Mound Talk

It is always an interesting baseball weekend when the previous year’s home run leader for a team gets cut before the end of the first month. Yes, Frank Thomas was cut by the Blue Jays and there is little doubt in my mind that if you had him on your fantasy team you followed the Jays lead and cut him as well, to pick up Skip Shumaker, Mike Jacobs or Josh Willingham. While all 3 of these guys will be nice upgrades over Thomas, be sure to keep him on your watch list. He will be picked up, he will come back and he will still hit 25+ hr with a decent average. Surprisingly enough there are several potential teams that could use and will likely go after Thomas, surprising only because none of these teams apparently have room for Barry Bonds or Sammy Sosa (and yes I realize that both of these guys could kill a clubhouse). These two could even play the field, not well, but they could. Thomas is a different case though, because any team interested can sign him for the league minimum and won’t have to worry as much about the clubhouse issues. Texas, Seattle, Tampa Bay, Oakland, Baltimore or even the Twins or Tigers could/should be interested in adding him to their team. Seattle makes the most sense for both sides, Jose Vidro is a terrible DH and it would quite any rumors that they may pursue Bonds. For Thomas, he could go to a team with a legitimate chance to make the playoffs and be an important part of their run. Tampa Bay would be intriguing, adding a veteran presence to their lineup but he would take away at-bats from Eric Hinske (not necessarily a bad thing). I only add the Twins and Tigers in because he would be another nice bat off the bench but would likely not get the same amount of playing time, short of injuries to Jason Kubel or Garry Sheffield.

The real point to bringing this all up is not the steal of a pick up Thomas could be in the near future but the possibility that Barry Bonds may end up in Toronto now. The Blue Jays will likely call up Adam Lind for now and play him in left field but if he or Matt Stairs struggles look for the Jays to start seriously considering Bonds. They have already expressed some interest but with Thomas there, they had no where to play him. This could be the opportunity Barry was looking for and he could be what puts Toronto over the edge to become serious contenders in the East. I think they already are but with an addition of Bonds and better pitching out of Burnett I don’t think it would be too bold to call them the favorites in the East or at the very least the Wild Card.

So keep an eye on this situation and if you have a deep bench, I don’t think eating up a spot for Barry Bonds or Frank Thomas would be the worst thing in the world. They could end up putting you over the edge for your fantasy championship.

Jeff Bunkofske can be contacted at Bunkofske@moundtalk.com.