel will take over the roster spot vacated by Joey Gathright and basically supply the same skill set with the added ability to play multiple positions. Freel has always been a personal favorite for his 100% at all times spirit, and after a big spring training there was some hope that he might provide some value in a league specific scenario this season. Unfortunately Freel started slowly this year hitting .133 in 15 ABs before incurring a head injury, and though his speed isn’t what it once was he is still capable of stealing a bag and he did hit .298 last season in 131 at-bats with the Reds.

Adam Kennedy was sent from the Rays to the A’s on Friday. I know the guy has fallen out of favor but dude still hit .280 last season, slightly above his career .276 mark, and it just seems odd to me that he can’t find a backup job on someone’s squad. He has no fantasy value at the moment, though with the A’s motley collection of aging/injury prone infielders perhaps he can work his way into AL-only relevance by the time the season is complete (he could even see a fair amount of playing time at second over the next month until Mark Ellis returns from injury).

Wait. Did you hear that Manny Ramirez was suspended? How did I miss that? Oh wait, I didn’t. I think ESPN spent 25% of Sportscenter talking about it so when you add that to their coverage of Favre, that leaves the world of sports and the 3,000 or so other professional athlete’s in the States the could be covering received 50% of the show. If you sense a bit of sarcasm give yourself a little happy face stamp like your kindergarten teacher used to give you when you spelled beautiful right. Speaking of that, I sent to a current flame asking her to spend the weekend with me. Do you think that the happy face she sent back to me signaled ‘all systems go big boy’ or ‘you’ve got to be kidding you moron.’ For some reason I think it’s option number two.

Alex Rodriguez has been activated from the DL hopefully putting an end to the Cody Ransom and Angel Berroa era at third base. Of course, now they have the steroid using, whining, wife cheating, celebrity dating phase of the plan back in order. I’m not sure that is any better.