Jair Jurrjens $15. Other bids $13, $10.
After Jurrjens' stellar performance yesterday versus the weak-hitting Twins, you had to figure that teams were going to jump over him for his start against the weak-hitting Royals this week. Jurrjens numbers throughout his minor league career have always been solid, but he broke through with his velocity in 2006, hitting 91-93 MPH more consistently on the gun (previously he had been around 86-89 at times). His bread-and-butter pitch is a sinking fastball, though his curve and change continue to improve. Jurrjens is a solid option this week against the Royals, especially since the Tigers bats have come alive. He's not an option at $15 next year, obviously, but this was a this year play for the top two bidders.
Scott Podsednik $15. Other bids $12, $10, $9, $2.
The trials and travails of Scott Podsednik this year are a lesson in roster management for beginner and intermediate owners in any type of auction-style league. Podsednik was frozen at $30 this year by a team that knew it wasn't going to be competing this year and figured he'd be dumping. Unfortunately for him, he waited too long, and was forced to take 10 cents on the dollar for his players at the eleventh hour and 59th minute. Even more unfortunately, he was unable to move Pods.
This is all bad enough, but then he waived Podsednik. At $30, none of the non-contenders thought he was worth claiming and none of the contenders could fit him in under the salary cap. As a result, Pods was put back into the bidding process and bought by the first place team, who now had some cap room because he lost Troy Glaus.
Here's a question: what has changed in Scott Podsednik's skills or circumstances that made him worth $30 on Opening Day 2007 but doesn't potentially make him worth $30 on Opening Day 2008? He's the same one-dimensional player he has always been, but assuming he's healthy next year and has a job, he's probably good for 40 steals and a .260 average, which are the stats he put up in 2006 that made this non-contending owner keep him.
The moral: Don't keep someone at an overinflated price to trade him. There are plenty of players in the auction you can buy at inflated prices and trade. If you got Podsednik back at $25 (his inflation price in my league this year), you still could have traded him and had another $5 to spend. If you didn't get him back, you could have probably gotten more bang for your buck elsewhere.
Scott Moore $5
The Orioles are dead in the water, so they'll probably give Moore a good amount of AB the last two weeks to see if he's part of their plans in 2008 or beyond. I mistakenly thought Moore was one of those 29-year minor leaguers who has been around forever. Actually, he's only 23 years old. However, he doesn't look like much of a prospect. His walk rates are acceptable, but his low batting averages in the minors make him look like a .220 hitter in the majors, and you need to be Jack Cust to get away with that. Moore probably has another year to turn it around in Triple-A, but I doubt he's got much of a major league future. He's a short-term stab at HR this year first and foremost.
John McDonald $1
He can only be owned if you're desperate for steals and aren't worried about your batting average. He has a .268 OBP. No one ever buys John McDonald in the auction but he almost always gets owned by one or two teams over the course of the season.
Jeremy Reed $1
In retrospect, I don't know what it was that got the scouts all worked up about Jeremy Reed. His minor league numbers are pretty pedestrian for a corner outfielder, and the best thing you could say about him was that he made contact. He's 26 years old and put up some pretty blah numbers at Tacoma. He looks like he'd be a .250/10/60/10 outfielder if he was given a shot by someone next year, and that isn't going to cut it in the majors, unless the Royals want to save money on Emil Brown but decide they must have a cheaper carbon copy.
Dan Meyer $1
I believe that Dan Meyer exists to prove that even Billy Beane isn't infallible. Unlike Reed, I can see why Beane (and the rest of baseball) was excited by Meyer. However, injuries and ineffectiveness have dimmed Meyer's candle, and I suspect it isn't going to work out. He has a start against Seattle this week but, even with the Mariners slumping and just about out of the race, I wouldn't touch Meyer.
Bobby Seay $1. Other bid $1
Yet another former top prospect, Seay is currently a safe lefty specialist for the Tigers who will grab the odd win. He's more of a safe placeholder at this point than a good bit for wins in the last two weeks.
Luis Vizcaino $1
Vizcaino seems to be back on track after struggling in late August/early September, but a lot of his value as a vulture is tempered due to Joba Chamberlain's emergence as Torre's go-to guy in the set-up role. Vizcaino could get the odd win or save down the stretch after the Yanks clinch, but so could Kyle Farnsworth, Chris Britton or a number of other Yankees relievers.
Jeremy Bonderman. Claimed by 11th place and 10th place teams.
Bonderman looks like he's finished this season. Depending on your league's rules, Bonderman makes for an interesting waiver claim if you can keep him at $10. In my league, though, he's in the last year as a long-term contract, so this claim was made more to block a team with more FAAB from buying him next week at a cheaper price.
Jason Giambi. Claimed by 4th place and 1st place teams.
Like Bonderman, Giambi is a free agent in my league at the end of the year. Unlike Bonderman, Giambi should have a little value down the stretch with the odd HR. I'm not sure how much he'll play. Torre seems to like Betemit at 1B against lefties. On the other hand, this means Giambi won't sting your batting average as much as he might have.
Gavin Floyd. Claimed by 2nd place team.
I already wrote about Floyd's remaining match-ups in a post over the weekend. He's been solid in his last three starts, but he's still the same pitcher with the same stuff. The good news is that he's facing bad teams with impatient hitters who probably won't wait for him to make mistakes. The bad news is that he's Gavin Floyd, and that straight, 93 MPH fastball goes pretty far when a hitter catches up. Also keep in mind that the White Sox weak line-up will be in the same crummy parks that Floyd will be pitching in. This might not be a good wins play with this team.
Josh Wilson. Claimed by 2nd place team.
He's getting a few AB down the stretch, as Joe Maddon attempts to rest some of his infield regulars, and Brendan Harris wears down in the last month. But Wilson still has limited value, and is only useful if you have a dead spot to fill at middle infield. Which several of you do, I'm sure.
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