Welcome to Week Four, where it seems, or at least feels like players are dropping like fly balls off of Emil Brown's glove.

 

And, well, it is easy to feel that way, but, the physics of fantasy dictate that for every player who goes down, someone has to come up. And, hopefully we can shed some light on those newbies, and even find a couple of dismissed players who are for now under the radar who can help our teams.

 

Since the local, as in bay area, pipe is my immediate channel to rumors and speculation and machinations within the baseball universe. And, as Dan Johnson is local, and as the Giants are looking at Dan Ortmeier or Rich Aurilia as the answer to first base, I have to wonder why they did not pursue Johnson more aggressively?

 

Ortmeier did manage 16 collective homers last year between AAA Fresno and the Giants,but Johnson banged 18 over 117 total games, and actually hit 29 as a minor leaguer in 2004 (and 27 the year before). Ortmeier has a career hig of 20 taters at Double-A Norwich in 2005. And, well, if the Giants had that much faith in Ortmeier, why do they keep 37-year old Rich Aurilia and his .176-0-4 start around when Johnson is available at the waiver price?

 

Hopefully Johnson will get some regular playing time somewhere as he does have pretty good overall numbers when he gets a chance to play.

 

A couple of Cardinals who I have been tracking are Scott Schumaker and Ryan Ludwick. Schumaker is the 27-year old lead off hitter on St. Louis right now, with .333-1-5 totals with three swipes. That includes a nifty .424 OBP, and Schumaker looks like the real deal. He is one of those players who hangs at a level for two years, and gets the hang. For example he played two years at AA OBP of .330 the first year, and .389 the second. Then he moved to Triple-A and went .330. then .342, then .382 before moving to the new Busch.

 

Ludwick, a former Athletic is at .395-4-11 over 45 at-bats for the Cardinals this year. Orignially drafted by Oakland, Ludwick was swapped to Texas, then moved to Cleveland before landing with St. Louis last season. At alsmost 30, Ludwick is another guy who was well thought, but never really seemed to deliver when he had a chance. Unltil now. And, not like he will keep hitting .395, but .280-15-70 is a reasonable projection. Maybe even five or six steals.

 

I saw Kansas City's Luke Hochevar's 2008 debut in Oakland yesterday, and while he did get a few strikeouts, he did not fool anyone, as second time through the lineup, Oakland took advantage and by the fifth inning they had chased him with ten hits. The 24-year old, who was a first round pick of the Royals in 2006, looked very hittable today.

 

As long as we are talking bay area, I recently wrote that Huston Street simply could not put hitters away. And, truth is, he can get righties, but left handed batters simply destroy Street. I saw both Travis Hafner and Jason Varitek clobber huge home runs against Street, both hitting lefty. On Saturday Alex Gordon managed a 13-pitch at-bat against Street, and though he did allow a run, Street did get the save. But, I have seen Street pitch all three times he has allowed runs this year, and he is always pitching in trouble. Shades of Joe Borowski.

 

Enter Joey Devine, who actually did pitch two innings Saturday, allowing a walk that was erased by a double play. Now 2-0, the 25-year old Devine has good credentials, peppered with some wild periods. But, of the 102 minor league innings Devine has pitched, he has whiffed 152 and allowed only six homers. That means when he is on he can keep the ball down. In transition, Oakland simply cannot, nor need it trot Street out there as long as he is getting hit. Devine time is nearly upon us.

 

Going across the bay, San Fransicso bailed on Raj Davis and advanced Emmanuel Burriss, which is nice in that it suggests San Francisco is really looking at making their team younger across the board. Burriss, 23, is raw, but he managed OBPs of .374 and .384 advancing through before moving to San Jose last year to finish they season where he struggled. Burriss will play utility infield, and speculation around the bay is that Eugenio Velez can play some outfield. Both these kids can fly, and San Francisco has a very good rotation. They are young, but there are five good arms when Noah Lowry returns and Jonathan Sanchez becomes consistent. If you can grab and stash Burriss and/or Velez, it is a good play.

 

Down south, the Angels promoted infielder Sean Rodriguez. A 24-year old, Rodriguez is not a high average (.276 as a minor leaguer over 2115 at-bats) but he registers an OBP 100 points higher. Rodriguez has had good strikeout-to-walk numbers until a couple of years ago, but his power numbers also improved to the tune of .301-24-74 in 2006 at Rancho Cucamonga. Last year Rodriguez struggled a little with a move to AA Arkansas, but he did manage .254-17-73 totals, with 31 doubles. He also had 91 career minor league steals, though Rodriguez was caught 36 times. A lot of raw talent.

 

Almost 30, Joe Inglett, on Toronto, is up with a brief chane while Scott Rolen rehabs. Inglett has pretty good credentials as a minor league hitter (.301-21-324 over 2619 abs) and a good career eye with 281 walks to 324 whiffs. I picked Inglett up in AL Tout, which means a deep AL league. So, if you play in tight %X5 he could be of some help. Otherwise, he is of little interest.

 

Finally Brian Buscher was brought back by the Twins to maybe bolster third base. Buscher had a pretty good 2007 in the minors hitting .309-14-59 over 369 at-bats and then .244-2-10 over 82 more with Minnesota last year. Again, only in deeper leagues would Buscher, 27, be of any value. But, he could nab the third base gig if he gets hot. Now.