Why Figgins is the real deal and Penny is suspect

	Don't let Chone Figgins' poor numbers so far this year blind you to his overall value. Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

By Ray Flowers, Special to SI.com, BaseballGuys.com

(Stats through Tuesday)

FANTASY MAILBAG

Chone Figgins is incredibly hot right now and available in my league. Here are some people I was thinking of dumping for him: Akinori Otsuka, Jonathan Broxton (I added him since I have Takashi Saito, who is hurt), Chipper Jones or Casey Blake. Your thoughts?
-- Joe, Indianapolis, Ind.

Chone Figgins broke a couple of fingers, forcing him to the DL at the start of the season, and then when he returned he hit all of .156 in May. As a result, people jumped off the Figgins bandwagon faster than they jumped on the Hunter Pence (.364-5-23) bandwagon after his blazing start for the Astros. Apparently, people have turned a blind eye to Figgins because they are only looking at his poor overall numbers (.221-1-10-18-8) and not his recent performance.

Over his last six games, Figgins is hitting .565 with five SBs and eight runs scored, marking him as one of the hottest hitters in the league. There is no reason Figgins should be available in your league, let alone any league, regardless of size or format. How quickly people forget that Figgins has averaged 103 runs and 57 SBs the past two years while qualifying as an OF and a 3B. That type of flexibility and speed should always be of supreme value to fantasy owners.

As for who to drop, the easy call here is Akinori Otsuka. Otsuka has been great since moving to Texas with a 2.21 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over 81.1 IP, but unless he is closing, or your league counts holds, his current value is low. Now we all know no one can count on Eric Gagne staying healthy (does anyone really believe he won't go on the DL again?), but based on your lineup Otsuka is the guy that has to go. Jonathan Broxton is the perfect handcuff since you own the injured Takashi Saito, and Broxton has better "stuff" than Otsuka, leading me to suggest that he is the better option regardless of their current roles (Broxton averages 11.48 K/9IP in his career). Otsuka might end up grabbing saves as the year progresses, but you are better off rostering the multitalented Broxton at the moment and hoping that he too keeps getting saves chances.

I have a trade offer on the table in which I will move Dan Uggla and pick up Brad Penny. I will slide Dustin Pedroia into the second base position if I make this move, and since I'm weak in the SP department, what do you think?
-- Jim

I have written previously about my lack of faith in Brad Penny. Let me reiterate a few things about the Dodgers' star hurler. 1) While he is 7-1, a pitcher's won-loss record is a terrible way to judge his overall level of success. 2) Penny's ERA of 2.37 is fourth in baseball, but his ERA over his last four starts is a middling 4.44. 3) Penny's K/9 IP rate of 5.57 would be a career-worst ratio. 4) Penny's BB/9 IP rate of 2.96 would be his worst ratio since 2002. 5) Penny's K/BB rate of 1.88 would be his worst ratio since 2002. 6) After allowing an average of 18 HRs the past two years, Penny is on pace to allow roughly six this season (two in 76 IP). Do you really think that will continue? 7) In seven previous seasons, Penny has thrown 200 innings only once, and that was back in 2001. The bottom line here is that the record and ERA are just not sustainable with the type of overall numbers Penny is putting up.

Dan Uggla hit only .219 in April, but since then he is hitting a strong .304 with 19 RBIs in 35 games, raising his overall line to a solid .272-12-36-49-0. This rate of performance puts Uggla on pace for a season of about .270-30-95, from 2B mind you. As impressive as those power numbers are, his runs scored column shows a total of 49 runs in 61 games, a pace that would net him 130 runs, a truly impressive number. The other 2B you would turn to, Dustin Pedroia, is hitting a strong .329 on the year, including an amazing .424 over his last 26 games. However, Dustin as only two HRs, 16 RBIs and 19 runs scored on the year, so he is a huge step down from Uggla in overall production.

I would not accept this offer as it stands since I just don't think there is any way that Penny continues his current production. And if I was going to move a 2B, it would be Pedroia and not Uggla on my trade list.