Chris Perez $11. Other bids $5, $1.
Perez is the Indians known return for their trade of Mark DeRosa this weekend. He throws a hard fastball and a good slider, but has had lots of trouble harnessing his control for the Cardinals, and I suspect that they finally lost patience with him. I'm sure if the Indians had their druthers they'd trade Kerry Wood to a team for peanuts and throw Perez right in as closer, but it's not going to play out that way, and I don't see the Indians eating the $15M or so Wood is currently owed. That makes Perez a more likely next year play and the winning bidder here appropriately was in last place. However, don't go too crazy. We've drooled over Joel Zumaya for years now, and don't have a lot to show for it.
Ramiro Pena $2.
I don't know what surprises me more: the fact that Ramiro Pena is still on the Yankees or the fact that he has 86 major league AB so far. Pena has a little speed but has next to no Roto value, and Cody Ransom should get more of the AB at 3B on the days the Yanks need to spell A-Rod.
Mike Sweeney $2.
With interleague play over, Sweeney should go back to DHing and playing the occasional game at 1B. I suspect that the Mariners will send Mike Carp back to AAA once they add new addition Ryan Langerhans to the roster. Sweeney's swinging a hot bat right now, but even so only plays enough to warrant adding if you have a complete dead spot in A.L.-only leagues.
Ronny Cedeno $1.
With Yuniesky Betancourt hitting the DL, Cedeno is playing nearly every day at SS for the M's. He's been absolutely dreadful this year, and is sporting a horrid 415 OPS in 94 AB. He should be better than this, but right now shouldn't be anywhere near your roster when he's going this badly.
Russ Adams $1.
Rototimes erroneously stated that Adams will serve as a back-up MI for the Jays, but it actually looks like he's going to be in a quasi-platoon with Kevin Millar, with Adam Lind moving to DH and Adams moving to OF against righties. Adams is a former prospect for the Jays, but blew it in his one shot way back in 2006 and is now seen more as organizational depth. He doesn't have enough power or speed to be useful unless he's playing every day, which he probably won't barring a few injuries. It is worth noting that in leagues that use this year's minor league games played Adams is SS eligible.
Grant Balfour $1.
Joe Nelson $1.
Don't look now, but after a horrible April Balfour has bounced back and put up a solid June, including a current run where he hasn't allowed a run since June 7. J.P. Howell's also hot, but Balfour could vulture the odd save or win and once again is a decent play in deep leagues. Like Balfour, Nelson has bounced back from an awful month (in his case May) to post great numbers in June, allowing a mere 3 H in 9 IP with one ER. He might also get a stray save or win op here or there, and the Rays are strong enough that a vulture is probably going to pop up out of this pen somewhere.
Armando Galarraga. Claimed by 12th, 7th, and 4th place teams.
Galarraga's owner understandably lost patience and waived him last week, and three teams took a shot. After putting up a 1.85 ERA in April, Galarraga's been awful and at risk this month of being sent to the pen or demoted. It seems that his shaky peripherals from 2008 have caught up with him this year in a big way. I don't think he's this bad, but have to admit that he looks like a significant risk right now and should only be owned by teams not in contention or on the fence that need to take a chance. He gets the A's this week and from that standpoint there are worse plays out there.
Mark Kotsay. Claimed by 10th and 6th place teams.
Kotsay's been swinging a hot bat; as a result, the Red Sox have been working him into the line-up a little bit here and there. Still, Kotsay hasn't hit for enough power or run enough to be worth a significant FAAB dip in some time now.
Darren O'Day. Claimed by 7th place team.
O'Day has been tremendous in middle relief for the Rangers, but he's buried fairly deep on the depth chart and has been collecting rust for the last week.
2 comments:
The Zumaya comparison is an apt one, Mike, and Perez could very well fit his mold. It is amazing, but psychology really is a huge part of closing, and it is, unfortunately, also something we cannot measure. He had one short crack at the closer's role so far (LaRussa has no patience for young kids closing), and I think he will get another shot with the Indians at some point. For contending teams looking for cheap saves, however, I do not think Perez is your play.
Galaragga is intriguing, though, in our league, his salary will remain $15 as a waiver claim. This is a steep price even for non-contending teams thinking about next year, but he is definitely worth a "look-see."
As the fed-up owner who dumped Galaragga, I'm not surprised that he finally turned it around as soon as I dumped him. He'll probably cost me the championship.
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