SantanaJog

Carlos Santana is a fantasy commodity of mythical proportions. Eavesdrop on a random conversation in Fantasyland and chances are his prowess is still wildly exaggerated. A few examples:

• When an asteroid threatened humanity Santana grabbed a Louisville Slugger and smacked the space offering to the Andromeda Galaxy.

• Santana doesn't catch colds, mucous-heavy infections catch him.

• When eating out, Santana always dips his steak in napalm.

• Hand-feeding enraged Komodos is his favorite hobby.

• Santana once challenged disgraced Congressman Anthony Wiener to a sword fight … and won.

• This past spring, the hype machine logged so many overtime hours promoting Santana even Matt Wieters realized the Indian was overvalued.

• His potential is so intriguing, Dos Equis' suave pitchman believes the catcher is most-interesting. …

Back in March, the hype surrounding the former elite prospect reached a fevered pitch. Despite coming off a massive knee injury, many owners snapped tendons (ADP:

AckleyOK, this is a big event, at least for some of us. We've kept Seattle Mariners prospect Dustin Ackley on the fantasy bench all season, demonstrating uncommon patience — almost reckless patience — and we've suffered through a plague of miserable middle infielders. Aviles, Hall, Getz, Sizemore, Barmes, et al.  We've rejected trade offers, held firm, waiting for the Ackley surge.

And now, at last, he's up. Big event. Let's forecast.

Under normal circumstances, there's such a wide range of possible outcomes with prospects that it seems foolish to project them with any specificity. Instead, you need to consider a player's ceiling and floor, then determine whether the upside is worth the risk — who do you cut to make the add, what's your safety net if the prospect fails, will the player actually help in areas of need, etc.

But with Ackley, I think we may have a different sort of hitter, the unusual prospect with a decent, projectable floor. It's tough to imagine that his on-base skills won't accompany him as he makes the jump from Tacoma to Seattle. Ackley has drawn 55 walks in just 66 games in the PCL this year, leading the league by a wide margin. There are really no questions about his batting eye. Ackley's slash-line is plenty impressive this season (.303/.421/.487), but those rates don't begin to describe how ridiculously well he's hit in recent weeks. For the second straight year, he scuffled through a difficult April (.211/.336/.305), then binged. In May, Ackley hit .355/.449/.605. Thus far in June, .346/.500/.538.

swinging_from_the_heelsWhen you've got the worst offense in the American League (lowest average, OBP and slugging), every potential upgrade has to be considered. With that in mind, let's welcome touted prospect Dustin Ackley to Seattle.

The Mariners made the call to Ackley after their victory Wednesday, and the 23-year-old second baseman will officially be promoted (and in the starting lineup) when the Ms return to action Friday at home against Philadelphia. "It's time to get him up here," manager Eric Wedge conceded. Prospects hounds and Seattle fans are thrilled at the move; we get to watch an exciting young player, and we no longer have to watch Jack Wilson flail away at the dish (.239/.266/.265, a dreadful slash).

Ackley was off to a tidy .300/.418/.487 start with Triple-A Tacoma this year, with nine homers and seven steals (10 attempts). He's also collected 55 walks against 38 strikeouts, a clear sign he's outgrown minor-league pitching. He was the second overall pick in the 2009 draft (following

BillingsleyThe Reds and Dodgers were clad in my dad's 1974 pajamas their 1944 throwback uniforms on Wednesday afternoon, which always makes for quality viewing. Chad Billingsley was so taken by the spirit of '44, in fact, that he decided to pitch like a 67-year-old man. Nice tribute, but brutal for fantasy owners.

Billingsley was rocked by Cincinnati, allowing nine hits, four walks and seven runs over four frames. The Reds had a few members of the JV squad in the lineup, too, as Jay Bruce and Drew Stubbs rested.

Over Billingsley's last three starts, he's yielded 30 hits, eight walks and 17 runs, striking out nine batters in 13.2 innings. According to STATS, this is the first time in his career that he's given up more than three runs in three straight games.

So yeah, he's entered a rough stretch. Many of you have already made the vengeful same-day drop: Billingsley has been kicked to the curb by 1,160 Yahoo! fantasy owners, as of 9:00 pm ET. He exited Wednesday's loss with a season ERA of 4.65 and a WHIP of 1.52, so it's tough to argue on his behalf using this year's stats. Let's just try to remember the good times. Billingsley has given us a sub-3.60 ERA in three of the past four seasons and his K-rate has been consistently useful (8.2 career K/9, 8.1 this season). This is a drop you'll regret.

In these three ugly recent efforts, Billingsley has pitched at Coors once and he's faced the Reds twice, so there's a quality-of-opponent issue at work. (He needs the Pads in the worst way, though the Dodgers won't see them until July 8-10). Velocity hasn't been a problem, but location certainly has. Witness this 94-mph fastball to Scott Rolen, and check the placement...

BlackmonAuto

Last week, call-up season began with a bang. Rookie reinforcements Anthony Rizzo, Mike Moustakas and Dee Gordon caused droves of frenzied owners to dash madly to league waiver wires, hoping to capture the next Buster Posey. Even Rickie Weeks' younger, less talented brother Jemile had deep-thinkers diving between couch cushions for extra FAAB cash.

However, an overlooked prospect from Colorado with a name reminiscent of a 19th-century vaudeville actor, Charlie Blackmon, could actually be the cream of this year's farm crop.

Unlike the aforementioned headliners, little fanfare accompanied the 2008 second-round pick upon news of his promotion on June 6. No red carpet unfurled. No marching band played. No plane tugged a welcome banner. Only family members cared. After all, Baseball America tabbed Blackmon the 11th-best prospect in the Rockies' system. He failed to chart on any top-100 list. Because of the lack of pub and skipper Jim Tracy's constant lineup tinkering, the former Georgia Tech

Jonny Venters

As of this moment, Atlanta's Jonny Venters is the top-ranked relief pitcher in Yahoo!'s game and the No. 30 fantasy asset overall. This might not seem surprising to you, because the lefty has delivered obscene ratios (0.44 ERA, 0.74 WHIP) while striking out hitters at a terrific rate (43 Ks in 40.2 IP). But it's somewhat uncommon for a non-starting, non-closing pitcher to rank ahead of all other RP-eligible players.

Here's a quick look at every RP currently rated in the Yahoo! overall top-100:

1. Jonny Venters, Atl RP, No. 30
2. Alexi Ogando, Tex SP/RP, No. 34
3. Jhoulys Chacin, Col SP/RP, No. 47
4. Drew Storen, Was RP, No. 51
5. Francisco Cordero, Cin RP, No. 57
6. Philip Humber, Chi SP/RP, No. 59
7. Josh Collmenter, Ari SP/RP, No. 65
8. Brian Wilson, SF RP, No. 66
9. JJ Putz, Ari RP, No. 67
10. David Pauley, Sea SP/RP, No. 68
11. Joel Hanrahan, Pit RP, No. 77
12. Kyle Farnsworth, TB RP, No. 80
13. Fernando Salas, Stl RP, No. 81
14. Ryan Vogelsong, SF SP/RP, No. 82
15. Mike Adams, SD RP, No. 86
16. Jeremy Hellickson, TB SP/RP, No. 91
17. Ryan Madson, Phi RP, No. 94
18. Craig Kimbrel, Atl RP, No. 100

So one-third of the top "relievers" of 2011 are actually starters, like Ogando and Chacin, and most of the other elite RPs have been earning saves. But not Venters ... until recently. 

cahillI am not, in the classically-trained sense, a baseball scout. I'm just a guy with a whit of intelligence who has watched a lot of baseball games over the years.

That established, it's pretty clear to anyone's eyes that there's something wrong with Trevor Cahill. And with that in mind, I've pushed him out of the mixed-league circle of trust.

It's one thing to be winless in seven starts, and it's one thing to allow 19 runs over four turns. But when you see Cahill walk seven batters and strike out no one, as he did in Tuesday's game against the Royals, you know something's amiss. The blueprint for Cahill's success is outstanding control and a lot of ground balls. Tuesday, he looked like he was pitching for the first time, no control (he couldn't throw consistent strikes) and no command (he couldn't locate his pitches, even his strikes, where he wanted them).

"I didn't know where the ball was going," Cahill told MLB.com after the defeat. "One point after the second or third inning, I was just trying to throw the ball down the middle and I still couldn't do that, so I knew it was going to be a rough night."

Manager Bob Melvin thinks Cahill's problems are more mental than mechanical. Cahill admits he's trying not to consciously think of his mechanics during the game. But the pitcher we've seen over the last three weeks (21 walks, 15 strikeouts) is begging for a mechanical fix. Cahill's never going to be an overpowering velocity guy, but he didn't seem compromised in that area Tuesday. This doesn't look like a case where he's hurting.

jordan_for_three_yes

Jordan Schafer has taken quite a fall since opening day 2009, but it's time to reopen the case. He's making an impact at the top of Atlanta's lineup and he's out there for your consideration.

Schafer was a buzzy name when he hit the scene as a 23-year-old rookie two seasons ago, but things quickly crashed on him. An opening-night homer put the wrong thought in his head — he started thinking he was a power hitter in addition to a leadoff man — and the Braves had no choice but to demote Schafer after a messy 50-game audition (.204/.313/.287, 63 strikeouts in 167 at-bats). Schafer then suffered wrist and hand injuries in the minors, physical problems that ruined most of his 2010, too.

Schafer wasn't setting the world on fire in Triple-A when the Braves recalled him three weeks ago, and his cumulative Atlanta stats to this point are ordinary, but let's focus on the last week. Schafer has collected six stolen bases and a homer over his last seven games (along with a .276 average), and Fredi Gonzalez is using Schafer as the dedicated leadoff man. Schafer still has a keen eye at the dish (nine walks in 68 at-bats), and he's improved his contact problem from 2009 (a reasonable nine strikeouts).

Obviously there's a downside to consider with Schafer, too. He still hasn't proven he can hit in the majors, and Nate McLouth should be back at some point at the end of the month. But the barrier for relevance is fairly low when we're talking about someone who can run, and it's clear the Braves trust Schafer on the bases. So long as Atlanta is willing to use Schafer as the leadoff man and let him run aggressively, I'm on board. He's out there in 98 percent of Yahoo! leagues if you need to kick the tires on a new rabbit. Keep an open mind.