FAAB Log Supplemental: May 25, 2009

American League
Reid Brignac
As this year's 2009 Baseball Prospectus points out, Brignac has become a bit of a weird case as a prospect. Three years ago, his defense was considered suspect while there were no questions about his bat. Now his defense has actually become an asset at SS while he struggled at the plate in 2008. As a result, it's hard to project where Brignac slots in long-term but more importantly for us it makes projecting his future sheer guesswork. My guess is that his upside is Jhonny Peralta while his downside is Juan Uribe. I'd bid only $1 in non-keeper leagues and maybe $4 in keeper leagues. For those of you with later transaction deadlines, stay posted on Akinori Iwamura's status. Iwa left today's Rays/Marlins tilt early with an injury and could hit the DL. If he does, then Brignac could get a few starts at 2B in the short-term.

National League
Ross Detwiler
Detwiler already has two starts under his belt, so his presence in your free agent pool is hardly a secret. The former first round draft pick sports a mid 90s heater with a plus curve and change, but numbers over at Fangraphs show a fastball sitting in the low 90s that Detwiler uses more often than not. He was striking out nearly a batter an inning in the minors before his call-up but it sounds like Detwiler is in need of refinement and probably will take his lumps at some point. A $5 bid might not get him based on his early returns, but I'd hold off on bidding more than that right now. I think Detwiler could still finish around a 5 ERA given how raw he is right now.

Justin Maxwell
I wrote about Maxwell on April 20. Injuries to Elijah Dukes and Rogeravin Bernadina have left Maxwell splitting time down the middle with Willie Harris in CF for the Nats. He's probably owned and stashed on reserve in most leagues at this point, but I'd take a $3 flier on him right now. Harris could win the job, but if he's the only competition that at least gives Maxwell a shot.

Sean West
Like Detwiler, West is another former first-round draft pick. Unlike Detwiler, he's a high school product so he's bounced around longer. He's a power arm but control has always been his issue in the minors. A strong start against the Rays this weekend will probably make him prohibitively expensive in the FAAB wars this weekend, but he could stick if he performs well, even after Ricky Nolasco returns from AAA. I'm going to stick a conservative $3 bid on West for now. He did walk four in 5 IP vs. the Rays, and I suspect his margin for error is very low.