N.L. FAAB Log: August 3, 2009

Cliff Lee $86. Other bids $85, $76, $62, $21, $21.
Everyone who passed on Matt Holliday last week who was waiting for Roy Halladay obviously wound up bidding aggressively on Lee. Since I live in Philly, I've heard enough of the Halladay/Lee discussion to make my ears bleed. In Roto, you're obviously breaking the bank at this point for Lee if you didn't buy Holliday...regardless of whether you need the arm or not. Lee's first start was lights out, and while it's impossible to predict a CC Sabathia 2008 run for Lee, he could have a pretty nice stretch his first time through the N.L.

Adam LaRoche $73. Other bids $59, $34, $21, $21, $14, $4, $3.
Or you can bid the bank on LaRoche. He's back to starting full-time and provides nice pop for N.L.-only owners. If you missed out on Holliday, LaRoche is a somewhat disappointing consolation prize, but he still should be a top of the line bid in leagues where his owner wasn't allowed to reserve him after he was traded to Boston.

Scott Rolen $38. Other bids $36, $34, $21, $11, $5, $3.
Rolen's minor injury today may have played a factor in these bids, but it's more likely that teams are simply running out of money; you can see in the three bids listed above that one team is down to $21 of FAAB for the rest of the season. Despite the lack of big-time HR power, Rolen's still putting up his best season since 2006. The fantasy community is chiding the Reds for this trade - and rightfully so - but lost in all of that chatter is that Rolen must be bid upon aggressively in all N.L.-only leagues this week.

Ryan Garko $29. Other bids $11, $11, $6, $4, $3.
Garko was an instant winner when the Giants picked him up, moving from a quasi-regular role with Cleveland to a mostly full-time gig in San Francisco. He might sit against tougher righties in favor of Travis Ishikawa, but Garko's OPS against righties is equal to Ishikawa's and Garko should get most of the PT at 1B. His power isn't in question against righties, and a 20 HR pace the rest of the way isn't a stretch to expect, even if it is with a so-so or worse BA.

George Sherrill $15. Other bids $8, $7, $1, $1.
Sherrill's obviously the set up man to Jonathan Broxton, but with Broxton's bum toe, Sherrill could sneak a handful of saves if Joe Torre wants to rest Broxton (Joe Torre wanting to rest a reliever...that's funny!). Sherrill's great against lefties, but N.L.-only owners should be aware that he's not just a LOOGY; he's OK against righties and should still see a good amount of action for the Dodgers.

Bud Norris $13. Other bids $3, $2.
John Sickels gave a very positive write-up about Norris last week over at his blog and sure enough Norris was dominant yesterday in his first major league start. I haven't seen him pitch but judging by Sickels' scouting report I agree with Rotoworld's assessment that Norris is a decent place to put a chunk of your FAAB if you missed out on the big names above. He's probably a better play than Sherrill at this point.

Eugenio Velez $6. Other bids $2, $1.
Since his call-up from AAA on Monday, Velez has been on fire, going 12-for-27 with a dinger and five ribbies. He obviously isn't this good, but he'll keep playing in the OF as long as he keeps hitting, and there's nothing wrong with riding the hot hand here as long as you can in N.L.-only leagues.

Clayton Richard $3. Other bids $2, $1, $1, $1.
Richard was Baseball America's #3 prospect for the White Sox entering 2009, but that probably said more about the Sox depleted system than it did about Richard. His pedestrian MLB numbers this year have led to him getting knocked around by the fantasy community, but Richard throws in the low 90s, works in the strike zone, and seems to know how to pitch. Petco obviously helps his value, and Richard could be a high single digit or low double digit earner over the course of a full season in that venue. He's not a bad FAAB play in N.L.-only leagues if you need the starter.

Ben Francisco $2. Other bids $1, $1.
Francisco was having a solid season - albeit with a low BA - for the Indians but saw his Roto value take a huge hit with his trade to the Phillies. He should get some starts here and there, but barring an injury won't play every day. His power/speed combo still makes him a 5th OF in deep N.L. only leagues, but in leagues with a dump culture here's hoping you traded into something better by now.

Ronny Cedeno $1.
After seemingly writing about Cedeno a dozen times for the A.L. FAAB logs this year, I now get to write about him for the N.L. Huzzah! Of course he's 4-for-12 with a dinger after hitting .167 in the American League. He does have some pop, so you should bid on him if you have a hole up the middle and don't care about your batting average.