AL Report

Plenty of cheap pitching bargains available

Pat Hentgen has only pitched 84 1/3 innings the past two seasons. AP

By Jason Grey, Special to SI.com

It is always helpful to find cheap pitching who might contribute to your team on draft day. It could be a $1 or $2 player in the endgame of an auction, or someone you can grab at the end of your draft. In this week's AL Report, we'll look at some pitching that should be relatively cheap this year but could produce some good value if things break right.

Anaheim: Mickey Callaway has more upside than most people think. With Aaron Sele not ready to start the season, Callaway has seized a starter's role. He has shown an ability to get strikeouts when he needs them and he also shows good command. He's a good pitching sleeper that could force the Angels to keep him in the rotation.

Baltimore: Pat Hentgen was absolutely horrid in his first outings back from Tommy John surgery last year, but another year removed, and he could be a lot better. There are a lot of miles on the arm, but a former Cy Young winner was a very good pitcher for some time and is worth a small bid or a reserve-list pick if he doesn't open in the rotation. Chances are he will wind up with a good number of starts before it is all said and done.

Boston: Robert Person will open in the minors for the Red Sox as insurance. Last season was a lost one due to shoulder and elbow tears that he had to have repaired. He's an excellent reserve-list pick on the chance he can get into the Boston rotation, as he had good success in before his injury woes.

Chicago: After missing the first half of 2002 with a torn shoulder muscle, Tom Gordon showed he could still get punch-outs with a minimum of walks. It couldn't hurt to back up your Billy Koch buy with him. He's still an injury risk, but there is still good upside here if Jerry Manuel decides to jerk Koch around they way he did with Keith Foulke last year.

Cleveland: Cliff Lee is a very good pitching prospect. This left-hander has a wide variety of offerings that he throws at different speed, with different arm angles and with different breaks. He needs to be a little bit better at throwing them for strikes, though, as his control hasn't followed him to the high minors thus far. He'll be in the rotation eventually, and with his upside you definitely want to grab him. He has the stuff, and now he just needs to refine his command. That may not come right away, but you can't ignore his potential right now. The price will be low as he starts the season on the DL.

Detroit: Mike Maroth doesn't have hard stuff but keeps it down in the zone enough to be effective from time to time. Pitching in Comerica helps him more than some other pitchers who don't keep the ball low. He needs to sharpen both his control (throwing more strikes) and his command (moving his pitches around inside the strike zone) even more to have any improvement. He should be available cheap ($1-$2), though, and he could produce a small return. Sometimes you take what you can get. All in all, his stats weren't that bad last year.

Kansas City: Jeremy Affeldt will be a very good starter in the major leagues, but the only question is whether that starts in 2003 or not. While I would have liked to have seen a full year at Class AAA out of him, it's not farfetched to think he can be productive this year. He needs to be more consistent, and more importantly, figure out a way to put persistent blister troubles (which landed him on the DL last year) behind him. He does have fantastic stuff, and hopefully he can overcome playing for the Royals. There is a lot to like about this 24-year-old, and he's worth taking a chance on this year.

Minnesota: Johan Santana doesn't really belong on this list. The hype means he won't be cheap, but the fact is that Santana will be a very special pitcher very soon. Though he doesn't fit with the rest of the pitchers in this article, he may far out-earn what you pay him if the hype hasn't become deafening in your league. For that reason, I felt a need to mention him here.

New York: Juan Acevedo may wind upa with a few saves after it is all said and done with both Mariano Rivera and Steve Karsay having injury woes. Everyone else on the Yankees won't fly under the radar, but a late selection of Acevedo could have a marginal payoff.

Oakland: John Halama won the fifth starter job in Oakland. However, with Aaron Harang and Erik Hiljus, among others, breathing down his neck, he might have a hard time keeping it. Halama got off to a strong start last year but couldn't keep it up. A finesse lefty, he has no room for error. He also admittedly views the game as a job and doesn't find it a lot of fun. Nice attitude, huh? Still, with a rotation job on Opening Day, and the facts that he's shown flashes of dominance before and is playing for a great team, I'd take a chance.

Seattle: Rafael Soriano is a great talent even if he does open the season in the bullpen. There are enough question marks in the Seattle rotation that a job could be his before long. He has an explosive fastball and a mound presence beyond his 24 years. You want to scoop him up now.

Tampa Bay: Nick Bierbrodt suffered Steve Blass disease and then was the victim of a shooting last spring. This spring, he has shown some of the reasons why he was a highly regarded pitching prospect in the first place. A $1 bid could pay off.

Texas: Joaquin Benoit still needs to improve his control in order to have major league success. A 1:1 BB/K ratio is not going to do it at any level. He has good potential to someday be a very solid fourth- or fifth-starter type and perhaps more. He'd be no more than a low dollar pick at this point on the hope that he can find the command that he showed in the minors. It may not happen this year, but his overall talent may be worth the risk.

Toronto: Cliff Politte is first in line to close for Toronto if Kelvim Escobar gets hurt, traded, or is ineffective. I think he would do very well in that role. His extensive injury woes of the past appear to be behind him now that he is pitching out of the pen. His past WHIP and K rate say he can do the job. We'll have to see if he is up to the challenge. He's a great endgame pick for a couple of bucks, and then hope the Jays can move Escobar like they want to.

Jason Grey is the publisher of The Masters of Fantasy Baseball at www.mastersball.com, a free daily source for news, analysis, insight, and opinion. Their 2003 annual featuring strategy and player profiles as well as their 2003 projections for various game formats is available now.

 

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