Renaissance Man [ren' i-sans' man] n - a man who knows a lot about many different subjects and has many practical skills and abilities.

At the beginning of each week I am going to take a look at some Rotisserie Renaissance Men from the previous week. Stats in this edition cover the week of July 26th - August 1st. These are the hitters that are solid contributors to all 5 roto categories and pitchers who are doing things right in 4 - and possibly 5 categories some weeks. Whether these guys are sitting on your bench or your league's waiver wire, they probably need to be in a starting line-up while they are staying hot.

The trade deadline has come and gone and even though we have devoted a lot of time to those that have moved, all 6 of our Renaissance men stayed put last week and some of them were huge for their respected fantasy teams, as well as MLB teams.

Hitters

Carlos Gonzalez - OF, Colorado Rockies
(30 AB, .533 AVG, 10 R, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 2 SB)
CarGon had a heck of a week by any standards, and collected enough counting stats for a couple weeks of production from most outfielders.  In case you missed it, he even added some flair to his stats by ending Saturday's game against the Cubs with a walk off homer to complete hitting for the cycle.  Even the owners who may have slightly reached on the outfielder on draft day have to be extremely pleased for the production he has put up for the price paid.  As the Rockies continue to play good ball, a hot streak to end the season is not out of the question and Gonzalez could lead the way.

Alexei Ramirez - SS, Chicago White Sox
(27 AB, .444 AVG, 6 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 SB)
Remember back in 2008 when Alexei busted onto the scene on the South Side of Chicago and looked to be paving the way to being a number one fantasy short stop?  Well his 2009 performance removed all hope for that, but he has quietly crept into the top 5 short stops since the All-Star Break.  Since the Mid-Summer classic he is hitting .359 with 3 home runs, 3 stolen bases and 14 Runs scored.  The surging White Sox are of course helping his cause, but it appears that Alexei will be a breathe of fresh air to any fantasy team for the remainder of the season.

Dan Uggla - 2B, Florida Marlins
(24 AB, .292 AVG, 10 R, 5 HR, 7 RBI, 1 SB)
His name is Dan Uggla. Even though the average was sub .300 last week you can pass up the counting stat production that Uggla achieved for a team that appears to believe they have a shot in the NL Wild Card Race.  If the Marlins are going to be there they need Uggla to have a few more weeks like this, especially if Hanley Ramirez continues with his struggles at the plate.  Uggla was thought to be a trade candidate at the deadline when the season started but it looks like he may stay in South Florida for a while.  Of course, it would be nice to have bigger gap between his home run and RBI totals but he can't do it all?

Pitchers

Francisco Liriano - SP, Minnesota Twins
(14 IP, 2 W, 17 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP)
Liriano has to be on the short list for the comeback player of the year in the AL.  Along with the 14 innings that he has held his opponents scoreless last week he held the Indians scoreless in his previous start for 7 innings, running his streak to 21 - which is pretty ridiculous.  Averaging better than a K an inning while doing so is even more ridiculous.  The Twins are going to need that kind of production down the stretch from the starter, with all the offensive woes they are experiencing, if they want a legit chance to win the AL Central this year.

Gavin Floyd - SP, Chicago White Sox
(14 IP, 2 W, 11 K, 0.64 ERA, 0.86 WHIP)
Our second White Sox player of the article - see Alexei Ramirez above - and this is why the Pale Hoes are doing so well as of late.  Floyd who struggled early in the year going 1-4 with a 7.00 ERA through his first 8 starts of the season, has turned things around once the weather warmed up.  This is starting to become a trend for Floyd, which may make you think about targeting him around mid-May next year instead of on draft day.  Floyd took a perfect game into the 6th inning on Sunday against the A's and has the potential to do that again this week when he faces off against the Orioles in Baltimore.

James Shields - SP, Tampa Bay Rays
(14 IP, 2 W, 18 K, 1.29 ERA, 1.07 WHIP)
Big Game James has had his ups and downs this year as well, but it is starting to look like he is settling in when the Rays need him the most.  He was superb last week being able to give the Rays 6+ innings against the Tigers and coming up big against division rivals the New York Yankees, holding them scoreless for 7.1 innings this past weekend.  Shields has had some pretty high inning counts the past 3 years and there were worries about fatigue, but last week he showed that he appears to be ready to end the season strong.