This week in pickups has has introduced us to some new closers and showcased some hitters who are starting to heat up. In roto leagues, you may now start to see some areas of weakness on your team which means that probably have a specific area to target. If so, you’re in luck because there is a good mix of speedsters (Fuld), power hitters (Gomes) and closers (Boggs, Capps) out there on the free agent market so a variety of needs can be filled. Let’s take a dive into the deep end and see what we find.
Good Pickups
Jed Lowrie (2B/SS, BOS) – I already wrote up a piece this week about why Lowrie should be on your radar, if he wasn’t already. Pick him up first if he’s still available then come back and read it.
Jeff Francouer (OF, KC) – What don’t we like about Frenchy? He’s seems old and boring and plays for the Royals. What do we like about him? We know what we’re going to get out of him and it’s about your average fantasy player production. The 2010 average production in each category for deep fantasy leagues was .272 avg, 16 HR, 11 SB, 68 Runs, 65 RBI and that’s roughly what you can expect out of Francouer if not slightly more. He’s boring but there’s nothing wrong with that.
Mitchell Boggs (RP, STL) – He’s a closer now and that’s all you need to know. The fact that he doesn’t wow you with any numbers isn’t necessarily important.
Matt Capps (RP, MIN) – See Mitchell Boggs. Capps and Boggs should produce relatively similar numbers with near 4.00 ERA’s and 7 K/9. Flip a coin.
Others I’ve Written About Recently – Jonny Gomes, Justin Masterson, Travis Hafner
Could Be Good Pickups
Josh Tomlin (SP, CLE) – Who knows how long the magic will continue for the Cleveland Indians but Josh Tomlin should be a decent pitcher regardless. His minor league stats show us a 3.20 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings. A 4.00 ERA with a 1.25 WHIP may be a wise place to set your expectations at for his run through the majors this season.
Aaron Harang (SP, SD) – The Harangatang has returned. He doesn’t quite have the strikeout and walk rate from his 2005-2007 glory days but he seems closer to the 2008-2009 version of himself rather than the 2010 version. Huh? Well, basically, you should set your expectations at ‘mediocre’ for Harang instead of ‘horrible’. A 4.25 ERA and 1.30 WHIP seem to be reasonable expectations with a somewhat decent strikeout rate.
Others I’ve Written About Recently – Sam Fuld, Maicer Itzuris
Let Someone Else Pick Them Up
Jerry Sands (OF, LA) – For yearly leagues, Sands may not set the world on fire for you. He has 30 HR potential in the long-term but has a huge strikeout rate that will likely follow him into his rookie season here. ZiPS has him projected at a .237 average with 17 HR and 8 SB. That seems about right. He could definitely produce higher than that but I wouldn’t cut anyone valuable for him in order to find out.
Kyle Lohse (SP, STL) – He literally seems to be on the waiver wire every year and has a nice little stretch that gets people excited about him. In the end, he’s still Kyle Lohse and we know what to expect out of him (4.50 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and low strikeout totals). If you think of adding him to your team, go for a long walk to clear your head then return to your computer and hope someone picked him up first.
