Sliders: Weaver becoming a fallen Angel

It's a common complaint, that of East Coast bias. It usually comes from people on the West Coast and makes some vague mention of Derek Jeter.

And it might or might not be real. Games are late, after all. People go to bed and miss exploits so heroic that grown men would break down and cry.

Or so they say. We don't have documentation in these modern times, you see, so who the heck knows?

But all of that ends now, for I intend to make up for any perceived injustices by giving you a Sliders column completely saturated with cacti and rattlesnakes and other novelties I can only assume are in the West since I, in fact, have never been.

Oops ... I just blew my cover.

Sliders These guys haven't just gotten hot or cold. Their recent play has caused their Fantasy appeal to "slide" one way or another.

Jered Weaver, SP, Angels

I don't want to take anything away from Weaver's accomplishments this season. He has, in no uncertain terms, broken out, and when the drafting begins next year, we should all do our best to remember it.

Perhaps you feel like I'm stating the obvious. After all, as recently as June 20, he had a 7-2 record and a 2.08 ERA. That's the guy people remember, the one etched into their minds from April and May, when the 2009 season was still new and exciting.

But the ones who actually own Weaver know better.

Only they have an accurate grasp on just how much and how fast he has fallen. Since that date in June, his 14th start of the season, he has a 6.34 ERA in 13 starts -- and that's including his shutout Aug. 19 at Cleveland.

The reason for it might be common knowledge by now: He's entering unchartered territory. With 167 1/3 innings, he's only 6 1/3 from his career high set a year ago. And considering he never pitched more than 152 innings during his brief minor-league career, that's a big adjustment for his arm to make.

It happens to many young pitchers this time of year, but Weaver looks like one of this year's worst cases. If you need a comparison, he's something like the 2009 version of Edinson Volquez, who had a 2.29 ERA before the All-Star break and a 4.60 ERA afterward.

That doesn't mean Weaver loses the progress he's made -- he's still striking out batters at a career-high rate (again like Volquez in the second half last year). It simply means he has one more hurdle to clear on his way to becoming a Fantasy ace.

Unfortunately, as he struggles to clear it, you can't rely on him the same way you did earlier this year. He'll still mix in some good starts -- with that strikeout rate, how could he not? -- but you'll want to move him in out of your lineup as matchups dictate, much like you would with Ryan Dempster.

Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Rockies

If a player gets traded for Dan Haren one year and Matt Holliday the next, he must have one thing going for him: talent.

Rest assured Gonzalez does, even if he took a little longer to show it than expected.

He took so long, in fact, that the Athletics gave up on him, packaging him, along with Huston Street and Greg Smith, for Matt Holliday this offseason. And while you could argue the Athletics acquired Holliday in an effort to make a run and ultimately traded him to the Cardinals for another slew of prospects, I can't help but think their frustrations with Gonzalez led to his inclusion in that deal.

He was frustrating, compiling a .760 OPS at Triple-A Sacramento before hitting only four home runs in a 302 at-bat trial with the big club, walking at a rate that made Miguel Tejada look like a project straight out of Moneyball.

But Baseball America listed him among their top prospects year after year for a reason, and he finally lived up to his promise this year with the kind of breakthrough at the minor-league level that validates everything he's doing now in the majors. All at once, he decreased his strikeouts, increased his walks and sent the rest of his stats through the roof, batting .339 with a 1.048 OPS.

It's the very definition of turning the corner.

Fortunately, unlike the Athletics, you have a second chance at Gonzalez. He's had to sit against some left-handers, which makes him less than a must-add, but if he continues to hit anywhere close to the way he has in August, the Rockies won't have any choice but to force his bat into the lineup.

Let's just hope he doesn't take to juggling knives.

Nelson R. Cruz, OF, Rangers

Alfonso Soriano, meet your long-lost cousin.

Some people might take that as a compliment, and in some ways, it is. Soriano is a good player, and Cruz has proven the same this year.

But in Fantasy -- at least in standard leagues -- good doesn't cut it. You need assured scorers, the kind of players you can count on week in, week out. And so far, Cruz is going down the same slippery slope as Soriano -- one that has culminated in Soriano's disappointing 2009. Of course, for the purposes of this column, we care more about this year, not 2010 and beyond. Keeping with that spirit, I'll give my view on Cruz for the final five weeks: platoon player.

I would try to clarify here and explain he won't actually sit in real life but only for your Fantasy team, but I'm not sure that's entirely true. Part of the problem is manager Ron Washington, who doesn't seem to consider Cruz a crucial fixture in the Rangers lineup. It started with his mysterious benching just before the All-Star break and has continued into the second half: He gives Cruz days off that the average player -- at least the kind that bats in the middle of the order -- doesn't get.

And even when Cruz does start, he doesn't always produce. Just look at his week-by-week breakdown; he contributes less than half the time. It's that walk-to-strikeout ratio, man -- same as Soriano's. It helps determine a player's streakiness. All the power in the world doesn't matter if Cruz only takes advantage of it every third week.

I understand in some leagues you might have no choice but to start him, but ideally, if you don't want the constant headache of low-scoring weeks, you'll platoon him. How, exactly? Well, he's batting .297 at home compared to .232 on the road. That seems like a good place to start.

Andre Ethier, OF, Dodgers

Here's a guy you'll never platoon, not anymore anyway.

It might seem like a no-brainer now, but you have to remember Ethier was barely rosterable just six short weeks ago.

Sure, his ownership never dipped below 96 percent, but only because he had saved up enough good graces from his performance in the second half last year. He was trying everyone's patience. Had the trend continued a week or two longer, he would have become the player everyone dropped for Josh Willingham.

Yup, during the period from May 6 to July 3, he did nothing for your Fantasy team but hurt it, scoring fewer points than such notables as Gary Sheffield, Jerry Hairston, Skip Schumaker and Randy Winn.

It was bad, and if he wanted to remain on the radar in Fantasy, it couldn't last.

Thank you, Manny Ramirez.

Those dates I mentioned cover Ramirez's suspension, of course, and Ethier's resurgence couldn't possibly align more closely with Ramirez's return. In the last five weeks, Ethier has scored more Fantasy points than he did in the previous 10.

No longer does he struggle on the road. No longer does he slump for weeks at a time. With Ramirez batting behind him, Ethier has proven last year's second half the rule rather than the exception.

Maybe it has everything to do with Ramirez. Maybe Ethier's fate is forever tied to his. Maybe when Ramirez retires, Ethier will never have a place in Fantasy again. But it doesn't matter. When Ethier has Ramirez, he's a stud, and you should feel confident in his ability to sustain this pace over the season's final five weeks.

Chris Iannetta, C, Rockies

Iannetta was one of last year's breakouts, finishing with an OPS higher than every catcher not named Brian McCann. He had a patient approach, plus power and enough upside that investing an 11th- or 12th-round pick in him this spring seemed like a bargain.

But since then, the sleeper has become a bust, and a certain percentage of the Fantasy-playing community refuses to accept it.

In a way, I can understand why. He still walks and he still hits homers. But what does it matter if he can't make consistent contact, especially on the road where he's hitting a nauseating .171?

I don't mean to make you think you should cut Iannetta for the John Bakers or Jason Variteks of the world. A bust can still be competent -- and Iannetta is, in many ways, competent. But here's the problem: Iannetta still has an ownership rate of 78 percent compared to 74 percent for Yadier Molina and 72 percent for Miguel Montero.

He's not even in the same class. If you own Iannetta over Montero, it's out of nothing more than a wistful clinging to Draft Day ... or complete apathy, in which case you wouldn't bother to read this column in the first place.

Iannetta has the tools to become one of the best offensive catchers in baseball, sure, but not until he stops leaning on the comforts of Coors Field.

Hanging Sliders These guys look like Sliders, but not so fast! Their recent play might cause you to misinterpret their Fantasy appeal.

Julio Borbon, OF, Rangers

Nothing will send a Fantasy owner racing for the waiver wire faster than a handful of stolen bases. OK, globs of them ... as in three or four at a time.

Borbon did have two such globs in the span of four days, stealing four bases Aug. 15 against the Red Sox and three bases three days later against the Twins.

It's exciting. He's a rookie. Rookies are fun. I know. But you might as well just leave him on the waiver wire.

He doesn't play against left-handers. That's your deal-breaker right there. He'll simply lose too many at-bats to make a significant contribution in Fantasy. Maybe if you play in a Rotisserie league and need to make up serious ground in stolen bases in a short period of time, he's worth a Hail Mary pass, but he'll end up hurting you in RBI and runs scored just from all the at-bats he'll lose.

And let's say all that changes. Let's say Borbon continues to steal bases by the globful to the point the Rangers have no choice but to play him every day -- which won't happen, because they can't sit Nelson R. Cruz every day, but let's just say it does, hypothetically. He's still only 23 and never once in the minors posted the kind of walk rate a leadoff hitter needs to succeed. I say he still has a few hurdles to clear before he can hold down an everyday job.

Borbon should become a good player -- he was a first-round pick, after all -- but right now, he's just a one-trick pony for Rotisserie leagues.

Change-ups For every correct prediction, there is an equal and opposite incorrect prediction. At times, I have to "change up" some of my own just to save face.

Brad Hawpe, OF, Rockies

I jumped on the Hawpe bandwagon. I don't like it, but I did.

When he put together a first half good enough to send him to the All-Star game instead of saving his best work for the second half, like he did last year, I figured he must have turned the corner somehow, on the year of his 30th birthday.

I should have known better. Everybody and everything has a way of regressing to the mean. It happens 95 percent of the time. That's baseball.

And considering he hasn't had a 20-point week since June, batting .261 over the last two months after batting .331 over the first three, I'd say it's happening to Hawpe.

Oh, by the way, he hit .268 after the All-Star break in both 2007 and 2006. That's enough to put a lump in your throat.

Hawpe is still an adequate starting outfielder for your Fantasy team, but he's not a stud, and chances are you have a backup just as good.

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