Today's Fantasy Rx

Unfortunately our NL batter projections are not yet available here due to unforeseen, largely weather-related circumstances, however we hope to have them posted within days. We apologize for the delay in our schedule, as well as any inconvenience this causes our readers.

One of the most difficult aspects of completing our AL batter projections was allocating likely at-bats for the Red Sox. Boston could break camp with 11 players who would merit a full-time role on nearly any other team, as well as potential back-ups like Julio Zuleta, Adrian Brown, Larry Sutton, and Earl Snyder, all of whom would merit at least platoon jobs somewhere like Montreal.

The most logical resolution for this dilemma is a trade prior to April, and considering the rampant speculation surrounding Shea Hillenbrand and growing discussion of the value of Trot Nixon, I expect one of these players to find a new home in the near future. Boston's problem is that Kevin Millar essentially lacks a role on a team that needs the left-handed power of both Jeremy Giambi and David Ortiz. The organizational commitment to their new players necessitates a personnel change. I believe the team would benefit from keeping Bill Mueller in a part-time role behind Hillenbrand and Todd Walker, and removing Nixon from the picture creates full-time jobs for Millar, Giambi, and even David Ortiz, although Julio Zuleta could platoon at 1B. Kevin Millar's off-season saga reigns as one of the more bizarre incidents since we last saw the Rally Monkey, especially since we don't consider Millar a particularly valuable player. However Boston's firm resolution in obtaining him indicates he'll remain in the line-up on a daily basis, probably in the #6 hole.

David Ortiz regularly bats behind Manny even when Millar, Nixon, and Giambi are in the line-up, so we expect he'll remain the #5 hitter most of the season. Todd Walker and Giambi respectively should hold the #2 and #7 slots, leaving #8 and #9 to Hillenbrand and Jason Varitek. When Bill Mueller plays, Grady Little can slot him almost anywhere in the lineup as his decent OBP and switch-hitting reduces the opportunities for opposing managers to gain an advantage with relief specialists.

Rumors that teams like the Cubs and Mets seek new third basemen seem ridiculous to us since Mark Bellhorn easily should outperform Shea Hillenbrand for the second straight year, and we're not convinced Ty Wigginton couldn't outhit Hillenbrand. Neither the Cubs nor Mets should harbor serious playoff expectations given the Cubs' weak offense and the Mets' questions at nearly every position on the roster, so giving up Juan Cruz or Aaron Heilman for Hillenbrand would rank as a monumentally inexcusable decision on par with any trade involving Allard Baird dealing an outfielder.

No one's seen much skill growth from Trot Nixon, and while he suffers from the severe platoon split of David Ortiz, he also lacks the same immediate power potential of Ortiz or Giambi. Of teams needing a starting outfielder with the ability to deal for Nixon's $4M salary, we only see two logical available matches available to the Red Sox. Although the Marlins desperately need a power hitter to replace the departed trio of Preston Wilson, Cliff Floyd, and of course, Kevin Millar, the aforementioned Millar situation severely reduces the likelihood of a match between the two teams. Florida also seems content with Todd Hollandsworth in left at the moment, so any deal with the Marlins will need to wait until Hollandsworth hits the DL, or essentially April 15th.

The most intriguing deal involves moving Nixon to Oakland for Terrence Long and at least one top AA pitching prospect like John Rheinecker or Mike Wood. Unfortunately Long's excessive contract doesn't fit with Boston's desire to retain maximum roster flexibility, and the Red Sox logically wouldn't spend around $9M only for a back-up and one pitching prospect while simultaneously improving a primary rival.

Boston's best bet is to pursue a trade with the Padres. The familiarity of Theo Epstein, Larry Lucchino, and other Red Sox staffers with San Diego's minor league system gives them inside knowledge on a number of promising pitching prospects, and the potential to regain one of the arms dispatched to the Padres by the previous regime should intrigue the Boston regime.

San Diego also can add short-term salary if they can move the effectively dead-weight contracts of Bubba Trammell, Kevin Jarvis, and/or Wiki Gonzalez. Although neither Jarvis nor Gonzalez fit the Red Sox's needs, Trammell could provide better depth for Boston than someone like Zuleta.

One reason to move a Nixon or Hillenbrand is to create an opening to keep Julio Zuleta as Ortiz's platoon partner at first. However, as both Jeremy Giambi and Kevin Millar are adequate first baseman, the following trade would solve both teams' immediate needs.

Boston sends Trot Nixon and Julio Zuleta to San Diego for Bubba Trammell, Dennis Tankersley, and AA closer LHP Cliff Bartosh.

The Padres add $1.5M this year but remove $5M from their 2004 payroll while acquiring Nixon, an established left-handed bat who should post better power numbers in San Diego, thereby improving his mid-season trade value. Since Xavier Nady needs more development time, Zuleta either can replace Trammell in the outfield or bump Ryan Klesko from 1B. Tankersley doesn't appear to factor in San Diego's long-term plans and could thrive in his old environment; he's slotted no higher than 5th in the Padres' future rotation after Lawrence, Eaton, Peavy, and Oliver Perez, so we don't expect San Diego overly would object to parting with him. Though Bartosh owns a nice statistical track record, he's still only a minor league relief prospect, and the depth he provides benefits Boston right now more than San Diego.

While Boston remains on the hook for $5M to Trammell next year, he offers similar skills to Kevin Millar and adds more flexibility to the line-up than Zuleta. Trammell can platoon with Ortiz, with Giambi likely covering 1B when Trammell enters the line-up at DH. He nicely fits as a fourth outfielder capable of starting as needed, and he leaves Adrian Brown as one of the best fifth outfielders in the game. Boston also owns the 40-man roster space to add two solid pitching prospects, both of whom could contribute this season, while the Padres need room to add NRIs like Keith Lockhart, Roberto Kelly, or Brady Anderson. Epstein wants to add Sean Burroughs as his long-term solution at 3B in Fenway, but we don't see San Diego dealing Burroughs at least for another year.

Although we don't exactly expect this trade to happen, we'll be shocked if Boston doesn't create more playing time for Giambi and Ortiz through a deal within the next month. A Nixon trade seems the logical recourse, so even though we only projected Nixon for 475 AB, Millar for 425, and both Ortiz and Giambi for 375, any Boston trade should allow you to increase the playing time of the latter three players by roughly 100 at-bats each.

Today's Fantasy Rx: For those who missed it last night, Fox's sports division apparently doesn't communicate with their animation studios. "I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos(who the Bart are you?)" amused us, however "I'm Esteban Yan of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays" lacked the same impact for obvious reasons. Maybe Texas is already looking to move one of their excess relievers and only informed Matt Groening?

In all seriousness, we're pleased that Fox actually managed mostly correct pronounciations of both names. After MLB teams started signing Korean and Taiwanese prospects a few years ago, we were shocked when a few of our fantasy leagues (in which we haven't owned teams for a couple years) started horribly savaging the names of Asian players. One particularly jaw-dropping moment involved an owner attempting to draft Seattle's Cha Seung Baek, a player who wasn't even a respectable draft pick at the time.

The Ichiro blurb in this year's Baseball Prospectus even noted "One of the uglier things baseball has ignored is the racism that's followed Ichiro around. In Oakland, for instance, fans shout Charlie Chan-style imitations, confusing their Chinese and Japanese racial taunts, asking him to do their laundry. "

So on this day of festive celebrating of the stereotypes of one culture, we ask a small favor of our readers in leagues where everyone doesn't listen to Baseball Tonight on a daily basis. We understand why many people mispronounce unfamiliar names - we listened to many WGN broadcasts of Harry and Steve. Unfortunately we never hear much laughter at drafts when we hear "Kevin Grabowsky", rather only the drafting of "Hee See-Seo-Sow - the Cubs' first baseman". We look forward to the day when only Runelvys "The King" Hernandez or Mike Colangelo (say it fast) rank as "humorous" names.