Per usual on Mondays, here is the latest news on some of the American League outfield eligible players.

Bullish:
Colby Rasmus – As noted in the comment section of my last AL OF Tiered Update Ranking, Rasmus decided to go on a tear as soon as I dropped him down to tier eight. Over the past 14 days, Rasmus has a .320 average, three home runs, 10 runs and even eight RBI’s. The RBI production is surprising because over that same 14 day time span, he has hit from the number two spot eight out of twelve games. Rasmus has broken broken my heart in the past, but I might get sucked in his tools yet again. He is only owned in 40% of Yahoo! and 67% of ESPN leagues, go grab him while he is hot. Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s waiver wire brings you two rookies who have come into more important roles of late, one an outfielder and one a relief pitcher.

Norichika Aoki | OF | Brewers | Owned: 3% Yahoo! and 1.7% ESPN

Aoki turned 30 years old earlier this year, but technically he’s a rookie after coming over from Japan. He opened the season as a reserve player with Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, and Carlos Gomez/Nyjer Morgan entrenched in the outfield, but he’s seen more playing time lately because Mat Gamel’s season-ending knee injury has forced Hart to play some first base. It wasn’t just Gamel’s injury though, Aoki earned his spot.

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Brett Lawrie has been a bit of a disappointment. His performance hasn’t been awful, but he hasn’t lived up to expectations, either. Last season, Lawrie hit .293/.373/.580 in just 171 plate appearances, vaulting him up the fantasy ranks. For a player that many owners drafted between the fourth and sixth rounds, Lawrie’s .272/.315/.369 slash line isn’t offering much value. Unless Lawrie can improve on his current performance, it’s time to start wondering whether he’s still worth starting in shallow leagues.

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Every so often, I like to look at the difference between starting pitchers’ SIERA and ERA marks and rank them to determine who has been luckiest and unluckiest according to the former metric. This is an especially important exercise to do during trading season, both when looking to identify pitchers to trade for and which pitchers you own you should be looking to sell. Today I present the SIERA outperformers, those whose ERA is most below their SIERA marks. These are your potential sell high candidates.

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Today marks my fourth Roto Riteup in a row! Only 52 more and I tie DiMaggio. Don’t worry, Zach Sanders will be back tomorrow and we’ll be back to the first half/second half platoon situation.

• Ubaldo Jimenez pitched one of his better games so far this season yesterday afternoon. He lasted seven innings while striking out seven and didn’t allow a walk. Over his past three starts and 19 2/3 innings, he has only allowed five walks. It’s possible that he has turned a corner and is ready to put his miserable start of the season behind him. If you are a fellow Ubaldo owner then you know how frustrating he has been so far. I wouldn’t make him an automatic start just yet but I would probably start him this week against the Pirates. With a 58% ownership rate in Yahoo! and just 47% in ESPN, Jimenez could be an ideal stream option this week.

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• After we last left you on Friday night, Brian Fuentes had a mini-implosion versus the Diamondbacks, taking a win off the board for the A’s and Tommy Milone and probably taking himself out of the ninth inning on a full-time basis. On Saturday, Bob Melvin told assembled press before the game that he was going to use — something every fantasy owner longs to hear — a committee. Fuentes will remain in the mix for saves but Ryan Cook and Grant Balfour will get opportunities based on their availability and matchups.

Cook has been the sleeper darling of the group since the first few weeks of the season, putting up a sparkling 0.69 ERA in 26.0 IP so far in 2012. While his strikeout rate has been solid (8.7 K/9), his walk rate has been anything but (5.2 BB/9). Free passes are nothing new to Cook who had 9.2 BB/9 in limited action at the big league level for Arizona last year in addition to 4.2 BB/9 down at AAA. Thanks to the walks, a low BABIP (0.119) and the fact that he has allowed no homers this year with a 48.3% fly ball rate, his xFIP is a less-than-appetizing 4.39. Balfour’s fastball velocity and, subsequently, strikeouts are down this year (7.0 K/9, compared with a career average of 9.7), and his walk rate (3.9 BB/9) and xFIP (4.40) are nothing to write home about, either. Ironically, Fuentes still has the best peripherals of the three, thanks in large part to his 2.0 BB/9 (3.95 xFIP). Unfortunately for him, a poor strand rate (64.5% LOB%) and HR/FB% nearly four points above his career average (12.5% versus 8.4%) has his ERA the worst of the three at 5.24.

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Today’s Roto Riteup might be a little more brief than the norm. I’d like to say that it is because I’m watching the free HBO weekend that is currently going on, but that would be a lie. The truth is that I am enjoying the other major league passion of mine, Major League Gaming. Today marks the final day of MLG’s Spring Championship, so go watch some StarCraft II already!

• So what if I told you that the leader for shortstops with 2.6 WAR who happened to lead the SS position in home runs was available in one third of Yahoo! leagues? It sounds pretty crazy huh? Well Jed Lowrie is exactly that. Somehow he still only owned in 67% of Yahoo! formats. For the love of cake, pick him up and play him if he is still available! His ESPN ownership rating is a full 100%, so to my colleagues in Yahoo! leagues: wake up already.

• Andrelton Simmons hit his first career major league home run last night. Power was never the strongest part of his game, but it is nice to see that he does possess the strength to knock one out. The ZiPS RoS on him isn’t too pretty but I think he has a chance to surpass those numbers. He might go off for a .280 average with lots of doubles and he’ll probably end the season with more triples than homers. Keep an eye on him. Simmons should be available in 95% of leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

You may recall that a month into the season, I was embarrassing myself in the LABR mixed league. Despite going offense heavy during the draft and being questioned about my pitching staff, my team simply wasn’t hitting. My pitching was performing better, but not nearly good enough to offset the atrocities at the plate. Well, a month later, things have improved. Not a whole lot, mind you, but better times indeed.

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Ahh, the weekend. It’s something that we all look forward to. And I know you are all looking forward to today’s Roto Riteup, so we’ll jump right in.

• In case you haven’t heard, Carlos Quentin is back and he is back in a big way. Since his return to action a mere nine games ago, Quentin is sitting at a .484/.543/1.097. Of course that isn’t sustainable, but seeing him already sock five home runs is encouraging. When healthy, Quentin certainly is a force at the plate. He is owned in just 64% of Yahoo! leagues, so if for some reason he slipped through the cracks of your league, pick him up. His ESPN ownership is all the way up at 98% however.

• If you’re set in the outfield but you need some infield help, then Kyle Seager could be just the man you’re looking for. Since May 26th, Seager has two homers, 10 RBI’s and a .311 average. For the season he has an impressive .275/.324/.475 line, good for a 124 wRC+. As a prospect he always had more doubles power than home run power, Seager has surprised us by popping seven home runs already. That is more than twice as many as last season in what is essentially the same number of plate appearances. He is still popping doubles at a very good clip, hitting 13 so far. ZiPS thinks he will end the year around 39 doubles and that kind of extra-base hit production from someone who is shorstop eligible is a very nice thing indeed. His ownership rating in both Yahoo! is a mere 70% and ESPN isn’t much better at 74%. Read the rest of this entry »

• The Cubs bullpen situation is an absolute mess. Yesterday, Shawn Camp and James Russell (the two guys Dale Sveum publicly anointed as closers in the wake of Carlos Marmol’s demotion) pitched in the seventh and eighth innings, leaving the door open for what (at the time) appeared to be a Casey Coleman save opportunity (Coleman never got the opportunity, and took the loss in extras). Tonight, Russell straddled the seventh and eighth innings (giving up a run) while Camp got his crack at the ninth. In typical Cubs bullpen fashion, he immediately gave up a screaming single (off the left field wall, no less) to Josh Willingham and a Justin Morneau triple to blow the save before inducing a few weakly hit balls in wriggling out of the jam and getting the game to extras. At this column’s press time, that’s where the game was. Sveum left him in to pitch the tenth, and he gave up a walk and a couple singles to take the loss.

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