Jorge Cantu, 2B, Tampa Bay Devil Rays

May 2, 2006 @ 14:29:34

By Bryce McRae
Edited by KFFL Staff

Playing in the American League East, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays already have it tough, with every other member of their division having a payroll over $70 million, including the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, two teams whose payroll dwarfs the GDP of some third-world countries. It is tough enough for them to compete when healthy, but the Devil Rays have also been stricken by injuries this year. Outfielders Rocco Baldelli (hamstring) and Carl Crawford (shoulder, personal), third baseman Aubrey Huff (knee), shortstop Julio Lugo (abdominal) and second baseman Jorge Cantu (foot) have all missed time with injuries this year. The injuries may vary but it has affected the Devil Rays this year and they find themselves once again at the bottom of the division (through Monday, May 2).

One key injury has been to Cantu. Just 24, he was slated to be the Devil Rays starting second basemen this year. He is young and one of their best prospects. Cantu established himself as the D-Ray's starting second basemen last year, when he hit .286 with 28 homers, 117 RBI and 73 runs. The 117 RBI he had were a Devil Rays team record. Cantu normally bats second in the lineup, which gives him a good chance at scoring runs as first baseman Carlos Lee and outfielder Jonny Gomes have been on fire this year. Also batting in front of him, Crawford is one of the most underrated players in the league. Crawford has had a slow start to the year, but last year he was one of the top lead-off hitters, hitting .301 with 101 runs and 46 stolen bases. When Cantu joins them, these four hitters form one of the best young lineup cores in the league.

Cantu has been battling foot injuries so far this season after bruising his foot April 7, in the seventh inning of a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. The full extent of the injury wasn't known right away but it turned out that he had broken a bone in his foot. Cantu then missed one week of action before returning for 11 days. But the pain was too much so both the team and Cantu decided that a stint on the disabled list was probably best. Going on the disabled list enabled Cantu to get some real rest and avoid any more serious injuries that could have come from playing with the broken bone.

While on the disabled list, Cantu has continued to take batting practice with the team and it is expected he will return around the middle of May. It is not expected that the injury will have any long-term effects as it is not that serious and will not require any rehab. The injury just required rest to heal and when Cantu returns he should be back to his place in the heart of the Devil Rays lineup

What to do while he is out

Because he is not projected to miss much time, you won't likely lose out on a league title because of the injury. There are plenty of options out there to replace him for the time being.

Table: Commonly Available Second Basemen, 2006 Statistics

Name	Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG.
Craig Biggio	HOU	18	3	10	1	.313
Daniel Uggla	FLA	12	4	12	2	.273
Luis Castillo	MIN	11	0	10	3	.356
Adam Kennedy	ANA	11	1	13	2	.320
Todd Walker	CHC	10	2	13	0	.357
Jose Lopez	SEA	14	4	18	0	.288
Ronnie Belliard	CLE	11	0	11	2	.282

Each of these potential replacements has positives and negatives. Biggio, despite his advanced age (40) has been very solid for the Astros this season.  He has shown consistency throughout his entire career, so while there is little upside, you will know what you are getting.  Uggla has displayed good power (four homers) in his rookie season, though he has been very streaky in his hitting, going stretches without any type of scoring. Castillo demonstrates almost zero power in his hitting (zero homers), but his average (.356) is very high and is unlikely to hurt your team as a replacement.

Kennedy is similar to Castillo, as he does not hit for much power (one homer) but will keep you afloat with his .320 batting average.  Walker has been filling in some for the Chicago Cubs' injured first baseman Derrek Lee (wrist) and has been hitting quite well, keeping his average at a hearty .357.  Like the aforementioned second basemen, his power is weak.

Another player who has been playing well recently is Lopez, who has been hitting .375 with one home run and five RBI since April 25. Belliard has been struggling a bit over the past two weeks, so he would be the riskiest of these players to sign right now, but he has a little bit more power potential than the other players, so the chances of him hitting a homer or two while Cantu is out is better than the others.

Summary

This injury is nothing serious like the injuries to Lee or Los Angeles Dodgers closer Eric Gagne (elbow) earlier this month. Those were injuries to bona-fide fantasy superstars and both players are going to miss a good part of the season. Cantu should miss about a month in total, at the most, not enough to sink a fantasy season, but you will want to find cover for him to keep yourself in the race for your league championship.

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Bryce McRae
Bryce McRae is a Managing Editor with KFFL and has been involved in fantasy sports since 1999. He joined KFFL as a volunteer writer in March 2005 before becoming a Hot off the Wire Analyst in March 2006. He began working in his current capacity in September 2008. His work has appeared on fantasy sports sites such as Yahoo! and CBS Sportsline as well as in print. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2008 with a B.A. in History and U.S. Studies.

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