Week 7- Waiver Pickups

The Mos Important addition of the Week: For this week's waiver wire additions I would like to start off by noting the most important addition of the week, Calliope Grupe. Yesterday, Louie and his wife welcomed their second child into the world, so for that I say congratulations and I can't wait to come see the little girl. You guys make great parents and great role models for your daughters and it's always enjoyable coming over and seeing the family.

Now to the Pickups:

C Yan Gomes- $1- Bob's Dee Gordon Stealers- drop RP John Axford

The real Jack Sparrow

There was a time when John Axford and his facial hair were one of my favorite things to see every night. It meant that the Brewers were winning and he was coming in to close the game. Since he has left Milwaukee, and even before he left, he has turned into an unreliable closer. The Ax man has blown two saves this year to go along with a 1-3 record and near 5 ERA. Since Aroldis Chapman has come back and been inserted into Bob's lineup, Axford became expendable. When looking at Bob's roster, it's obvious he needed a catcher since the only one he has on the roster, Wilin Rosario, is on the DL. Gomes was simply the best available catcher to pick up and start next week.


SP Kyle Lohse- $2- Huckleberries- drop 1B Matt Adams

Kyle Lohse has been tremendous for the Brewers this year. Since I am a Brewers fan, it gives me great confidence to say he is the best pitcher on the team right now. Lohse posts a 4-1 record with a 2.75 ERA at the moment and has a quality start in all but one game so far this year. The funny thing is, Matt Adams is having a great start to the season too. He is hitting above .300 with a couple dingers and 10 runs batted in. However, its obvious to see why the move was made, Kevin already has a starting first baseman. Prince Fielder mans first base on the Huckleberries which means Adams would warm the bench all year, whereas Lohse is a player than can start Monday and help turn Kevin's season around .


SS Jhonny Peralta- $2- Backyard Superstars- drop OF Shane Victorino

This was a move I made purely to have a backup for Everth Cabrera should he get injured or go through another slump like he did a couple weeks ago. Since I have other outfielders, giving up a guy like Victorinio, who probably wouldn't see the starting lineup anyway, didn't hurt much. This move gives me a backup at every position now, which is a good feeling to have when it seems like lately players have been dropping like flies.

RP Ernesto Frieri- $3- Huckleberries- drop RP Joaquin Benoit

Ernesto's reaction to
being picked up

This move was interesting because when I glanced over the stats I didn't see a whole lot of difference between these two outside of a bad outing for Frieri early in the season at Washington. As I examined it closer there is one stat that showed a rather large difference between the two. Frieri's WHIP is 1.17 compared to .85 for Benoit. However, I do realize that Kevin is still trying to piece together players he actually wants on the team rather than keeping all the players he inherited. That must be why this move was made.


SP John Lackey- $4- MWP Master's- drop RP Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson has had a struggle-some season so far. As proof he has an ERA over 10 and has almost as many strikeouts as he does walks. I though his career was over when he left the Giants, but he proved me wrong at the end of last season. Now I think his career is practically over again. The move to get ride of him for John Lackey help the Master's because of two main reasons. Reason one is Lackey has had a decent start to the year. The second and more important reason is all of the MWP Master's starting pitchers are getting hurt. The biggest loss was announced last night when Jose Fernandez was said to need season ending surgery. The Master's rotation is in dire need of anybody who is healthy enough to through a ball 90 feet 6 inches at this point.


SP Dan Haren- $4 MWP Master's- drop SP CC Sabathia

You talking bad about me?

Even without Sabathia going on the disabled list, this was an easy move to see coming. Sabathia seemingly lost the great pitching ability he once possessed dictated by his 5.28 ERA so far this season. Haren on the other hand has had a nice start to the season, going 5-1 with a 2.84 ERA. Haren has yet to give up more than three runs in a start this year, which is exactly the kind of stability you look for in a starting pitcher.


SP Ian Kennedy- $4 MB Hitless Bastards- drop Martin Perez

This one has to sting a little. Just two weeks ago the Hitless Bastards picked up Perez for $7 off the waiver wire. Since then Perez has had three outings, all of which he pitched five innings or less and gave up 5 or more runs. The good news is that he is off the team and in comes Ian Kennedy who has been solid all season. He has allowed more than three runs only once in his eight starts this season. Kennedy's production leads me to believe he will be a starter in this lineup next week and for weeks to come.