Fan News

July 6, 2010. It was another game day in Major League Baseball and a week before the All-Star break. As teams tried to finish the first half of the season on a good note, 20,428 fans entered Rangers Ballpark in Arlington to watch the Texas Rangers play the Cleveland Indians.

On a day when 84 degrees is not a typical Texas summer day, the weather wasn't the only thing out of the normal on that Tuesday night.

Sometimes star players get injured, like when Dustin Pedroia and Andre Ethier got injured, and you need to get someone to replace that star player.

In this list I will tell you what good players you could get at each position for the start of the second half of the season.

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Since 2003, the league that wins the All-Star game opens the World Series at home, which means that if a seventh game is necessary, the result of a July exhibition game determines where the deciding game of the World Series is played.

Eliminating the times that the World Series was decided by a best five out of nine series, the World Series has gone to a seventh game 35 times.

The home team has won 18 times or 51.4 percent of the time.

The guy who looks like the Giants’ top prospect is at Class A Augusta, 20-year-old right-handed starter Jorge Bucardo, who has slumped the last two weeks.  His ERA has risen to 2.38, although he allowed only one run in seven innings pitched on Wednesday.

I am dead set against free agency. It can ruin baseball. —George Steinbrenner

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner passed away at the age of 80 this week. When one thinks of "The Boss," numerous associations come to mind. Managerial firings, suspensions from baseball, illegal campaign contributions and his Seinfeld caricature.

Yet his lasting legacy will undoubtedly be related to free-agent spending.

You questioned whether he was one of the top first basemen in the National League, let alone all of baseball.  You spat in the dirt over Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro giving him a contract extension that made him one of the wealthiest players in baseball history.  You blamed the Phillies sluggish first half on him, wondering where the $25 million man had disappeared to when his team needed him most.

Oh wait.  That was me.  Shoot.

First base is one of, if not the, deepest positions for fantasy owners.  Still, with Justin Morneau hitting the DL, let’s take a look at some potential replacements for those in deeper formats:

In a few surprising roster shuffles surrounding the MLB All-Star break, the Los Angeles Dodgers made several efforts to upgrade their pitching—at least until they seal a deal before the trade deadline.

In an unexpected move on Sunday, the Dodgers optioned RHP John Ely to Triple-A Albuquerque and replaced him on the roster with reliever Jon Link.

Ely is 4-7 with a 4.63 ERA in 14 starts overall this season; however, he has failed to pitch three complete innings in his last two outings.

The second half of the Yankees 2010 season begins tonight.

The run towards another playoff appearance for the defending World Series Champions also begins tonight too.

While the offense and the starting pitching have been outstanding, the bullpen of the Yankees hasn't been very good (outside of Mariano Rivera, of course).

I made a suggestion for the Yankees to trade for Octavio Dotel. A lot of you didn't really agree or want to go for it. I have seen other teams interested in Dotel, but not the Yankees.

The unofficial halfway point of the 2010 baseball season was culminated by the National League's 3-1 win of the All-Star game on Tuesday night. In addition to the game acting as a celebration of baseball itself, the All-Star break often serves as an opportune time to reflect on a team's position in the standings and what it can realistically achieve going forward. 

Which teams will be buyers or sellers at the July 31st trade deadline?

What prospects will be called up that can make a difference for their respective team?