First, the details on the 21 year-old righty.  He dominated at Low A last year and early this year, and then handled the jump to Double A with aplomb (a 1.91 ERA in nine starts there).  Peripherals were excellent across the board, especially his pinpoint control.  Now Latos will try to skip another level by entering the Padres rotation, possibly Sunday at home against Colorado.

Baseball America questioned the kid's maturity and health, but praised his raw stuff as "ridiculously good."  Excellent fastball and slider, decent changeup.  BA really worries about his attitude, and had him pegged for just Double A this year.

Another factor to consider is that Padres GM Kevin Towers suggested in the above-linked article that Latos will be shut down after about 55 more innings.  So you're probably getting 10-11 starts.

I see the kid is not yet listed in Yahoo leagues.  Based on his numbers, scouting report, and home park, I'd pounce when he does appear.  We often see young players struggle with control, but that might not be an issue with Latos.

1. Roy Halladay
2. Justin Verlander - 10 starts in the 110-121 pitch range, and two more beyond that.  In his career, Verlander is yet to have an impressive second half.
3. Gil Meche
4. Kevin Millwood - Big contract incentive for Millwood to pitch 50 more innings this year.
5. Edwin Jackson - Another notch in Jim Leyland's belt, this time with a 25 year-old.  Jackson's pro innings high was 183.3 last year with the Rays; if he makes 32 starts he could top 210.  Even if his arm does hold up, you almost have to consider selling high simply because you know he probably won't repeat his 2.52 first-half ERA.
6. Adam Wainwright
7. Ubaldo Jimenez
8. C.C. Sabathia
9. Chad Billingsley
10. Ian Snell
11. Cliff Lee
12. Kyle Davies
13. Yovani Gallardo
14. Tim Lincecum
15. Josh Beckett
16. Barry Zito
17. Wandy Rodriguez
18. A.J. Burnett
19. Livan Hernandez
20. Aaron Harang

Which pitchers do you see breaking down in the second half?

• Josh Willingham, OF.  .340-11-24-36-3 in 156 ABs.  Not a household name, but he's been better than a lot of big-name OFs since the beginning of May.  Willingham is a decent candidate to be traded.
• Luke Scott, OF.  Weird season for Scott - mediocre in April and June, on fire in May and July.  He's at .325-15-40-30-0 since May 1.
• Maicer Izturis, SS.  He's actually done most of his damage in June and July.  But 30 runs in 149 ABs since May 1 deserves attention.  He's batted leadoff over 100 times.
• Franklin Gutierrez, OF.  .314-9-30-34-5 since May 1 - a five tool guy.
• Cody Ross, OF.  .301-11-38-36-3. 
• A few SPs who've been killing it since May 1 but were certainly undrafted in mixed leagues: Randy Wells and J.A. Happ.  Wells has better peripherals and is less hit-reliant.  Kenshin Kawakami has been solid at 3.36.  Gavin Floyd's at 4.07, nice peripherals.  Similar story for Brian Bannister, Carl Pavano, Jason Hammel, Kevin Correia, Brett Anderson, Jordan Zimmermann, and Hiroki Kuroda.  Highly touted young guys like Anderson and Zimmermann could take off in the second half.

Encarnacion recently came off a chip fracture in his wrist, an injury that is known to linger.  The Reds might not have much confidence; they were linked to Scott Rolen earlier this month.  But hey, that's why you're getting him on the cheap.  Tiny samples, but Encarnacion's five extra-base hits in 34 July plate appearances plus two HRs in his rehab stint might be positive signs.

EE is still only 26, and he's shown that when he's right he can bang out 5-7 homers in a given month.  I'd snag him and see how the rest of July goes.  Along similar lines, it's time to grab Alex Gordon if he was cut following news of hip surgery.  He'll return this week.

1. Cult of Personality - 93.5
2. Men With Wood - 81
3. Waveland Avenue - 79.5
4. A Century Of Misery - 75.5
5. Ghostride the WHIP - 68.5
6. Santas Magic Janitor - 68
7. Depressed Fan - 60.5
8. Miss Conception - 60.5
9. Smell The Glove - 53.5
10. Philly Cheez - 53
11. Dizzy Llamas - 51.5
12. Broken Down Volvos - 35

The league has a $100 buy-in, so the pot is substantial.  And on the flip side, the bottom four teams are kicked out.  Many of us are jockeying to get to 8th place.

Why is Cult Of Personality running away with the league?  Let's take a look at his draft by round, starting with the second overall pick:

1. Jose Reyes
2. B.J. Upton
3. Prince Fielder
4. Alex Rios
5. Curtis Granderson
6. Felix Hernandez
7. Ryan Zimmerman
8. Yovani Gallardo
9. Carlos Pena
10. Adam Wainwright
11. Chris Iannetta
12. Jose Lopez
13. Matt Capps (traded with Street for Michael Young on May 13)
14. Ervin Santana (dropped June 2)
15. Josh Johnson
16. Shin-Soo Choo
17. Billy Butler (dropped April 21)
18. Huston Street
19. Wandy Rodriguez
20. Adam Lind (dropped March 22)
21. Aaron Hill (traded for Matt Cain on May 24)
22. Jordan Zimmermann (dropped April 5)
23. Yadier Molina
24. Jeremy Hermida (dropped June 6)
25. Josh Fields (dropped May 13)
26. Jose Arredondo (dropped March 18)

Key pickups: Asdrubal Cabrera, Michael Cuddyer, Cody Ross, and J.A. Happ.  With 31 moves, Cult has not been nearly as active as most teams in the league.  It's paid off.  And he only had one glaring bad drop in Lind.  He has a stacked outfield and a speedy team, despite the loss of Reyes.  And look at those sleepers coming through!  The team has only two weaknesses: AVG for 6 points (not that bad), and a 1 in saves with the decision to punt the category and avoid the waiver wire madness.

At least at this point, Cult is proof that A) you can punt saves in a tough league and B) you can get past a first-round bust.

How do I deal with bogus trades? I'm in a 10 player head to head league, and two teams just hooked up for a trade: Geovany Soto and Brian Roberts were traded for Joe Mauer and Orlando Hudson (worst trade ever?). The same guy who gave up Mauer and Hudson has been trying to get Kevin Youkilis from me, offering me things like Chipper Jones for Youkilis and Joe Nathan. How do I deal with B.S. like this? - John

I don't understand why this trade would be considered bogus.  Is there evidence of corruption?  I don't agree with your implication that anyone sending Mauer and Hudson for Soto and Roberts isn't on the up-and-up.  It sounds like sour grapes on your part because you couldn't get a deal done.  Maybe his Chipper offer was just an opening salvo, in those talks.

In my league we have 10 teams...for the most part everyone seems to be willing to give the commissioner all info on offers they have received and all the players they covet.  The commissioner also seems to help team owners out in trade matters, for instance maybe changing their mind and helping them with a counter offer.  Advice is one thing but at what point is a commissioner over stepping his bounds when he is an owner as well? - Steve

As long as the owners are giving up this information because they want his opinion, and not because he demanded it as the commissioner, I don't see a problem.  It seems odd for the commissioner to stick his nose into other people's trades.  But if he's smooth enough to get all that info, more power to him.  As a Yahoo commissioner, I am not privy to anyone's trade offers unless they tell me.  If with other services the commissioner sees everything, that would be a problem.

I'm #1 in waiver priority for my Yahoo! H2H league. Is there anybody out there who may not be in the Yahoo! player universe worth waiting to use this lofty position? - Jeff K.

No one comes to mind.  I am not going to say Stephen Strasburg.  The obvious stud rookies like Tommy Hanson and Matt Wieters have already gotten the call.  If you're going to savor that #1 waiver spot, I suppose you can camp out in the hope that someone makes a bad drop.

Do you think that Ricky Romero will continue to do well even with interleague play over with? Do you think he should be a must own player? - Chad

Yes, he's a must-own player.  I'd set my expectations at an ERA below 4.00 from here on out rather than below 3.00.  But his peripherals are decent and he gets a lot of groundballs.

What do I do with Matt Wieters? He hasn't really been all that good yet. Should I trade him while he's got some value or hold on to him? - Brandon

I would hang on to him in the hopes that he has a big or at least decent second half.  I doubt the trade return would be impressive in a non-keeper league.  In his one full month (June), Wieters wasn't that bad (.257-2-7-7-0).

What's the deal with Mike Napoli, he's batting around .300 and has around 10 HR. Weren't we predicting more HR and a lower AVG? How will Napoli play in the second half? - Max

Napoli has actually been better-than-expected with the bat, with his improved contact rate contributing to his .290 AVG.  I expected 23 HR from Napoli in 367 ABs.  Just doubling his stats he's on pace for 20 HR in about 372 ABs.  I'd expect the AVG to come down a touch, and Napoli owners have to be slightly disappointed with the Jeff Mathis job-share.  But ESPN still ranks Napoli 7th among catchers this year for fantasy value.

When will Clay Buchholz rejoin the Bosox? Will he contribute this season? - Alan

Buchholz, 25 in August, owns a 2.05 ERA in 87.6 Triple A innings.  He has a 3.3 K/BB as well.  I think he can get big league hitters out, but the Red Sox don't have a rotation spot for him currently.  There are six pitchers ahead of him: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, Brad Penny, John Smoltz, and the injured Daisuke Matsuzaka.  Dice-K is dealing with a shoulder injury and has no timetable for return.  Smoltz is always a risk for re-injury, and Penny is a trade/injury candidate.  Penny had a strong June, though, and the Sox might not want to risk their depth.  My suggestion is to hold Buchholz for the next four weeks while gathering more info about Dice-K, Penny, and Smoltz.  But don't be so married to the idea of Buchholz taking the AL by storm that you're afraid to cut him for someone with more certainty and immediate value.

NAME	BABIP	K/BB	ISO	ERA	WHIP
Edinson Volquez	0.224	1.47	0.163	4.35	1.33
Luke Hochevar	0.224	1.06	0.171	4.96	1.21
Chris Carpenter	0.230	5.30	0.115	2.42	0.82
Dan Haren	0.232	7.53	0.123	2.19	0.81
Garrett Olson	0.236	1.86	0.222	4.81	1.23
Scott Feldman	0.240	1.65	0.151	4.09	1.18
Matt Garza	0.242	2.10	0.148	3.45	1.18
Yovani Gallardo	0.244	2.48	0.149	2.75	1.15
Sean West	0.245	1.24	0.158	4.06	1.38
Scott Richmond	0.246	2.37	0.211	3.69	1.20
John Maine	0.246	1.24	0.140	4.52	1.38
J.A. Happ	0.247	1.61	0.149	3.00	1.23
Johnny Cueto	0.251	2.44	0.154	2.69	1.12
CC Sabathia	0.252	2.52	0.110	3.55	1.09
Edwin Jackson	0.255	2.90	0.122	2.49	1.04
Shairon Martis	0.256	0.87	0.178	5.25	1.42
Chris Jakubauskas	0.258	1.53	0.196	5.46	1.28
Brian Tallet	0.258	1.58	0.157	4.47	1.33
Jered Weaver	0.258	2.61	0.149	3.10	1.13
Joe Saunders	0.259	1.74	0.185	4.24	1.30

Those with low K/BB ratios are possible sell candidates. 

Now those with high BABIPs, which figure to come down:

NAME	BABIP	K/BB	ISO	ERA	WHIP
Billy Buckner	0.376	2.20	0.262	8.63	1.77
Cole Hamels	0.376	4.28	0.178	4.98	1.47
John Lackey	0.375	2.80	0.144	5.06	1.52
Manny Parra	0.365	1.34	0.191	7.52	1.92
Scott Olsen	0.363	2.00	0.250	6.56	1.75
Sidney Ponson	0.362	1.41	0.141	7.27	1.73
Ricky Nolasco	0.355	3.89	0.201	5.99	1.45
Justin Masterson	0.353	2.57	0.128	4.28	1.39
Felipe Paulino	0.353	2.71	0.176	5.51	1.54
Todd Wellemeyer	0.352	1.38	0.163	5.68	1.70
Kevin Slowey	0.351	4.73	0.184	4.41	1.40
Chan Ho Park	0.348	1.83	0.150	6.04	1.60
Scott Kazmir	0.348	1.33	0.182	7.28	1.86
Derek Holland	0.348	2.44	0.217	6.20	1.60
Rich Hill	0.347	1.37	0.181	7.08	1.80
Jorge De La Rosa	0.346	2.29	0.171	5.64	1.49
Carl Pavano	0.346	3.78	0.167	5.56	1.41
Adam Eaton	0.343	1.47	0.259	8.56	1.83
Jon Lester	0.340	3.80	0.144	4.35	1.31

Hamels, Lackey, and Nolasco stand as buy-low candidates, if it's not too late.  Paulino and Slowey are intriguing as well.

• Huston Street has pitched three days in a row, tossing 21 pitches yesterday.  Perhaps a save chance tonight goes to Matt Daley or is decided by matchups.
• Brian Fuentes has gone two days in a row, and I don't see any streaks of three straight this year for him.  Maybe Darren Oliver or Justin Speier gets a look.
• J.P. Howell has pitched three days in a row; a fourth day seems unlikely.  A chance for Dan Wheeler tonight?
• Mike MacDougal has pitched back-to-back days for the Nats.  Not sure if Joe Beimel could be called upon.
• Very cool way to present the data, though it would've been most useful late last night (updated through Sunday) so that I could potentially make pickups for today.

First off Blanton is in his first full National League season.  He bumped up his K/9 upon joining the NL last year, from a career-worst 4.4 to a career-best 6.2.  This year it's much higher at 8.3.  This is reminiscent of Bronson Arroyo, who took the NL by storm in 2006 and faded thereafter.

Blanton's always had solid control, and that's continued this year.  His two problems have been hits and home runs, which have led to a 5.06 ERA and 1.42 WHIP in 83.6 innings.  While Blanton has the weakest groundball rate of his career, he still shouldn't continue allowing HRs at 17.5% per flyball.  As for the hits, Blanton's .316 BABIP exceeds his team's .308 by a touch.

XFIP says Blanton has pitched worthy of a 3.96 ERA, and his Expected WHIP is about 1.40.  So he will not help your WHIP without some good fortune in hits or improved control.  It might not be a trend, but Blanton has a 1.95 BB/9 for June and did flash that kind of control in 2007.

Blanton is sitting at the same 89.4 mph fastball as always, but has dialed up slider usage at the expense of his curveball.  He's also using an unidentified pitch almost 10% of the time, a career-high.

Blanton's next matchups are scheduled against the Braves, Mets, and Pirates.  Nothing too terrifying in there, given the Mets' depleted lineup.