Kendry Morales $12. Other bid $7.
I thought there'd be more bids on Morales, but I thought that they'd be: a) lower and b) from more non-contenders. The winning bid did come from a non-contender, but $12 is too much to speculate on Morales next year. For this year, he doesn't seem like a very good play either; Casey Kotchman is due back today, and there's a good chance Morales will be optioned to AAA later today. If Shea Hillenbrand gets traded, Morales might make more sense, but now the rumors are starting about the Angels acquiring a bigger bat, particularly Troy Glaus. I'd only bid the minimum here.
Chris Gomez $4. Other bids $1, $1.
Freddy Bynum $3. Other bids $3, $2
For obvious reasons, Gomez and Bynum need to be lumped together. With someone sensible in Baltimore finally recognizing that Miguel Tejada had to go on the DL, Gomez and Bynum should split time at shortstop. Gomez is a right-handed hitter and Bynum is left-handed, but so far it has not been a straight platoon, with Gomez getting the assignment on Friday against Brandon Webb. Bynum's potential for a little power and a little speed gives him a slight leg up on Gomez, but I'm not going to carry Rotoworld's banner and start Bynum's campaign for the Hall of Fame. He had a horrific 9/44 BB/K ratio in 136 AB last year, and he could be exposed with a regular gig. Gomez is the safer pick. Though he won't offer much in the power or speed departments, he should help your batting average. Obviously, neither one will truly replace Tejada, if that's who you're attempting to replace.
Andy Phillips $3
This bid theoretically should work out, as Phillips is a better option at 1B than Miguel Cairo. However, this is morphing into one of those situations where Joe Torre has fallen in love with someone, and is slipping cute little notes into Cairo's locker, and asking Ron Guidry and Don Mattingly if Miguel "likes him". Like the Bynum/Gomez situation, I'm not going to go too far out on a limb here. Phillips is a borderline major leaguer, and there are a few Triple-A 1B who are more deserving of an opportunity than Phillips. However, Phillips probably should be playing while Doug Mientkiewicz is out and now that the Yanks have given up on Josh Phelps. He's started once in the last week since his call-up, and I wouldn't bet on anything more than sporadic duty for him until the Yankees acquire someone via a trade. Don't forget that Phillips is 30 years old. In other words, he's not a prospect.
Mike Rabelo $2
Filler catcher who hasn't shown any power or speed. Pudge is sitting a little more than he used to, but not enough to justify owning Rabelo.
Jon Knott $1
Unless the Orioles are going to clean house and trade two of Corey Patterson, Jay Payton, Jay Gibbons and Kevin Millar, I'm not sure where Knott fits in. He could very well get sent down the next time the Orioles need a pitcher.
Jarrod Washburn. Claimed by 11th, 10th, 9th, 6th, 5th and 2nd place teams.
Washburn saw the law of averages catch up to him in June, and now his ERA and WHIP (4.09/1.36) are near career norms (though the ERA could be a quarter to half a run higher). Washburn is an acceptable A.L.-only 4th or 5th starter. The silver lining this year is that the Mariners offense has been providing a few more runs to their starters in general, so Washburn might luck into another 8-10 wins before the year is out. He's clearly better than just about any starter in a typical A.L. only free agent pool, unless you fancy Odalis Perez.
Fernando Rodney. Claimed by 10th and 6th place teams.
Aaron Fultz. Claimed by 9th place team.
David Riske. Claimed by 6th place team.
I thought I'd group these three together not simply to be lazy, but to illustrate how fungible but necessary middle relievers are in 4x4. These are the kind of pitchers who typically are out in waivers in a competitive 4x4 one-league Roto league. All three pitchers have value, but probably none will have an opportunity for saves down the line. These claims are sensible in that if you don't like what you see, you know that another batch of relievers will churn through waivers in another week.
Rodney, Fultz, and Riske are all worth owning in 4x4. Riske probably has the best shot at saves if Dotel gets moved and Soria/Greinke struggle, but the play here is for safe qualitatives in all three cases.
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