Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove - AL

December 31, 2009 @ 00:00:00

By Tim Heaney
Edited by Nicholas Minnix

Also see: Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove - NL

KFFL delivers the fantasy baseball spin on each Major League Baseball Hot Stove deal that matters in your fantasy baseball league. Check back for frequent updates to the Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove!

Catchers

Josh Bard, Seattle Mariners (signed to minor league deal)

This Bard of, well, occasional utility can write a haiku's worth of fantasy production at some point during the season. He'll battle for the starting spot with Adam Moore and Rob Johnson in Spring Training. Whoever wins this would be a low-end No. 1 AL backstop.

Outfielders

Coco Crisp, Oakland Athletics (signed)

This cereal sours the milk of the A's outfield. GM Billy Beane has craved this flavor for a while, so Crisp should receive plenty of chances to stick. They probably won't remove Rajai Davis from the lineup, and rumor has it Ryan Sweeney has a spot locked down, leaving Scott Hairston out in the cold.

As for Crisp, he's a No. 5 outfielder in mixed leagues. With a full load of work, he could sniff 30 steals. It's hard to count on him reaching his 2007 totals of 85 runs and 60 RBIs in this offense, but if he sustains his ridiculous batting eye improvement from last year, he'll at least have a shot; he still makes frequent contact.

Starting pitchers

Justin Duchscherer, Oakland Athletics (re-signed)

An incentive-laden deal marks the Duke's chance to rebound from a tumultuous 2009; he'll probably get the chance as Oakland's ace. He underwent elbow surgery and was treated for clinical depression, partly due to family issues. Duchscherer had some BAABIP-driven success in '08 but showed craftiness after moving out of the bullpen. Deep mixed and AL owners should pay attention. 

Relief pitchers

Chad Cordero, Seattle Mariners (re-signed to minor league deal)

Still hoping to get on an in-game mound, Coco should remain on your watch list. Keep tabs of his rehab throughout the offseason, but it would probably take a David Aardsma injury - or collapse - to enter Cordero into the saves discussion.

Also see: Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove - NL

KFFLians are saying....

Comment

 

---

What do you think? We want to hear from you!

Name: E-mail: Please, enter the number that you see

Comment Guidelines

Tim Heaney

Since the Boston University alum joined KFFL in 2006, his work has been featured by USA Today/Sports Weekly and Yahoo! Sports, among numerous publications.

Tim competes in Tout Wars and LABR and appears every Wednesday on 1570 AM WNST in Baltimore, as well as frequently on Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio.

Follow him on Twitter.

Talk Sports 24/7!
KFFL Sports Forums: Over 24,000 strong and growing!

Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market: Sophomore slumper Alex Presley demoted (05/16)
Fantasy Baseball Roundtable: Handling hot starts, like Bryan LaHair's (05/16)
Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: Jose Valverde, Rafael Dolis, Brett Myers, more (05/16)