Troy Patton might not blow people away with his stuff, but he gets the job done.

Welcome to Monday’s weekly dip into the waiver wire waters. Director of Business Operations at SG and all around swell guy Tony Finn asked me if we could add something to the schedule that specifically looked just at waiver wire material. We had plenty of stuff here that covered one aspect or another, but Tony wanted one piece that all the meat of it was just waiver wire material – ones to grab, and ones to avoid like the fat chick at the bar when you know you are going to get hammered. Okay, Tony did not put it that way, but close.

As he pointed out, this is a great time of the year to be testing the waters too, as there are players jumping into the free agent pool left and right from the minors as the rosters expand, so this week we will take a look at five guys who are just right and five guys who are just wrong.

Waiver Worthy

Clay Buchholz, Starting Pitcher, Boston Red Sox – Okay, if you did not expect Buchholz to be at the top of this list, you are simply not playing along at home. Buchholz was spectacular in his second ever game in the majors, tossing a no-hitter against the Orioles. Of course, some of you are wondering if he is the real deal or not – after all, a no-hitter can be as much about luck as anything else, as former Cardinal Bud Smith can attest to. Smith had a no-hitter as a rookie, and he is now pitching for Long Beach in indy ball. Oh, and he is just 26 too. It did not take Smith long to go from no-hitter to no career, so having a little hesitancy about going crazy for a rookie with a no-no is understandable, but Buchholz is far better than Smith could have ever hoped to be. Easily one of the top five prospects in the game, Buchholz has dominated at every stage of the minors, and should have a brilliant career ahead of him.

Ian Kennedy, Starting Pitcher, New York Yankees – Kennedy had the misfortune of making his major league debut on the same day as Buchholz’ no-hitter; otherwise, there would be much more buzz surrounding Kennedy than there is now. As Shannon McCarthy said on July 30 in the Farm Report, Kennedy was behind only Buchholz and Yankee teammate Joba Chamberlain as one of the best right-handed pitching prospects in the game. Kennedy was spectacular in his debut, allowing just five hits, two walks, and one earned run in seven innings, and he struck out six to earn his first major league win. Kennedy is here to stay – this is not just a September cup of coffee. Kennedy replaced Mussina in the rotation, and he should rack up plenty of quality innings down the stretch.

Radhames Liz, Starting Pitcher, Baltimore Orioles – In a system where the overwhelming majority of the talent is years away, Liz was the one quality prospect that the Orioles had above High-A. While not in the same class as Kennedy or Buchholz, Liz was among the top 50 prospects in my recent mid-season prospect rankings. His two starts in the bigs have not been pretty, but the future does look bright for Liz and he is a must-grab for those in keeper leagues.

Billy Buckner, Starting Pitcher, Kansas City Royals – Brought up to help out of the pen, Buckner ended up pitching five innings in his first relief appearance, so it might as well have been a start. The Royals have announced that Buckner will be joining the rotation, with his first major league start coming up this week. Before his promotion, Buckner was 9-7 with a 3.78 ERA in 27 appearances, 15 as a starter, for Triple-A Omaha in the Pacific Coast League, and he has struck out 83 while walking just 26.

Troy Patton, Starting Pitcher, Houston Astros – That’s right, nothing but starting pitching today. Patton started off in Double-A Corpus Christi this year, going 6-6 with a 2.99 ERA in 16 starts, striking out 68 and walking 33. Promoted to Triple-A, Patton would find success a little harder to come by, as he was 4-2 with a 4.59 ERA in eight starts, with only 25 strikeouts and 11 walks in 49 innings. Not much of a power pitcher, Patton has gotten by with solid control ratios rather than overwhelming strikeout totals. While Patton has lost both starts so far in the bigs, he has pitched well in both and he should be a quality major league starter with time.