FAAB Supplemental: April 27, 2008

American League
Adam Lind: The release of Frank Thomas was a huge PR hit for the Blue Jays, but perhaps the call up of Lind will soften the blow. I don't think the Jays called him up to platoon or sit on the bench, and Lind should play almost every day. He had a weak stint for the Jays last year, but he's still only 24 years old, and it's entirely possible that he could be a 15-20 HR hitter this year who won't kill your batting average. The BB/AB make me worry that he might hurt your BA, but Lind is one of those hitters who has not walked much throughout his entire professional career. He's definitely worth a $12 bid in non-keeper leagues. In keeper leagues, I'd up that to $17 so that you don't see someone walk away with a dump chip if Lind exceeds expectations.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia: I was more than a little surprised to see Saltalamacchia get called up after Rangers back-up Adam Melhuse broke his hand, but Salty wasn't only on the roster but starting behind the plate for the Rangers on Saturday. I expected to see Salty once they decided that Ben Broussard had worn out his welcome, but that's not the way this played out. I feel like I've written about Saltalamacchia dozens of times since I've started this blog, so I'm not going to re-hash. He's a hell of a prospect who still needs to work out some plate discipline issues and probably should have spent most of the year at AAA doing so. That being said, he could pop 15-20 HR this year and, unlike Lind, is catcher eligible. He has to be bid on aggressively if you want to own him. I would probably only go $20, which wouldn't be enough. My suspicion is that you'll have to go closer to $30.

National League
Brent Lillibridge: I think I like Lillibridge better than some, mainly because I'm not looking at the extremely limited minor league sample size this year and quickly writing him off. He looks to me like he'd hit .240 or .250 with 6-10 HR if he started all year, which isn't much but isn't nothing. The key, though, is his speed. If you do pick up Lillibridge, you're making a short-term pick-up, as Yunel Escobar isn't expected to be out long. However, if you can make the move for one week only, he's a short-term steals gamble. $3 in non-keeper leagues, maybe $8 in freeze leagues. Lillibridge isn't going to get much better, but he is the kind of guy who could wind up with a starting job and sneak in $10-15 worth of value at SS.