The 26-year-old Rickie Weeks looked to be finally fulfilling the promise of his lofty draft spot (second pick overall in the 2003 draft). He was hitting .272 with 9 home runs, 24 RBI, 2 stolen bases and 28 runs. Now, what appeared to be his breakout campaign has been summarily dismantled on one swing. Weeks tore up his wrist on a swing Sunday and his season is over. There's no rest for the weary in fantasy baseball, though. Weeks owners must lick their wounds and find a way to recover. A recovery should be possible, considering how little owners probably had to spend on Weeks in their auctions or drafts. The three options are as follows (make sure to check out number three).
More Coverage: Weeks Lost for Season
1. Trade for a guy ready to bust out. Dan Uggla is having a rough go in the early going, but he's a streaky player by nature. It's possible his owners are frustrated and would cough him up. We expected a step-back year from Mark DeRosa, but he's still playing below his talent-level at this point while adapting to the American League. He can help you here. Jose Lopez and Kelly Johnson are two more who are playing below expectations and should pick it up in the near future.
2. Scour the waiver wire for also-ran second basemen. In larger mixed leagues you should be able to snare someone like Alberto Callaspo or Asdrubal Cabrera. I actually had Weeks in a 15-team mixed, total points league and was able to grab Cabrera. In deeper leagues, you still have options. Freddy Sanchez is available in more than half of fantasy leagues. Felipe Lopez is serviceable. If you are looking to straight up replace Weeks' power at this position, you can take a look at Ian Stewart, though he's likely to harm your batting average.
3. Try to hit the lottery. If you can swing a trade for one of the above second baseman and give up a decent third basemen, Mat Gamel is an intriguing option. You can try to catch lightning in a bottle the way Ryan Braun and Evan Longoria owners did the past two seasons at third base. Gamel is not unlike those prospects offensively. He was hitting .336 with 8 home runs and 31 RBI in only 119 minor league at-bats until the Brewers gave him the call. In 2008, he hit .325 with 20 home runs and 99 RBI in 132 minor league games. In fact, as I was typing this I went to check out the Brewers current box score for Monday night. He's already hit a three-run home run in the second at-bat of his first major league start.
Other sites might tell you of the Brewers moving Alcides Escobar to second base in the minors, but FanHouse has learned from some sources the Brewers will not be doing that with their hot-shot shortstop prospect. Moving Bill Hall to second base -- or the bench -- in order to make room for Gamel's bat is much more realistic. It actually makes a lot more sense, since Gamel is more major league ready and Hall can play second base without having to learn a completely foreign position.
