American League:

Jim Thome and was activated from the disabled list by the Minnesota Twins and should return to his role as designated hitter. The Twins always activated Jason Repko from the disabled list while sending Ben Revere back to the minor leagues. Revere was hitting .207 in 29 at bats with two stolen bases and will likely not be back again until September barring another injury.

Outfielders Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz are expected to come of the disabled list on Monday for the Texas Rangers, which means Craig Gentry will likely be sent down to the minor leagues. Hamilton and Cruz both looked good on Saturday night with Hamilton hitting a line drive home run to right field and Cruz hitting a home run to center field.

Josh Outman was called up by the Oakland A’s and will get the start on Monday against the Los Angeles Angels making him a two start pitcher in week 9. Outman has not been the same pitcher since having Tommy John surgery in 2009 as he has struggled with his control. Outman had a 4.78 ERA in eight starts with 27 walks and 30 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings.

Second basemen Howie Kendrick of the Los Angeles Angels could be headed for the disabled list with a hamstring injury. Kendrick has not played since May 19th when he went 3-for-4 against the Seattle Mariners.

Shortstop Reid Brignac will miss the next four games for the Tampa Bay Rays on bereavement leave paving the way for Elliott Johnson to get some more playing time. He could be a sneaky middle infield place this week if you are short a player at that position.

Second basemen Brian Roberts does not look like he is ready to return from his concussion to the Baltimore Orioles just yet so Robert Andino will continue to fill in for him.

Starting pitcher Alex White of the Cleveland Indians will miss two to three months with a strained ligament in his finger. Mitch Talbot will take his place in the rotation when he comes off the disabled list. Talbot had two rehab starts for a total of nine innings in Triple-A as he works to come back from a strained elbow.

National League:

The Philadelphia Phillies activated Chase Utley from the disabled list so be sure to have him active for the upcoming week. Utley hit .281 while on rehab with a home run, four RBI and a stolen base. The best news was he seemed to have no problems with his knee so he looks good to go for now.

Jason Heyward was finally placed on the disabled list by the Atlanta Braves with a sore shoulder. Joe Mather takes over in right field for Heyward an is an option in NL-only formats if you need at bats for the next two weeks. Mather is hitting .400 in 30 at bats this year with a home run and six RBI.

The Los Angeles Dodgers swapped infielders on the disabled list with Rafael Furcal returning to action and Juan Uribe going on the disabled list with a strained hip flexor. The move will keep Jamey Carroll in the starting lineup for another few weeks. Furcal went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in his return to the lineup on Sunday.

Tim Hudson of the Braves will miss his start on Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates due to a sore back with Mike Minor taking his start. Minor had struggled his last two outings in Triple-A allowing seven runs in 13 innings.

The Chicago Cubs placed outfielder Marlon Byrd on the disabled list after Byrd suffered facial fractures when he was hit in the head by a pitch on Saturday. Reed Johnson will fill in for Byrd in the outfield. Johnson is hitting .392 in 51 at bats this season with two home runs and 15 RBI.

The release of Russell Branyan earlier in the week by the Arizona Diamondbacks gives Juan Miranda a lot more value making him worth a look in deeper mixed formats. Miranda had four RBI in his previous two games and hit a home run on Sunday.

If you are looking for a second catcher in NL-only or mixed leagues, it looks like Ronny Paulino will be seeing more time behind the dish for the New York Mets with Josh Thole struggling behind the plate. Paulino is hitting .313 in 32 at bats while Thole is batting .205 in 112 at bats.

To help set your pitching rotation for next week, check out the week 9, two start pitchers.

Jack Cust was the first DH to come off the market by signing a one-year $2.5 million deal with Seattle on December 10th.  Hideki Matsui followed suit by signing a one year $4.25 million deal with Oakland four days later.But since mid December all has been quiet with DH signings and other major names are just waiting for official offers.

When the off-season began, Vladimir Guerrero stated that he was looking for a three year deal and also let the Texas Rangers know that he would be willing to re-sign with them if they were to offer him two years.  Once Matsui signed, his representative let it be known that Vlad would be willing to sign a one year deal again and yet he’s still a free agent.

Late last winter, Jim Thome signed a $1.5 million deal with the Minnesota Twins knowing he would only received part time at-bats.  After hitting .283 with 25 home runs in just 276 at-bats, Thome is looking to cash in on his next deal.  Even though he is looking to sign a one year deal, Thome is looking to sign for Lance Berkman money in the area of $8 Million.

Then we have Manny Ramirez.  He’s certainly is not going to make anywhere near the $20 million he made last year and we have not been given any indications on the amount he will “settle” on. The only team that is truly in need of a designated hitter is Tampa Bay.  Although Tampa has been linked to Manny Ramirez the most, they still have a question mark at first base.  Dan Johnson currently tops Tampa’s depth chart at first, but you have to think they wouldn’t mind a cheaper upgrade.  Since Tampa is not willing to spend a lot of cash, Johnson will likely be the opening day first baseman. Although I can not see Ramirez settling for less than $5M this season, as spring training approaches and if he still has a desire to play, he may have to.

After Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Anaheim and Baltimore have been mentioned the most in being interested in acquiring a pure DH, however when looking at their rosters, this would be more of a luxury than a necessity.

Guerrero can forget re-signing with Texas after they signed Adrian Beltre to play third base forcing Michael Young to the full time DH/super utility role.  With Young making $16 Million each of the next 3 years, it will be difficult for Texas to find a trade partner.  Since the Beltre signing, Vlad has been mostly linked to Anaheim where he played for the Angels from 2004 to 2009. Although Anaheim may make the most sense, with the Angels wanting Peter Burjos to man centerfield, that leaves Bobby Abreu and Torii Hunter to play the corners.

Anaheim also has Juan Rivera under contract and would likely give him the DH job while spelling Abreu and Hunter in the outfield once a week allowing them some rest and just to have them DH on their off days.

For Minnesota, if Justin Morneau comes back completely healthy from his concussion symptoms, Michael Cuddyer would move back to the outfield and Jason Kubel would become the full time DH.  Of course this is what the Twins position was last year and they still signed Thome.  Even though Minnesota seems like Thome’s best match, the Twins are currently focusing on re-signing Carl Pavano and then will see how much they have left of their budget to sign a DH or other players.  In any event, Thome is going to have to drastically lower his asking price of $8 million if he wants a chance to reach 600 home runs.

Baltimore is the true wild card in signing a DH.  After signing Derek Lee to play first base, Baltimore can again have Luke Scott DH full time since he is a defensive liability.  Baltimore also has a full outfield with Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Felix Pie and Nolan Reimold.

Based on all of that, here are my predictions:
Manny Ramirez to Tampa for $4 to $5 Million.
Vlad Guerrero to Anaheim for $3.5 to $4.25 Million
Jim Thome to Minnesota for $3 Million

Remember, this is ranking JUST the free agent designated hitters based off of the 2010 final fantasy baseball rankings.

1.) Jim Thome: Signed for only $1.5M, Thome was nothing less than a savior for the Minnesota Twins last year.  Wildly considered a great guy, I’d be hard pressed to find a team who will outbid the Twins for Jim Thome, especially considering their owner is willing to increase payroll.  It’ll be hard for Thome to percentage-wise have a repeat season (i.e. 4th highest OPS of his career) but he’ll likely get more at bats which will lead to a similar, if not higher amount of home runs and RBI which is what fantasy owners care about.

2) Hideki Matsui: Matsui quietly had a very solid for the Angels last year. However, with their attention likely being focused on Carl Crawford and Adrian Beltre, Matsui will be signed elsewhere.  The Rays will need a DH and Matsui shouldn’t break their bank.  If he’s able to get a similar amount of at bats as he did this year, I see no reason why Matsui can’t have a repeat performance on a team like the Rays, batting in the middle of their lineup.

Unless Frank Thomas or Edgar Martinez decide to come back Thome and Matsui are the only DHs worth mentioning as the rest have eligibility elsewhere.

This is the seventh report in the series of our 2010 fantasy baseball rankings looking at the designated hitters / utility players.

1) Vladimir Guerrero – strikeouts inching up, the few walks he takes inching down, though not a surprising trend as he turns 35 in a few days. In a good hitting environment in Texas and still owns a high batting average. Stats were much better after the All-Star break when he hit 11 home runs in 207 at bats.

2) David Ortiz – maybe it was simply a case of his eyesight being affected that caused the power outage the first part of the year. After hitting one home run in his first 178 at bats, he got eye drops for dry eyes in early June and then  belted out 27 home runs over the next four months. Average has dropped almost 100 points in two years. Struggled to make contact even in the second half of the season when he was hitting home runs, fanning 23% of the time vs. 18% in 2009.

3) Hideki Matsui – shows he still has plenty of power in his game, though turning 36 in June means he could miss some time. Has spent time on the disabled list three of the past four seasons. Keep at bat projections in the 450-500 range.

4) Travis Hafner – has missed time the last two years due to shoulder issues which has sapped him of some of his power. Struggles to hit left-handed pitching the last two seasons means days of his .300 batting average are over. Set at bat projections for no more than 400 and be happy with anything over that.

5) Pat Burrell – first half injury likely affected his power. Tried to make up ground the second half of the season and turned into a strikeout machine, fanning in 32% of his at bats. Playing time at risk with the options the Tampa Bay Rays have and prospects coming up in the minors.

6) Andruw Jones – really just a one trick pony now with some power and not much else. Not much chance for the batting average to go up when you strike out 36% of the time. Right now locked in as the Chicago White Sox designated hitter. Reports are he is in great shape coming into training camp, but being in shape doesn’t fix a broken swing.

7) Mike Jacobs – assuming he finds a starting job somewhere. You know what you get with Jacobs, 400 at bats and 20 home runs with batting average downside which could be helped if he is played exclusively against right-handed pitching.

8.) Jim Thome – recently signed with the Minnesota Twins. Playing time is going to be the issue as there has already been contradicting quotes from the general manager and manager just how he will be used. I have him penciled in for 300 at bats which still should yield home runs in the upper teens.

9) Randy Ruiz – made major league debut at the age of 30 in 2008. Owns minor league average of .304 so ability to hit for average is there. Should see time at the very least against left-handed pitching and in brief sample showed he had no problem with right-handers as well.

10) Ken Griffey Jr. – has value in an AL only league, with power to hit 20 home runs in 400 at bats. Not much use in a mixed league format unless you have daily transactions.

Take note that on Monday, 2/15 I will be releasing the FBT Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide for just $9.99. It’s better than any magazine you will find on the stands because the information will be updated weekly up until Opening Day and the data will be in excel format so it will be easy to use. For that low price, you will get:

• Over 450 player projections – easily sortable by league or position. Includes all player ages as of Opening Day.
• All of the player notes that have been posted on the website as a quick cheat sheet to use during your draft.
• Expanded player rankings for all positions.
• A weekly article (that will not appear on the website) in regards to fantasy strategy for winning an auction or draft league.
• An in-depth article on how to use the player projections. Player rankings and projections are great, but if they are not used correctly, you are not getting the most out of them.
• Advice and guidance from someone that has been in the trenches and won leagues before. A lot of people writing articles or doing projections are just that, writers that have not been able to successfully win at fantasy baseball. In the 20 years that I have been playing fantasy baseball, I have won draft and auction leagues in multiple formats and can relate that information to you the reader.

Next up in the series for the 2010 fantasy baseball rankings will be starting pitchers.