With rumors flying that Ryan Dempster may get traded before his scheduled start today against St. Louis, a couple other Cubs mentioned as trade targets boosted their stock on Thursday. 

Alfonso Soriano was 2-for-4 with a homer and has become attractive to teams as long as Chicago picks up most of his contract. Paul Maholm is a possible pick-up for teams in need of pitching and he threw eight innings while allowing only one run against the Marlins. 
Matt Garza, Jeff Baker, Reed Johnson, and Brian LaHair are other players who have been rumored to be leaving Chicago via trade. 

Justin Ruggiano strengthened his status as a fantasy performer after going 2-for-4 for the Marlins. He is available in many fantasy leagues and becomes even more attractive if he keeps hitting fourth in the lineup. Willie Bloomquist is another nice pick-up as he had two hits to raise his average to .298.

The always unpredictable Max Scherzer had a good day, giving up one run in seven innings while striking out nine. Another unpredictable starter who had a great game was Edinson Volquez, who tossed a one-hitter, just barely missing out on the first no-no in San Diego history. 

A few guys who have disappointed this year had strong days as Eric Hosmer went 2-for-4 while Jesus Montero was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a homer. B.J. Upton had three hits and three RBIs. 

Carl Crawford continued to hit upon his return and even with him and Jacoby Ellsbury back, the Red Sox will have a hard time keeping Cody Ross out of the lineup because he homered once again. 

That took away a win from Jose Quintana, who was great once again with eight scoreless innings. Clay Buchholz was equally good in eight innings while allowing just one run. Recent call-up A.J. Griffin gave up two runs in six innings for Oakland. 

It was also a typically good day for many fantasy studs as Felix Hernandez gave up one run in eight innings and David Price threw seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. R.A. Dickey was solid again, allowing three runs in 7 1/3 innings while Madison Bumgarner and Tim Hudson both allowed two hits in seven innings. 

David Wright had two homers and five RBIs while Mike Trout hit yet another homer. Brandon Phillips had two hits and five RBIs while Melky Cabrera boosted his average to .357 with a pair of hits. 

Two of the top closers, Craig Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman, had a save while the Nationals got their closer back as Drew Storen made his debut with a scoreless inning.

It was a rough afternoon for Gio Gonzalez, who gave up six runs in 3 1/3 innings. 

There are some good pitching match-ups on tap today including Jake Peavy against Justin Verlander and Tommy Hanson versus Stephen Strasburg. For daily fantasy players, I like Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Kipnis facing Baltimore's Miguel Gonzalez, who is making just his third start of the year. 

For the latest on Dempster and other possible deals, check in with mlbtraderumors.com a few times a day.

Written by Steve Mims exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. Follow Steve on Twitter @nwsportscards

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