Full Disclosure: Anxiously awaiting A-Rod

Progress? Pfft ... what progress?

Just as soon as you start to make it, injuries do their best to negate it.

I've become a victim, with recent injuries to Ryan Doumit and Stephen Drew impacting me in the same way those to Brandon Webb and Vladimir Guerrero have impacted others already. It's bad enough in shallower mixed formats, where you can patch a hole easily enough using the waiver wire. But in deeper, league-specific formats, what can you do other than shake your head and wait?

At least we've reached that point in the season where returning players, the ones you avoided on Draft Day like Alex Rodriguez and Joe Mauer, can offer some relief. Even if you don't own them yourself, their returns have an effect, if only indirectly.

You'll see.

12-team mixed Rotisserie (3rd; 5x5 Score: 82.5)

At least I have one team going in the right direction. This one has improved its standing every week so far, moving within striking distance of the league lead.

It got its biggest boost this past week from two Nationals -- rookie Jordan Zimmermann, who won two games in his first week in the majors, and Jesus Flores, who hit two home runs and had eight RBI. Flores has finally started to become a run-producing catcher, something I could use since I didn't draft a surefire slugger in the early rounds.

As for Zimmermann, I don't want to call him the answer to all my hopes and prayers just yet. He did have a 1.32 WHIP in those two starts, giving up more than a hit per inning. But a pitcher of his talent obviously deserves a roster spot until he does something to lose it. Besides, I didn't have anyone targeted to replace him other than Kyle Davies, who had a seven-run meltdown Saturday. Nothing enticing about that.

For the first time this year, my lineup remains exactly the same from one week to the next, though I can't say I'm totally satisfied with my inaction. I wish I had made some moves I didn't, most notably picking up Ian Stewart, who now qualifies at second base as of Monday. If I didn't already have Dustin Pedroia and Dan Uggla, I probably wouldn't have hesitated to add him, but that's no excuse, really. One of them could get hurt, and I could have used Stewart as an outfielder or a corner infielder in the meantime.

But no, adding him would have meant dropping Nick Swisher or Todd Helton, and I couldn't bring myself to do that, not with both owned in a higher percentage of leagues than Stewart. So I waited and waited, hoping someone would create an opening either by getting hurt or struggling enough for me to take action. Finally, someone else took action and added Stewart, and -- you know what? -- I wish I had him instead of Swisher or Helton.

He's not playing every day, but it's only a matter of time before the team gives him regular at-bats. He could hit .290 with 30 home runs this year, and he qualifies at three positions. Don't let him go unowned, particularly if you have a bench.

As for Swisher and Helton, both qualify as "on thin ice" right now. After his hot start hinted of a long-overdue breakout, Swisher has played more like himself lately, batting .161 over his last eight games. Helton finally had a big game Tuesday, only to follow it with his usual nothingness the rest of the week. My excessive patience caused me to miss out on Jason Kubel, who I actually like more than Swisher right now, but I couldn't bring myself to make that exchange because, again, Swisher has a higher ownership percentage than Kubel. Stupid reasoning, maybe, but if you cut a guy owned in 90 percent of leagues, you can't expect to get him back.

Just one more week, Swisher. Make it count.

10-team mixed Head-to-Head (1st; Record: 3-0)

Despite my record and first-place standing, I in no way consider this league a runaway. I won by only three points this week and don't even lead the league in scoring, trailing someone else by five points. Yeah, I still have work to do.

And work I've done. Ten teams make for a well-stocked waiver wire, and 25-man rosters make for plenty of wiggle room. Fun times for everybody.

Well, maybe not for people who like inactivity.

My most important move this week came out of need. My starting catcher, Ryan Doumit, went on the DL with a broken right wrist, and my reaction was ... surprisingly stoic. Someone had just dropped Yadier Molina a couple days earlier, anticipating a return of Joe Mauer, and I noticed then, while wishing I had used a middle-round pick on Doumit instead of Shin-Soo Choo, just what kind of player Molina has become. He walks more than he strikes out, hits over .300 and seemingly has the pop to hit 12-15 home runs. I said it earlier this week on video, and I'll put it in writing here: He's a poor man's Joe Mauer and deserves to start in all leagues. Even if he doesn't give me power, he'll give me consistency, and that's all I want from a catcher in Head-to-Head leagues.

I've finally had enough of Troy Percival. I understand his struggles might have more to do with the Rays' slow start than anything else, but I'm not convinced he'll keep his job once the team starts winning. Besides, Ryan Franklin has emerged as the Cardinals' no-questions-asked closer, and I trust that scenario more. The Cardinals might have an even better chance of going to the World Series this year than the Rays. If they have a clear closer, I want him.

With Jason Kubel and Ian Stewart already owned in this league, I didn't have any hitters to target until this weekend, when somebody dropped Adam Lind. Why? I don't know. I also don't know why nobody outbid me and my $2 for him. He strikes out a little too much for my liking, but he established himself as a consistent .300 hitter in the minors. These numbers have some legitimacy to them. And for all the talk of him "slowing down," he really hasn't, hitting .300 over his last five games. In saying hello to Lind, I said goodbye to Kyle Davies. I won't take him off my radar, but I don't suspect anyone else will take him off the waiver wire.

As far as lineup changes go, I immediately activated Lind for Nick Swisher -- a guy who really has cooled off -- opting to keep B.J. Upton on my bench for now. He's doing nothing but striking out, so I'll wait for him to shake off the rust. Also, for the first time this season, I made a switch at starting pitcher, benching Matt Garza for Wandy Rodriguez. Garza has struggled, and Rodriguez has an off chance of making two starts. I'll take that chance given his high strikeout rate.

12-team AL-only Rotisserie (12th; 5x5 Score: 45.0)

The bad just keeps getting worse. I'm now in dead last.

Here's how far I've fallen: Mike Redmond has become my starting DH. It's a first for me. It's a first for him.

I've gone from optimistic to uneasy to concerned about this team and have stepped up my trade offers as a result. I haven't quite reached panic mode yet. That'll come if I still haven't made progress two weeks after Alex Rodriguez returns.

I currently have three offers on the table to three different teams: Koji Uehara and Jeff Niemann for Jose Guillen and Jose A. Bautista, Uehara and Niemann for Jason Giambi and Brian N. Anderson and Uehara for Jack Cust. So far, nobody has responded, which I can only assume is lazy-man speak for "no, thank you." There's a pet peeve of mine. If I make someone an offer, I expect him to respond to it somehow. He can laugh in my face if he wants, but I need some form of closure.

Anyway, I'll keep looking for power hitting. I have too much extra pitching not to find a deal that suits me sooner or later.

For now, I'll take advantage of the surplus and move Koji Uehara back into my lineup. If he can pitch as well as he did against the Rangers last week, I have no reason to doubt him right now. I also started Jeff Niemann over Russ Springer since he takes the mound twice this week. Sure, he could end up doing twice the damage, but I don't mind gambling this early to pad my strikeouts and wins.

As for starting Redmond at DH, I did it because I recently picked up fellow Twins catcher Jose Morales, not knowing for sure which player will serve as Mauer's backup once he returns. I assume Redmond, but Morales has played better. The addition of Morales allowed me, with some slight rearranging, to move Aaron Cunningham out of my lineup, which means I finally have legitimate major leaguers in every one of my lineup spots.

Hey, some at-bats are better than none, right?

12-team NL-only Rotisserie (8th; 5x5 Score: 54.5)

Just when I started to make progress in a league where I probably don't have enough hitting in the first place, Stephen Drew had to go on the DL with a hamstring injury, taking a serious bite out of my offense. As if Garret Anderson wasn't enough.

Unlike in my AL-only league, I can't count on A-Rod to save me here. I need to make a trade. Unfortunately, I don't have a clear surplus of pitching like I do in that AL-only league, leaving me without any real trade bait. Maybe I could use Braden Looper or Jorge De La Rosa to get some underappreciated guy like Austin Kearns. I'll look into it.

My lineup has improved in some respects. Craig Monroe has done enough to emerge as a capable starter in a league this deep. Same for Micah Hoffpauir, who might get some starts with Derrek Lee nursing a sore neck. I also added Eugenio Velez, who I can at least hope will get a few starts with starter Emmanuel Burriss struggling. He takes over as my starting second baseman in place of Blake DeWitt.

The injuries to Drew and Anderson move Nate Schierholtz and Alfredo Amezaga into my lineup. Schierholtz doesn't impress me right now, but Amezaga might give me some steals, which I could use. I rank dead last in the category. Wake up, Hanley Ramirez and Elijah Dukes.

Looking for a middle reliever to stabilize my ERA and WHIP, I plucked Mark DiFelice off the waiver wire and started him in place J.A. Happ. I still like Happ's potential as a starter, so I'll hang on to him for now in the hope that the Phillies eventually move him into the rotation.

20-team mixed Head-to-Head (3rd, NL only side; Record: 2-1)
(10 teams NL-only, 10 teams AL-only)

A 2-1 record has me feeling much more comfortable than a 1-2 record would have, so my outfield stepped up at the right time, with each of Carlos N. Lee, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth topping 30 points. I still haven't gotten much from either of my first two picks, Jose Reyes and Lance Berkman, so if anything, this team has underachieved so far.

My pitching staff also hasn't offered much, but I hope to change my luck this week by going with a pair of two-start pitchers, Braden Looper and Anibal Sanchez, over one-start options Todd Wellemeyer and Randy Johnson. Johnson has a nice matchup at home against the Rockies, so I wouldn't normally have chosen to bench him, but he has run so hot and cold this year that I can't bring myself to start him over a two-start Sanchez. I'll probably regret it.

I complained about a lack of roster space last week -- a problem that Franklin Morales so graciously solved by going on the DL with a shoulder injury. Of course, by then, someone else had already added Felipe Paulino, who inspired that little rant. No matter. Someone made the mistake of dropping Emilio Bonifacio -- something that shouldn't happen in a league this deep, regardless of this cold streak -- so I had a free roster spot to add him and improve my depth at second and third base.

I don't like Bonifacio and don't think he'll get back to playing like he did the first week of the season, but he can recover enough to give me an above-average replacement if someone gets hurt -- certainly better than anything I could get off the waiver wire at the time. He might eventually surpass Pedro Feliz and become my starting third baseman outright.

Randy Winn started to heat up late last week, but I decided to start Elijah Dukes over him, mostly because he plays seven games to Winn's six. Again, I'll probably regret it.

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