Armando Galarraga

Profile: After faring poorly over eight starts with the Diamondbacks, Galarraga was banished to Triple-A, where he posted a gruesome 9.26 ERA in 23.1 innings. With poor strikeout ability and below average control, one wonders how he managed to rack up over 500 big league innings to begin with. Heck, he has even been a fly ball pitcher throughout his career, so it is difficult to even find one positive in his profile. His swinging strike rate does suggest a higher strikeout rate, though even a league average rate won’t be enough to make him useful. If he does manage to find his way back to the majors, make sure he stays far away from your fantasy team. (Mike Podhorzer)

Quick Opinion: Without a Major League role and weak skills to begin with, it is safe to avoid Galarraga. Even if flashes of his near no-hitter come to mind, do your best to ignore him.

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Darren O’Day

Profile: The rare side-arming righty that doesn’t get totally crushed by lefties, O’Day could see significant high leverage work with the Orioles if Jim Johnson manages to stick in the rotation. He’s got some sneaky good holds potential. (Mike Axisa)

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Yoennis Cespedes

Profile: Cespedes has some great tools that scouts look for in an incoming prospect. He’s got power, speed, and decent defensive ability (if he moves to the corner outfield). Problem is, Cespedes is already 26 years old, so he’ll need to contribute almost immediately to make his probably massive contract worthwhile. The prevailing thought is that the Cuban import may need just a couple of months in the minors to get back in the swing of things before making his way to the big time. It’s hard to put a faithful projection together for a player with no MLB or MiLB experience, but owners could expect double-digit homers and steals, but his batting average may not be higher than .260. Hopefully, for whatever team signs him, Cespedes will be better known for his play on the field then the videos his marketing team comprised of 15-year-olds produced. (Zach Sanders)

Quick Opinion: Cespedes is going to get some hype when he debuts, but he’s not going to be a fantasy superstar. He’s a better pick in keeper leagues where you can afford to wait a year and give him an adjustment period.

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After getting mostly ignored by the Baseball Writer’s Association of America, Ron Santo was finally elected to the baseball Hall of Fame by the veteran’s committee this summer. Santo’s enshrinement was a victory for those who had championed his case for years, and suggested that perhaps even the folks in Cooperstown were coming around to the growing appreciation for the value of defense at the offensive-oriented corner positions. Just a few months after his election, however, several clubs have apparently decided that quality defense at third base is a luxury item after all.

The Tigers have gotten the most coverage for their decision to move Miguel Cabrera back across the diamond to a position he was deemed too big to play back in 2008. However, the Angels are also toying with the idea of giving first baseman Mark Trumbo some playing time at the hot corner after he was displaced by the signing of Albert Pujols, and the Marlins acquisition of Jose Reyes means that Hanley Ramirez – never known for his focus on defense to begin with – will grudgingly move over to third base. In all three cases, a team with hopes of contention in 2012 is showing some willingness to sacrifice glove work at third base in order to upgrade their offense. There’s no doubt that Pujols, Fielder, and Reyes will help their new teams win more games, but just how bad might we expect the new third baseman to be, and would these teams just be better off abandoning the experiment and finding another way to get those bats in the line-up?

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