N.L. FAAB Log: May 12, 2008

Bronson Arroyo $13. Other bids $2, $2, $1.
Arroyo's original owner finally (and understandably) lost patience with him after his miserable outing against the Braves and cut him. Arroyo turns around and puts up a strong start against the Mets. One owner decides to bid aggressively, while three other teams decide to at least take a stab at him. The surprising here wasn't the bids but the fact that most of the bidders were first division teams. If I was near the bottom of the standings and considering packing it in, I would have taken a shot on Arroyo. He's got nearly a strikeout an inning, and a lot of his problems right now are tied to his control. He's not an historically wild pitcher; he can turn things around and post up some decent second or third starter numbers in an N.L. only league. If he's out there in your league, he's worth a flier if you're already floundering.

Brian Shouse $12. Other bid $5.
Shouse picked up a situational save yesterday. That's probably about all he'll get with Eric Gagne struggling. Shouse is murder on lefties and subpedestrian against right handers. Two owners either weren't aware of Shouse's handedness or his splits while 10 others were. If you want to bid $1 or $2 knock yourself out: Shouse is an extreme groundball pitcher who won't hurt you in middle relief. But don't go crazy.

Russ Springer $4. Other bids $2, $2.
Jason Isringhausen is on a mental holiday from the closer's role, so Springer may get the odd chance while Izzy works out his problems in middle relief. Springer put up some great numbers last year, has struggled this year, and may or may not bounce back. My concern in Springer's limited number of 2008 innings is that he's been walking the park. That doesn't fit most managers' closer profile.

Delwyn Young $2.
Young started at second base yesterday in place of Jeff Kent, making him eligible there (three games) in some leagues. Still, he's been buried all the way at the back of the bench, and would need one injury if not two to have any kind of N.L.-only value.

Gregor Blanco $1.
Gregor Blanco is a guy who probably wasn't even owned in leagues with deep farm systems. Coming into this year, he had 2,751 minor league AB and a 749 OPS to show for it. He was relatively young (24), but starting to look like organizational filler. Now he's hitting over .300 in the majors and getting a decent amount of OF AB for the Braves. Blanco should cool off, but he's worth a stab as long as he's hitting, and he stole a lot of bases, albeit with a lot of caught stealing, in the minors.

Wil Ledezma $1.
He made his first start of the season last week against the Braves and put up four decent innings. He'll probably go again this Friday against the Mariners. His poor BB/IP makes him quite a gamble, and Ledezma is no stranger to the American League, so he won't have surprise on his side. I'd avoid him.

Steve Holm $1.
When I saw his name, my mind shouted, Steve Holt! For you non-Arrested Development fans, sorry. Anyway, Holm hit is first major league HR yesterday against the Phillies, but he's a 28-year-old organizational filler guy who is up on the Giants due to a lack of organizational depth. He had a 719 minor league OPS heading into 2008. He's not worth owning.

Chin-Lung Hu $1.
He's played quite a bit, though mostly as a defensive replacement for Jeff Kent. He's not putting up any kind of Roto numbers, and remains a poor bet for this year.

Ricky Nolasco $1.
Nolasco put up a nice outing last week against the Nationals, but he's been tattooed in his other starts. He's a flyball pitcher who gives up his fair share of HR. If the Marlins keep playing this caliber of baseball, Nolasco could be a decent wins play, but the odds of that happening are poor.

Wil Nieves $1.
The career minor leaguer/backup will probably stay a backup, even with Paul LoDuca and Johnny Estrada hitting the DL. Nieves might hit the occasional HR, but his value is incredibly limited.

Jody Gerut $1.
With Jim Edmonds cut, Gerut is getting a lot of playing time for the Padres. He's off to a terrible start, but Gerut certainly has some pop and could hit .240 with 15 HR if he got a chance at a full-time gig. The problem is that his 2-for-17 start means that he's going to have to really turn it around in a hurry to get that full-time gig. His upside is probably Emil Brown, which is actually quite the compliment.