What Surgery?

My keeper-league fantasy football draft has been unfolding via e-mail all week. My team didn't start out very pretty, because last season's keepers like Ronnie Brown, Laurence Maroney, Vince Young, Travis Henry, and Marc Bulger have since seen their value dip so much that they weren't worth retaining under the protection rules. Regardless of sport or league I'm not really used to doing a whole lot of rebuilding, but the Rotoworld Fantasy Football Draft Guide got me through it.

From the constantly updated player profiles and projections to the customizable cheat sheets and in-depth sleeper picks, trusting the Draft Guide gave me a ton of confidence despite spending the past six months focused strictly on baseball. This is half-plug and half-testimonial, but either way if you're going to be drafting between now and Week 1 you should definitely have the Draft Guide by your side. My fellow keeper leaguers especially will benefit from the keeper-specific analysis.

QB: Jay Cutler, Matt Schaub
RB: Jonathan Stewart, LenDale White, Selvin Young, Chris Johnson
WR: Reggie Wayne, Chad Johnson, Donald Driver, Ronald Curry
TE: Kellen Winslow

That's what my team looks like with five rounds to go, and considering how things looked before the draft putting together that group in a 12-team league is a minor miracle. Gregg Rosenthal has me buying into the Cutler hype, so if he emerges as "the next great quarterback"-as our football guru suggested in his most recent column-he'll be my hero. Daily Dose regulars should know by now that this space is rarely filled with plugs, so trust me on this one. Get the Draft Guide.

While my e-mailbox fills with people telling me how horrible my team is and complaining about me wasting space talking about football in a baseball column, here are some notes from around baseball .

* Despite sitting out nearly all of last season and most of this year with an elbow injury that led to Tommy John surgery, Josh Johnson has looked good since rejoining the rotation last month. He scattered nine hits Thursday in a Quality Start, and is 3-0 with a 3.51 ERA and 40-to-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio in eight starts since coming off the disabled list. Even more encouraging is that he's the latest in a surprisingly long line of pitchers to actually see their velocity increase after surgery.

When Johnson came close to winning the ERA title as a rookie in 2006, he averaged 91.8 miles per hour with his fastball and 83.6 mph with his slider. This season he's averaging 93.4 mph with his fastball and 87.0 mph with his slider. In 2006 he got 20 percent strikeouts, 9 percent walks, and 46 percent ground balls. This season he has 20 percent strikeouts, 9 percent walks, and 44 percent ground balls. In other words he's picked up right where he left off, and then some.

* Jose Bautista lost his starting job at third base and was sent to Triple-A thanks to the Pirates acquiring Andy LaRoche in the Jason Bay deal, but will get another crack at regular playing time following Thursday's trade to the Blue Jays. Bautista is no one's idea of a great player, but as a cost-controlled 27-year-old with a decent bat and some defensive versatility he represents a solid pickup for the Blue Jays considering Scott Rolen's uncertain health status.

Bautista has hit .240/.328/.397 with an average of 16 homers per 600 plate appearances during his career, including .242/.325/.404 with 12 homers in 363 trips to the plate this year. He's seen most of his action at third base, but has also logged considerable time in center field and right field, with a few games at second base. Manager Cito Gaston said Thursday that Bautista will get plenty of starts at third base right away, making him a worthwhile pickup in AL-only leagues.

* Grady Sizemore went 4-for-5 with a career-high seven RBIs in Thursday's win over the Royals, adding to what has been an overlooked, MVP-caliber season. Hitting .272 for a 59-67 team all but eliminates someone from most MVP discussions, but Sizemore has been about as valuable as a .270 hitter from a fourth-place team can possibly be. Thursday's homer was his 29th of the year, which ranks second in the AL, and he's drawn 80 walks while stealing 31 bases in 122 games.

Toss in outstanding defense in center field and Sizemore is having an MVP-caliber season even if most voters would misguidedly never consider him based solely on the Indians' poor season. Sizemore is hitting .272/.384/.530 and is on pace for 38 homers, 80 total extra-base hits, 40 steals, 102 RBIs, 101 runs, and 104 walks, which is simply a monster season regardless of how bad his teammates have been. At this point he may be the game's most overlooked great player.

AL Quick Hits: With Justin Duchscherer (hip) and Sean Gallagher (shoulder) both landing on the disabled list Thursday, the A's will slide Dana Eveland and Dan Meyer into the rotation . Joba Chamberlain (shoulder) played catch from 60 feet Thursday and is slated to throw off a mound for the first time Saturday . Showing no signs of slowing down, Cliff Lee held the Royals to three runs over seven innings Thursday for his AL-leading 18th win . With the Yankees desperate for rotation help, Carl Pavano will start Saturday for just the third time in 38 months . Scot Shields expressed frustration Wednesday that rookie Jose Arredondo may have overtaken him as Francisco Rodriguez's primary setup man . After posting a 6.38 ERA and 1.71 WHIP in 21 starts, the Orioles dumped Garret Olson from the rotation Thursday and demoted him to Triple-A . Marco Scutaro did his best to hold off Bautista by going 4-for-6 with a homer and six RBIs in Thursday's blowout win over the Yankees . Despite reportedly drawing interest from the Phillies, David Ross opted to sign a minor-league contract with the Red Sox.

NL Quick Hits:Carlos Zambrano tossed seven innings of one-run ball and smacked what proved to be the game-winning homer Thursday for his 13th victory . Carlos Delgado went 5-for-5 with a walk-off "single" Thursday when his line drive bounced off Omar Infante's glove . After injuring his thumb Wednesday, Hanley Ramirez was held out of Thursday's lineup despite X-rays coming back negative . Responding to speculation that he'd retire rather than try to come back from yet another arm injury, Jason Isringhausen (elbow) said Wednesday that he still has "tons of desire" to pitch next season . After throwing a shutout inning in a minor-league rehab game Wednesday at Double-A, Matt Capps (shoulder) is slated to come off the disabled list Friday . With Brandon Lyon struggling, Jon Rauch picked up a save Wednesday . Meanwhile, Rauch's replacement in Washington, Joel Hanrahan, closed out a one-run win Thursday with a six-out save . Cristian Guzman (thumb) rejoined the lineup Thursday for the first time in over a week . All but ruled out for this season, Noah Lowry (forearm) said Thursday that he's hoping to pitch in winter ball.

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