N.L. FAAB Log Supplemental: August 17, 2009

Before I get started, a note on the FAAB Supplemental.

Due to league variability, I'm going to stop including recommended bid limits going forward. In some leagues, most of the league's FAAB has been spent and a nominal bid will land a player. In others, there is still a lot of cash floating around and you should bid high. This is a case where my readers know their individual leagues better than I do. If enough of my readers object, I'll go back to my original format next week.

Alcides Escobar
Escobar projects long term as a superior Major League shortstop. The question long-term is how much of his game will be purely defense and how much will his bat develop. His AAA MLE tells us that he's an empty .260 hitter with a good amount of speed. However, Escobar is 22 years old and could obviously develop into more. He's someone who I'd put a keeper bid on in carryover leagues but who will probably be grabbed for a more expensive bid by owners playing for this year who badly need an everyday middle infielder. At the very least, Escobar is worth grabbing for the speed alone.

Pedro Martinez
In some leagues, Martinez was allowed to be drafted as a farm player even though he wasn't signed to an MLB contract prior to Rotisserie auctions. Reports on his stuff in his first MLB outing have been mixed; some writers say he looked like Pedro circa 2001 while others say he looked more like 2005-2006 Pedro. More reliable sources have pointed to the 05-06 Pedro, and that's my assumption going forward. If that's the case, a pitcher who could put up a 4.00 ERA with a decent WHIP is not a bad play at this stage of the game. Pedro also has a strong line-up going for him, and I suspect that if he totally tanks he won't be long for the rotation.