Roto Arcade: Bartoloing
Roto Arcade This Week : April 2 | April 3 | April 4
You know who's desperate to make a trade? The owner who's made the most transactions in your league, that's who.
Find for the guy who's already made eight or ten add/drops. Maybe he just cut Kevin Millwood for Tim Hudson, which is like exchanging a box of Kleenex for a box of Puffs. That owner is restless. He's fidgety. He's unhappy with his roster, but he's not exactly sure why. That's the guy you need to approach with trade offers.
In the Yahoo! Friends and Family League, it's Falzone. Unfortunately, he's a little too savvy to deal Alfonso Soriano or Bobby Abreu just yet. But you can just tell he wants to do something blockbuster-ish. Writing about it here won't help my cause, though. My advice to you is simple: Find your league's Falzone and open discussions. There might be something there.
Mike Sweeney is only 0.7 percent owned. Doesn't that seem a little light? No, he hasn't done anything particularly useful since 2005. But still, less than one percent? He is a clean-up hitter, after all, and he has Mark Teahen batting in front of him and Alex Gordon behind. I've added Sweeney in my AL-only league. He really shouldn't be a free agent in any AL-only configuration.
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Mike Jacobs continues to hit, slugging one of the Marlins three homers Wednesday off Matt Chico, the guy with the most amusing Yahoo! headshot in all of Major League Baseball. Chico looks like he should be a fantasy columnist, doesn't he? Anyway, back to Jacobs. He's only 2.1 percent owned, despite hitting fourth for the Marlins. The early line looks good: 5/13, 4 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI. There should be a roster spot for Jacobs in pretty much any league that starts a corner infielder. One other interesting home run from yesterday: Andy Marte hit a second-inning shot off Jon Garland. He also drew a significant late walk against Mike MacDougal. It might be nothing, just a blip. Too early to say. But when the hugely talented 23-year-old does something productive, we take notice. He should be owned in AL-only leagues.
Jake Westbrook sure stunk yesterday, didn't he? Sorry I ever mentioned him. Westbrook gave up seven runs in five innings against the White Sox, striking out five. Conditions were miserable in Chicago. It appears he'll get two starts next week – against the Mariners and Sox, both at home – so Westbrook is still in play for owners in weekly transaction leagues, although I write that with little enthusiasm. Rich Hill and Dave Bush meet Friday in a clash of terminally-hyped fantasy sleepers. Did any of us fail to rave about them? No. So in all likelihood, neither was a bargain in your draft. Sorry about that. Anthony Reyes, who starts Saturday at Houston, is only 14.5 percent owned. I almost don't believe that percentage, though. Reyes is owned in all of my leagues and he had a spectacular spring. He should be on a roster in all 12-team public leagues, without question.
Thursday's Detroit-Toronto game has been postponed, so hopefully you substituted for any Tigers or Jays. Every start matters. Here's another piece of roster advice: Use your DL spots, however many your league allows. You wouldn't carry an "–empty–" spot on your bench, would you? Of course not. So don't leave a DL spot unfilled. There's no reason to let Pedro Martinez, Josh Johnson, Juan Rivera, or Bartolo Colon sit out there in the free-agent pool if your DL spot is unused.
And speaking of Colon, I'll be on hand for his rehab start at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Thursday night. I'm giddy. So you can reasonably expect Friday's Arcade to be light on fantasy recommendations, and heavy on the sordid details of a night spent Bartoloing. If things go well during Colon's minor league appearances – or really, if nothing goes horribly wrong – the former Cy Young winner could return to the Angels' rotation by the end of the month. If he's available in your league, stash him someplace.