Predictably, this is a light FAAB week due to the Memorial Day holiday.
Ramon Vazquez $10
Bought by Hank Blalock's owner, this price is still eight or nine dollars too high. Vazquez is a career journeyman who had his chance with the Paders back in 2002-2003, but is now a bench player at best. Inexplicably, he's matched his career high in HR (three) in a mere 24 AB. When Vazquez's bat cools off, the Rangers will probably give Matt Kata more AB. They should look for a substitute, but they might become sellers in late June or early July, so perhaps a better fill-in isn't all that high of a priority.
Marlon Byrd $3
Unlike Vazquez, I believe Byrd might have a chance to still be a decent major leaguer. Hampered by injuries the last time he had a major league opportunity, Byrd has bounced around between Triple A and the majors the last few seasons. I still think Byrd could be a decent 300 AB fourth OF option for a few major league teams. The problem is judging what's going to happen in Texas. I think the Rangers are going to fold up their tents at some point, which means that Byrd could see a significant number of AB in the second half. However, there's a serious logjam right now, with Victor Diaz, Brad Wilkerson and Nelson Cruz all fighting for AB. Byrd's a better play if you can stick him on reserve and spot him in weeks where Texas is seeing multiple lefties.
Lew Ford $2
I picked up Ford as my replacement du jour for Milton Bradley. I'm simply looking for a few steals and hoping that Ford doesn't kill my average. He's been terrible so far, and one danger with Ford is that he'll play no matter what he hits, as long as he leaves the same shiny apple on Ron Gardenhire's desk that Luis Rodriguez and Nick Punto leave there that allow them to keep getting non-quality AB after AB. I don't sound happy about this pick up, do I?
Brian Bannister $1
To date, Brian Bannister has been very, very, very lucky. His career 743 OPS against doesn't match up logically with his 4.14 K/9 rate. He's a flyball/neutral pitcher, so it's not like he's getting hitters to pound the ball into the ground. Add to this the fact that Bannister is a Royal and he's a severe flyer of a pick. He was grabbed by a team playing for 2008, so I suspect this is purely an innings play.
Luis Terrero $1
With Pablo Ozuna breaking his ankle, Terrero should get a crack at some AB in the White Sox outfield, at least initially and especially against lefties. He doesn't bring an awful lot to the table in terms of power or speed, but Ozzie Guillen seems to like him a lot more than Brian Anderson or Ryan Sweeney, and I can't picture recently signed Craig Wilson playing left field unless Ozzie starts dropping acid. Guys like Terrero are a good play compared to the dreck in the free agent pool like Tommy Murphy and Hiram Bocachica who might get AB but are almost absolute zeroes statistically.
Jeremy Sowers - Claimed by 7th place team
The team that drafted Sowers at $18 understandably pulled the plug last week, and now someone else is taking a shot. I agree completely with the scribes at Rotoworld: Sowers may not be a strikeout pitcher, but he's not going to succeed in the majors with a 3.15 K/9 rate. I think he needs some more time in the minors. I wouldn't recommend him right now, despite his good outing against the Royals last week.
No comments:
Post a Comment