Piazza Back Behind the Plate

It looks like the A's will utilize Mike Piazza as a catcher upon his healthy return. Mike Piazza, the consumate professional, took the news in stride. According to the Associated Press, Mike said, "Whatever they want me to do. ... I was just as surprised as anybody." Having a manager who used to play behind the plate himself, Bob Geren, will certainly help Piazza make the smooth transition back to catcher.

Add Dmitri Young?

In my Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball League, Dmitri Young is currently the 33rd ranked player in the past month, and he is available. Is he worth a pick-up for an extra first baseman or utility player? Let's take a look. He's currently batting .494 (39 for 79) in the past month. Not too shabby. To go with that gaudy batting average, he also has 13 runs, 3 home runs and 19 rbi in the past month. On the season he's batting .342 with 6 dingers and 33 rbi. His downside? One word: speed. He has no stolen bases.

A look at Dmitri's career splits suggest he may indeed be worth a spot on your team. Over his career, his monthly split batting average does not dip below .290 after the month of June. In the month of July, his career splits show 33 homers in 682 career at-bats. Not too bad.

With Nick Johnson recovering from a right leg fracture, Dmitri looks to have a solid lock on first base for the foreseeable future. If he's available in your league and you need some power and average, consider adding him to your fantasy roster.

500 Saves and Counting

He has more career saves than any other player in MLB history. His lifetime ERA and WHIP are 2.70 and 1.04 respectively. He's accumulated 982 strikeouts in 908.1 innings pitched. These stats aren't too shabby for a starter or a reliever, to say the least. Hoffman is a sure-fire Hall of Famer. No doubt about it. Because he isn't in a glamorous position with glamorous statistics to be accumulated (think of Bonds with Homers and Johnson with Ks this year,) he doesn't quite receive the publicity that he deserves. 500 saves is nothing to sneeze at. How much have you heard about this monumental milestone though? It is an achievement sans pareil.

Don't Drop Saito

According to mlb.com, Takashi Saito will not go on the DL. He may not be available for the weekend series against the Padres, but he should remain on your roster for now. In the interim, you may want to give serious consideration to Jonathan Broxton, who could pick up a few saves for your fantasy team. Mr. Broxton's ERA and WHIP haven't been spectacular in the past month (5.40 and 1.57 respectivel,) but he has had an impressive strikeouts to innnings pitched ratio (18 Ks in 13.1 innings,) to go along with one save.

Help on the Basepaths

Corey Hart of the Milwaukee Brewers looks to have solidified the right fielder job for now. In doing so, it looks like he will be gathering stolen bases at a healthy rate. Last year, Corey swiped 5 bases while being nabbed 8 times in 237 at-bats. So far in 2007, through 118 at-bats, he has taken 8 bases and has not yet been caught. Fantasy Baseball Central would recommend adding Corey to your roster if you are in need of steals.