Rotoprofessor

Here is some news that’s out there this morning:

• Over at Rotoprofessor: Football, we have our latest Ask the Expert, this time with Corey Masisak of The Washington Times.  He gave some tremendous answers regarding the upcoming season and it really is worth the read (click here to jump to the interview directly).
• John Grupp of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (click here for the article) is reporting that the Pirates will handle their ace, Paul Maholm, with care over the next few weeks since he is on pace to “obliterate last year’s total of 177 2/3 innings”.  Maholm, however, was quoted as saying, “Whatever number it reaches, it reaches. I think if you are in shape and your arm is in shape good enough, the 200-inning mark is a goal for every pitcher and, hopefully, I’ll go above it and still feel good”.  It certainly will be interesting to see how the Pirates handle the situation, but I’d look for him to get an extra day of rest here or there.  Just keep that in mind.
• C.J. Wilson is “going to be ready for spring training and is committed to competing for the closer job next season” according to Richard Durrett of The Dallas Morning News (click here for the post).  He is going to need to rehab from 6-12 weeks.  Who knows which direction the Rangers will go, but it certainly is no guarantee that Wilson is the team’s closer next year.  Keeper league owners certainly should monitor the Rangers moves in the offseason before commiting to him.
• According to Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star (click here for the article), it appears likely that Kyle Davies could return to the team to start on Saturday, though that would necessitate moving a player to the DL (Davies has to spend 10 days in the minors, unless he’s replacing a player who went on the DL).  As for Sunday, the choices appear to be Kip Wells and Brandon Duckworth, according to Dutton.  None of these three are very useful options, so no matter what route they go, I’d ignore them in all formats.
• In the end, the A’s decide to put both Justin Duchscherer and Sean Gallagher on the DL, according to Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle (click here for the post).  The team recalled Dana Eveland and Dan Meyer to take their spots.  She says that the plan for Duchscherer is “to have him pitching again in early September after tomorrow’s cortisone shot for right hip inflammation”. 
• David Ross has signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox, according to Joe McDonald of The Providence Journal (click here for the article).  He doesn’t present much value to fantasy owners at this point.
• In a separate article (click here), McDonald notes that the Red Sox recalled Chris Smith to help out in the bullpen.
• In yet another article from The Providence Journal (click here), Steven Krasner is reporting that Bartolo Colon is moving towards his return, throwing 40 pitches over 4 innings yesterday.  He could be ready to return right around September 1, and given the state of the Red Sox rotation, he should step right in upon his return.  Pitching for the Red Sox, he’s certainly a pitcher worth monitoring in the deepest of formats, if you are in need of some wins.