Fantasy Baseball: Red-Hot Giancarlo Stanton Headlines Tuesday Talking Points

Here are some Tuesday talking points within the fantasy baseball realm, off an unusually busy Monday night around the majors.

1. Giancarlo Stanton has joined Matt Kemp, Josh Hamilton and Carlos Gonzalez as the hottest hitters on the planet.

I totally understand how Marlins pitcher Carlos Zambrano is getting all the national publicity this morning, on the heels of a complete-game shutout against the Astros (he also recorded nine strikeouts and his first Marlins win). But from a fantasy perspective, there is no greater storyline or sweeter sight than Stanton raking his sixth homer in nine days (along with 12 RBI in that span).

Whatever knee problems plagued him in April have seemingly dissipated, and once again Stanton has become a viable candidate for 40 homers (justifying a certain guru's preseason prediction).

As luck would have it, Miami has won seven straight games (all in May, all on the road) during Stanton's power surge. Even more impressive, neither Hanley Ramirez (.193 batting) nor Jose Reyes (four steals, .240 batting) has been a world-beater in the last 15 days.

All the Marlins apparently need at this point is stellar pitching (Zambrano, Anibal Sanchez, Mark Buehrle, Steve Cishek), timely hitting, fewer distractions from manager Ozzie Guillen (rhymes with "Pleedel Hastro") and whatever power numbers Stanton can spare on a daily level.

Is Stanton an untouchable on the trade market? Eh, judgment call for now. But since fantasy owners can never have enough outfield power...who could possibly be motivated to deal Stanton during or immediately after the hot streak reaches a cool-down point?

2. Red Sox rookie Will Middlebrooks (two homers on Monday) is clearly more of a can't-miss stud than Brandon Moss or Andy Marte.

While writing Talking Points around 1:50 a.m. ET, one of my faithful Twitter followers (@kgilly52) asked that I retweet "#TradeYouk" to Twitter Nation, as if it would magically spark a late-night, social-media revolution among the sports masses and subsequently motivate Boston GM Ben Cherington to trade Kevin Youkilis, in return for starting pitching.

That vacancy at third base would, of course, then be filled by Middlebrooks, the Red Sox' No. 1 prospect and purveyor of three major league homers in the last two days. (I called the Boston Chamber of Commerce Tuesday morning: There are no plans for a Will Middlebrooks statue outside Fenway Park—yet.)

Given my well-documented man-crush for Angels outfielder Mike Trout, I'm obviously not averse to over-hyping promising rookies with five-tool, four-category potential. But for the most part, even in the case of Bryce Harper, I'm about preaching patience with supposedly flawless prospects making their first go-round in the majors.

Yes, Middlebrooks (five RBI, 10 total bases on Monday) has had a tremendous start with the parent club; and yes, he posted Eric Thames-esque numbers in the minors (very good); and yes, the last-place Red Sox could use all the hitting help they can get...but does anyone really see Middlebrooks as a season-long upgrade over a healthy Youkilis—real world or fantasy-wise?

Actually, @KGilly52's whole premise seems to reflect that very point. Somehow, some way, Youkilis (two HRs, nine RBI, 14 runs, .219 batting this season) has morphed from the Greek God of Walks and two-time MVP candidate (2008/09) to fantasy roadkill in just a few short years.

I guess Boston fans are more fickle and impatient than the national media portrays them to be.

3. Who is Brandon Snyder? And why is he forever linked with Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Zimmerman, Jacoby Ellsbury and Ryan Braun?

Let's answer the second part first. Snyder was the No. 13 overall pick (Baltimore) in the famous 2005 MLB draft, perhaps the most prolific entry draft of the last 40 years. On Monday night, the Rangers backup infielder ravaged his original club with one homer, two runs, three hits and six RBI in his team's 14-3 dismantling of the Orioles, owners of baseball's best record (19-9) heading into Monday play.

To be clear, no one is suggesting that Snyder warrants waiver-wire consideration in 12-team mixed or AL-only leagues. His path to regular at-bats in the Texas infield has resistance at every turn, and Snyder likely doesn't have the overall game to leapfrog Adrian Beltre, Michael Young or Mitch Moreland in a single bound.

But if the Rangers should end up trading Snyder (.421 batting) to a club that needs corner infield help (Athletics, Indians, Rockies), fantasy GMs should make a mental note to acquire Snyder on the sly. But hey, for all we know, perhaps the Rangers are satisfied with Snyder's role and happy to unleash him to the world...at a rate of two or three times per week.

4. Lance Lynn is making Bob Tewksbury and fantasy owners everywhere proud with his lightning-fast start.

Lynn only went five innings against the Diamondbacks on Monday, yielding zero runs, striking out seven and walking four. It was far from his best performance, but it was more than enough to go 6-0 for the season and reduce his absurdly low ERA to 1.40. The victory also helped Lynn tie a franchise mark, becoming the second pitcher in Cardinals history to win his first six starts to open a season (Tewksbury, 1994).

But the real crux of the fantasy matter lies with Lynn getting pulled after 91 pitches and with a 7-0 lead after five-and-a-half innings, the third time he didn't last 100 pitches this season. Were the Cardinals coaches simply being cautious with an asset in the middle of a reliever-to-starter conversion? Or are there genuine endurance concerns with Lynn?

Yes, he's 6-0 and ranked among the most efficient fantasy pitchers, but in Lynn's six victories, St. Louis won by six, four, three, four, nine and three runs...for a per-outing average of 4.8 runs. Heck, even Royals albatross Luke Hochevar would fare well with that kind of run differential.

Is Lynn a sell-high commodity? As someone who owns him in four leagues, it'd be ludicrous to think this victory streak will continue, even if he pitches well and averages six-plus strikeouts per game.

Bottom line: There's no harm in floating a trial balloon to the pitching-needy owners in your league—and there's no downside to including Lynn in a 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 package for a superstar.

Jay Clemons can be reached on Twitter, day or night, at @ATL_JayClemons.