Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market

Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market: Fernando Salas, more

May 2, 2011 @ 13:33:12

By Nicholas Minnix
Edited by Tim Heaney

Your fantasy baseball cheat sheets are no longer of use. KFFL.com's Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market series gives you tips on fantasy baseball players available as free agents, on waivers or for your FAAB dollars in your rotisserie or head-to-head baseball league. It's time to replace your fantasy baseball busts.

Key

Acquire	Add player (in most circumstances)
Consider	Add for speculation or because of need
Watch	Track player, consider if trend continues
Pass	Do not add player (in most circumstances)

Corner infielders

Greg Dobbs, Florida Marlins

The Fish finally decided to stash Donnie Murphy (wrist inflammation) on the disabled list. The club is expected to continue to go with Wes Helms (right-handed hitter) and Dobbs (left-handed) in the interim of uncertain length. Edwin Rodriguez planned to play matchups at the hot corner prior to the move, and that's unlikely to change after it.

Salas has the baton ... for now

Dobbs, on the heartier side of the platoon, is the extremely deep target. He's hitting .372 with two homers in 43 at-bats. No need to say that he won't keep that up, but considering the depth at third in the NL presently, his hot bat may be worth riding. He was for stretches a quite reliable big league substitute with the Philadelphia Phillies and is familiar with the NL East.

Shallow mixed: Pass

Deep mixed: Pass

NL-only: Consider

Middle infielders

Mike Fontenot, San Francisco Giants

Pablo Sandoval (fractured hamate bone) will miss at least four weeks, likely more than that. The Giants' initial alignment to cover the Panda's absence has Miguel Tejada at the hot corner and Mike Fontenot at short. The former Chicago Cubs infielder is likely only available at second base in your league, but third base is a good possibility, and the 6 may not be far behind.

As for Fontenot's stick, it has yielded nine hits in 34 at-bats (.265, with a homer), thus far. He's a lifetime .270 hitter who has occasionally flashed some nice sock. Indications are that there's a little bit of BA upside compared to his career norms, too. This is unlikely to be a flashy pickup, but under the circumstances, in the deepest universes, he's a nice target.

Shallow mixed: Pass

Deep mixed: Watch

NL-only: Acquire

Pitchers

Fernando Salas, St. Louis Cardinals

Tony La Russa has gone from having a primary closer (Mitchell Boggs, a declaration that originally came from the mouth of Dave Duncan) to a committee of them (not exactly by admission, but certainly implied). And so, you curse.

Four pitchers (Boggs, Salas, Trever Miller and Eduardo Sanchez) have picked up saves since the Cards demoted Ryan Franklin. Jason Motte and Miguel Batista could also figure into this mess. Miller is purely a LOOGY and a desperate NL addition. Sanchez has the least experience but has nasty strikeout stuff and has mild value in deep leagues. Batista hasn't received an opportunity and would seem to be more of a fallback plan. Motte seemed to receive an opp in extras on Friday but yielded to Miller in a matchup play; TLR has seemed reluctant to place him in that position.

Salas has two saves and picked them up in impressive fashion, although in the second of them, on Saturday, he certainly seemed to be benefit from a favorable strike call in a full count. His stuff, experience (relative to the club's other young relievers) and early returns probably make him the best of this bunch to own, after Boggs. It's still a crapshoot.

Shallow mixed: Consider

Deep mixed: Consider

NL-only: Acquire

Aneury Rodriguez, Houston Astros

Rodriguez has replaced the uninspiring Nelson Figueroa in the team's rotation. The performance of the former in eight relief stanzas (six earned runs, nine hits, four walks, two home runs allowed, with seven strikeouts) doesn't offer much hope, but Rodriguez settled in just a bit after a start to the season that was a little tough.

Rodriguez may have had more success in the minors had his defense been of more help, judging from some of the numbers. The 23-year-old has had fewer issues in the control rate department than Figueroa has. The Rule 5 pick's BB/9 has escalated as he has climbed the ladder, though, suggesting that he could use some more seasoning. Rodriguez is a more intriguing option than Figueroa, but that isn't saying much. He's an experiment as a placeholder for Jordan Lyles.

Shallow mixed: Pass

Deep mixed: Pass

NL-only: Consider