Fantasy Baseball Advice

As I was thinking about Rudy going off and getting married, I needed a good cry, so I burned myself a sad song CD.  Rather than try and find 15 songs that all had the same sentiment, I just put Why Can’t I? by Liz Phair on there 15 times.  By the 12th repeat, I started to realize something, Liz Phair is talking about closers.  Picking up setup men that you hope become the closer?  “It’s an itch we know we are gonna scratch.”  When will Matt Thornton become the closer?  “Gonna take a while for this egg to hatch.”  Octavio Dotel is called into the game?  “Why can’t I breathe whenever I think about you?”  I know exactly what you mean, Liz Phair.  Frankly, I’m surprised no one else picked up on this hidden meaning.  This is our Helter Skelter.  Anyway, here’s all of the closers for your fantasy baseball team, as of right now:

$12 Salads

You know that restaurant your girlfriend/wife/what-have-you likes to go to that charges, like, $12 for a salad? Every time you go there, you have a thoroughly solid meal. No complaints, except you just paid $12 for a salad when you could’ve went to McDonald’s and stuffed you and your woman for ten schmools and had $2 in quarters left over to make the hotel bed vibrate. These closers are $12 salads.

1. Jonathan Papelbon (Daniel Bard, Hideki Okajima)
2. Jonathan Broxton (+1) (George Sherrill, Ramon Troncoso, Hong-Chih Kuo)
3. Mariano Rivera (-1) (Joba Chamberlain, Alfredo Aceves, Damaso Marte)
4. Carlos Marmol (+2) (John Grabow, Carlos Zambrano)

Donkeycorns

Imagine you’re following a donkey, who’s wearing a wool cap, through a desert for 1700 miles. Why are you following a donkey? Because he promises you something wonderful and you just need to trust him. Does the donkey talk? Yes. Yes, he does talk. So when you and the donkey in the wool cap arrive at his destination, he removes his the wool cap to reveal a horn. The donkey is a unicorn and his gift to you for your trust is saves. These closers are Donkeycorns.

5. Joakim Soria (+2) (Kyle Farnsworth, Josh Rupe)
6. Francisco Rodriguez (Fernando Nieve, Jenrry Mejia)
7. Heath Bell (-2) (Mike Adams, Luke Gregerson)
8. Jose Valverde (Joel Zumaya, Ryan Perry)
9. Brian Wilson (+1) (Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo)
10. Francisco Cordero (+1) (Arthur Rhodes, Nick Masset)
11. David Aardsma (-2) (Mark Lowe, Brandon League)
12. Rafael Soriano (Dan Wheeler, Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell)
13. Billy Wagner (Takashi Saito, Kris Medlen)
14. Ryan Franklin (Kyle McClellan, Jason Motte)
15. Jon Rauch (+12) (Matt Guerrier, Jesse Crain)
16. Andrew Bailey (+1) (Michael Wuertz, Brad Ziegler)
17. Brian Fuentes (Fernando Rodney, Kevin Jepsen, Scot Shields)
18. Leo Nunez (Dan Meyer, Brian Sanches)
19. Matt Capps (+5) (Tyler Clippard, Brian Bruney, Mike MacDougal)
20. Matt Lindstrom (+10) (Brandon Lyon, Sammy Gervacio)

Brain Freeze

I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing apples, bananas and Chad Qualls– Wait, he just gave up 12 earned runs and hit LaRoche in the head with a pickoff throw. Brain freeze! Make it stop! Use the following closers at your own risk.

21. Bobby Jenks (Matt Thornton, J.J. Putz)
22. Trevor Hoffman (-4) )(Carlos Villanueva, Todd Coffey, LaTroy Hawkins)
23. Kevin Gregg (+2) (Jason Frasor, Scott Downs)
24. Octavio Dotel (-6) (Evan Meek, Brendan Donnelly, Joel Hanrahan)
25. Brad Lidge (+4) (Danys Baez, Jose Contreras, Chad Durbin)
26. Franklin Morales (+2) (Manny Corpas, Rafael Betancourt, Huston Street)
27. Chad Qualls (-4) (Juan Gutierrez, Bob Howry)
28. Neftali Feliz (-11) (Frank Francisco, Chris Ray)
29. Chris Perez (-3) (Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp, Kerry Wood)
30. Alfredo Simon (-15) (Cla Meredith, Koji Uehara, Mike Gonzalez, Lester Freamon)

You’ll have to excuse me; I’m a bit hoarse after a weekend in Vegas, so don’t ask me to yell.  All caps are just too much right now.  I’m not sure where I lost my voice.  May have been during our spirited game of Pai Gow Poker.  What was I doing playing $15 hands of a game where I literally just turned my cards over so the dealer could tell me how to play them?  It’s the free drinks, ya’ll!  About eighty dollars worth a free drinks to be exact.  Oh, and Ubaldo was pitching a no-hitter and Pai Gow Poker had the best seats in the house.  I think even the three 70-year-old Asian ladies at the table with us were into it by the ninth.  Hair’s to you, Ubaldo!  Either way, I’m spent so I’ll have to keep my enthusiasm on simmer for now about Ike Davis.  Let’s start this mofo with what Stephen said in the Mets’ Minor League Review, “After hitting zero home runs in 215 at-bats in 2008, doubters began questioning his “raw power,” but failed to consider an oblique injury.  Splitting time between High-A and Double-A, Davis flat-out raked.  Not necessarily the most polished hitter, he still has some work to do with his swing and strikeout rate, but he should continue to hit for power as he keeps a decent rate of balls in the air (42.8 FB%).”  And that’s me quoting Stephen!  In nine games in Triple-A Buffalo, Davis has two homers as he hits a robust .357.  Not to be confused with the girls in Vegas, who are mo’bust.  The Mets are calling up Davis in the next week.  Do I take a flier on him in 12 team or deeper mixed leagues?  Certainly.  Do I expect the 2nd coming of Hayzeus Cristo?  Nope.  But if he hits in first few games, his value will go sky high and you’ll be able to trade him for more than he’s worth.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

Mike Jacobs – Designated for assignment.  That assignment is to “stop sucking.”

Derek Jeter – Will return on Tuesday after missing yesterday’s game with a head cold.  Good to see he’s quickly on the mend because a head cold sidelined Greinke for a year.

Aaron Rowand – On the DL with three fractures in his cheekbones that he sustained from a Padilla fastball.  In related news, Charlie Haeger’s fastball plunked a mosquito.  The mosquito’s day-to-day.

Eugenio Velez – Guess who now has a new every day job?  Conan O’Brien? Um, yeah, but also Velez.  He’s terrible at everything, except speed.  Oh, what glorious burners he has.  So, as always, SAGNOF.

Barry Zito – 7 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 3 Ks and was Alexander Hamilton to Clayton Kershaw’s Aaron Burr (7 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 9 Ks).  I’d avoid tough matchups with Zito, but he was ownable last year in most mixed leagues and now through three starts his ERA is below 2.

Franklin Morales – 2/3 IP, 2 ER.  Now has back-to-back blown saves.  Rafael Betancourt, cuddle boy extraordinaire, would be next in line, but I don’t think we’ve reached that point yet.  If Morales blows his next one, then commence vulturing.

Jair Jurrjens – 8 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 9 Ks.  Jar-Jar was hit hard hard by the Padres in his last start, then held an actual major league offense in check.  Next time, he gets the Mets.  Uh-oh.

Max Scherzer – 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 Ks.  Now has an ERA of 2.12 on the year.  Amongst other reasons, his move to the AL scared me off of him this year.  But so far– Wait, he’s faced the Royals twice and the M’s at Safeco.  Very sneaky, Scherzer.

Wade LeBlanc – 5 IP, 1 ER, 7 Ks.  But if a monkey were playing third, that would’ve been hilarious!

Everth Cabrera – 2-for-4 with his third steal as he continues to bat leadoff.  Potatoes to chips, his OBP, which is currently at .280, should shoot up at least 40 points.

Mark Reynolds – 3-for-4 and his fourth homer yesterday.  Reynolds is hitting .182 on the year and hasn’t attempted a steal.  It’s not cherrypicking negativity for Mini Donkey.  It’s a goad.  Donkeys, mini or otherwise, need goading.

Juan Gutierrez – Sure has been one sweet pickup for me since Thursday.  2 appearances, 1 IP and 5 ER.  Maybe tomorrow he can defecate on my Reggie Jackson rookie card.

Ian Kennedy – 5 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 7 Ks vs. the Padres in Petco.  A’la Guy Fieri, “Was a meatball of an appearance.  And meatballs are good!”

Ty Wigginton – Has 4 homers in the last week.  Might hit 4 more this week, then not hit another one for a month.  Grab while hot, friend.

Marlon Byrd – 3-for-5 yesterday and will now hit leadoff vs. lefties with Theriot dropping to the eight hole, also known as the don’t steal so the pitcher can bunt you over hole.

Lance Berkman – He’s ready to return for Tuesday’s game.  Him and Carlos Lee should be able to fix the Astros’ offense, assuming you’re playing in a 2006 throwback league.  I have my doubts that Berkman will be the old Berkman.  Actually, let me rephrase that because he will indeed be the old Berkman.  He just won’t be the Berkman that we used to see.

Aaron Hill – Should be ready to go by Friday.  I’ll be impressed if he returns and stays healthy the rest of the year.  Member how excited you were in March to own him?  How ya feeling now?

Alberto Callaspo – 3-for-5, 6 RBIs with 2 homers yesterday.  He’s a .300 hitter with little to no speed and very minimal power.  I will call you, Polancallaspo.

Scott Podsednik – 3-for-5 with his 7th steal.  If you were an alien and this were your first day on Earth and you saw Podsednik’s stats so far this season and his wife, you’d probably think he was the best player in the major leagues.

Luke Hochevar – 6 IP, 2 ER, 11 baserunners, 4 Ks.  He got lucky last time, too.  The time before, I said, “He looked sharp last night and I’m ready to leap if he pitches this well again.”  These starts since then have made it real hard to buy into him totally, but I’d rather own him at this point than not.

Carl Pavano – 3 1/3 IP, 7 ER.  I talked him up last week.  Finally putting years of dreckitude behind me.  So I picked him up and he got shelled.  Did he do this to spite me?  Probably.  But guess what?  It was a weekly league, so I didn’t have him in my active lineup yet.  In your face, Pavano!

Jason Marquis – Didn’t record an out as he gave up 7 runs.  Now that’s Razztastic!

Mark Teixeira – HR yesterday as his average buoys around .115.  Someone turn this guy’s calender to June.

Jay Bruce – 2 solo homers yesterday.  After the game, he cured death, then reversed the cure because of all the people who doubted him the first two weeks.

Matt Garza – 8 IP, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks has a 0.75 ERA on the year.  Have I mentioned that I traded Rafael Soriano to get Garza in one league?

Ricky Romero – 8 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks.  Stop the press!  Who’s that?  Ricky Romero!

Ervin Santana – 9 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 6 Ks.  As the Black Eyed Peas would say, “Mazel tov.”

Rich Harden – 3 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 11 baserunners, 6 BBs.  Weird how his stuff has gone from filthy to sloppy.

J.J. Hardy is an easy buy, which isn’t the same as an easy sell.  Hardy’s not exactly promoting a yum-yum juicy chicken burger with a side of 30 homers and 20 steals.  He’s cheap.  His expectations are low.  He’s 27-years-old and averaged 83/25/77/.280 at 24 and 25.  Last year, he didn’t tune and check out with Khalil Greene, going off to mullet all over.  Hardy started the year dealing with back issues and he never recovered.  If you invite Hardy onto your team, you don’t need to put plastic sheets on the bed and hide all the good flatware.  With O-Dog currently hurt and his grasp on the #2 spot tenuous, Hardy could be next in line for that spot.  If so, 160+ R/RBI is definitely reachable and the power is already there.  Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:

BUY

Ervin Santana – I was saying the other day something like you should move to the exit row.  I didn’t say exit.  I was preparing my exit.  Now when I see he’s only owned in 26% of ESPN leagues, I’m beginning to think people bailed on him too soon.  This isn’t a buy, this is a hold.  Format constraints and all that.

C.J. Wilson – Went over him this morning.  Go ahead.  Scroll down.  This’ll be here, assuming you don’t try to scroll by taking a crowbar to your computer screen.

Gio Gonzalez – This buy is solely dependent on you wanting Ks.  But, really, who doesn’t want Ks?  I could’ve put Felipe Paulino here instead.  In fact, I did last week.

Justin Masterson – My logic in the morning post didn’t seem to interest people so I’m going to break it down to you simple enough that even a dead Minnie Pearl could understand it.  Masterson will be better than Oswalt this year.

Ian Kennedy – In his first start, he had 8 strikeouts through 5 innings and only made one mistake (a 3-run homer).  I’ll take that every day of the week and twice on Muesday.

Kelly Johnson – For those out there that are like Mr. Short Term Memory — Hey, who turned on my computer?! — I present to you a not that oldie and not that goodie, “In certain circumstances, I’m excited to draft Kelly Johnson late as my middle infielder.  Last year, Bobby Cox never gave Johnson a fair shake.  He benched him against lefties, sat him when he slumped, told him he’d never be Marcus Giles… It was a trying time for a guy with a girl’s first name.  An every day job could easily translate to a 15/10 season.  Sounds yawnstipating, but at MI and where he’ll be drafted he’ll be a steal late in 2010 drafts.”  And that’s me quoting January Grey!  Do I need a dot-EDU URL to gain some trust?

Ian Desmond – Owned in 3.7% of ESPN leagues?  Seriously?  That makes me sad.

Casey McGehee – I wasn’t a big fan of his in the preseason, but he’s hitting 5th behind Fielder and Braun and he has the superfecta of eligibility.  Could be a poor man’s Uggla.

Josh Willingham – The Nats really aren’t that bad.  No, really!  Okay, their pitching staff Sansburg isn’t good, but their hitting isn’t terrible.  “Isn’t terrible” for the Nats is a compliment.  Willingham is the guy on everyone’s waivers that can get you 25-30 homers and 90-100 RBIs.  Does he bling-bling up your fantasy team?  No, he’s not flashy.  You’re looking at Blanks or Swisher, but Willingham is the other white meat.

Julio Borbon – To bust out my Jackie Chiles, the dissimilitude of Borbon’s performance to my magnanimity of drafting him has been egregious.  Need to give Borbon another week or two.  Yo quiero Julio and I’m sincero.

Matt Lindstrom – Was thinking about how Lindstrom is only owned in 61% of ESPN leagues, but then I thought about how 50% of ESPN leagues are already abandoned, so Lindstrom’s already at 111%, so, ya know, it’s all good, baby, baby.

Chris Perez – SAGNOF!

Franklin Morales – See 1/8 of an inch above.

Jeff Clement – He should get 400+ ABs if he stays healthy.  Napoli has never reached 400 ABs in any season of his career.  Cust kayin’.

Casey Kotchman – He’s hitting third vs. righties so he’s on the right side of the blahtoon.  The toon side, if you will.

Gaby Sanchez – Hitting .364 through three games.  No rush to defrost Ted Williams’s frozen head just yet, but, well, I own Sanchez.

SELL

Carlos Gomez – Spoiler alert!  If his big game came any day other than Opening Day, you wouldn’t even need this reminder that he’s terrible.  Well, here’s your one reminder.  He’s terrible.

Travis Snider – I was randy on Travis.  No more.  Later, doode.  To drop a Mama’s Family-esque line on ya, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.

Rickie Weeks – I like Weeks and do think he can be very valuable if he stays healthy.  That “if” needs its own island to stretch out its legs.  If you can get anything for Rickie “To the DL for 6-8″ Weeks, I’d consider it.

Vernon Wells – Sweet Sassy Molassey!  Wells is hitting everything out of the park, but I don’t think it continues.  Trade him before the clock strikes crap.

Our weekly Friday Fantasy Baseball Feature, Buy Low/Sell High is back after an offseason layoff.  When asked what this fantasy baseball feature did during the offseason, it said this, “My family and I got together with the Fantasy Baseball Keeper posts’ family and we rented a Cruise America RV.  Spent most of our days touring ice fishing spots in Montana and our nights were spent swapping wives.”  Alrighty then!  To get everyone on the same page, I like the Buy guys.  I dislike the Sell guys.  Now I’m not saying to actually sell all the guys in the Sell section or to drop them.  Lots of times I’m simply saying to expect their current positive vibe to turn negative.  Also, if Alcides Escobar is in the Buy section (which he is!) and Berkman is in the Sell section (there too!) that doesn’t mean I recommend you trade Berkman for Escobar.  Everything’s relative, Einstein.  Anyway, here’s some guys to buy and sell for the 1st week of the fantasy baseball season (start the games already!):

BUY

Alcides Escobar – He stole 16 bases in 45 games this winter down in Venezuela.  (Ugueth Urbina did the same, but it was with a firearm.)  Brewers should bat Escobar 2nd in front of Braun and Fielder.  100+ Runs, 40 steals and a middling average aren’t out of the question.

Francisco Liriano – Liriano Dutch Oven’d your team last year.  You couldn’t even look at the pitching stats some days because of the stench he left.  Guess what, loyal Razzball reader?  That was last year.  Liriano looked tremendous in Winter Ball.  Continued that in Spring Training.  More –>Liriano sleeper.

Mat Latos – You ever just find yourself whistling for no apparent reason and you’re like, “Man, I’m off meth and I’m happy.  Go figure.”  That’s how I feel with Latos.  He makes me emoticon in my pants.

Cameron Maybin – Maybe he was too hyped last year and now people are sticking their toes in the water before jumping.  It’s cool and all, but I’m a certified lifeguard.  Jump, I’ll save you if you need it.

Colby Rasmus – Yes, this is the part of the program where I point out guys that you swore were ready for the majors last year then disappointed.  Remember that when you’re going crazy trying to get Jason Heyward this year.

Travis Snider – Okay, done with last year’s failed crop of overhyped prospects that will make good this year… Well, there is Matt LaPorta.  Eh, I’ll save him for next week.

Shaun Marcum – The matchups won’t always be pretty and he hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2008.  This is a tentative buy because I imagine he’s going to give you a a bit of an up and down roller coastery season.   You can mark him (hehe… what?) down for a low 4 ERA and around 7 Ks per 9 innings.

Felipe Paulino – I admittedly flipped a coin between Paulino and Bud Norris.  Went with Paulino because he’s just slightly more mature.  They are pretty similar guys.  High strikeouts, high walks.  I’d grab him in NL-Only leagues and wait and see in mixed leagues.  Glass is half empty, he’s a righty Manny Parra. Glass is half full, he’s a righty de la Rosa.

Dexter Fowler – I’ve watched draft after draft where Fowler’s virtually ignored.  For shame.  He’ll give you Runs, Steals, a decent average and close to 10 homers.  He’s Feign Victorino.

Franklin Morales – What, you don’t like saves?  You’re crazy.  Huston Street just got injured again opening the newspaper to read about how he got injured last time.  Morales will be the closer for at least a month.  Then when Street is actually healthy, the Rockies will bring him back slowly (meaning:  he’ll only pitch in non-save chances) then he’ll regain the role.  Could be mid-May by then and Morales could have 12 saves.

Ryan Madson – See an 1/8 of an inch above.

Danys Baez – You can look an 1/8 of an inch above or you can skip that and just move 1/4 of an inch above.

Jeff Clement – A catcher with every day at-bats.  Awesome!  Clement’s never shown himself to be a decent major leaguer.  Less awesome!  You punt catcher and there’s nothing else out there.  Adequate!

Ian Desmond – Just writing his name makes my heart flutter.  I feel like Gérard Depardieu on the back of a moped.

SELL

Fausto Carmona – Obviously there was some kind of Faustian bargain made for his sudden reemergence.  That’s nice, Carmona sold his soul to pitch well in Spring Training.  Doesn’t he know Spring Training stats don’t count?  Dur.  This isn’t a sell as much as a don’t bother.  There’s so many pitchers out there, why are you risking this shizz on flippin’ Carmona? Let’s drop a pine tree from your rearview mirror and do a refresher course.  His most successful year came in 2007 when he had a 3.06 ERA.  That ERA should’ve been near 4 and he had 137 Ks in 215 innings.  Your drunk aunt that thinks you’re the mailman can get that many Ks in 215 innings.  Carmona is the new blech.

Jason Heyward – Sure, he’s mollywhopping with his pony sticks right now, but he’s like twelve years old.  Think about how long you waited for Justin Upton to show his tremendous promise.

John Maine – He seems like a good enough guy.  But right now he doesn’t look right.  I wouldn’t go near him with your team.

Lance Berkman – You don’t drop him, you don’t even trade him for ten cents on the dollar, you maybe trade him for ninety cents on the dollar.  Or you wait until everyone’s like, “Ooh, Berkman’s healthy again.  Jump up, jump up and get down!”  Then you trade him.

Joe Nathan and Huston Street are gone and everyone moved up.  That’s why people like Matt Capps and Chris Perez have done little but squat on the john yet moved up the rankings.  Though I still managed to find a way to not move up Brian Fuentes.  The way we’re going there won’t be any $12 Salads by May.  Then what?  $8 Side Dishes?  Who needs roasted cauliflower with truffle oil?  Not me!  I’m happy with a baked potato.  Yes, sir!  Hmm… Maybe I shouldn’t write these right before lunch.  Anyway, here’s all of the closers for your fantasy baseball team, as of right now:

$12 Salads

You know that restaurant your girlfriend/wife/what-have-you likes to go to that charges, like, $12 for a salad? Every time you go there, you have a thoroughly solid meal. No complaints, except you just paid $12 for a salad when you could’ve went to McDonald’s and stuffed you and your woman for ten schmools and had $2 in quarters left over to make the hotel bed vibrate. These closers are $12 salads.

1. Jonathan Papelbon (+1) (Hideki Okajima, Daniel Bard)
2. Mariano Rivera (+1) (Alfredo Aceves, David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain)
3. Jonathan Broxton (+1) (George Sherrill, Ramon Troncoso, Hong-Chih Kuo)

Donkeycorns

Imagine you’re following a donkey, who’s wearing a wool cap, through a desert for 1700 miles. Why are you following a donkey? Because he promises you something wonderful and you just need to trust him. Does the donkey talk? Yes. Yes, he does talk. So when you and the donkey in the wool cap arrive at his destination, he removes his the wool cap to reveal a horn. The donkey is a unicorn and his gift to you for your trust is saves. These closers are Donkeycorns.

4. Francisco Rodriguez (+1) (Ryota Igareshi, Jenrry Mejia, Eddie Kunz)
5. Heath Bell (+1) (Mike Adams, Luke Gregerson)
6. Carlos Marmol (+1) (John Grabow, Esmailin Caridad)
7. Joakim Soria (+1) (Juan Cruz, Roman Colon, Kyle Farnsworth)
8. Jose Valverde (+1) (Joel Zumaya, Ryan Perry)
9. David Aardsma (+1) (Mark Lowe, Brandon League)
10. Brian Wilson (+1) (Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo)
11. Francisco Cordero (+1) (Arthur Rhodes, Nick Masset, Jared Burton)
12. Rafael Soriano (+2) (Dan Wheeler, Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell)
13. Billy Wagner (+2) (Takashi Saito, Kris Medlen)
14. Ryan Franklin (+4) (Jason Motte, Josh Kinney)
15. Mike Gonzalez (+7) (Jim Johnson, Cla Meredith)
16. Brian Fuentes (Fernando Rodney, Kevin Jepsen, Scot Shields)
17. Frank Francisco (+3) (Darren O’Day, Chris Ray, Neftali Feliz)
18. Octavio Dotel (+1) (Brendan Donnelly, Joel Hanrahan)
19. Leo Nunez (+1) (Dan Meyer, Brian Sanches)
20. Trevor Hoffman (+3) (Todd Coffey, LaTroy Hawkins)
21. Andrew Bailey (-4) (Michael Wuertz, Brad Ziegler, Joey Devine)

Brain Freeze

I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing apples, bananas and Matt Capps– Wait, he just gave up 12 earned runs and hit Zimmerman in the head with a pickoff throw. Brain freeze! Make it stop! Use the following closers at your own risk.

22. Bobby Jenks (+3) (Matt Thornton, J.J. Putz)
23. Chad Qualls (+4) (Juan Gutierrez, Bob Howry)
24. Matt Capps (+2) (Brian Bruney, Tyler Clippard, Mike MacDougal)
25. Jason Frasor (+5) (Kevin Gregg, Scott Downs)
26. Chris Perez (+1) (Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp, Kerry Wood)
27. Jon Rauch/Matt Guerrier (-26) Jose Mijares, Francisco Liriano)
28. Franklin Morales (-15) (Manny Corpas, Rafael Betancourt, Huston Street)
29. Ryan Madson (-4) (Danys Baez, Brad Lidge)
30. Matt Lindstrom/Brandon Lyon (-1) (Sammy Gervacio, Ed Wade’s Toupee)