Although there weren't as many trades in this past period, the waiver wire remained fairly active. Let's take a look at the FAAB proceedings for this period:
Player | Owner | Winning Bid ($) | Other Bids ($) |
Pat Neshek | Mike Rose | 13 | 11, 8 |
Buck Farmer | Peter Tongas | 6 | 5 |
Tim Adleman | Juan Carlos Blanco | 5 | |
Lonnie Chisenhall | Mike Rose | 5 | 2, 1 |
Yolmer Sanchez | Juan Carlos Blanco | 4 | |
Edinson Volquez | Joe Bartel | 3 | |
Denard Span | Sam Candee | 2 | |
Adam Lind | Chris Benzine | 1 | |
Arodys Vizcaino | James Anderson | 1 | |
Mychal Givens | Steve Broihahn | 1 | |
Paolo Espino | James Anderson | 1 | |
Matt Albers | Steve Broihahn | 1 | |
Franchy Cordero | James Anderson | 1 |
There weren't too many players with multiple bids on them this week, but Pat Neshek was easily the most sought out player now that he's seemingly taken over ninth inning duties for the Phillies. Neshek has been outstanding thus far, allowing just two runs all season (both in the same outing) while posting a 21:4 K:BB in 22 innings pitched. Since he's pitching for the Phillies, save opportunities may be tough to come by, but Mike Rose pulled out a nice pickup with this one, even if Neshek becomes a trade chip later in the season.
Arms were in high demand this week, as eight of the 13 claims were put on pitchers. The types of pitchers nabbed filled a variety of roles, from newly anointed closers like the aforementioned Neshek to late-inning relievers whose performance warrants consideration in such a deep league, which Steve Broihahn focused on when he swiped up Mychal Givens and Matt Albers. The bigger money went to starters, however, with Buck Farmer (0 ER, 16 K's in 13 IP), Tim Adleman (1.71 ERA in last three starts) and Edinson Volquez (no-hitter and three-hit gem in past two starts) getting some of the higher bids this week. With injuries beginning to strike and some early risers beginning to falter, Peter Tongas, Juan Carlos Blanco and Joe Bartel did a nice job grabbing the hot hands before others could.
Hitters weren't completely neglected, though, as Rose brought home Lonnie Chisenhall, who just came off the disabled list and is in the midst of the best season of his career, and Blanco scooped up Yolmer Sanchez, who's thriving in a full-time role in Chicago. I also really liked the $1 pickup of Franchy Cordero by James Anderson. Cordero is just 22 years old and is thriving atop the Padres' lineup, batting .324 with six runs in 11 games. It also is great for Anderson since he also owns Manuel Margot (calf), meaning he'll be all set once the top outfield prospect returns and Cordero potentially moves into a part-time role.
Speaking of Anderson, he also took home the award for most pickups in the week. Similar to Mario Puig last week, Anderson did his work with $1 buys, plucking Cordero, Arodys Vizcaino and Paolo Espino off the waiver wire. Espino appears to have a rotation spot locked up while Matt Garza (chest) is on the disabled list, but the most intriguing pickup here is Vizcaino. He's currently blocked for saves in Atlanta by Jim Johnson, although with the Braves already looking like sellers, there's a good chance Johnson could be dealt by the time the MLB trade deadline arrives. This would allow Vizcaino to move into the closer's role, and although his 4.20 FIP suggests that his stellar ERA may not hold up over the rest of the season, his 10.8 K/9 is a very reasonable figure for the electric right-hander and could provide value even before he begins picking up saves.
To wrap things up for the week, we'll look at the biggest mover in the league. I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but my own team actually topped the league in rotisserie points for the past week. After finishing the month of May in eighth place due to a plummeting team batting average, trades for Xander Bogaerts, Ian Desmond and Tony Wolters helped to alleviate the problem and move my team back into third place, well in the mix for the prize money spots (top four teams at the end of the season).
For your reference, here are the trades that took place this past week:
Owner | Player(s) Received | Owner | Player(s) Received |
Chris Benzine | Bradley Zimmer | Josh Rudd | Jake Lamb Mark Melancon |
Joe Bartel | Jose Peraza | Erik Siegrist | Brandon Drury Franklin Perez |
It'll be interesting to see how all of these moves pay off in the coming week. Good luck to everyone!