Daric Barton got some here on SG last week - how is it working out for him?

With just two weeks left in the season, you might be of the opinion that there is little left of value on the waiver wire. Think again.

For one, there are always players worth churning through if you are in the hunt. After all, even just one save, or one win, or one strikeout can be the difference between winning and losing. Former SG writer Seth Trachtman beat former Sporting News editor and current ESPN contributor Brendan Roberts by one stolen base to win the Mixed Nuts League, an 18-team mixed league experts’ league, a few seasons ago. In other words, every little bit matters.

Who are today’s names to know?

Waiver Worthy

Daric Barton, First Base, Oakland Athletics – We have already spent plenty of cyber-ink here discussing Barton, featuring him prominently in both the Farm Report and Treasure Hunting. So rather than spending much time here on his background, we simply request that you check out those two links. As for what he is doing now, Barton has become the everyday first baseman for the Athletics, and through seven games is hitting .345 with a home run, three RBI, and eight runs scored. As he did in the minors, Barton continues to draw walks and have a solid eye at the plate, with six strikeouts and five walks so far in 29 at-bats. Barton is here to stay, and will hold this positions heading in to next year.

Ryan Feierabend, Starting Pitcher, Seattle Mariners – It might be a sign of mental illness, considering how much Feierabend hurt me earlier in the season in my AL-only league (where I am in second, behind SG’s Don Visco and barely ahead of SG’s Paul Sporer), but I still have faith in his talent. Feierabend is expected to return to the rotation for the end of the season. While he might not have shown much in that role this year in the bigs, he did give reason to believe in his potential with his performance in Triple-A, where he was 6-4 with a 3.99 ERA in 19 starts, striking out 70 while walking 33 in 108 1/3 innings. If desperate and need to eek out a win or two before season’s end, he might be worth a flier – just be sure your ERA can take the possible hit.

Mark Redman, Starting Pitcher, Colorado Rockies – Please note that his being here has nothing to do with the two of us sharing the same first name, middle name, and birth year, although he is almost a full year older than me. All of that is coincidence. Okay, maybe just a little. Anyway, we had expected Redman to get the start last week against the Phillies, only he instead came in from the pen, in the third inning, and then pitched five scoreless. One has to wonder why, if the Rockies planned on him pitching so much, why he did not get the start to begin with then. It has not been the best of years for Redman, as the 9.67 ERA clearly demonstrates, but that is in limited opportunities, and he has proven in the past that he can be serviceable when given the opportunity. Making his first start as a member of the Rockies this week, Redman could surprise in his two to three chances before season’s end.

Waiver Wasting

Victor Zambrano, Starting Pitcher, Baltimore Orioles – Yes, I know I have chosen a lot of pitchers this week, but they, more than hitters, are the beneficiaries this time of year with the expanded rosters. Unlike the previous two pitchers I mentioned though, who are risky but might be worth taking a chance on, there is no upside to Victor Zambrano. Zambrano has never posted strikeout to walk ratios even close to being respectable, he is way too hittable, and he flamed out for a reason. He is simply not that good. Further, he is playing for a lousy team, so even hoping for an ugly win is a pipe dream. There are better pitchers out there to grab – like ones that will not play – than Zambrano.

Scott Spiezio, Infielder, St. Louis Cardinals – Earlier this season, Scott Spiezio pitched a scoreless inning. If your league actually gave you credit for that, that would have been the only time this year that Spiezio would have been of any use to you. Spiezio just barely returned from the inactive list, but his talent still has not returned, having been sacrificed to the music gods for his band, Sandfrog. Even if he was not coming back from a substance abuse issue, we would be skeptical about his chances of being productive, but that only adds to our reasons for skepticism.

J.P. Howell, Starting Pitcher, Tampa Bay Devil Rays – I have officially jumped off the bandwagon. I know that he has had a solid season in Triple-A, but the Devil Rays have moved on, with a rotation that has largely been settled for the past month, the first time the rotation has truly seemed settled in franchise history. Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Edwin Jackson, and Andy Sonnanstine all appear to be locks for the rotation for 2008, and while Jason Hammel is nothing special, it will be Jeff Niemann, not Howell, that bumps him from the rotation. The point of all that is that Howell is not going to join the rotation, which is where all his value would come from, and anyone thinking that they can pick him up for next year are more than likely wasting their time, as he will not join the rotation next year either.

Questions and comments may be sent to markhaverty@sportsgrumblings.com