Even the best laid plans can get laid to waste -- laid to waste like a non-sinking Chien-Ming Wang sinker. The Yankees could be ready to go to the well on Phil Hughes, something they said they didn't want to do this early.
Now they might have no choice.
Not only is Wang just wrong right now, Hughes is seriously right and ready to help early next week -- perhaps as a two-start pitcher.
Hughes struck out seven in 7 2/3 effective innings Wednesday in Triple-A, raising his season totals through three starts to 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA, .233 batting-average against and 19 strikeouts to just three walks in 19 1/3 innings. He looks like a lot more capable option at Detroit and vs. the L.A. Angels in Fantasy Week 4 (April 27-May 3) than Wang.
Wang (0-3, 34.50 ERA) could be sent to the DL with Daisuke Matsuzaka-like shoulder tendinitis or something else, as speculated by the LoHud.com Yankees blog for the New York Journal-News. IE, he is not hurt, but he stinks so bad it hurts, so off to the DL you go.
Hughes is not only a potential call-up for Tuesday at Detroit, but he is a two-start pitcher you can take the flier on in any league. Owned in 25 percent of CBSSports.com's leagues before that blog hit the internet, he will rise over 50 percent on rumor alone and well over 70 if the Yankees announce a decision to place Wang on the DL.
Hopefully you're not catching this story too late. The slow start by Joba Chamberlain in addition to CC Sabathia and Wang could help make Hughes a long-term option for the potent Yankees if he pitches well.
On second thoughts...
How good of a spring did Gordon Beckham have? Good enough to be considered as the starting second baseman out of spring training.
And apparently good enough now to have the White Sox consider moving potential franchise 27-year-old Alexei Ramirez to center field to slot Beckham at shortstop.
It won't be a move made before June 1, when annually we expect some elite prospects on call to the majors, but at least the possibility exists now it could happen before the end of this year. The White Sox certainly need some help in center and the White Sox want to try to keep Beckham at shortstop instead of moving to second long term. They can kill two birds with one stone.
"He's playing Double-A right now, so take it little by little," Ozzie Guillen told MLB.com earlier this month. "I would rather take small steps, but the right ones with him and really, any player. ...
"We don't know what direction we are going to go or how good Beckham is going to be. Really, it's a good thing for us, a great thing."
Beckham is one of the hottest players in all of the minor leagues. At 20 percent, he is the eighth most-owned minor leaguer in CBSSports.com's Fantasy leagues. Only David Price, Matt Wieters, Tommy Hanson, Matt LaPorta, Lastings Milledge (blech!), Clay Buchholz and Phil Hughes are higher.
The difference between those players (save for Wieters), is Beckham plays one of the thinnest positions in Fantasy.
Beckham looked like a stronger Dustin Pedroia when he was cracking balls in spring training, including hitting a game-winning homer as a pinch hitter in his first at-bat as a White Sox. That comparison was based on the potential switch to second base by the slugging right-handed Beckham. Now, we could be getting a .300-30-100-100 shortstop -- short of 30 steals that is the next Hanley Ramirez-like run producer at the position.
Still, it is not yet a button the White Sox are ready to push.
"Alexei will be my shortstop in the pennant race," Guillen told MLB.com earlier this month. "If we are out of the pennant race, then we might change our mind -- 'Let's try this to give Beckham a shot to get his feet wet in the big leagues.' Right now, my plans are to keep him down there as the shortstop, and hopefully we don't have to do that.
"Let's see what direction we go. Let's see if this kid can do it at the big league level."
Prospect watch
Every Friday, we break down all the minor leaguers who are owned in at least 1 percent of our Fantasy leagues. This will be your essential guide to unearthing the elite prospects before they hit the big time.
Rookie watch
Top AL rookies to date
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Travis Snider, OF, TOR -- His 1.000-plus OPS through
Wednesday is outstanding.
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Ricky Romero, SP, TOR -- His major league success trumps his
minor league numbers.
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Rick Porcello, SP, DET -- Despite solid ERA, he has allowed a
scary .298 batting average.
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Brett Gardner, OF, NYY -- Needs to get average up, but he's
on 30-steal pace.
- Elvis Andrus, SS, TEX -- He has been much better offensively than we anticipated.
- Honorable mentions: Scott Richmond, SP, TOR; Brad Bergesen, SP, BAL; Trevor Cahill, SP, OAK; Chris Getz, 2B, CHW; Jeff Niemann, SP, TB; Koji Uehara, SP, BAL; Ryan Perry, RP, DET; Brett Anderson, SP, OAK; Rob Johnson, C, SEA; and Jeff Bailey, 1B, BOS.
Top NL rookies to date
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Jordan Zimmermann, SP, WAS -- It took only one start for us
to be impressed.
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Kenshin Kawakami, SP, ATL -- Our belief he was superior to
Uehara has been right.
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Dexter Fowler, OF, COL -- He has won everyday at-bats in a
great hitter's park.
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Jordan Schafer, OF, ATL -- He has been a whiff machine, which
you had to expect.
- Shairon Martis, SP, WAS -- His 4-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio is disconcerting.
- Honorable mentions: Brian Barden, 3B, STL; Colby Rasmus, OF, STL; Joe Thurston, 2B, STL; Felipe Paulino, SP, HOU; Josh Geer, SP, SD; Lou Marson, C, PHI; Bobby Parnell, RP, NYM; and Cameron Maybin, OF, FLA.
Newbie needs
Jarod Pavese, Chino, Calif.: I play in a 16-team Head-2-Head keeper league and I have five starting pitchers (you can start three). I have Dan Haren, Jake Peavy, Jered Weaver, Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra. Tommy Hanson is a free agent. Would you drop Parra or Weaver for him?
Emack: Wow, you have real small roster sizes. With that in mind, you have to stash the highest upside guy. Don't drop Weaver, but dropping Parra for Hanson is doable. Hanson could be a big-time rookie starter that might be useful in your league type come June 1 -- perhaps mid-May.
You can e-mail us your Fantasy Baseball prospect questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Prospects in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses to all questions.
