Just Wish Braden was Better

 The Dallas Braden and A-Rod story might be one of the greatest and funniest moments in baseball history. I’ve loved every minute of the fiasco, from A-Rods invasion of Bradenia to Braden’s perfect game and now to the “GET OF MY MOUND” t-shirts for sale in Oakland

Before Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game earlier this season he said of the A-rod mound incident,

“He will know who I am” and now printed on tees “Get Off My Mound!”  Read More

Just an awesome story, right? I mean we want to root for the tough guy who stood up to one of baseballs biggest and most arrogant superstars. 

But Braden apparently isn’t a fan of these new shirts.  In response to Braden’s apparent concerns, Jim Leahy, the team’s director of marketing, said in a statement:

"We regret that Dallas has expressed concern in regards to the 'Get Off My Mound' T-shirts that are being sold throughout the stadium. The organization created these shirts in response to numerous fan requests and made them to generate interest in this series. The shirts represent the competitive nature of the team, which Dallas epitomizes, and were intended as a fun way to engage the fans. We will speak privately with Dallas about this to clarify our position and make sure we have a clear line of communication going forward."

A-Rod seemed to take the shirts better than Braden, saying,

"I hope I get a cut [of the profits]," Rodriguez joked. Or half-joked anyway. 

And at least one of A-Rod's Yankees teammates was wearing the T-shirt on Monday.

"I won't mention who it was, but he plays left of [Derek] Jeter," Rodriguez said, meaning Robinson Cano(ntes).”

Somehow out of the loop?

Read “Dallas Braden blasts A-rod for breaking unwritten rule” 

Read “Braden and union don’t approve of “Get off my mound T-shirts” 

Oakland Athletics and Week 14s Fantasy Hitting Planner and Sleepers

Check out Week 14s Fantasy Hitting Planner by Eric Mack, a senior fantasy writer for CBS sports!

First take a look at this week’s “Best Five Hitting Schedules”

Best Five Hitting Schedules
	Team	Schedule
1.	Rangers	CLE3, BAL4
2.	Orioles	@DET3, @TEX4
3.	Phillies	ATL3, CIN4
4.	Giants	@MIL4, @WAS3
5.	Rays	BOS3, CLE4

Oakland Athletics

OF Coco Crisp – Since returning from the DL Coco Crisp has gone 10/23 with 2 HRs and three stolen bases. He’s hitting .435 in the last six games, and is returning back to the level of play he had with the Cleveland Indians.


SS Cliff Pennington – Had a strong June performance and looks to be carrying into July. He is hitting .49- over his last 15 games.

3B Kevin Kouzmanoff – has started cooling after starting the month of June hot recording only 2 hits in the last five games.


OF Raji Davis, is no longer an everyday player with the return of red-hot Coco Crisp. Jack Cust, Ryan Sweeney, and Gabe Ross now are fighting for playing time Oakland’s outfield.


Each weeks fantasy planner also includes a list of the top 10 sleepers for that week. A sleeper must be started in less than 70 percent of CBSSports.com fantasy leagues. 

Scott's top sleepers for Week 14
	Player	Start %
1.	Miguel Olivo, C, Rockies	58
2.	Gaby Sanchez, 1B, Marlins	45
3.	Buster Posey, C, Giants	60
4.	Erick Aybar, SS, Angels	41
5.	Russell Branyan, 1B, Mariners	16
6.	Miguel Tejada, 3B, Orioles	69
7.	Raul Ibanez, OF, Phillies	48
8.	Pat Burrell, OF, Giants	9
9.	Matt Wieters, C, Orioles	67
10.	Michael Bourn, OF, Astros	46
* Sleepers are players started in less than 70 percent of CBSSports.com leagues

Other notable players:
Cleveland Indians:
o    Matt LaPorta
o    Carlos Santana 
Jose Tabata Pittsburgh Pirates

“The Fantasy Baseball Hitting Planner is the essential guide to setting your lineup for the upcoming week. Every week, we provide you with news and notes for each team, tracking hot and cold players, injuries and lineup changes."
Read More

Today's Starters to Watch

Fix your Bullpen for the 2^nd Half of Fantasy Baseball!

The All-Star Break is nearing and your bullpen is looking weak going into the second half of the fantasy season.  


Two Free Agent Pickups could change your season and Thursday offers the chance to watch to starting pitchers who won’t be free agents much longer:
SP Trevor Cahill– Oak Athletics (owned in 49% yahoo fantasy leagues)

SP Carl Pavano – Minnesota Twins (owned in 57% of yahoo fantasy leagues)

Trevor Cahill is the young right hander you may not have heard about yet, if not, he’s the one who’s been picking up the slack for the disappointing Ben Sheets. In the past month, he’s averaged nearly a 1K/per inning and has held a 2.50 ERA. Cahill holds a record of  7-2 on the season with an ERA of 2.88 in only 12 Starts.


GAME PREVIEW:Facing Baltimore Orioles 

Game info: 7:05 pm EDT Thu Jul 1, 2010 vs. Orioles J. Arrieta (2-1, 6.20 ERA) 

TV: CSCA, MASN2

Carl Pavano - Don’t forget Pavano was an all-star in 2006, and was a big and expensive acquisition by the Yankees only a few years ago. Pavano  was the hampered by injuries but didn’t take his upwards of $40 million from the Yankees and retire. Pavano has battled back and fought hard to regain his fastball and a changeup that looks better than ever. Pavano recently mentioned how being injuried had set the team back while his contract had locked the team up financially. He felt bad for the position it had put his team in but they stuck with him through it all and he is making it worth wait for the Minnesota Twins.

GAME PREVIEW: Facing the Tampa Bay 

Game info: 8:10 pm EDT Thu Jul 1, 2010 vs. Tampa Bay Rays J. Niemann (6-2, 2.72 ERA) 

·     TV: SUN, FSNO

The Ace Up Oakland’s Sleeve - SP Trevor Cahill

Trevor Cahill 

LAST SATURDAYS GAME 26th vs the Pittsburgh Pirates, the 2006 second-rounder Trevor Cahill had 10Ks improving to 7-2 on the season and quickly is becoming the ace in the Oakland Ahtletics bullpen 

Read more on how Barton's four RBIs back Cahill's 10 K's as A's blank Pirates 

Trevor Cahill is an young ace, and potentially an all-star. Cahill had a stress reaction in his right shoulder toward the end of spring training and opened the season on the disabled list, and quite frankly wasn't sure if he’d be back in Oakland this year. 

Cahill allowed two hits and struck out a career-high 10 in 7 2/3 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Cahill walked three as the A's won two in a row. 

After suffering his first loss of the season on his second start Cahill has gone 6-0 with two no-decisions (ND - W3-2 vs STL; ND - L3-4 vs. MIN). Cahill has been locating his sinker well and going inside and out to both righties and lefties. 

Cahill pitched for a season-high 15 swinging strikes, that’s three starts in a row he has either set or matched his career high. 

Of 30 off-speed pitches thrown, hitters missed on 11 of 13 swings (84.6 percent), the highest single-start percentage in baseball this season (minimum of 20 off-speed pitches thrown). 

104/ 113 pitches were on the inside and outside corners; hitters went a combined 1-for-21. 

Cahill retired 19 of 21 hitters until tiring in the eighth when he gave up a leadoff hit to Lastings Milledge. The Pirates lost their 16th consecutive road game, their second-longest streak in the past 25 years, and have lost 17 of 19 overall. 

In addition, yahoo fantasy sports, ranks Trevor Cahill as a top-50 player in yahoo fantasy leagues with a 2.50 ERA and nearly a K per inning. In the June 28th article MLB Skinny: Summing it up, discusses Cahill’s rookie to sophomore season improvements, saying: 

“He was a miserable strikeout pitcher as a rookie last season, but he had a fantastic minor league track record in that department, thanks in no small way to a nasty curveball. One thing you’ll notice, though, is that Cahill hardly threw his curve as a rookie, but he’s now throwing it nearly nine percent more often. I don’t think it’s a small coincidence that we are seeing his K rate rise as he’s throwing more breaking balls – nor is it a coincidence that he is inducing a higher percentage of swings at pitches outside the strike zone. Coming up in the A’s system, Cahill was always considered on the same level as teammate Brett Anderson(notes). Now that he’s turning the corner on the major league level, he’s moved beyond spot-start territory and warrants a more permanent position with fantasy clubs.” 

For the skinny on the rest of the MLB 

Read More: MLB Skinny: Summing it up JUNE 28th 

COCO CRISP IS BACK

Coco Crisp – Oakland Athletics have been looking for some kind of spark and the return of Coco Crisp from the DL might just have been what they needed.  Crisp started the season on the disabled listed with a broken finger and only played two games before returning to the DL with a pulled ribcage muscle.  But now he’s back and the question now is can he stay healthy.

The Athletics lost 9-6 to the Baltimore Orioles in the last game of June.  For a brief moment, the thousands of new Coco Crisp fantasy owners held their breath as Crisp laid on the warning track for several minutes after colliding with the wall on an outstanding catch in centerfield.  Crisp continued to play and continued to make his  return known, hitting another home run tonight.

In eight games this season, Crisp has an OPS of 1.216/ .759 SLG/ .457 OBP/ .414 AVG.

Before tonight, had one homerun with six runs batted in and nine runs scored. In addition, Crisp has already stolen three bases and has a solid career steal percentage.

The only concern for those looking to pick up Coco Crisp is his previous injury history, let’s hope he stays healthy for the 2^nd half of the season. Crisp has only averaged 104 games played since 2006, and he has never played more than 145 games in a season. For those who own Rajai Davis, keep a watchful eye because Coco’s stellar return has put Davis in danger of losing playing time.

Rajai Davis currently ranks third this year in stolen bases and this could be an issue for those of you counting on Davis for your stolen bases.

 If you need the same stolen base production as Rajai, veteran Chicago White Sox OF Juan Pierre is available in most yahoo fantasy leagues. Juan Pierre had struggled early in the year, but has been swinging the bat well as of late and is getting the green light from manager Ozzie Guillen.

GAME RECAP: Baltimore Orioles WIN 9-6 vs Oakland Athletics

*RELATED: Baltimore Orioles OF Adam Jones early season struggles seem to be old news, and with another home run last night has his 13^th of the season. Jones is available in many fantasy leagues, his slow start was too much for many fantasy owners to bear.