Monday, September 12, 2011

A.L. FAAB Log: September 12, 2001


Chris Parmelee $19. Other bids: $6, $1.
The bid is too high and Parmelee isn't that good. But this is the time of year when you've got to spend your FAAB if you have it, particularly if you have a major injury or if one of your regulars gets stuck on the bench. The winning bidder waived Justin Morneau, so this is a logical move. The Twins are going to play it safe with Morneau, so Parmelee should get most of the starts at first base down the stretch. Parmelee’s prospect status slipped badly after a poor 2010. His 2011 has been somewhat better, but when you take park context into account Parmelee's numbers at Double-A speak more to a future back up than an everyday first baseman. If you’re playing for next year, be aware that Parmelee is only up due to Morneau’s injury; he probably needs a full year in AAA next year.

Ah, the vagaries of ERA. In his last five games (three starts), Pineiro has an ERA of 3.75 and an xFIP of 4.20. For 2011 on the whole, he has a 5.11 ERA and a 4.43 xFIP. Pineiro has more or less been the same subpar pitcher all season long, but the recent ERA spike creates a misleading picture. Pineiro is a favorable wins play this week with starts on the road at Oakland and Baltimore, but the extremely low K/IP rate makes him risky in every other category. Pineiro is only worth playing if you're shooting for wins only and are dead or way ahead everywhere else.

Trevor Crowe $5. Other bid $1.
Crowe is a pure steals play. He might start 3-4 days a week down the stretch for the Indians, and Crowe is 27-for-34 lifetime in SB in 632 at bats. He does virtually nothing else so if you're looking for a well-rounded player, Crowe isn't your man.

Wade is a fine, serviceable reliever, but if he were pitching for a losing team he probably wouldn't have been picked up. Wade's three wins in September are why he's now active on some Rotisserie squads. He doesn't deserve his gaudy ERA, but relievers are more likely to defy their interiors than starting pitchers due to the smaller sample sizes. Wade might not get another win all year, but as vultures go, he's as good a play as any middle reliever.

Wakefield is possibly a two-start pitcher this week, but he's slated to get the Jays and Rays at home, which is far from ideal. Wakefield hasn't pitched well this year, so despite the inherent wins advantage he would seem to have with the Red Sox offense behind him, he's not a sure thing to help you in that category. I suspect the only reason Wakefield was picked up was that this team is trying to meet the league's inning requirement.

The entire Yankees catching core is banged up, so rather than pushing Jesus Montero into a trial under file scenario, the Yankees called up Romine. He looks like future back-up material, but with the Yanks as beat up as they are behind the dish, Romine might get most of the starts until Russell Martin returns. Romine's advantage if he starts is that he should get plenty of run/RBI opportunities in the Yankees powerful line-up.

Rick Porcello. Claimed by 11th, 10th, 8th, 7th, 4th (tie), 4th (tie), 2nd and 1st place teams.
Porcello's waiver salary ($7) made him a no-brainer claim for non-contenders this week. If the waiver rule wasn't in place in this league, the four contenders here surely would have placed aggressive bids cap permitting.

Casey Kotchman. Claimed by 10th, 9th, 7th, 4th (tie), 3rd and 2nd place teams.
I talked about how Kotchman would probably be a good fit for a Roto contender on Friday. Sure enough, three of the five contenders claimed him, with a fourth contender placing a secondary claim on Kotchman that didn't go through.

Elliot Johnson. Claimed by 7th and 3rd place teams.

Bruce Chen. Claimed by 4th (tie), 4th and 1st place teams.
I'm a little surprised three contending teams claimed Chen. The 1st place team is way ahead in ERA/WHIP and Chen is a two-start pitcher this week (wins play only). For the other two teams, this is one of those late season gambles a contender makes during the final push and simply hopes for the best. I'm not a fan of Chen's, but in a 5x5 league he's a better play than Pineiro.

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