The Day in Review

Hey all, just got back from trading Josh Hamilton for Mariano Rivera and Nate McClouth. Nothing like holding out until you get a good deal! Here are the top stories from Sunday and Monday:

Injury Watch:

• Jorge Posada hit the DL Monday with a shoulder tear. No big surprise here; age is finally catching up to him, and hopefully you didn't pay for his career year last season. My advice: avoid his replacement, Jose Molina (unlike one owner I know), and look to pick up Ryan Doumit, who is somehow still unowned in many leagues.
• Hank Blalock has a partial tear in his hamstring, while teammate Michael Young has a slight tear. I liked Blalock but another injury for him is awful. Young, meanwhile, had been quietly productive. Hopefully this isn't a sign of an imminent drop-off for him.
• A-Rod re-aggravated his nagging quad injury. I have a bad feeling that this could be a recurring story for him; think Pujols last season, where he never was able to shake the pain. Maybe 15 days off now would just be better for him - too bad the Yankees can't afford it with Posada out.
• John Smoltz is going to skip a start with shoulder soreness. Time may finally be catching up with the ageless wonder; I feel bad about jinxing him by touting him early.
• Alfonso Soriano will be back in the Cubs starting lineup, batting leadoff, on Thursday. Mike Lowell (Tuesday), Scott Kazmir (sometime this weekend), and Jimmy Rollins (May 5) are also on pace for returns.

Notable Performances:

• Rotoworld likes Rick Ankiel to be starting a hot streak. He's been walking a lot, meaning he's seeing the ball well, and he hit a solo shot last night. He plays Cincinnati and the Cubs at home this week, but goes to Colorado and Milwaukee next week. Ankiel is bound to hit well in at least one of those series.
• Justin Verlander continues to pitch poorly. While CC Sabathia appears to have turned a corner, Verlander is still completely ineffective, even while hitting 97 mph against the Angels. 
• Brandon Phillips and Brandon Webb are both earning their high draft picks; the former is hitting .280 with 5 HR and 4 SB after homering twice on Sunday, while the latter already has six wins. 
• Josh Beckett looked good with 13 strikeouts on Sunday. As long as he's healthy, he's a great pitcher - personally, though, I just don't trust him to stay healthy for an entire season after all the innings he logged in winning the Series last year.

Don't know where to file this, maybe under "Waste of Money," but Barry Zito is headed to the Giant bullpen. You shouldn't have owned him, anyway. Relief pitchers worth owning include Bill Bray (CIN) and Max Scherzer (ARI), top prospects who were just called up and should be playing big roles fairly soon. Finally, Chone Figgins may be on his way to picking up 2B eligibility, if Howie Kendrick's return takes a little longer.

That's what you need to know about the day.