Conor Jackson (A's—Oakland) What was once a very promising career has slide off the tracks and Conor Jackson will now find himself playing the outfield for the Oakland A's after he was traded on Tuesday. There are pluses and minuses with this trade. Jackson will more than likely get a good amount of playing time but he will be inserted into a less potent offense and may suffer from a lack of support in the Oakland lineup. However, Jackson's power as all but left him with just 2 home runs over the past two years that has spanned 250 AB's so moving to the pitcher-friendly ball park probably won't have an impact as he wasn't hitting home runs anyway. Jackson has been a pretty good spray hitter though and from that perspective, the move could work to his advantage along with a change of scenery. The other good news here is that Jackson has a LD% of 27.6% and a BHIP of .263 which means the guy has been extraordinarily unlucky. Jackson could be an interesting player to watch going forward. Don't be surprised if he warms up to his new surroundings and starts to increase his .238 batting average. The power won't be there but look for better times with OBP and AVG. Jackson could be a decent pick up in A.L. Leagues and deeper mixed leagues if you're looking for a corner infielder/outfielder.
Jake Arrieta (SP—Orioles) Well, the Orioles have finally found the secret to winning: pitch rookie Jake Arrieta every day. It was only Arrieta's second major league start and after beating the Yankees for his first career win, Arrieta pitched 7 innings, allowing one earned run for his second victory. Arietta is one of the talented prospects in the Oriole farm system and after compiling a 6-2 record at Norfolk with a 1.85 ERA, Arrieta is bringing some of that winning to the parent club. Arrieta averaged a K/9 of 8.9 in three minor league seasons and while he struggled with his control at times, he only allowed 23 home runs through 336 innings in his minor league career. Arrieta will continue to get the ball as he seems to have been a stopper of Oriole losing streaks. He is a very, very good long term keeper prospect but it's tough to recommend a rookie, as talented as Arrieta is, playing for such a poor team in Orioles right now. But Arrieta is a two-start pitcher next week pitching both games in Baltimore. He faces the Marlins and the Nationals and if ever there was a time to give Arrieta a go, you might want to grab him in your league and give him a shot. You may not get a more favorable situation to take a chance on him.
Marco Scutaro (SS—Red Sox) Marco Scutaro was out of the Red Sox lineup on Tuesday with a pinch nerve in his neck that has been sapping some of the strength left arm. He received a root-nerve injection that will hopefully alleviate much of the pain and he should be ready to go for Wednesday's game against the Diamondbacks. Scutaro has been doing a decent job hitting .282 ad he has an excellent EYE of 1.12. He doesn't walk that much, only 29 times this season, but he doesn't strikeout much either largely due to an excellent CT% of 96.3%. Despite the pinch nerve, over the last 17 games Scutaro has produced a slash line of .359/.393/.564 so imagine what he could do now that he is feeling better. Scutaro remains a solid mid-level option at shortstop and as he tends to hit lead-off in the Red Sox lineup, he should continue to get plenty of opportunities to score.
Alex Rodriguez (3B—Yankees) Alex Rodriguez missed Tuesday's game with a hip flexor injury but should be back in the Yankee lineup on Wednesday. It's been a rather underwhelming season for Rodriguez as he hasn't done poorly, but he hasn't put up the big numbers that fantasy owners have come to expect. There are several third baseman that are having better years than Rodriguez and some are surprising names like Adrian Beltre and Scott Rolen. With only 8 home runs this year, Rodriguez's output is far down this year as at this point he would be projected to only hit 20 home runs. That number would represent his lowest total of his career. The most noticeable difference in Rodriguez's approach at the plate is that he has been swinging at 5% more pitches out of the strike zone than he has for his career and also popping the ball 3% more often than his career average. All of these factors together may account for some of his ISO slide which now stands at .192 compared to a career ISO of .269. Still, we know what Rodriguez can do when he gets hot and hopefully that will come soon. If he continues to chug along at this solid but un-A-Rod pace, a sell high option could net you solid players in return.
Brett Cecil (SP—Blue Jays) Things had been going really well for Brett Cecil until Tuesday night as he pitched against the Padres. Cecil had a five game winning streak which got derailed as he allowed five earned runs in six innings of work. It was only the third time this season that Cecil had allowed more than 3 runs out of 11 starts. Overall Cecil has done a solid job with a 3.58 ERA and despite the shellacking on Tuesday he still has a terrific WHIP of 1.03 with batters hitting just .214 off of him. He has been particularly effective against lefties who are only batting .145 against him and has only allowed 2 walks. Cecil is quietly putting together a very nice year and if you haven't noticed him, you should. He is a solid start in all league formats.
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You can also catch Richard all season long on Twitter at @rsgross
