Micah Hoffpauir:

Hoffpauir has been making the most of a post-season audition over the last week since the Cubs have clinched going 9-13 with 2 HR’s and 6 RBI’s. Much of the work was done in last night’s massive 5-5 effort that included those 2 HR’s and 5 RBI’s. He’s working his way into a bench spot for this post-season roster and while he certainly won’t supplant Derrek Lee for the Cubs Hoffpauir could be an interesting play in extremely deep formats if he’s ever able to catch on somewhere in a full time role. Hoffpauir’s dominated AAA the last two seasons posting OPS’ of .917 and 1.145 in nearly 600 AB’s, and in limited major league time he’s shown the ability to be an average to above average major league hitter. Right now he’s a guy without opportunity but if he gets one down the line he’s someone to keep an eye on in deep formats.

Ryan Church:

Church was among the heroes in New York on Thursday night going 3-3 with 2 RBI’s. Just a few months back we were talking about Church finally realizing his potential in an everyday role and finally breaking out. But here we are with 3 days left in the season and the numbers are similar to Church’s past few seasons in Washington. Injuries and particularly Church’s scary battle with a concussion this season have been the culprit and while it’s hard to blame a guy for injuries we’re getting to the point where we have to assume Church can’t get out on the field for 500+ ABs in a season and thus can’t be relied upon from a fantasy perspective. His early season performance and his solidified role as an everyday player in the Mets lineup will likely make him a hot “sleeper” option next year as owners remember the strong start this year, but at this point his durability issues make him a risky option who may have a slightly inflated value heading into ‘09.

Yovani Gallardo:

Sigh… Myvani just had to go out and dominate for 4 innings on Thursday night to place big exclamation point on his status heading into next season. I was hoping most would casually forget about Gallardo but his start last night probably brought him back on a number of owners’ radars. He struck out 7 in just 4 innings allowing just 2 hits, 2 BB’s, and 1 ER. The Brewers had him on a tight pitch count but he was good enough that he “could” be an option for the post-season roster and maybe even the rotation if Ben Sheets health remains in question.

Lance Berkman:

Berkman’s slow finish to the season continued on Thursday night with another 1-4 effort. Berkman’s knocked out just 7 HR’s in the final 3 months of the season and the overall HR numbers will finish down for the 3rd consecutive season. Berkman’s made up for it with a huge jump in the SB department and an overall better power profile (more 2B’s) in 2008 than in 2007 and he still remains a tremendous fantasy player and overall hitter, but any thoughts of him replicating that monster ’06 season (which seemed attainable earlier this year) can clearly be forgotten. At age 33 heading into next season Berkman will be in the decline phase of his career and while the production will still be quite good, we need to realize he’s settling in as 27-33 HR candidate and not the 40 HR threat of years past.

Jorge de la Rosa:

It’s not often we reference a Rockies pitcher as a potential sleeper heading into the offseason, but Jorge de la Rosa fits the bill. De la Rosa has always been able to strike out batters but his lack of consistent GB skills and utterly poor command left him as nothing more than an erratic 5 inning option that could strike people out. However the ’08 version (especially in the 2nd half) has taken some big strides forward. De la Rosa has lowered his BB Rate down to a still below average .48, from .68, and his GB Rate has gotten back up into the high 40%’s. He’s finding a way to replicate some of the success Ubaldo Jimenez has had in Colorado with the same mix of skills (limiting the HR’s and maximizing the K’s) and his strong 2nd half sub 2.70 ERA in August and September may earn him a role in next year’s rotation and given his consistent source of K’s over the years he could be a nice late round or $1 sleeper for deep formats or NL Only leagues.

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