The Early Wire on Each AL Team's Hot and Present Important Players
Written by MadAlan
April 28, 2006

Boston Kevin Youkilis - Has held his own so far and surprises with some nice D Wily Mo Peña - Can he continue streak of striking out more than collect hits? Jonathan Papelbon - “Oh my gosh” what a start, filling teams biggest need too. Keith Foulke - Pitching great set-up and hitters are batting .190 Matt Clement - So far 23 innings, 32 hits, ERA of 6.18 and 2 Win’s. Baltimore Ramón Hernández - His batting average is more than one & a half combined “Mendoza lines”.. something like .377 with 23 Hits. Brian Roberts - The real Roberts is back with 0 Homers and 6 SB with 10-Runs and 11-RBIs. Nick Markakis - Orioles don’t like BA of .213 but enjoy his 7-Walks. Luis Matos - Wave Good-Bye Kevin Millar - Batting just .213 so he must be supplying club-house stuff worth all those $Millions Chris Ray - Numbers: 9 Games, 6 Saves, 1 Win & ERA of 0.00; Nuff said. Erik Bedard - Learning and listening to Mazzone results, 7 walks. Maybe that first-strike thing works? Daniel Cabrera - Not learning or listening to Mazzone results 22 Walks. NY Yankees Derek Jeter - More Walks than SO and seeking his pitch Jason Giambi - Incredible Numbers: 16 Games, 17-Walks, 15 Hits, 14 Runs, 17 RBIs and 7 HRs. Robinson Canó - Jinx? What jinx? Ok, I admit it, he’s the deal. Johnny Damon - Damon is ranked number 5 in Runs scored on the Yankee’s. Mike Myers - 9-appearances with just 2 Hits given-up. Scott Proctor - Keep away, he will explode long before he controls his lack-of-movement, mediocre fastball. Mariano Rivera - At present ranks at 8th in ERA on Yankee staff Toronto Vernon Wells - Having a super hot opening, not normal, beware of slump Álex Ríos - Take my word for it, he is the best Toronto hitter Josh Towers - Hitters batting .381 against him Gustavo Chacín - Too many Walks and too many runners equals 24 innings pitched with 14 Earned Runs against. Tampa Bay Toby Hall - Normally a useless bat, has 5 RBIs so far Jonny Gomes - The next monster with a bat, already has 10 Homers Jorge Cantú - Not showing his power, but is showing he is a clutch player Ty Wigginton - He already has 20 RBIs – 2005 total 25, 2004 total 24 per year Joey Gathright - Has 9 Walks and 11 Hits expect SBs any minute Sean Burroughs - Remember him? Shawn Camp - Has already pitched in 10 Games warmed-up in two others Dan Miceli - The Tampa Bay Closer Chi White Sox Jim Thome - Has 9 Homers, 21 RBIs and 20 Walks so far- be patient Jermaine Dye - Looks like last year, maybe not a fluke year Paul Konerko - Leads the team in Hits, Dodgers were right-on with him; right-off in moving him A.J. Pierzynski - Batting .358 Joe Crede - His 16 RBIs rank 4th on team Scott Podsednik - He has 4 SB, 3 CS Jon Garland - The real Garland is back, 2 Wins with ERA of 7.30 José Contreras - Wow! Still sizzling hot and unhittable at .188 BA against Boone Logan - Could be this season’s surprise Mark Buehrle - Has been great, even better than the previous Buehrle Freddy García - Looks terrible but getting enough support to Win 3 games so far Detroit Chris Shelton - Monster start for a solid hitter with “Limited Power;” so said the scouting reports Curtis Granderson - Too bad wasting him at lead-off; looks good Fernando Rodney - So far he is almost perfect Mike Maroth - If he would strikeout batters he would be a Super-Star Jamie Walker - In 7 games he has been close to perfect, batters are hitting .143 Kenny Rogers - Will still be winning games 3-years after he retires; second on team in Strikeouts .. that’s incredible Joel Zumaya - Not enough movement but tons of speed Justin Verlander - Zips strikes at 101 MPH in the 7th innings Jeremy Bonderman - Superior numbers except ERA; hitters are batting just .216 Cleveland Kelly Shoppach - May be within the Top 5 AL catchers; sits on the Indian’s bench Ben Broussard - He is just now showing the hitter he really can be; once rated Hafner’s equal Víctor Martínez - This catcher leads his team in hits and RBIs Grady Sizemore - Batting soft as margarine .322 Travis Hafner - Producing his usual great stats but look at his 24 Runs Jason Michaels - As promised, he is a useless Fantasy value Bullpen - Indian’s have already used 11 different relief pitchers and we have only gone 20 games. Yikes Paul Byrd - This bird has produced dead sparrow like numbers; ERA of 9.15 Fernando Cabrera - Avoid, not ripe yet, ERA 17.36 Cliff Lee - Has become the real staff Ace Minnesota Luis Castillo - He has decent numbers including a team-leading 3-SB, yet he is not a Run scorer Joe Mauer - Leads the team in Walks .. tell you something about who bats next? Rubén Sierra - Plays here Justin Morneau - .203 Torii Hunter - .216 Jason Kubel - .188 Joe Nathan - Is he the most perfect Closer in baseball? Francisco Liriano - So far he has been electric as promised, why is he not starting? Johan Santana - ERA 4.81 Brad Radke - ERA 7.50 Carlos Silva - ERA 8.33 Kyle Lohse - ERA 8.55 Kansas City Reggie Sanders - He leads the team with 11 RBIs, they are in serious trouble Shane Costa - Tied with 3 HRs for the team lead but only 7 RBIs Mark Teahen - He has 11 Hits and 16 SOs – shows little MLB talent Mike Sweeney - Has a BA of .170, 4-RBI and costs the same as a Stealth bomber Scott Elarton - Has been KCs best starter with 4 Losses and an ERA of just 3.16 Denny Bautista - A future Ace in KC; a number 2 0r 3 elsewhere, looks good, pitched a one-hitter already Mike Wood - leads the team in Wins with 2 -Madalan