A work colleague and I were talking shop about some recent pickups, free agents, call-ups, etc. … And he tells me that he’s been able to grab Carlos Quentin to shore up some injury spots and was debating to keep either Michael Bourn or Carlos Gomez, after having been able to drop and re-acquire the two.

I can’t relate (Other guys he’s been able to pick up include Casey Kotchman, Johnny Cueto, who’s since come back down to earth, and Edinson Volquez).

And a small part of me misses those shallow 10-team, mixed-league rotisseries. Bourn and Gomez were both drafted in my big league and Quentin was picked up on April 7. I was happy to just steal Jurrjens as my No. 5 pitcher in my NL-only league and even happier when Scherzer arrived in the bigs just nine days after picking up the minor-leaguer to fill my starting roster for future potential. Crossing my fingers to see if I have a chance at him in my big league (Yahoo! lets him free from waivers on May 1).

But I digress … Onto some useful info …

A couple of weeks ago, I said to keep an eye on Seattle OF Wladimir Balentien, and he finally got the call Wednesday night (I guess the Mariners wanted to let Brad Wilkerson get his average above .200 before getting rid of him). Balentien provided the team’s only offense by smacking a three-run homer off Cleveland’s Cliff Lee. Balentien finished 2 for 4 hitting out of the seventh spot. He was hitting .254 with six homers and 20 RBI in 17 games at Triple-A this season.

Called up alongside him was C Jeff Clement, who had a ninth-inning single after relieving Kenji Johjima of duties an inning prior. Clement hit .375  with two HRs and three RBIs in nine games for the Mariners and totaled 20 HRs and 80 RBIs at Triple-A in 2007. In 23 games at Triple-A this year, he hit .397 with five HRs and 20 RBIs.

Both are highly suggested.

Some other tidbits ...

Arizona P Max Scherzer’s stay in the bullpen lasted exactly 4.1 perfect innings. He’ll start against Philadelphia Monday.

Chicago Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano is ready to be activated off the DL Thursday. You have to be happy when he says he feels he can steal at least 30 bases this year (That makes me VERY happy).

Another NY Yankee was just placed on the DL – Alex Rodriguez with a strained right quad.

Colorado SS Troy Tulowitzki could land on the DL with a strained left quad.

One player who currently isn’t recommended – but is wasting away on my roster – is NY Yankee Phil Hughes. The 0-4 phenom with the 9.00 ERA and 2.14 WHIP was placed on the DL with a strained right oblique (probably from all the sudden turns he's made to watch a ball get smacked to left field … I’m not too bitter about my projected No. 4 starter).