Atomic RoadRunners

Trades:

• Atomic Roadrunners receives: Dodgers 3B Casey Blake
• The Pi Train receives: Rockies OF Brad Hawpe, Marlins 3B Emilio Bonifacio, Marlins RP Matt Lindstrom

FAAB Acquisitions:

• C/1B Jeff Clement, Pirates ($5 bid, reserve)
• 2B Rusty Ryal, Diamondbacks ($5 bid, active at MI)

Up:

• SP Sean West
• 1B Steve Pearce (to DH)
• OF Matt Diaz (replaces Hawpe)
• RP Nick Masset (replaces Lindstrom)

Moves:

• 3B Casey Blake replaces Bonifacio

Down:

• SP Johnny Cueto

Cut:

• SP Brandon Webb
• OF John Bowker
• SS Alex Cora

Notes:

• Mets SS Alex Cora is out for the year to have surgery on both wrists
• Reds SP Johnny Cueto on the 15-Day DL for a hip pointer

FAAB Acquisitions:

• 2B Ryan Roberts, Diamondbacks ($0 bid, active at 2B)
• OF Delwyn Young, Pirates ($0 bid, active at OF)
• 1B Steve Pearce, Pirates ($5 bid, active at UT)
• RP Rafael Betancourt ($3 bid, active)

Up:

• C  John Baker

Down:

• C Ryan Hanigan
• OF John Bowker

Cut:

• 3B Brett Wallace
• OF Chris Duncan
• 2B Brooks Conrad
• SP Ryan Sadowski

Notes:

• Cardinals OF Chris Duncan was sent down to AAA Memphis on July 22nd.  Later that day, he was traded to Boston for SS Julio Lugo
• Braves 2B Brooks Conrad was send down to AAA on July 23rd
• Rafael Betancourt was acquired by the Rockies from the Indians for RHP prospect Connor Graham.
• Cardinals 3B prospect Brett Wallace was traded to the Oakland A’s on July 24th as the centerpiece of the package for OF Matt Holliday
• Giants 1B/OF John Bowker was sent down to AAA Fresno after the FAAB deadline to make room for the newly-acquired Ryan Garko
• I bid maximum $35 for Matt Holliday. Goodfellas won the bidding with a $96 bid, while  Shoeless Jews bid $75, Misogynistic Padres bid $53, X-Men bid $48, and Get Off Kong! bid $43
• I bid $21 for new Cardinals MI Julio Lugo.  Shoeless Jews won the bidding with a $25 bid, and Get Off Kong bid $14.
• I won the bidding for Steve Pearce (formerly Steven Pearce) with a $5 bid.  Both X-Men and Get Off Kong! bid $4, while Misogynistic Padres bid $0.
• Pearce’s salary was adjusted back to $1. He was drafted by The Pi Train in 2009, who released him July 14th.
• I won the bidding for Delwyn Young with a $0 bid.  Stanimals also bid $0, but due to the standings, he was .5 points ahead of me in the standings, so I win.  Here are his comments:

At 2009-07-28 09:43:26, Stanimals wrote:
So I lose Delwyn Young to Flynn because I’m a half-point ahead of him in the standings on the day the bids go through, even though I’ve been behind him the entire year, and I’m again behind him today and may be the rest of the year.  We have to change this rule.  Absolute crap.

And follow up:

At 2009-07-28 11:24:19, Atomic Roadrunners wrote:
You want Delwyn Frickin’ Young? Bid more than $0, cheap ass!

At 2009-07-28 12:01:13, Goodfellas wrote:
Stan, FYI-Dmitri is still available…I will not be making a bid, so you only have to worry about Mark edging you out with a $O bid.

Trades:

Trade 1:

• Atomic Roadrunners receives: Reds SP Edinson Volquez (active), Brewers 1B Prince Fielder (active at 1B)
• Get Off Kong! receives: Giants SP Tim Lincecum, Mets SS Jose Reyes

Trade 2:

• Atomic Roadrunners receives: Giants AAA C Buster Posey
• Shoeless Jews receives: Cubs SS Ryan Theriot

FAAB Acquisitions:

• John Bowker, 1B/OF Giants ($5 bid, active at OF)
• Mat Latos, SP Padres ($5 bid, reserve)
• Brooks Conrad, 2B Braves ($0 bid, active at 2B)

Up:

• OF Chris Duncan

Down:

• 3B Mat Gamel

Move:

• CM Emilio Bonifacio (to 3B)
• 2B Brendan Ryan (to SS)
• SS Alex Cora (to MI)
• 1B Casey Kotchman (to CM)

Cut:

• RP Nick Masset
• OF Andres Torres
• OF Alex Romero

Notes:

• Lost on bidding for Pirates 1B/OFGarrett Jones.  I bid $5, The Pi Train bid $16
• Minor league starter Mat Latos re-joins the Roadrunners, as he was cut June 30th
• Giants OF John Bowker re-joins the Roadrunners.  He was on the squad for several months in 2008.

John Bowker – 1B/OF Giants – Age 25
Projection: .270/.312/.420, 3 HR, 11 R, 11 RBI, 1 SB in 100 AB
2008 stats: .255/.300/.408, 10 HR, 31 R, 43 RBI, 1 SB in 326 AB

From Rotoworld: (and yes, Bowker was released earlier in the season, but he was a Rookie Roadrunner.)

Bowker was an underrated prospect after hitting a very impressive .307/.363/.523 in a great environment for pitchers at Double-A Connecticut in 2007, but it was still a surprise to see him come up in the first half of April after he was one of the Giants’ early cuts in spring training and go 4-for-6 with two homers and seven RBI in his first two games. He went into a slump soon thereafter, but he entered the All-Star break at .274/.317/.449, making him one of the Giants’ top hitters. Unfortunately, another slump followed, resulting his demotion. When he came back in September, he found himself on the bench behind Travis Ishikawa. He made just three starts, but he went 5-for-13 with a homer in those games. Bowker lacks huge upside, but he’s just as good of a bet as any other Giants holdover to post an 800 OPS next year (none of the club’s regulars got there in 2008). While he’s also an option in the outfield corners, his chances of being in the Opening Day lineup will hinge on what happens with the club’s pursuit of a first baseman.

Jason Bergmann was a nice starter, but unfortunately he recorded two wins in his 3-1/2 months on the Roadrunners. That’s what happens when you play for the Nationals. Plus, he would have cost $10 to protect, and we couldn’t risk actually activating him, so there you have it. It was a nightmarish start for Nationals starter Jason Bergmann Wednesday night against the Mets. Bergmann lasted just three innings and allowed 10 runs — all of them earned — on nine hits. He walked six men and had one strikeout. He needed 89 pitches to go just three full frames. Far and away the worst outing of the season for Bergmann, the man still has an ERA under 5.00 after this fiasco. He’d been pitching pretty well prior to Wednesday and we certainly don’t expect a repeat of this performance next week. That said, he pitches for the Nationals so wins will always be hard to come by. He is a two-start pitcher in Fantasy Week 21 (Aug. 18-24) but that makes him a viable option in only the deepest of mixed Fantasy leagues. His next scheduled start comes Tuesday at the Phillies and he’ll finish the week at the Cubs. (CBS Sports)

John Bowker was sent down to AAA Fresno last week, and we’re not sure he’s coming back. Even though he was second on the team in homers (with 9), he just wasn’t hitting consistently. Bowker has been seeing plenty of time at first base since mid-June, but he hasn’t homered in his last 96 at-bats. He’s also managed just nine hits in his last 78 at-bats, bringing his average down to .247 on the season. (Rotoworld)

Trade:

• Trade OF Steve Pearce ($1, 3 years) to Cover Zero.
• Acquire Nationals’ OF Lastings Milledge ($9, 1 year), added to actives

FAAB Acquisitions:

• OF Chris Dickerson, Reds [$0 bid, add to actives]
• P Noah Lowry, Giants [$0 bid]

Down:

• OF Shane Victorino

Cut:

• P Jason Bergmann
• OF John Bowker

Giants optioned infielder/outfielder John Bowker to Triple-A Fresno. Bowker has been seeing plenty of time at first base since mid-June, but he hasn’t homered in his last 96 at-bats. He’s also managed just nine hits in his last 78 at-bats, bringing his average down to .247 on the season. Bowker hit well initially, but a lack of plate discipline of late has led to a prolonged slump. He has nearly has many strikeouts (69) as hits (74) this season. (Rotoworld, Rotowire)

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that John Bowker “might be playing himself out of the lineup.” Bowker has been starting regularly at first base since mid-June, but hasn’t homered since July 2 and is hitting .179 in 30 games since. The newspaper speculates that Travis Ishikawa could get an opportunity to replace him at first base after hitting .299/.377/.578 with 24 homers and 94 RBI in 112 games between Double-A and Triple-A. (Rotoworld)

John Bowker went 0-for-4 and left six men on base during the Giants’ win Sunday. Over the last month, Bowker has just one multi-hit game, leaving him with an unacceptable sub-.300 on-base percentage. He’ll need to get it going if he doesn’t want to start losing at-bats. (Rotowire)

Giants 1B John Bowker went 2-for-3 Saturday at San Diego. He entered the game batting just .154 (6-for-39) since the All-Star break. Bowker has definitely gotten cold, but he still has decent enough power for NL-only leagues. You probably shouldn’t have reached for him in mixed leagues anyway. (CBS Sports)

FAAB Acquisition:

• 3B Casey Blake, Dodgers [$35 bid, add to actives]

Up:

• P Josh Johnson
• OF Steve Pearce

Down:

• 3B Chipper Jones
• P Joe Blanton
• OF John Bowker

Cut:

• OF Andruw Jones

Notes:

• This is the first week this season that the Atomic Roadrunners infield has been disrupted, here in Week 18. The core of Prince Fielder, Mark Teixeira, Chipper Jones, Jose Reyes, Brandon Phillips, and Ryan Theriot had not been interrupted this season. The catching situation has been remarkably stable as well, as Chris Iannetta replaced Javier Valentin in Week 4, and Chris Coste replaced Carlos Ruiz in Week 8.
• Former 2008 Roadrunner Matt Herges was released by Stanimals when he picked up John Grabow.
• I also bid $3 on Joel Hanrahan, who had been on my scout team since the pre-season, due to his scoreless innings streak in Spring Training. X-Men acquired him for $41 FAAB, as he is now the presumptive closer for the Nationals with the trade of Jon Rauch.

John Bowker finished the series against the Nationals 0-for-9 after going hitless on Thursday. Bowker is 11-for-52 with just three RBI this month. He got off to a hot start after his April callup and was maybe the Giants’ best player in June, but his overall numbers aren’t looking very good at the moment. While it’s likely that the Giants will stick with him, he’ll need to show more to guarantee he enters 2009 as a regular. (Rotoworld)

Giants OF John Bowker scored the only runs off Cubs SP Ryan Dempster Wednesday as he slugged a two-run homer off the right-hander. Bowker, who now has nine homers, finished 2-for-4. He is 6-for-12 (.500) with four RBI in his last four games. Bowker continues to be a decent source of power for the Giants since his recall in mid-April. He is still not seeing everyday at-bats, but the Giants are finding ways to get him into the lineup. Bowker still remains just a sleeper for deeper Fantasy leagues. (CBS Sports)

John Bowker went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a pair of RBI against the Athletics on Sunday. Bowker doubled once, singled twice, and walked once in the contest. His 10 walks in 197 at-bats is hardly a plus, but he’s done a solid job otherwise with a .274 average and .462 slugging percentage with 35 RBI. (Rotoworld)

San Francisco Giants outfielder John Bowker went 1-for-4 Wednesday as the Giants defeated the Cleveland Indians in interleague action. Bowker hit his eighth homer in the eighth off Rafael Betancourt to make it 4-1, the game’s final margin. Bowker has now hit safely in five straight and seven of his last eight games. He’s got nine RBI during that span and two homers. Bowker has proven to be a streaky performer in his young career and can’t really be trusted outside of larger NL-only Fantasy leagues at this time. (CBS sports)