A Not-So-In-Depth Analysis On How This Is the Year of the Free Agent Pickup Pitcher

The first Spice Rack Submission of the 2006 season is from loyal reader (when there's actually something to read) Josh:

Jonathan Papelbon, Tom Glavine, Bronson Arroyo, Kenny Rogers, Aaron Harang, Brad Penny, Chris Young, Jose Contreras, Justin Verlander, Josh Johnson, Ervin Santana, Wandy Rodriguez, Vicente Padilla, Tony Armas, Ian Snell, Jered Weaver, Jeff Francis, David Bush, Casey Janssen, Enrique Gonzalez, Jake Westbrook, Paul Byrd, Matt Cain, Aaron Cook, Jason Jennings, Ricky Nolasco, Mike O'Connor, Daniel Cabrera, Erik Bedard, Taylor Buchholz, John Rheinecker, Alay Soler, Cole Hamels, James Shields, Boof Bonser, Zach Miner...

Just 36 reasons why this year in fantasy baseball should be the season where drafting nothing but hitters and picking up the pitching scraps pays off the most. In this group are resurgent veterans, young guys breaking out, and rookies with more staying power than usual, and you have to wonder what the heck the deal is. It's also a particularly good year for keeper leagues with loose rookie pickup rules because guys like Verlander, Jered Weaver, Hamels and Bonser could end up being the staples of your rotation for years to come that you happened to get for free!

The most disturbing trend of this year in fantasy baseball is of course that there doesn't seem to be a single Colorado Rockie NOT worth owning! Is this bizarro land?! They have figured it out! I'm just glad I snapped up Jason Jennings and Jeff Francis while I could!

~Note from NoPepper: Excellent work, Josh. However, you get points deducted for mentioning Bonzer (Min-SP) without using "Boof" as many times as you possibly can. Also, no Liriano? Billingsley (who pitches this week)? But, there are some excellent large league names in there. Keep 'em coming!

Fantasy Baseball: Saved!

No, this will not be about the Colorado Rockies and their newly-announced hiring/scouting policy. I have some pretty strong feelings about this, but I'll let their 28-30 record speak for itself.

I will, however, keep it within the NL West. Last night, Eric Gagne earned his first save since last June. I don't believe he's available in many leagues. I recommend selling him as soon as you can. We've seen plenty of saves come out of the free agent pool in fantasy this year (like every year). Names like Kenny Ray, Tyler Walker, JJ Putz, Akinori Otsuka, and (most valuably) Jonathan Papelbon.

The name I suggest you target is Alex Rios. The kid is for real, has been picked up in most leagues from the FA pool as a 3rd or 4th OF (I have him as a Utility player in a few leagues), and quietly (very quietly) is putting together a great season.