Rounding Third: Week 6 Primer

We'll dispense with the preamble this week, and jump right into the schedule.

Week 6 Noteworthy Schedules

The Reds and Red Sox get together to reprise the 1975 World Series, where I'm sure we'll get many replays of the famous home run from that series, Tony Perez going deep off of Bill Lee, right? Ok, maybe we'll see Carlton Fisk's Game 6 home run too, but I prefer to see highlights from the winning team. Anyhow, they'll play just two games on Tuesday and Wednesday, giving them five games apiece for the week. The timing is really good for the Reds, with Tony Cingrani going on the DL and both Billy Hamilton and Jay Bruce nursing day-to-day injuries. Because of the two off-days and a subsequent off-day next Monday, the Reds don't need to find a fifth starter to replace Cingrani until Saturday, May 17. At that point, either Cingrani or Mat Latos might be ready, though I'm sufficiently nervous about Cingrani. Meanwhile, the Reds might be as ill-equipped as any team out there for interleague play - their DH will either be Chris Heisey or Skip Schumaker, and both might have to play if Hamilton is still unavailable. Hamilton pinch-ran Sunday.

Those are the only two teams with five games for the week. Here are the teams with seven games for the week: Cubs, White Sox, Indians, Rockies, Tigers, Astros, Royals, Dodgers, Marlins, Twins, A's (with a doubleheader Wednesday and off-day Thursday), Phillies, Padres, Giants, Rangers and Blue Jays. You should be able to find plenty of alternatives to replace your marginal Reds and Red Sox this week if you have midweek moves in the NFBC. And we haven't yet mentioned the Mariners, who have a whopping eight games thanks to that doubleheader in Oakland, thanks to Sprinkler-Gate.

There are a lot of other interleague games this week, including the first of our "rivalry" games between the Cubs and White Sox. Here is the interleague slate beyond that Cincinnati-Boston series, with the home team listed first.

- White Sox-Diamondbacks (Fri-Sun) - The Diamondbacks' embattled pitching staff avoids their tater-ific ballpark, only to go to Milwaukee and Chicago this week. The question of who benefits on their roster is clouded by the murky health outlooks of their outfielders, notably A.J. Pollock.
- Cubs-White Sox (Mon-Thur) - The North Side hosts the South Side for two days, then they go down to the Cell for two more games. It'll be interesting to see if the White Sox find room for Adam Dunn against two right-handers in Wrigley, as has been rumored he'll play left field with Adam Eaton out. The Big Donkey has hit .269/.403/.635 with 27 homers in 320 career plate appearances in Wrigley.
- Rockies-Rangers (Mon-Thur) - The first two games are in Coors and the next two are in Arlington. The Rockies manage to avoid Yu Darvish, but because they face three left-handers, Charlie Blackmon and Justin Morneau might not share as much in the love.
- Padres-Royals (Mon-Wed) - The obvious playing time situation to watch is what the Royals do with Billy Butler. Chances are he'll sit in favor of Eric Hosmer for at least two games, but it's worth noting that the Padres are starting left-handed pitchers (Eric Stults and Robbie Erlin) the first two games.
- Brewers-Yankees (Fri-Sun) - The Brewers could be without Carlos Gomez for this series, pending the result of his suspension appeal.
- A's-Nationals (Fri-Sun) - The Nationals struggled to score runs without Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman, at least against the Phillies. Tommy Milone, Sonny Gray and Scott Kazmir might benefit from the matchups here. Tyler Moore could get some action at DH for the Nats.
- Phillies-Blue Jays (Mon-Thur) - Here's another World Series rematch. Will Mitch Williams throw the ceremonial first pitch Monday in Philly to commemorate the occasion? The first two games are in Philly, the latter two north of the border.

For more on the pitching matchups, please check out our indispensable Projected Starters Grid. I use that frequently to aid my free agent bidding and my lineups, both for two-start starters and for matchups. And then refer to Paul Sporer's excellent Pitcher Value Meter to settle any ties in your starting pitching matchups.

FREE AGENT RESULTS

In this section I'll try to list as many of the free agent results as I can from my Sunday deadline leagues. Due to time constraints, the commentary will frequently be short.

NFBC - RotoWire Online Championship

Can you spot the guy that was paying closer attention than the rest of us? I neglected to notice that Cobb had been dropped - I should have at least entered a token bid there, though honestly I don't currently have a player I'm eager to drop. Still, three months of Cobb, perhaps more, could be huge for Glenn.

NFBC Main Event

RotoWire Staff Keeper League

Frozen Ropes: Pick up Jake Arrieta ($8), drop Ryan Kalish
(Payne: $7)
(Erickson: $3)
(Jakarta Raiders: $3)
(Next Stop Dumpster Fire: $3)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $2)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $2)
(Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: $1)
Jakarta Raiders: Pick up Carter Capps ($2), drop Chris Withrow
Schin Kickers: Pick up Steve Delabar ($7), drop Heath Bell
(Browns: $6)
McLovin's Spoonful: Pick up Danny Duffy ($3), drop Kevin Kouzmanoff
(Frozen Ropes: $4)
(Erickson: $3)
(Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: $1)
(Next Stop Dumpster Fire: $1)
Erickson: Pick up Eduardo Escobar ($3), drop Josh Rutledge
Payne: Pick up Grant Green ($6), drop Marc Krauss
(Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: $1)
(Erickson: $1)
Browns: Pick up Aaron Loup ($4), drop Marco Scutaro
Uggla's Decaying Remains: Pick up Tyler Lyons ($1), drop Brett Anderson
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: Pick up Nyjer Morgan ($1), drop Seth Smith
Next Stop Dumpster Fire: Pick up Juan Nicasio ($1), drop Taylor Jordan
Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: Pick up Bud Norris ($1), drop Brandon Cumpton
Anderson: Pick up Yusmeiro Petit ($5), drop Hector Santiago
(Erickson: $3)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $2)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $2)
Don Baylor's All-Stars: Pick up Tony Sanchez ($6), drop Francisco Cervelli
Anderson: Pick up Michael Saunders ($6), drop Edwin Jackson
(Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: $6)
(Erickson: $5)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
Erickson: Pick up Grady Sizemore ($3), drop Travis Snider
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $3)
(Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: $1)
Jakarta Raiders: Pick up Ryan Vogelsong ($5), drop Cody Ross

Mixed LABR

Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Kurt Suzuki awarded to MLB.com for $8.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Failed bids for Kurt Suzuki: $1, $1.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Michael Saunders awarded to Baseball HQ for $8.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Failed bids for Michael Saunders: $3, $1, $1.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Chris Heisey awarded to Fangraphs for $7.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Failed bids for Chris Heisey: $3, $3, $1, $1.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Brandon Hicks awarded to USA TODAY Sports for $5.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Failed bids for Brandon Hicks: $1, $1.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Tyler Thornburg awarded to DFSEdge for $4.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Drew Storen awarded to DFSEdge for $4.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Juan Lagares awarded to RotoExperts for $4.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Failed bids for Juan Lagares: $1, $1.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: C.J. Cron awarded to MLB.com for $4.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Failed bids for C.J. Cron: $1, $1, $3, $1, $2.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Ryan Vogelsong awarded to KFFL.com for $3.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Samuel Deduno awarded to KFFL.com for $3.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Sean Rodriguez awarded to Towers of Power Baseball Hour for $3.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Brayan Pena awarded to Rotowire-Erickson for $2.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Failed bids for Brayan Pena: $1.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Yusmeiro Petit awarded to Rotowire-Erickson for $2.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Jordan Walden awarded to Razzball for $1.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Ricky Nolasco awarded to Mastersball for $1.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: David DeJesus awarded to Bloomberg Sports for $1.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Brandon Barnes awarded to Bloomberg Sports for $1.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Dellin Betances awarded to Baseball Prospectus for $1.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Jordan Pacheco awarded to ESPN.com for $1.
Mon May 05 12:01 AM ET: Jake Arrieta awarded to ESPN.com for $1.

All small bids here, though not always of small impact. I'm curious to see how Chris Heisey works out for Fangraphs' team - this is perhaps his last, best opportunity to play daily for the Reds.

AL Tout

Ron Shandler: pur CCron LAA 26
Larry Schechter: pur GGreen LAA 4
Lawr Michaels: pur DMcGowan Tor 3
Andy Behrens: pur AAlburquerque Det 0
Joe Sheehan: pur CGetz Tor 20
Chris Liss: pur RRay Det 7
Mike Podhorzer: pur MGonzalez Hou 0
Rob Leibowitz: pur LJimenez LAA 1
Jeff Erickson: pur DYoung Bal 2
Joe Sheehan: pur JoWilson Tex 2
Larry Schechter: pur JoRamirez Cle 7
Joe Sheehan: pur JJones Sea 2
Joe Sheehan: pur JTomlin Cle 1
Larry Schechter: pur JThole Tor 1
Rick Wolf/Glenn Colton: pur ABass Hou 4
Jason Collette: pur JChamberlain Det 1
Jason Collette: pur JHapp Tor 1
Jeff Erickson: pur ALoup Tor 1
Steve Moyer: pur AGose Tor 0
Steve Moyer: pur ARienzo CWS 0
Steve Moyer: pur TSipp Hou 0
Lawr Michaels: pur DSantana Min 1

For the second week in a row, I was second place with the highest bid on the table, this time on C.J. Cron going to Ron Shandler. I had bid $25 on Cron, with the thought that maybe he holds the job the final five months of the season and produces roto-worthy numbers in the process.

The bids that jumped off the page to me were on Chris Getz, who went to Joe Sheehan for $20, and Jose Ramirez for $7 to Larry Schechter. Getz has taken over for Ryan Goins as the Jays' starting second baseman, plus Maicer Izturis is already out for the season. But at the end of the day, isn't he still just Chris Getz, in an OBP league no less? I'll have to pester Joe about this decision - I know that he's dealing with a metric ton of injuries and is hurting for ABs, so that has to factor in the decision. As for Ramirez, Jason Kipnis is on the DL and Ramirez is up - he may not play every day, but he once stole 38 bases in a minor league season. Both pickups are plays for stolen bases, and in a tight league, grabbing 4-5 points can be a big deal. Maybe $20/100 is worth it after all.