Ben Francisco $11. Other bids: $8, $7, $6, $4, $2, $1.
The bidding for Francisco is about right. Seven teams bid, which is by far the most activity there's been on one player in my A.L. this year, but the bids were understandably tepid. Currently, Francisco is on the wrong side of an OF platoon with David Dellucci, and Dellucci's actually off to a decent start. A lot of Francisco's Roto upside is tied into his speed: he stole 47 bases in the minors in 2006-2007 and could translate a few of those to the majors. John Sickels likes Francisco, but more as a fourth OF. I tend to agree. Francisco's minor league numbers make him look like more of a tweener. Dellucci isn't going to be a hard guy to push aside, but Francisco isn't exactly a prospect at the age of 26.
Matt Joyce $6. Other bids $5, $4.
The guy who bid $7 on Francisco bid $5 for Joyce, so he obviously wasn't happy. The winner on Joyce also bid $6 on Francisco. There were other, lesser bids for Joyce that don't register here since Joyce was listed below the player the owner eventually purchased. The tepid bids aside, Joyce is a better play if only due to the short-term opportunity. He looks like he's slotting in as the replacement for the discarded Jacque Jones. The bids are tepid because Joyce's numbers indicate that he was somewhat over matched in A-ball, somewhat over matched in AA, and his success in AAA this year was based on too small a sample size. I'd think the Tigers eventually are going to try and do better. The upside for Joyce looks to me like that of his platoon counterpart Marcus Thames, albeit with somewhat less power.
Glen Perkins $4.
Perkins is filling in for the injured Scott Baker, and should get another start this coming week. Perkins is a former first round pick who probably doesn't get enough credit as a potential gem in the rough, but he's definitely been pushed far enough down on the depth chart in Minnesota that they don't seem to view him as nothing more than an injury replacement/emergency fill-in. He's worth hanging on to if you can stash him on reserve when he's sent back to the minors.
Freddy Bynum $1.
He's the starting SS for the Orioles...unless they brought up Alex Cintron to do the job. Bynum's game is speed and little else. He's 28 years old, so don't expect a diamond in the rough sleeper prospect that no one else has heard of but you. Bynum is stretched as a major league starter at any position, but is worth thinking about because he could steal 15-20 even if he only gets 350-400 AB.
Ramon Ramirez $1.
A better pick up in 5x5 than in 4x4. Ramirez has put up some great K/IP numbers thus far, but is buried far enough back in the Royals bullpen that you shouldn't look to him to move up the pecking order past Leo Nunez any time soon.
Jason Tyner $1.
He's got speed that he seldom uses. He won't kill your average. I can't think of anything else all that nice to say. He won't leapfrog past Francisco and steal significant AB away in the Indians OF. Fifth OF only.
Kevin Mench $1. Other bid $1.
Mench will get pressed into starting duty for the Blue Jays (albeit part time duty) with Vernon Wells going down for 6-8 weeks. Mench's game is power, and he certainly could swat 15-20 HR if he gets enough AB in Toronto. Watch his bat speed: some former major league hitters lose their timing after prolonged exposure to weaker, slower minor league pitchers and don't get it back again.
Alex Cintron $1.
Cintron was called up today, and adds some lukewarm intrigue to the Orioles SS battle. Cintron might be the steadier hand at SS for the O's, but Bynum is the better Roto bet. Cintron won't contribute much, even as a starter, to your squad.
Andy Marte. Claimed by 11th place team.
The 11th place team dumped moments before our league's weekly trade deadline: otherwise, I don't think he would have bothered with this move. It looks like Marte's collecting rust while the Indians hope that his value magically soars while he sits on the bench. Not worth owning in Roto.
Ramon Vazquez. Claimed by 8th place team.
He should get a healthy chunk of playing time for the Rangers with Hank Blalock out of the line-up, but he's still a poor Roto bet. His power burst last year (8 HR) was extremely atypical.
Brian Anderson. Claimed by 6th and 5th place teams.
It was nice to see Anderson hit a HR this weekend, but he's a role player who will probably start once or twice a week. Not worth the bid or claim.
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