T.I.P.S. for Thome, Barnes, Alvarez, and more…

Past Week’s top 20 (Yahoo! standard 5 x5 leagues)

1. Albert Pujols(notes)
2. Rafael Furcal(notes)
3. Adam Wainwright(notes)
4. Jim Thome
5. Carlos Gonzalez(notes)
6. Octavio Dotel(notes)
7. Clint Barmes

8. Joey Votto(notes)
9. Vladimir Guerrero(notes)
10. Ricky Nolasco(notes)
11. Torii Hunter(notes)
12. Felix Hernandez(notes)
13. Hanley Ramirez(notes)
14. Michael Bourn(notes)
15. David Wright(notes)
16. Andres Torres(notes)
17. Carl Crawford(notes)
18. Matt Kemp(notes)
19. Dexter Fowler(notes)
20. Sean Rodriguez(notes)

*All stats were up-to-date as of 7/5.

I wanted to highlight two Trends this week, making the 4-spot on the top 20 Jim Thome and the Minnesota Twins and in the 7^th spot Colorado Rockies Clint Barnes.

Jim Thome should be available in most yahoo leagues and could be a nice addition to your lineup as a  backup utility player.

Brad Rysz, RotoExperts.com said this week,

Let Thome be your Homie …
With two homers Saturday, Jim Thome(notes) passed Harmon Killebrew for 10th all time on the home run list. The slugger has gotten some extra playing time recently and has earned a regular slot in the lineup now that Michael Cuddyer(notes) has moved to third and Nick Punto(notes) is manning short. Even when J.J. Hardy(notes) returns, it seems that Punto will be the odd man out, not Thome.

And about Clint Barmes(notes),

(He) has done his part in minimizing the damage. Barmes was the seventh-ranked player last week, hitting .400 with two homers, seven RBIs, and eight runs. Barmes, who is shortstop and second-base eligible, now has seven homers and 41 RBIs on the season.”

I have mentioned in many blogs the name, Pedro Alvarez. A young third basemen for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates have quietly developed a team full of young superstars including fellow teammates: outfielder Andrew McCutchen and catcher Carlos Santana.

In this weeks T.I.P.S., Pedro Alvarez is listed as one of two Suggestions:

Add Pedro Alvarez(notes) …

When Alvarez was called up in mid-June, his ownership skyrocketed as one of baseball’s best prospects and was expected to hit immediately upon arrival. Instead, Alvarez struggled and fantasy teams bailed on him as quickly as they scooped him up…READ MORE