Power players

As Major League Baseball does its best to honor Barry Bonds this week when he finally passes Hank Aaron as the all-time home run leader -- whether we like it or not -- it's appropriate at this time to take a quick look at this year's home run leaders to see if there were any surprises. To be truthful, most of the Top 50 home run hitters as of this week were predictable, but there were a few sluggers we didn't see coming.

Who heads that list? How about Tampa's Carlos Pena, who wasn't even selected in most leagues on Draft Day. Pena signed a minor league contract with the Devil Rays on Feb. 2 and made the Opening Day roster when Greg Norton landed on the DL with a knee injury. Pena grabbed the starting first base job in early April and hasn't let go of it since as he now has more home runs (25) than Albert Pujols (23). The career .243 hitter is also hitting a career-best .279 and has 66 RBIs in 89 games.

Should we have seen this one coming? No way, but it's a perfect example of how you can help your team with in-season pickups. I still wouldn't have picked up Pena in April based on his low batting average in the past, but his current strikeout to walk rate (84/51) shows that he has much better plate discipline than he had during his tenure with Texas, Detroit, Oakland and Boston

Another home run surprise has been Oakland's Jack Cust, who has added 17 homers and 46 RBIs in 69 games since his call-up. Yes, he's hitting only .252 and has 93 strikeouts in only 218 at-bats, but you have to like the power. Two other pleasant surprises of note are the Brewers' Ryan Braun, who is now the leading candidate for the NL Rookie of the Year award with Hunter Pence on the DL, and J.J. Hardy. Braun is hitting an incredible .349 with 18 homers and 49 RBIs in just 57 games, while Hardy had a fantastic start before cooling down considerably, but he still has 18 homers and 60 RBIs in 94 games.

Bonds already has 20 homers this year, the 19th time he's had at least 20 homers in a season. That's second only to Aaron's 20 seasons of at least 20 homers. He won't pass Aaron with that record, but the all-time home run record will soon be his. Congrats, Barry, I guess.

The White Sox went into full rebuilding mode this week when they traded second baseman Tadahito Iguchi to Philadelphia for minor league pitcher Michael Dubee. The White Sox then called up Danny Richar to start at second. Richar, 24, was an undrafted free agent by Arizona in 2001 who was traded to Chicago on June 17. Richar was hitting .305 with 13 homers, 61 RBIs and eight stolen bases at two Triple-A stops before the promotion and he will get the majority of the at-bats over the next two months. I can't promise anything special from Richar, but in AL-only leagues he's definitely a worthy pickup.

The White Sox also called up P Gavin Floyd this week and will keep him on their major-league roster for the time being. Floyd was acquired from Philadelphia this off-season and was 7-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 17 starts at Triple-A Charlotte. But he's been rocked during two big league starts and isn't a worthy fantasy pickup at this point.

The Twins promoted Brian Buscher this week and put him in the starting lineup at third base. The former third-round pick of the Giants in 2003 was hitting .309 with 13 homers and 57 RBIs at the time of his call-up and the left-handed hitter has a chance to get some quality at-bats down the stretch with Minnesota

The Nationals called up left-hander John Lannan and he immediately affected several fantasy teams as he hit Chase Utley with a pitch and broke his hand. Lannan gave up four runs in 4.1 innings and was ejected during his MLB debut after he also hit Ryan Howard. He went from Hi Class A to the majors this season and was 12-3 with a 2.35 ERA in 19 minor league starts, but he's not a recommended fantasy play at this point.

Tuesday is the trade deadline for MLB teams and fantasy teams who compete in AL-only and NL-only leagues are hoping for some more big-name moves. The biggest interleague trade thus far had Iguchi going from the White Sox to the Phillies as he will start at second base for the next 4-6 weeks until Utley returns. Iguchi is hitting just .252 with six homers, 32 RBIs and eight stolen bases, but he's a worthy pickup in NL-only leagues.