You might have expected Mark Buehrle to have been traded already, or re-signed. We didn't think he was going anywhere in a hurry, although the White Sox would have been justified trading him off while he was hot.
But you can expect the White Sox to make a move before July 31, particularly with someone in the rotation.
That means you will want to take an early flier on their top pitching prospect Gavin Floyd, 24, and Gio Gonzalez, 21. The two pitchers they received for banged up free-agent-to-be Freddy Garcia last winter.
If only the White Sox could pull off another fleecing like that in the coming weeks, perhaps with Buehrle, Jose Contreras or Javier Vazquez (less likely, because he is signed through 2010). Floyd and Gonzalez are hot and are making a good case for joining the White Sox rotation before the end of the season.
Floyd is actually arriving as the starter in the second game of a doubleheader Friday. If he pitches as well as he had in Triple-A in June, the White Sox might not wait through the All-Star break to give him a permanent rotation spot.
Floyd had battled command problems while with the Phillies -- mostly because of a curveball that sometimes is a little too good but in a bad way -- but he has found his control again.
Despite a bad May (5.33 ERA), the 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-hander is an impressive 7-3 with a 3.10 ERA through 15 Triple-A starts this season. He has struck out 80 in 93 innings, walking 31. Batters are hitting just .245 off him in the International League. He got hot in June, going 3-0 with a 1.43 ERA and a .182 batting-average against.
Coincidentally, with the doubleheader on tap for Friday, Floyd's last start Sunday was one of his worst since May. He walked six and didn't make it past five innings.
It was a flashback of his struggles with the Phillies 2004-2006. He has a career big-league ERA of 6.99 and a 1.747 WHIP. Those numbers will scare many away once Floyd is added to the rotation, but you should not forget the amount of hype on this once highly-regarded prospect. He's talented and still young.
Gonzalez, owned in 1 percent of CBS SportsLine's Fantasy leagues, is even younger and equally the prospect Floyd used to be. Gonzalez is back a level in Double-A, though. He is 6-4 with a 2.91 ERA, 110 Ks and a .225 BAA in 92 2/3 innings.
Gonzalez had a bad May, too (4.31 ERA), but he has been awesome in the other months, especially in the strikeout department. That's what makes him a more of an elite prospect than Floyd, who is owned in 2 percent of our Fantasy leagues.
We could see both of these guys getting a 2008 rotation audition in the second half this year and they could help in any Fantasy league immediately.
On the verge
Here are some of our favorite prospects who are in the minor leagues and are worth tracking closely (stats through July 4):
| Minor league hotlist | ||
| Position, player, team | Minor league stats | |
| 1 | SP Max Scherzer, ARI | A-Double-A: (3-2), 2.12 ERA, 51 K, 0.765 WHIP |
| First six starts of career (late signee) are Justin Verlander-esque. | ||
| 2 | SP Jon Lester, BOS | A-Triple-A: (2-4)-3.43-52-1.279 |
| Had a much better outing last time out, but still not good enough. | ||
| 3 | SP Gavin Floyd, CHW | Triple-A: (7-3)-3.10-80-1.258 |
| Six walks in last start are flashback of struggles containing curve. | ||
| 4 | OF Adam Jones, SEA | Triple-A: .314 AVG, 19 HR, 68 RBI, 57 R, 5 SB |
| Streaky 21-year-old got hot again, but M's still giving him time. | ||
| 5 | 3B/SS Brandon Wood, LAA | Triple-A: .259-15-51-44-8 |
| Has fallen back into a slump after a hot streak had some hopes up. | ||
| Honorable mentions: SP Manny Parra, MIL; SP Adam Miller, CLE; SP Gio Gonzalez, CHW; SP Carlos Carrasco, PHI; SP Clay Buchholz, BOS; 3B Daric Barton, OAK; OF Brandon Jones, ATL; 2B Eric Patterson, CHC; 1B Joey Votto, CIN; SP Eric Hurley, TEX; OF Justin Upton, ARI; OF Jay Bruce, CIN; OF Wladimir Balentien, SEA; DH/C Taylor Teagarden, TEX; SP William Inman, MIL; SP Jeff Niemann, TB; SP Troy Patton, HOU; 3B Neil Walker, PIT; C Landon Powell, OAK; DH Jason Botts, TEX; 3B Joel Guzman, TB; OF Rick Ankiel, STL; 3B Evan Longoria, TB; 1B Joe Koshansky, COL; SP Philip Humber, NYM; OF Brandon Moss, BOS; SS Jed Lowrie, BOS; 3B Ian Stewart, COL; OF Travis Snider, TOR; SP Clayton Kershaw, LAD; SP Joba Chamberlain, NYY; SP Chris Mason, TB; SP Wade Townsend, TB; SP Wade Davis, TB; OF Nelson Cruz, TEX; OF Delwyn Young, LAD; 1B Steven Pearce, PIT; SP Mark Holliman, CHC. | ||
Rookie watch
Here are the top rookies in Fantasy to date (stats through July 4):
| Top 5 AL Fantasy Rookies | ||
| Position, player, team | Rotisserie stats to date | |
| 1 | SP Daisuke Matsuzaka, BOS | 10-5, 3.53 ERA, 119 K, 1.195 WHIP, 0 SV |
| How is arguably the most popular player in the world not an All-Star? | ||
| 2 | SP Jeremy Guthrie, BAL | (4-2)-2.63-69-0.885-0 |
| If he was pitching for better team, he'd get far more publicity. | ||
| 3 | OF Reggie Willits, LAA | .326 AVG, 0 HR, 24 RBI, 39 R, 18 SB |
| He is coming back to Earth and might lose his everyday status. | ||
| 4 | OF Delmon Young, TB | .269-9-44-39-6 |
| Not quite the dominant player we thought he would be ... yet. | ||
| 5 | 2B Dustin Pedroia, BOS | .320-3-25-32-1 |
| If he hits .300 for the season, a case can be made for him No. 2. | ||
| Honorable mentions: 3B Akinori Iwamura, TB; RP Hideki Okajima, BOS; SP Brian Bannister, KC; SP Andrew Miller, DET; SP Kevin Slowey, MIN; OF Travis Buck, OAK; RP Dustin Moseley, LAA; RP Joakim Soria, KC; SP John Danks, CHW; 3B Alex Gordon, KC; SP Brian Burres, BAL; RP Santiago Casilla, OAK. | ||
| Top 5 NL Fantasy Rookies | ||
| Position, player, team | Rotisserie stats | |
| 1 | OF Hunter Pence, HOU | .346 AVG, 11 HR, 40 RBI, 36 R, 7 SB |
| Astros' streaking slugger leads quite a class of rookie NL bats. | ||
| 2 | 3B Ryan Braun, MIL | .347-8-29-31-8 |
| He's a few weeks behind Pence, but this should be a great race. | ||
| 3 | SS Troy Tulowitzki, COL | .285-9-37-48-4 |
| Forget calling him the next Bobby Crosby. Tulo is much better. | ||
| 4 | OF Josh Hamilton, CIN | .271-13-28-33-3 |
| He has dropped down this list some, but by no fault of his own. | ||
| 5 | SP Tim Lincecum, SF | 3-2, 4.64 ERA, 74 Ks, 1.227 WHIP, 0 SV |
| Back-to-back great starts gets him back among elite rookies. | ||
| Honorable mentions: SP Justin Germano, SD; SP Micah Owings, ARI; 1B James Loney, LAD; OF Carlos Gomez, NYM; SP Yovani Gallardo, MIL; SP Chris Sampson, HOU; SP Tim Lincecum, SF; OF Chris Young, ARI; C Carlos Ruiz, PHI; C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, ATL; 3B Mark Reynolds, ARI; OF Michael Bourn, PHI; 2B Mike Fontenot, CHC; 2B Yunel Escobar, ATL. | ||
Baby talk
Sandy Moruzzi, North Hollywood, Calif.: I picked up Stephen Drew last year and again this year, but his numbers are just not picking up, and I'm considering dropping him for Dustin Pedroia. Stick with Drew or grab Pedroia?
Emack: Drew has more power potential, but Pedroia is hitting .320 in a potent Red Sox lineup. Ride the hotter hand right now, but don't let Drew drift too far off your radar. He's due to get hot at some point.
Phillip Whiteside, LaFayette, Ga.: I acquired Clay Buchholz in a trade and just this week picked up Billy Buckner, Gavin Floyd, Joey Devine and Jair Jurrjens. Joey Votto, Wladimir Balentien and Chris Volstad are holdovers and round out my minor league system. I feel like I may be hurting my team by having 6 of 8 minor league spots for pitchers. Of the pitching prospects that I have acquired, minus Buchholz (of course), which are expendable in your opinion?
Emack: Devine is nothing more than a middle reliever once he arrives. You will see him sit in a setup role for a while before he becomes a closer. You should be able to re-aquire him rather easily as a middle reliever. Other than dumping Devine and perhaps Jurrjens, we don't mind the pitching prospects you have over holding hitting prospects.
You can e-mail Emack your Fantasy Baseball questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Prospects Report in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we do not guarantee personal responses to all questions.
