more cbs.sportsline.com.isms

today's a lax day both in terms of baseball (3 games, i believe?) and my updates, as its the busiest day of the year at my oh so glorious municipality.

before i start though, i noticed this gem on the usual game updates over at cbs.sportsline.com: "Victor Martinez (ankle) was removed for a pinch hitter in the fifth inning, although he is healthy. The move was simply a manager´s decision. He will test the ankle while catching in the bullpen."

i've never seen a note for a player leaving a game be so apologetic and sure to reaffirm that the guy isn't injured. evidently, victor martinez owners are touchy people.

speaking of the man, victor martinez has come out of nowhere to be a nice catcher for any fantasy squad. when posada was out with that broken nose/face/whatever, i recruited mister martinez to play a few games for jorge. since that move, jorge is something like .250/1/7, victor is like .354/4/20, so he's been sitting there in my utility role providing rbis and average, meanwhile posada has been the ever-perpetual suckfest for most of may and now into june. still, i think posada will get back on track, but 30/100 might be out of reach by now. and to think back in april you were thinking 40/120 was quite possible for, at the time, world's most catcher.

i'm also tempted to give johnny estrada or joe mauer some reps until posada gets back into a groove. although one of the typical recurring questions of the fantasy baseball world is whether or not to pursue dumping a "proven commodity" type of player like posada and holding on to the flava of the season, someone like victor martinez, in his place. thus far i've been reluctant to pull the trigger and wish posada away, but if he keeps schlepping and is stuck on .275/9/30 for a week, the thought will certainly be there.

tonight's cubs game is supposed to be a good one, roger "i can't believe that this old fart is 9-0" clemens goes up against mark "see he can do some wrong" prior up in houston. the cubs need to start winning at roughly a 60/40 clip to have a chance in the central, so games like tonight with all the hype and ramifications on divisional play end up being doubly important. fortunately, the cubs just got out of a series in anaheim that played out like a playoffesque series, two good tattered teams meeting up, using their bench depth, and pulling out 2/3 despite clutch hitting by vladimir guerrero and pretty solid pitching.

welp, per usual, more sooner for those oklahomans who like repeated jokes.