Norichika Aoki (ESPN: 3 percent owned; Yahoo!: 6 percent owned)

The posting process for Norichika Aoki was not as well publicized as Tsuyoshi Nishioka’s or Hisashi Iwakuma’s, but given the choice between the three, the number of teams that would still take either of the more heralded pair over Aoki has to be pretty small. The 30-year-old former Yakult Swallow hasn’t set the world alight with his play in the Brewers’ outfield, but he’s already been worth about a win and is on pace to be worth a bit more than two wins as he’s getting consistent playing time now that he didn’t really get in April. Read the rest of this entry »

While big-time prospects like Trevor Bauer, Anthony Rizzo and Martin Perez got called up this week — you can find takes on those three here, here and here — these three lesser-knowns should be making their way to a ballpark near you soon.

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Yahoo! currently has Craig Kimbrel as the 21st ranked pitcher in fantasy, and 47th best player overall. So, is it worth it to go after the fireballing reliever who has the lowest ERA in history in the amount of innings he has thrown? My short answer is probably not, but if you desperately need saves and strikeouts while you have depth in other spots, then I can see an argument for trading for him.

Everyone knows what Kimbrel does, but it is difficult to trade the house for someone who is on pace to throw just 33 more innings for the rest of the season. Judging by Yahoo!’s value, Madison Bumgarner or Zack Greinke would be equal trading partners, two players I would not give up for any closer. Keep in mind that Yahoo! ranks Jim Johnson and Aroldis Chapman ahead of Kimbrel, due mostly to the fact that they have thrown more innings and the rate stats are comparable — though Johnson’s strikeouts are nowhere near comparable to the other two. Kenley Jansen is not too far behind them.

In trading for Kimbrel offering a package of two quality players would be the recommended strategy rather than trading a sure-fire stud. For a sole player, someone like Jordan Zimmermann seems like fair value in a straight-away deal, due to his great rate stats but pedestrian strikeout numbers.

The real good situation to be in is to be an owner of Kimbrel. There are teams in every league looking for saves, and if you own Kimbrel, who has been the best closer in the game over the past two years, you are likely in a great position to leverage his skills to acquire the combination of a lesser closer and another very good player. As a current owner of Kimbrel in a keeper league, while I also own Casey Janssen and Rafael Betancourt, this is a strategy I am strongly considering.

It is not selling high, as Kimbrel is simply an astounding pitcher, but it is maximizing value and helping your team in areas where it is currently struggling. While Kimbrel is great, the difference between Kimbrel and Rafael Soriano in fantasy leagues is a few saves, 21 strikeouts, and a bit of WHIP. With the difference being relatively minor and the real value being in the save total — which will likely not be too different over the remainder of the season — a trade of Kimbrel for Soriano and either a starting pitcher or solid bat could provide a team with solid value. Kimbrel is a great pitcher, but closers are often a bit overvalued in fantasy for a number of reasons. Don’t be afraid to trade your better players just because they are playing well or are the best at their position, as the label of “best at their position” may increase their trade value in itself.

I wrote part of today’s Roto Riteup while in the office, and not on my lunch break. Such a rebel, I am. Oddly enough, today’s RR is a little abbreviated due to my overloaded work schedule.

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• Besides Giants’ fans and those in holds leagues, has anyone noticed the season Sergio Romo is having? The guy has been filthy. Tonight he earned his fourth handshake of the season while lowering his ERA to 0.83. Romo is inducing swings-and-misses at an astronomical rate (18.7 SwStr%) which leads us to believe his 12.39 K/9 is more than real. Although Romo has only accumulated 21.2 innings on the bump, he’s sporting a FIP (1.82), xFIP (1.89) and SIERA (1.65) that indicate we may see a slight regression, but we’re likely going to see more of the same. At this point, Romo is owned in holds leagues and in shallower leagues with saves chasers. If by chance he’s available, I’d consider making the add to get a weekly boost from his ERA (0.83), WHIP (0.79) and the aforementioned strikeouts.
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Is your team lagging in production from behind the plate?  Can you sacrifice some batting average if it means a boost in the counting stats?  Well, if you answered yes to either or both of these questions, here are a pair of catchers you should probably look into to give your fantasy team a nice little burst of power. Read the rest of this entry »

After turning to veterans to fill in the back end of the rotation, the Padres are now turning youthful Andrew Cashner into a starting pitcher. Like most Padre pitchers, Cashner has been better at home — though he has thrown just 28.1 innings this year.

His home ERA/FIP/xFIP is 2.70/3.47/3.12 compared to 5.40/4.60/3.35 in games away from Petco. While the sample is small, the spread will likely continue, though it should at least somewhat narrow. As a reliever, Cashner boasted heavy strikeout numbers as well as a high walk total. That will likely continue on a lesser extent as a starter. He has been moved in an out of minor league rotations since the start of 2010, so anticipating how his rate stats will look as a starter is somewhat complicated.

What isn’t complicated is that Cashner’s ability to get left-handers out, which will be instrumental to any success he may have as a starter. His .315 wOBA against is not tremendous, but he boasts a higher strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.11) and xFIP (3.59) against lefties than he does against righties, where his marks are 1.59 and 4.05 respectively. Again, this is in just 93.1 career major league innings, but it is certainly a good sign for his sustainability as a starter.

Cashner likely won’t throw 98 out of the rotation as he did in the bullpen, but he will still be a very high velocity pitcher. With his change up becoming a higher quality pitch with more frequent usage, I could envision Cashner being a respectable starter for the rest of the season, with potentially more upside than that.

His three starts in double-A were a great success as he was getting stretched out for the rotation. He is expected to dominate those type of hitters, but a 23-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio including two hit batsmen is certainly a good sign. I picked Cashner up in my 12-team keeper league with close to standard scoring, though my pitching is pretty poor in this league. At this time, if you are looking for pitching on the waiver wire and are having a hard time finding anyone but meddling ~4.00 ERA starters with poor track records, take a flier on Cashner and see if he pans out. I think he can be at least solid, and at worst a solid home spot starter as most of the Padres rotation is.

Last night was Anthony Rizzo’s 2012 MLB debut and he started it off with a bang. He went 2-4 with a double and an RBI. He got the call up after hitting 0.342 with 23 HRs in AAA. While he has dominated AAA, here is a look at what kind of production can be expected from him in the majors this season.

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One of the easiest ways to get overlooked in fantasy is to be a slightly above-average player on a bad team. Great players from bad teams rise out of their squalid surroundings to perhaps even become overvalued. Above-average players on good teams tend to get noticed as people see them play when they’re watching for more established stars, but there’s a nice sweet spot for players who are good enough to be fantasy-relevant, but who aren’t going to draw many eyes on their own. The Cubs’ rotation may be better known for its potential to be decimated by trades in the next six weeks than for its depth, but while Matt Garza and Ryan Dempster may soon leave NL-only owners grumbling about their loss of eligibility, Travis Wood is quietly asserting himself as a functional major leaguer and a relatively unowned option for NL-only and very deep mixed leagues, as he’s available in 98 percent of Yahoo! leagues and over 99 percent of ESPN leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

I took a break from watching Harry Potter to pen today’s Roto Riteup, so you should be all kinds of grateful.

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