High five
1. Detroit Tigers
Still have best team ERA (3.70)
2. Boston Red Sox
Rookie Lester providing big lift
3. Chicago White Sox
Lost series to Tigers, Twins
4. New York Mets
Strong staff gets Pedro back
5. Minnesota Twins
Impressive sweep of White Sox
Fantasy tip
RISINGAndre Ethier, OF, Dodgers: At .344-8-36, the former Arizona State standout may give Nats 3B Ryan Zimmerman some competition for NL rookie-of-the-year honors. Comment: Somehow, Ethier remains a free agent in 15 percent of mixed leagues.
FALLINGMike MacDougal, RP, White Sox: Only four innings removed from the disabled list, the Royals shipped their closer off to Chicago to become Bobby Jenks' setup man. Comment: Through no fault of his own, MacDougal loses almost all value in 4x4 and 5x5 leagues. His only real worth now comes in leagues with extended scoring where holds matter.
WILD CARDMark Prior, SP, Cubs: The star-crossed ace pitched 5 2/3 innings of no-hit ball Wednesday at Shea but couldn't notch his first win of the season as the lovable losers from the North Side fell 1-0 to the Mets. Advice: Despite the encouraging outing this week, Prior remains a mere shell of his former self. Very telling is his 2006 K/BB ratio, which, at 1.5, is less than half his career average of 3.5. — By J.G. Askar
Corner infielder
Cautious approach
Dontrelle Willis is 24. He already has 52 career victories. Imagine how differently life might have seemed at Wrigley Field if he had picked them up for the Cubs, his original team.
It's fair to say the Cubs would not have included him in the spring 2002 trade that gave then-manager Don Baylor's team Antonio Alfonseca and Matt Clement if they had seen this coming.
We mention this because nobody wants to be the general manager who trades the next Willis. While fans of the White Sox and other contenders clamor for some instant help before the Monday afternoon deadline, executives tread carefully.
Historically, midseason trades are sucker bets for the buyers. Only a few of the veterans traded actually help a team reach the playoffs or win in October; many of the unknown minor-leaguers that switch hands wind up having significant big-league careers.
ESPN's Rob Neyer studied recent results. He found 126 trades in the week before the deadline since 1995 and concluded that only 18 of them actually paid off for the buyer. Among those that didn't: The Scott Kazmir-for-Victor Zambrano disaster for the Mets and — children, please leave the room — the Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek-for-Heathcliff Slocumb nightmare for the Mariners.
White Sox general manager Ken Williams hopes Tyler Lumsden and Daniel Cortes, the two pitching prospects sent to Kansas City for reliever Mike MacDougal, won't come back to haunt him like Willis has Andy MacPhail, who was the GM when the Cubs traded Willis.
The Cubs knew Willis had potential as a pitcher. But you wonder how well they got to know him as a person, because Willis has leadership skills almost as valuable as his pitching.
He has had a huge impact on the baby Florida Marlins, who have become fringe wild-card contenders instead of 100-game losers.
Willis wouldn't let his young teammates sulk when they broke from the gate 11-31. One Friday in May, he brought a shopping cart full of classic jerseys from every sport into the clubhouse and demanded that his teammates pick one. The Marlins won that game and have won every Friday home game — Throwback Friday — since then.
You can't buy a presence like the one Willis brings to the Marlins. But you can trade one away.