A.L. FAAB Log: July 23, 2007

Shelley Duncan $4
Duncan, the "other" son of renowned St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach David Duncan (Shelley's given name is also David), was always a masher in the minor leagues. However, 2007 was the first year that Shelley was able to put some batting average/OBP together along with his power in the minors. The Yankees, typically a stodgy organization when it comes to giving career minor leaguers an opportunity, took the plunge with Duncan, and so far he's come through with a huge weekend against Tampa Bay. Duncan's probably a short-term play only. The Yankees are close enough to Boston and the A.L. wild card that they're probably buyers now, and Shelley Duncan won't be their starting 1B on August 1. However, Duncan's worth a bid if you're looking for someone for the next week. Long term, I can't see the Yanks handing 1B to this guy, even though he has the bloodlines, and even though Reggie Jackson is a very close friend of Dave Duncan's and has been in Shelley's corner for some time now.

Brandon League $1
This is purely a next year play at the moment. With the Blue Jays once again out of the running, League is completing his recovery from a partially torn rotator cuff in the majors, and while the minor league reports on him were very encouraging, I still wouldn't recommend taking this gamble if you're in the running now. The Jays won't shake their bullpen up this year unless Jeremy Accardo is absolutely dreadful, and even if they do, I think Casey Janssen and Scott Downs are next in line.

Jeff Mathis $1
I don't know if it's possible to be washed up at 24, but Jeff Mathis is as close as possible to achieving this dubious distinction. His minor league numbers are unacceptable for any venue, but at Salt Lake City they're even more dreadful. Mike Napoli will continue to get the bulk of the AB now that Jose Molina's been traded to the Yankees, so don't bother with Mathis.

Josh Towers. Claimed by 10th place team.
Hats off to Towers: he's once again a serviceable back-of-the-rotation filler in Roto. The HR rate is still ghastly, but if he can keep striking out over six per nine innings, he'll hold on to that 5.00 ERA and keep that WHIP around 1.30. He's a poor man's Paul Byrd, in other words, but in a 12 team A.L. only league, you can definitely do worse.

Lenny DiNardo. Claimed by 9th place and 6th place teams.
The experts continue to bash him, and DiNardo continues to defy expectations. He's now at a 2.51 ERA, and while the 1.27 WHIP indicates that DiNardo's been lucky, I think he throw up something between a 3.50 and a 4.00 long term as long as he keeps inducing the sick amount of grounders (2.71 G/F year to date; 2.73 G/F career) that he does. Keep in mind that the A's will be sellers this week; DiNardo's a poorer wins play than he's been so far, and if the A's move a starter, DiNardo might wind up in the rotation no matter what his numbers look like.

Andy Sonnanstine. Claimed by 3rd place team.
He'll get better, but Sonnanstine reminds me of Boof Bonser in his first go-round in the majors last year. He's throwing too many strikes, and for a young pitcher who doesn't always know where the ball if going, sometimes that ball goes right down the middle of the plate. The low walk total will keep his ratio decent, but I don't think the ERA will improve as long as Sonnanstine keeps giving up the HR that he does. Throw in the fact that the Devil Rays are playing as poorly as the 1962 Mets right now and Sonnanstine looks like a terrible play right now.