I want to start tonight by wishing a very Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there, especially my wonderful mother who has meant so much to my life. And also to my wife, who will be a mother for the second time at any minute. We all owe so much to these women, make sure they know what they mean to you. I know fantasy baseball doesn’t lend itself to too many mothers reading this (although I know of two for sure), but it is something that is important to me.

Reds’ rookie Johnny Cueto is taking a turn for the worse. After electrifying his opponents in Spring Training in the beginning of the season, Cueto has lost four of his last five decisions. Cueto allowed another six runs on Sunday against the Mets, failing to get through the fifth inning. I still wouldn’t advise dropping him, but he has got to be on serious watch if he continues to pitch this way.

Closers in the National League Central are dropping like flies. A day after Jason Isringhausen was removed as Cardinals closer, Eric Gagne was finally removed as the closer of the Brewers. Milwaukee announced that they would employ the dreaded “closer by committee” and the first opportunity went to Salomon Torres, but he had to be removed in the ninth inning before the save went to Bob Shouse. This situation is a mess, and it is hard to say who will be getting saves for the Brewers. More information will come IF it becomes available.

People are always very torn on their opinion on the Mets’ Oliver Perez on how he should be valued. Those who argue against Perez see him as a guy who can’t keep his concentration, walks too many batters, and is prone to the big inning. Those, like me, who like Perez see his electric arm, strikeout rate, home park he pitches in, and offensive ability of the team he plays for, and says if he gets a few breaks he could win 18 games. Today Perez was that good pitcher, and the Mets were that offensive team. Perez went six innings, allowed three runs, and struck out eight to improve his record to 3-3. I can’t really argue against his negatives, but I believe he will be good more often than he will be bad.

Rich Harden made his much anticipated return to the mound Sunday, but he did not come through for those who have been so patient with him. Harden could only get through 3.2 innings and allowed five runs. I wouldn’t advise go sending Harden to the waiver wire, not yet at least. As long as he is healthy, keep Harden on your roster, at least until he gets hurt again. He is an immensely talented guy, he just can’t stay on the mound. If you have been this patient, wait until he starts again.

To replace the struggling Rich Hill, the Cubs called up Sean Gallagher, and let’s just say, Rich Hill could have done that! Gallagher only lasted 4.1 innings, gave up four runs, and struck out six. I would want to see at least one quality start before I thought about adding Gallagher to my roster.

Ervin Santana has been nearly perfect all season long, and we here at Fighting Chance have just been waiting for him to falter. And boy did he falter. Santana gave up five runs in 5.2 innings, but didn’t figure in the decision. While I believe that Santana will have a pretty good season, trust me, this isn’t the last time that we will see a terrible outing like Sunday. To me, he is one of the biggest sell high candidates of 2008.

“Mr. Almost A No Hitter” Gavin Floyd did not get so close to the no hitter on Sunday. In fact, Floyd didn’t even see the fifth inning today. He allowed five runs over 3.2 innings and didn’t record a strikeout. Floyd has been a good story this year, but he is still wildly inconsistent. No runs here, five runs there, no runs again, three runs over there. At the bottom of your rotation, he’s not a bad guy to have, but he is just too up and down for me to advise depending on him too much.

The Angels finally placed Chone Figgins on the disabled list with his strained hamstring. The move was retroactive to May 4^th (the day after the last time he played),which means he is eligible to return on May 19^th. The Angels are hopeful that he will be able to return on that day.

Francisco Liriano has been better in the minors, but still has a long road in his return to the majors.  On Saturday he allowed just two runs over six innings with five strikeouts.  This isn’t going to be a quick fix for Liriano, but this is at least encouraging for those of us who are holding on to him while he is in the minors.

Royals starter Brian Bannister came into 2008 with a lot of expectations on him, and up to this point he has been a mild disappointment. On Sunday, he showed what he is capable of. Bannister went eight shutout innings while striking out five. He was viewed as one of the big sleepers coming into the year, but he is looking like he will be slightly more than a .500 pitcher.

Impressive Performances

Ryan Braun is starting to look like the guy who won the 2007 NL ROY. Braun hit homers number six and seven on Sunday, and now has his batting average up to .281. He is not stealing bases like he did last year (he has only one), but if you can get the power numbers he put up last year, you still would have to be happy with his production.

After hitting two more homers on Sunday, Marlins 2B Dan Uggla now has seven homers in his last nine games. He also has 14 RBI during that stretch and has raised his average by over 30 points.

Another Marlin, Jeremy Hermida could possibly be on a hot streak that has been projected of him for years. Hermida has seven hits in his last five games to get his average over .300. He also hit his third homer of the year, and perhaps if he can stay on the field he can start to realize the potential that he has. A couple more good games, and you should hit the waiver wire for him.

A whopping disappointment, Carlos Beltran, had a game that could possibly get him out of the season long slump he has been in. Beltran had two hits, including his third homer, and raised his season average to .240. You probably spent a pretty high draft pick on Beltran, and you have to be hoping that this is the game that he starts to turn it around.

Rays OF Carl Crawford had himself a great Sunday. Crawford had three hits, including his third homer and also stole two bases (his 11^th and 12^th of the year). You most likely spent either a first round or early second round pick on Crawford, and theses are the kind of games you have been waiting for. Crawford has been decently consistent, but you’ve got to be hoping for a little more.

Finally, I got some gas today and I am appalled at the $3.85/gallon price that I paid. I’m not going to get into my political views, as this is not the place, but it is insane the amount that gas has gone up in the past 6-8 weeks. So, my question is, I want to know for those who read this and care to answer, where are you from and what is the gas price in your area?

As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Don’t forget to check me out at mlbfrontoffice.com on Tuesdays under In The News. Also go to fantasybaseballsearch.com to find me in the Gurus Blog.