Angels GM Jerry DiPoto brought boldness back to Anaheim. After years of passivity from Bill Stoneman and mostly wrong-headed (and perhaps Mike Scioscia sealed) bullheadedness from Tony Reagins, Jedi has brought a Newport Beach-tinged penchant for flash. Hes convinced Family Friendly and Self Made Man Arte Moreno to spend money as if he ate caviar like rice.

  Once again, DiPoto is going all in on the best pitcher in the market. Unlike last year’s market, however, he could be up for a bidding war.

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The Kansas City Royals are adorned with scores of young hitters, a core of which could start for any team for the next five years. 

The team won 72 games after a late season surge, but that’s nowhere close to the lofty expectations GM Dayton Moore’s squad had enticed among fans and analysts in the offseason.

It’s another offseason, and Moore has been busy, acquiring 29-year-old righty Ervin Santana for a relief pitcher manager Ned Yost can afford to live without. 

Cross your fingers and hope he’s not as washed up as Jonathan Sanchez. 

As it stands, Kansas City’s rotation includes burned out blue chippers, veterans no one wants, and even younger fireballers coming off the DL. 

Santana offers stability, though he’s as maddening as Luke Hochevar, if he has anything left in the tank at all. Chances are he has some mileage to cover yet. Meanwhile Moore should solidify his rotation by extending Jeremy Guthrie, given up for dead in Colorado but picked it back up when he reached terra firma. 

There are pitchers left to scavenge, like Dan Haren and the likes of Lackey and Joba. Ownership had talked about releasing some funds to acquire a pitcher, but that stance has since turned modest — the Royals are upgrading pitching, but through trade. 

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Ervin Santana played with feeling. 

I know, you can’t quantify such things, but it was that joyful and boyish emotion Santana used on the mound to succeed. I’ve seen him pitch every year, on multiple occasions live. Yeah the numbers don’t show feels, but if you’ve watched a guy grow, implode, explode, throw a no-hitter and finally fold into a meek, self-described “home run pitcher,” you know. I did. In fact any Angels fan worth their $8 beers knew this. 

We knew then that last season, Santana started to not feel. By June, he was apathetic. By season’s end, he was expendable. 

He was 9-13 with a 5.16 ERA. He led the majors in home runs allowed with 39. The rest are incidental. Santana didn’t just care. He was a terrible pitcher. 

Kansas City has been a few pitchers short of contention, and by reputation alone Santana immediately becomes the team’s second best pitcher, third if you still think Luke Hocheavar has upside. GM Dayton Moore has done this sort of trash rummaging, ending up with a washed up version of lefty Jonathan Sanchez, who couldn’t overcome physical and mental issues, despite electric stuff. 

Santana appears washed up, though he had games where his slider bit, and his fastball stayed down. He doesn’t have physical issues. And best of all, at least for the Royals, he cost one minor league relief pitcher.

Brandon Sisk is 27, has never pitched in the majors, and despite high strikeout rates has walked more than four batters per nine innings the past two seasons. He could end up being a back-end relief pitcher, hell he could even compete for the closer’s job down the line. The point is that the Angels’ GM Jerry DiPoto found Ernesto Frieri, who was respectable as a closer, lights out for a time even, and continues to be an option going forward. Don’t count Sisk out. 

But no matter how good Sisk becomes, he’ll never be as valuable on the field as Melky Cabrera, the major league all star Moore traded for a youngish veteran. I’m surprised they didn’t find a way to fit in a package for Dan Haren, another pitcher the Angels are dangling as they face a Friday deadline to pick up his option or let him walk. 

There’s a good reason to be suspicious of the low threshold of Santana. You’d think a 29-year-old major league veteran with playoff experience, all star credentials, a no hitter, and who’s produced three above average seasons would be worth more than a bargain reliever. 

The Angels must know, in practical terms, that paying Zack Greinke $20 million plus a year, is a bad business decision when a homegrown star who makes $13 million is capable of producing a season with comparable WARs. The difference is negligible when you take into account Jered Weaver’s presence on the rotation, and the advantage of depth over top heavy star rotations transforms is a more proven route to the playoffs. 

In short, the Angels could have kept Santana at $13 million, promote Garrett Richards, trade or let Haren walk, and then use the savings to pick up two more quality starters. The market is bare, which means Greinke will get his dollars regardless. After him, there’s a dropoff in quality, yet there are several viable options who could fill a rotation. 

After all, the Angels struggled through most of 2012 because its vaunted Miami Heat-like rotation turned to dust, Weaver aside. Reinforcements weren’t forthcoming either, because DiPoto had cast his eggs on C.J. Wilson and the shaky shoulders of Jerome Williams. 

Instead, Haren and Santana looked more like Sean O’Sullivan and Matt Palmer. DiPoto, in short, is moving on … keeping what worked, and throwing away what didn’t. There’s no gambling with Greinke, and Richards deserves a shot at a permanent rotation spot. 

I’m all for the Angels getting rid of Haren and Santana’s combined $28 million thereabouts, and then spending those savings on Greinke, who on market rate should go no higher than $22 million per. That leaves DiPoto with $6 million left, very little of which will go to rookie scale Richards. 

Anaheim no longer valued Santana, who’s worth more to the pitching-starved Royals anyway. The team gets a proven starter who’s locked up for just one year. If he continues to soil on himself, the Royals can walk away knowing they gave up nothing much of value. 

Santana was complacent and full. He should be recharged in Kansas City, and could go into a full FU mode. If the Royals get the Santana who said “Fuck it let’s pitch” with a bloody tissue stuffed on his right nostril on live television — Santana won his start by the way, after suffering nosebleeds from the heat prior to game time and pitched through seven innings of continues nosebleedin’ dominance — then watch out world. 

The Angels might end up regretting this the way it did when Mike Napoli was traded away to Canada, only to wash up in Texas. Greinke can always sign elsewhere and the Angels aren’t even favorites to land him. DiPoto is gambling against an existing contract, maybe two at the end of today, to attract a free agent five other mass market teams want. 

The Rangers and the Dodgers are all in play for Greinke, and remember, those teams weren’t around when DiPoto scooped up C.J. Wilson and Albert Pujols. He has a history of getting the biggest names to come. Why not. 

In the meantime, the Royals are sitting on a volatile arm, but it’s the kind of low cost move that could make a GM look brilliant. Or fired. 

The Angels, and strangely enough, for the Royals, are in must win situations.

DiPoto has talked the Boss into a massive spending spree that has not panned out. Meanwhile, a fired scouting director’s New Jersey find turns in one of the greatest seasons of all time, on a rookie scale contract.  

Moore, meanwhile, has been given a long enough of a leash, and though he’s produced a perfect storm of young hitters that only gets better with OF Wil Myers ready for the majors, Kansas City has never even come close to postseason play. Santana could be that catalyst, though they’d have to do more than that, Chen and Hocheavar if they wish to unseat the Detroit Tigers, five starters deep with the best of the era anchoring it. 

Some like it hot, and unfortunately for the Texas Rangers, Kendrys Morales likes his burning. 

“His” is the temperature, and Roy Oswalt wilting under 120-degree heat is half to blame when the Rangers witnessed a historic rarity that lefty reliever Robbie Ross failed to stop, when the two hitters combined to allow Morales to homer from both sides of the plate, in the same game, during the same inning. He joins Carlos Baerga and Mark Bellhorn as the only hitters to achieve that feat. While it’s safe to say it ain’t a hall of fame moment and has no bearing on the bigger picture, it does emphasize a couple of Texas’ weaknesses as we move closer to the non-waiver trade deadline.

So, uh, Roy Oswalt wasn’t as big of a deal as some thought it would be, and nothing short of a miracle will eclipse as big of an impact as Zack Greinke projects to have. 

That game, where the Angels are currently pummeling the Rangers, is barely over, but we know they have the offense to ride such horrific missteps as the one it committed by allowing Oswalt to pitch in the searing Texas heat. He fried like beef and melted like butter he did, but the Rangers aren’t completely done, crushing in eight runs of their own against a combination of Ervin Santana but mostly Jerome Williams.

It isn’t every day that Morales provides power from the left side, as the Angels continue to rotate him out when the team faces a lefty. Unless he channels Josh Hamilton in the final two months of the season, Morales will unlikely get to 30 home runs, much less 20. The Rangers have tons of better hitters than Morales and even its part timers like David Murphy possess more valuable bats. 

All things considered, the Rangers possess a deeper team, starting with a better offense. I mean, they had their worst foot forward and allowed 15 runs. At the same time, they scored eight and the game’s isn’t even over yet. 

Angels fans should be assuaged to know that their team also had its worst foot forward, and for the most part, Santana failed to disappoint anyone, allowing just four hits and three earned runs on home run for five innings. Management is trying to see if Santana responds well to a quick hook, with the psychological edge being he won’t be left out to smoke when he’s being battered. In any case, Santana is hardly a problem when you’ve got Garrett Richards as a more than adequate replacement, thus perhaps ensuring that the days of Jerome Williams’ baffling and extreme performances are largely left to days when the team is up or down way too many runs to care. 

Nelson Cruz provided the Rangers’ return fire, and games where he’s 2-4 with a home run, three RBIs and two hits are more likely to happen again, than the Angels getting two home runs from Morales in one game. Even when you reduce expectations to multi-hit games, Morales isn’t comparable to Cruz, though the Angels were certainly hoping so when they activated him after missing close to two seasons. 

Texas’ rotation weakness has manifested its head in the most gory of ways. Oswalt allowed three home runs, eight earned runs and 11 hits while failing to get out of the hazardous sixth inning, where Ross relieved and then relived the Kendrys-overdose induced nightmares. 

Oswalt hasn’t really been that good against American League hitters, and one wonders if the Rangers wouldn’t trade him at the deadline to a National League team the same way the Red Sox gave up on John Smoltz while being on buy mode the entire time. 

Nights like this should make Texas realize that Oswalt holds no redeeming value unless he’s amendable to being a long reliever or successfully converts to a setup man or closer. I mean, stranger shit’s happened before, and there are ways to squeeze every amount of quality inning left in Oswalt’s battered back. But why bother? Oswalt was brought in to protect the Rangers’ wobbly and overtaxed rotation, but has instead become the worst of that area’s problems. 

For two seasons, Rangers fans felt what it was like to be the Angels, meaning infallible and beyond peer. And then shit catches up, like they always do. Make no mistake that they stand on a solid foundation, and is built long-term to beat whatever blowback a failed roster transaction such as Oswalt, even as the team watches its rival gain the best pitcher available, at no cost to now and the near-future. 

This series will display the large amount of traction Jerry DiPoto has armed his team with as it continues to pester the Rangers’ machine. But whereas in the recent past the Angels have become annoying nuisances, a quick turnaround has made it a real, and prolonged threat. 

I mean, the Angels are beating the Rangers again. That’s more than what it could do even armed with its best pitchers as late as two months ago. 

I’m still not convinced that the Angels are better than the Rangers, specifically because it stands on the strength of a rotation that can tame anyone else but Texas. But it’s a question now, and while Kendrys’ historic night is hardly the barometer, Monday night’s run barrage shows that at least this time the Angels have a fighting chance.

If you think sports cliches are hardly comforting, think about that and mull the Angels’ two-season playoff absence.  

When you’re in the same position the Texas Rangers finds itself in, you’re allowed to do irrational things. Life’s short, and you don’t want to rob the Buffalo Bills of its claim to fame. 

It seems like the Rangers suffered a bigger setback when Cole Hamels opted to stay in Philadelphia, robbed again by the same city slickers who deprived Colonel Nolan of more ammunition. 

Of course GM Jon Daniels was in on Zack Greinke, but there was always more of a resigned necessity to the whole pursuit, unlike the more romantic approaches of the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. 

That’s the price of being a big market team. You get to behave business-like because you have to, because the Rangers aren’t catching a big wave but are creating steady ones. Don’t count them out of making another appearance, even if the team stands pat, though that would be a bit harder without heavier reinforcements. 

The Angels could afford to trade off its farm system because Greinke is a finishing touch to a lineup of aces. The Rangers could have really used Greinke, but it’s understandable if the team wasn’t willing to give up any of its better prospects for a two-month rental that though great comes with question marks. 

The Phillies could have gotten SS Jurickson Profar, or SP Martin Perez AND 3B Mike Olt, and Philly could really use a bat under 35 now and in the foreseeable future. On a side not I may or may not expound on later, don’t be surprised if the Phillies traded Roy Halladay instead of Cliff Lee, if not in the deadline then during winter. Doc’s time is nearly up, and it doesn’t look like the Phillies will win soon, but it’s illogical to extend Hamels and then reduce from a point of superiority. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro found himself overextended in one direction, and though his team is heavily one-dimensional, now and in the future because of its gaudy payroll, it would be stupid of him to make the same mistake and reload for the future by taking away from the present. So never mind, forget I never bothered with Cliff Lee being available in the first place. It ain’t gonna happen. 

But back to the Rangers. I think they’d be amendable to selling Olt or Perez for a guaranteed blockbuster rental or control. It might be a bit illogical to punt for Josh Johnson because he’s a reasonable bargain and could-be ace for at least one more season after this. It only looked like the Brewers were asking for either, or, and were really more interested in the player blocked long-term by Adrian Beltre. 

Giving up Olt shouldn’t be a matter of function and motion. The Rangers could bring him up as a first baseman, and by the way he’s destroying the minors, could be hot enough during time of call up to be a more than satisfactory internal call up. 

It worked for the Tampa Bay Rays last season. Desmond Jennings was just as valuable coming off a minor league hot streak than Carlos Beltran. Perez has shown enough promise to stand up to the Boston Red Sox. As a lefty with plus stuff, he’s just as good a bet to help the rotation as a pricey trade acquisition. 

The Rangers know more than most teams the value beyond the numbers,  it’s not a matter of if but a matter of when. Sure, Hitter A gives you 25 home runs and a .500 SLG, but if he’s not doing that at the right time, it wouldn’t matter. More than any professional sport, baseball is cyclical in nature. The key isn’t only to get the most out of exotic stats, it’s when to match them up so they work together, so that those numbers equal to a win in real terms, and not just in player value. 

Which is why don’t expect the Rangers to pay the Colon or Teixeira Bounty the Marlins are angling for Johnson. Neftali Feliz could be back soon. The Rangers understand the root of what got him hurt better than why Johnson couldn’t rip through a full season while being dominant, and even as a first time starter with control issues, Feliz has better numbers than Johnson, whom we’re expecting to get better if luck and his defense improves. What for when Feliz already prevented runs at a better rate, while doing it in a more challenging league. 

For all the noise of the Rangers’ need for an ace, they’re once again applying the Buehrle Model of having a deep stream of quality pitchers. None of them have to be spectacular, but they just have to be decent enough to let the more reliable offense do the work. After all, Cliff Lee didn’t blossom into an ace for the Rangers until the postseason, and for all his regular season brilliance, wear and tear got to C.J. Wilson in the playoffs. The Rangers had to rely on Matt Harrison last season, so what the hey. 

They do need to replace Colby Lewis, who was the most consistent of the Buehrles and sported a balls out 6.00 plus K/BB ratio, tops in the league. There could be value in quantity, or low risk rentals. The St. Louis Cardinals’ biggest and most noticeable upgrade included a right-handed and left-handed specialist, and a No.3 starter as inconsistent as the moon’s far. 

Daniels may choose to overpay for relief pitching again, and there’s an understated market that could help boost the Rangers’ chances of going deep the way Mike Adams did, and continues to do. 

It’s not illogical to expect Yu Darvish or Harrison to go deep in a playoff series or two, allowing a shutdown bullpen enough rest in-between holding down games. We’ve witnessed how the World Series quickly devolves into a game of relievers, as early as the third inning at times. 

Expect Daniels to come away with some combination of San Diego’s Luke Gregerson and Huston Street, Kansas City’s Jonathan Broxton, Cleveland’s Chris Perez, Milwaukee’s Francisco Rodriguez, Seattle’s Brandon League and so on and so forth. 

A third-tier pitcher, for carrying through the fume times, like Joe Saunders, Ricky Nolasco, hell Carlos Zambrano and Paul Maholm.

I’ve already made the argument of shipping for Josh Beckett or Jon Lester or both, and if you’re banking on Johnson alone to be a bounce back candidate, then you’re missing out on Beckett, who’s got as good of a chance of succeeding, and failing, as the Marlins’ expensive pseudo-ace. 

Don’t expect the Rangers to sit idly on offense, and the biggest name tossed around after Justin Upton’s has been hung out to dry in public — again — is Cleveland’s Shin Soo Choo. 

At right field, he’s an upgrade over Nelson Cruz defensively, and though he’s not as powerful, he already has better stats, trending towards a more productive finish. 

Cruz has always been a free-swinger, but a stinking .310s OBP is easy to stomach when you’re hitting 29 home runs. He’s still got a chance to reach that on a Josh Hamilton binge, but he’s at 14 home runs. He’s significantly increased his line drive rate, but he strikes out too much, walks too little and stands as a grim reminder of why David Freese’s routine fly turned into a heroic base hit.

Choo’s .377 wOBA is superior to Cruz’s league average .331 wOBA. He walks, but also has a good .294 batting average that could ride a superior BABIP in a smaller park. He’s less powerful than Cruz, on reputation and total home runs, but his .196 ISO is somewhere around career averages, whereas Cruz’s .186 is a tremendous dip from last year’s .246 ISO. 

I’d argue that Choo’s a better investment than Upton, who aside from upside has shown that the only thing he can be counted on to do is to be inconsistent. If the Rangers are that protective of their prospects, than taking on Upton would cost more than what it would have taken to get Greinke, and there’s not that much tangible difference between Cruz and Upton right now. 

Choo’s the better right fielder, and won’t cost much in years and money, though he will be somewhat under club control for one more season as a final year arbitration eligible player. At 30, it’s the best time to have his services, more so than Cruz, who’s 32, and the type of mistake hitter who doesn’t profile to age well as his bat speed decreases. 

But finding an upgrade over Cruz, or Feliz for that matter, is a nice problem to have, for the very reason that it’s not a problem at all. 

The Angels went almost all out on Greinke and did well to hold on to Peter Bourjos, Garrett Richards and Hank Conger, but Jerry DiPoto had to do something as Ervin Santana and Dan Haren potentially jeopardize a World Series run. And unlike the Angels, the Rangers don’t have to rely on a 20-year-old sensation, a 32-year-old superstar who showed a whole lotta weakness, and a 23-year-old slugging sophomore who’s never been this good for this long before. Hence the need for a superhuman rotation. The best part is that the Angels no longer have to overpay for relief pitching, perhaps the way the Rangers would, by necessity. 

But all other systems are a go for the Rangers. Josh Hamilton may look human but his slump is overstated by the superhuman display of power he exhibited. Baseball people knew this was going to happen — well, not to this degree, but that’s been accounted for. 

Lee’s a pipe dream, and a smart organization knows not to drop a Teixmas package for someone like Johnson — at least Teixeira was worth it for the equivalent of one season he spent there. The team already knows that to get something you got to give something — Chris Davis could make all this offensive hunt moot had he not been traded for Koeji Uehara, but don’t expect an impulse buy. 

The consensus best arm left couldn’t pry Perez or Olt away from the Rangers. Take that as they don’t want a rental unless it’s Cole Hamels. Don’t expect Texas to dangle him for another pitcher, except if that somehow translated into Felix Hernandez. 

Texas could run away from everyone in the league by acquiring Choo, and to some degree Upton, but all things considered, the system works as designed. Because of an understanding of time, space and slugging percentages, and a deep stream of major league ready in house solutions, the Rangers don’t have to do anything to increase it’s already good chances of making the World Series. 

Before you get carried away with the mob mentality accusing the Miami Marlins of conning the fans after getting the new stadium built courtesty of tax dollars, let’s do an itemized list of the players they’ve traded, before proceeding on yet another justified discount sale:

— Omar Infante is under club control for one more year, but he’s only getting playing time because the Marlins have no one better. That’s not to say he sucks, because any team would love to have Infante in their roster. But a utility contact hitter with some power isn’t so useful when your club is clearly out of even the second wild card. 

— Lefty reliever Randy Choate, who at 36, is still a decent lefty only matchup specialist. The Dodgers have use for him as they chase the playoffs because every out matters. He’s nothing more than a luxury item — kind of like a brass door knob, that serves some utility but isn’t crucial to whether that door opens or closes right. 

— Hanley Ramirez may look controversial, and his trade raised loud howls of disgust over the so-called Marlins fire-sale. Please. He could be a change of scenery guy, but he was first and foremost a change of character candidate. That wasn’t going to happen in Miami. Besides, everyone’s holding on to the 23-26-year-old version of Hanley, the kid who led the league in batting average and finished second to the great Albert Pujols in the NL MVP balloting. 

But time and sample size has profiled hitters who don’t know plate discipline from a plate of hot dogs as guys who age pretty bad. They don’t necessarily lose the power, but the incremental loss of bat speed is made worse by the fact that they need to swing earlier, by necessity. 

The Marlins tried to make it work with him and Jose Reyes as a dynamic infield, and acted on what they already knew last year — the younger Hanley won’t come back. 

— Anibal Sanchez is a boon on any rotation, and he ticks off every category that would help a pitcher transition from the NL to the AL: good lower 90s velocity, left-handed, low walk rates, high strikeout rates, left-handed. But it was unlikely that he’d sign with the Marlins, who’ve used up about as much as they could of Sanchez. Quitting while ahead on a guy that’s not part of your long-term plan may even land you a stud prospect. 

The cons include:

— Ramirez regaining his superstar 7.0 bWAR form in Los Angeles. The Marlins then pray that steroids made it happen. In this case probably not, though you never know. 

— Nate Eovaldi is revealed to be a Castro sympathizer. More importantly however, he could be lost to attrition. 

— Jacob Turner reads about another former Tigers hot shot prospect moving to Miami, or Florida as they used to call it back in the day. Unfortunately, Andrew Miller and the Marlins didn’t have the most ideal of situations. 

— A guy as useful and cheap as Infante never walks into Florida again. 

   The Marlins and sleazebag owner Jeffrey Loria aren’t one to act to garner the public’s good graces. After all, there’s not a lot of public who care deep enough to hold the team accountable. A state without income tax wouldn’t necessarily care about having to pay what taxes they do towards a baseball stadium, a quasi-public venture that never pays out the government’s investment. Like ever. 

   The Marlins have done the right thing by quickly dispensing of things they don’t need, while gaining two young arms capable of starting in the process. 

   It should do more by shedding SP Josh Johnson, once the crown jewel of a young rotation but now subject to indiscriminate extremes of good and bad starts. 

   Trade him now, while he has value. Trade him now before his arm falls off the shoulder. Trade him now while his ERA is under 5.00. 

   He could be an ace, but the Marlins hardly have the luxury to find out. 

   To be fair, Johnson isn’t where Ubaldo Jimenez was last season when the Colorado Rockies decided to sell high and ultimately were proven right. 

   You can argue that he’s bedeviled by bad luck, and his 4.14 ERA is forgiven by a dominant looking 2.92 FIP and a more realistic 3.42 xFIP. He’s also stranding runners at an anomalous rate, 70 percent from a career in the 80s. Finally his .338 BABIP from a career just under .300 BABIP suggests he’s off to a second-half rebound. 

   But look closer and the ace the Marlins thought they had may be gone, at least for the season. Johnson’s chance numbers look high, but it’s not just luck bedeveiling him. He’s still inducing the same amount of ground balls, and has cut into his fly ball rates. Problem is, he’s increased his line drive rates to 24 percent, meaning he’s probably not throwing good pitches. 

  The following could be forced to overpay, and the key here is to quit while you’re ahead, if you’re the Marlins:

— The Atlanta Braves were saved from themselves when Ryan Dempster chose not to go there, or else they’d be short one Randall Delgado for the next six seasons. Unlike Dempster, Johnson is younger, at 28, and has extra years of control at a reasonable price. Worse case scenario for Atlanta, they get a compensation pick if he walks at the end of his deal without an extension. The Marlins can do worse than receiving Delgado straight up, though it can get more sweeteners too, with Atlanta tipping how far it’s willing to go for a proven starter. Be forewarned however: Dempster is the better pitcher right now. 

— The Texas Rangers can be coaxed to give up Mike Olt, who’s blocked from ascension even as he tears through minor league pitching because there’s no way he’ll match Adrian Beltre’s production. Again, the Marlins could stop here and still end up winning. SP Martin Perez also impressed against the Boston Red Sox. 

— The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim could package Jean Segura and Garrett Richards. Again, not a bad thing, even if you strike out Segura in favor of catcher Hank Conger. Throw in Ervin Santana and you might have yourself a make-good low cost free agent.

— The St. Louis Cardinals have Shelby Miller, who’s considerably slowed down in his major league ascent but remains comparable to the recently acquired Jacob Turner. 

— If the Los Angeles Dodgers are willing to give up Zach Lee for Matt Garza, they can be persuaded to give him up for Johnson. 

— I’ll find it unlikely that the Marlins can pry SS Manny Machado from the Baltimore Orioles, but perhaps Zack Britton, Tommy Hunter and Chris Tillman will do. 

— The Pittsburgh Pirates are dangling Starling Marte, even calling up their most advanced infield prospect for an audition for prospective teams. While Marte might be overvalued, the Marlins could ask for him and another close to major league ready arm — even a promising reliever. 

— You think they’d call the Washington Nationals to check in on Steve Lombardozzi or Anthony Rendon? Johnson could help quiet the brewing controversy over whether Stephen Strasburg gets shut down when he reaches his innings limit, especially in the thick of a realistic playoff run. Part of me feels the Nationals should at least get a somewhat comparable pitcher to blunt any criticism Strasburg gets.

— 

I hadn’t realized how long I’ve stayed away from writing about fantasy baseball until I picked up 2B Dan Uggla on the waiver wire. To whoever did that, and I can just find out but fuck it, I’m keeping Uggla for safekeeping (i.e. using him) and you can come up with an excuse, ahem a reason, I might just give him back or something, for a fee or not, but you can’t and shouldn’t (maybe) buy me off with candy. 

Now, because most of us aren’t so lucky, I consider Uggla a pay back for losing Nick Markakis and Emilio Bonifacio to the DL, take heed. Someone will be reckless enough to do something like dropping Dan Uggla. 

But before that time comes, let’s scope the scene:

SP Tim Lincecum

FIP, xFIP, BABIP yada yada, inducing the same swing rates blah blah. 

For whatever reason, Tim Lincecum’s ERA actually reflfects who he is right now: the equivalent of Paul Byrd, just with infinitely more strikeouts. He hasn’t touched Ubaldo levels of futility yet, he may or may not get there. 

What ails Lincecum, if not injury, is some severe form of mechanical tick that has his fastball clocking in at a tiny 90 mph, instead of the freakish 94 mphs he’s generated from his violent delivery. His BABIP is acutely high (.324), and he’s serving up more home runs out of his fly balls (10 percent from career 8 percent), so you’d think it’s luck. Leaving just 60 percent of runners on base is low by the universe’s median standards. 

But these numbers shouldn’t just be discounted for luck. Lincecum has adjusted to his velocity, although he’s also walking more batters because he’s not throwing his fastballs over the plate with the ferocity that induced knees to buckle on his breaking pitches that inevitably skittle away from the plate. 

He’ll mostly play patsy competition, but don’t expect much more than a Bronson Arroyo, with the fantasy value of strikeouts. 

Sell High, Buy Low

THOSE GOD-DAMNED MARINERS, EH

The Seattle Mariners have been ripping through the American League West, butt raping Texas for 21 runs before storming through Anaheim. They’re scoring runs, Justin Smoak not only has fantasy value but is mostly taken in deep league formats, and of course Sarah already owns him what was I thinking. 

But there’s only a 34 percent ownership, so if you’re having trouble at first, say Adrian isn’t producing, or you just need home runs in general, pick Smoak up. Owners should keep, unless someone bids high.

Because Mariners fans know their shitty teams better than most, and Sarah has her own list of uncackables going, knowing any reliever will be in line to close and that any random slap tag on guys like 3B Kyle Seager and OF Michael Saunders will inevitably get at bats. Her Not As Bad As SEA is full of shits and giggles, and then they pan out, like 3B Seager, who’s taken in 56 percent of leagues and is eligible for premium spots at 3B, SS, 2B. Jump on that ship now. Sarah’s been there since Week 1. Seager’s already served up seven home runs, and that number shouldn’t rise to more than 15, with OK lines of .260s BA / .320s OBP / .480s SLG, a generous projection that figures to be useful in deeper leagues, especially with the lack of talent at SS, 3B and 2B.

Michael Sauners’ BABIP is absurdly high, but if you’re short on outfielders and have him dangling around, by all means play him while he’s hot.

C John Jaso has a .350 OBP, and a .260 BA isn’t at all bad in deeper leagues. Now on to important stuff …

Help, I’ve GOT ERVIN SANTANA

 Hardly anyone is prescient enough to know they were drafting SP Ervin Santana with an eye towards streaming him. He’s a solid rotation piece you can sit through for a sub 4.00 ERA, with a bunch of strikeouts (career 7 plus K/9), wins and innings. 

And then he marches on and loses his first six decisions in 2012. Great beginnings like that tend to get worse. 

 Not so much anymore. Santana is on pace to allow 45 home runs, and hey, he’s already given up by dubbing himself a Home Run pitcher. His FIP/xFIP always hovered around the high 4.00s, and this isn’t the first time Santana’s turned into a tee ball. In 2009, he posted a career 1.55 home runs per nine innings, and he’s always hovered around the ones owing to his extreme fly ball tendencies.

But this year is something else. He’s allowing 1.95 HR/9 or let me just put it in plain two home runs, even though he’s inducing a career high 50 percent of hit balls into the ground. And to think his .270 BABIP has suppressed his 5.33 ERA.

He’s a strong bounce back candidate because his velocity remains the same across the board. But be alarmed by his 6 K/9 and 4 almost 5 BB/9, the first decreased by two strikeouts from career norms, the second increased by two almost three walks. 

Stream him or bench him if you own him, because his inability to throw strikes might be a sign of elbow discomfort. Relax, no one’s going to pounce on Ervin. You’re better off going through Scott Diamond, Insert Padre Here, Drew Hutchison, Phil Humber etc …

So much for the Brad Lincoln experiment, and now on to the buy low pitching keepers:

Adam Wainwright

He’s throwing strikes, and his velocity is there. Wainwright might be vexing his current owners because he’ll throw great games followed by ones where he’s shelled for five to six runs constant. I know because I’m one of those owners, although disclaimer: I have no intention of selling him, which only means he’s expensive. But on to matters of importance, all signs indicate that Wainwright’s shaking off rust, and some days he got it and some days he don’t. I’m pretty sure there are owners out there who can be persuaded to part with him, and if you’re looking to salvage drafting Tim Lincecum, trade him for Wainwright. 

Keep/buy low

A.J. Burnett

If you’re still streaming Pirates Burnett, do yourself a favor: next time hold on to him. 

Owning Burnett is a little more high maintenance in that you might want to watch who he pitches against. Nothing’s changed so much as he’s feasting on cheap competition compared to the death matches he ignored spending his better years in the AL East. No one ever comments on how well Burnett’s performing given his age (he’s 35) but he’s pitching like a mirage ace. He’ll continue doing well, especially if there’s a great NL Central Sell Off, especially if he stays in the NL Central, doesn’t matter which team he plays for. 

Erik Bedard has also been a keeper, and so is James McDonald. You’d be surprised how well the NL Central brings out the Bob Gibson in starters. 

Andy Pettitte is old but who cares. He has a lower ERA than CC Sabathia, and in fact leads the Yankees rotation with a 2.78 ERA, with three wins and two losses. Apart from his mediocre first game, Pettitte has been respectable and is worth holding on to for a string of starts. 

If you’re desperate, SP Phil Hughes pitches against the New York Mets this weekend, and judging by he how he carved up the Detroit Tigers and Justin Verlander, you might want to gamble on him. But remember, he’s uneven between starts. I know because I’ve played this game before, and I’m playing it again. Huzza. 

Clay Buchholz has strung together three great starts resulting in two wins against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles. He’s owned in just 28 percent of the leagues, and he’s worth a stream or two, with the high risk gamble of being a keeper.  For now, keep him on probation, which is more than he could say a week ago, which is something you might regret saying in his next start. 

If you’re not on the C SaltalaMacho Train after losing C John Axford, or carrying like Geovany Sotto or something, I feel bad for you. 

Woud Jesus trade Adrian Gonzalez? If someone dangled a top end pitcher like Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee or CC Sabathia (come one, you wouldn’t really consider trading Justin Verlander, right), then yes, which means so should you. No, not really, whatever Jesus. I’m also assuming that you drafted him with the intention as your crux, and that you might not have much after him unless you presciently drafted Giancarlo Stanton in the third round. 

If you feel the need for speed, dial OF Michael Brantley’s number. He’s a low cost Ichiro, and might even have a better batting average once the season’s over. I’m not suggesting you drop Ichiro in favor of Brantley, at least not yet, but if you need stolen bases and a modest BA boost without taking an OBP hit, he’s just 30 percent owned.