Chicago White Sox General Manager Ken Williams is a thief.

Williams can also be called one of the craftiest GMs in all of baseball after getting Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez for Freddy Garcia back in December 2006. The team on the other end of the deal, the Philadelphia Phillies, had no idea that Garcia was damaged goods and was throwing with significantly less velocity than usual.

The Phillies didn’t care. They were just happy to finally get their “big game” pitcher. They did not have him for very long, however, as Garcia made just 11 starts and had his season cut short in early June 2007 due to a torn labrum in his right arm.

What did Williams get out of the deal? A young prospect in Floyd who just needed a change of scenery to tap into his potential. That certainly worked, as the 25-year-old went 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA in 2008. So yes, Williams got a steal with the deal and was able to dump about $10 million in salary.

Garcia missed most of the 2008 regular season while rehabbing his surgically repaired right shoulder. He was a free agent for most of the season until the Detroit Tigers signed him to a minor league contract on August 12th. His contract was then purchased from the minors on September 17th and started three games for the Tigers. He finished with 15 innings pitched, a 1-1 record, and an ERA of 4.20.

As we find out from Jason Beck of MLB.com, Garcia will be pitching in his homeland of Venezuela over the winter. How effective Garcia is during his time home will determine how many major league GMs come calling for the two-time American League All-Star.

As far as a fantasy spin to this story, here’s the deal: Garcia didn’t make ImaginaryDiamond.com’s top 50 starting pitchers for 2009 and I don’t think he would even make my top 300 starting pitchers for ‘09. If nothing less, keep an eye on Garcia’s progress in Winter Ball and draft low, very low if you decide to draft him at all.

It’s about that time of the season when this year’s surprises are all gobbled up and the waiver wire looks like a collection of has-beens and big-time busts. But that doesn’t stop injuries or terrible performances from happening. So if you own Carlos Zambrano or are growing tired of Randy Johnson’s bloated ERA, chances are you’ve been scouring over the waiver wire for some help.

You can find the answer to your problems (for now) from an unlikely source: 44-year-old Kenny Rogers. Don’t be fooled by his 4.36 season ERA. A month ago, his ERA was a whopping 6.66 (no, that’s not a typo). But since May 26, the Tigers’ southpaw has rediscovered his control and put together an impressive collection of starts. Read more »

The trade deadline is likely looming over the horizon for most fantasy leagues, so we figured it would be a good time to identify the buy high/sell low steals of the season.

This advice doesn’t necessarily mean you should force trades; but that you make sure to not just give guys away for the sake of making a move. Likewise, ensure that you’re getting fair bang for your buck. Most of these moves should be made sooner rather than later to prevent other fantasy owners from catching on. Read more »

The First-Year Player Draft is not always an exact science. In fact, it’s never an exact science. Top draft choices are not slam dunks to have long, illustrious major league careers, just as late draft choices aren’t necessarily destined to be journeymen with little chance of reaching the majors.

While the same amount of uncertainty exists in the NBA and NFL drafts, for example, baseball is a more extreme case. For starters, just the sheer number of players that go off the board dwarfs all of its professional sport counterparts. Baseball players are also generally less prepared for professional careers than other athletes, often requiring several years of development before warranting a callup. Read more »

It’s free agent time once again, and as the temperature continues to warm across the country, so do batting averages and home run totals for slow-starting fantasy players.

Two Philadelphia Phillies and two Pittsburgh Pirates are capitalizing on favorable ballparks; Willy Tavares and Julio Lugo continue to run despite being slowed by poor averages; and the season of Frank Thomas is beginning to eerily resemble his 39 homer campaign of 2006. Read more »

As the season rolls on, familiar names like Brian Giles and Garret Anderson have begun to meet expectations, while a few fresh faces like Blake DeWitt and David Murphy are making names for themselves. All are available in most leagues and can provide elusive but necessary depth.

We’ll get into these players and more with free agent profiles on 10 players who could help your team out. Stay tuned each week for profiles on both hitters and pitchers. Read more »

So, what do you take from Boston Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester’s no-hitter on Tuesday night? Start with a great, congratulatory feeling for the kid, even if you don’t like the Red Sox or have Lester on your fantasy team.

But, if you do like the Red Sox and do have Lester on your fantasy radar, you obviously should be feeling pretty good about him right now. He just threw a no-hitter, in his first career complete game by the way, but he had been performing solidly and steadily in the month leading up to this start. Monday night’s brilliance was a nice culmination of his good work, mixed with the Royals’ offensive futility and a little bit of luck. Read more »

So, what do you take from Boston Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester’s no-hitter on Tuesday night? Start with a great, congratulatory feeling for the kid, even if you don’t like the Red Sox or have Lester on your fantasy team.

But, if you do like the Red Sox and do have Lester on your fantasy radar, you obviously should be feeling pretty good about him right now. He just threw a no-hitter, in his first career complete game by the way, but he had been performing solidly and steadily in the month leading up to this start. Monday night’s brilliance was a nice culmination of his good work, mixed with the Royals’ offensive futility and a little bit of luck. Read more »

So, what do you take from Boston Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester’s no-hitter on Tuesday night? Start with a great, congratulatory feeling for the kid, even if you don’t like the Red Sox or have Lester on your fantasy team.

But, if you do like the Red Sox and do have Lester on your fantasy radar, you obviously should be feeling pretty good about him right now. He just threw a no-hitter, in his first career complete game by the way, but he had been performing solidly and steadily in the month leading up to this start. Monday night’s brilliance was a nice culmination of his good work, mixed with the Royals’ offensive futility and a little bit of luck. Read more »

I can’t think of a time when closer situations have been uglier, but I’m sure that they have been. Two contenders - the Cardinals and Brewers - are working through some bullpen woes in their pursuit of a National League Central crown. Two other contenders await - the Braves and Indians - await the return of their full-time closers from the disabled list.

There will be more upheaval as the season wears on, but here’s a closer look at five turbulent bullpen situations and what we think will unfold in the coming weeks. Read more »