+/-

Slipstream Starlings
+George Sherrill
-Boof Bonser and $1

An economy of roster move, as nominal ace Josh Beckett returns to action, swapping places with the on-the-shelf reliefer Francisco Rodriguez. With the Orioles off to a fast start before they inevitably fade away to 4th, if not 5th place, Sherill's been racking up some solid opportunities, something that's not guaranteed of K-Rod no matter how well the Angels may do. As mentioned, Beckett's return makes the solid if not dazzling Bonser expendable, as his upside is apparently not as great as the 8 other starters on the staff. Bonser will wind up with the Broken Angels next week; with Kelly Johnson fully operational, and currently tallying a hit in every game he's played this season, Jose Lopez will be dropped.

The Consummate Bastards
+Heath Bell
-Rafael Betancourt and $1

A set-up man knockdown merry-go-round. While also the realm of LOOGYs and ROOGYs and schlubs and scrubs and washed up starters, late inning relievers can fall into one of three categories: the usually overlooked talent that comes out of nowhere to make a name for himself in one brilliant campaign that allows him to stick around for a few years based on that one overhyped year and the subsequent albatross of a contract quickly handed out (Scott Eyre, Scott Linebrink); the hard thrower with all the talent but none of the execution, who just has to pan out eventually, but never does (Kyle Farnsworth); and finally the dependable bridge to the closer who won't lose his status as The Man no matter how poorly he performs, or how long and how effective the set up man is (Scot Shields). Rafael Betancourt would appear to fall into category #3, while it's too early to know exactly where Heath Bell will wind up. Trevor Hoffman can probably keep going for another 2-3 years, as he's never relied upon throwing cheese and his home ballpark can cover his ass.


Broken Angels
+Dana Eveland
-Chuck James and $2

As mentioned above, the BA's will likely make a move for longtime favorite Boof Bonser as soon as next week. No matter, though, as the Braves' optioning of James to the minors and John Lackey's current disabledness left the BA's with only 6 healthy pitchers, one of whom - John Danks - just happened to be rocked to the tune of -1.5 points before the transaction deadline. Eveland's got more potential to put up the big numbers than either fellow lefties James or Danks, with 406 K in 413 minor league IP; he was a 10th round pick in last year's draft.

Tip of the Week
As we were speaking of relievers and the Braves...Peter Moylan, the only name listed under "Notable Persons" section in the Wikipedia entry for Attadale, Australia, is the #1 contender to
replace Rafael Soriano while he's on the DL, for however long that may be. For what it's worth, he'll be under the command of Bobby Cox and the Braves, who have been able to take theretofore no-names like Kerry Ligtenberg, Mark Wohlers, John Rocker and Greg McMichael and turn them into 'closers' with the potential to rack up 30+ saves in a season before they shuffle back to anonymity.