Stud? Not exactly, but Martin Prado will contibute.

Welcome to the first 2008 edition of Treasure Hunting. For those that have never read this feature before, what we do here every week throughout the season is look at two players who have recently gone through some sort of spike that will dramatically increase their apparent value. What type of spike? It could be in an increase in playing time, a change in roles, or a promotion from the minors. I say apparent here and not just value, as not all supposed increases in value due to a change are actual, and that is what this column is all about – whom, why, and should you care, all in one nice, shiny package.

Whom do we have on tap for you this week? We have one player getting buzz because he may be getting some unexpected saves, and we have a new second baseman down south. Does either of these players deserve the noise they are generating? Read on to find out!

Martin Prado, Second Base, Atlanta Braves

Ladies and gentlemen, meet your new starting second baseman for the Atlanta Braves.

Well, at least for the last couple of days he was, and he will be for tonight too.

How long will that last? The Braves have said that this was a temporary move, as Kelly Johnson would be back by Thursday. However, he was not. Nor was he back today, as Martin Prado is once again in the lineup. It is looking increasingly likely that Johnson is heading to the disabled list, although even if he does not this injury is going to be an issue for him. He was already an injury risk to begin with before going down this time, so Prado was going to be in the picture no matter what.

This all explains why you should see Prado in the lineup, but it does not explain why you should care, or even if you should, so why should you care?

To answer that, let’s go back to where he has come from…

The 24-year-old Prado started out with the Braves in 2003 as a 19-year-old in the Gulf Coast League, hitting .286 with no home runs, 23 RBI, 28 runs, and 9 stolen bases in 220 at-bats. Not special, but not horrible, and it would be enough to move him up the ladder to the South Atlantic League to open the 2004 season. There, his numbers would look much nicer, with a .315 batting average, 3 home runs, 38 RBI, 68 runs, and 14 stolen bases in 429 at-bats.

The 2005 season would bring another move up the chain, as Prado would this time head up to the High-A Carolina League. His performance there would not keep him there for the full season, as he would finish the year in Double-A after hitting .306 with 4 home runs, 34 RBI, 44 runs, and 9 stolen bases in 297 at-bats.

The 2006 season would be about moving around as well, only this time in two different ways. The first would be from one level to the next, as he would play in Double-A, Triple-A, and the majors. The other would be positionally, as he would play second base and third base for the first time. His numbers would not suffer from all the moving around. He would do the same in 2007, splitting time between the majors and minor while also playing a little bit of everywhere, playing second, third, and short in Triple-A and second and third in the majors.

Overall, through five minor league seasons, Prado hit .300 with 15 home runs, 185 RBI, 45 stolen bases (in 81 attempts), and 265 runs scored in 1,901 at-bats. There is no power here, but he can hit for a respectable average, and he will score runs. That is all you can expect, but that is something.

Even when (if?) Johnson returns, there will be playing time for Prado, as he will continue to bounce around as needed, contributing a respectable amount of hits. The continued question marks surrounding Johnson’s health only make him more valuable.

Mark Lowe, Relief Pitcher, Seattle Mariners

With J.J. Putz going down with a rib injury, the Mariners have had to look in-house for a new closer for the time being. Fortunately for the Mariners, they have plenty of options, such as Rafael Soriano…

…Wait, no, scratch him – they traded him to Atlanta.

Well, there are still plenty of other pitchers, like George Sherrill…

…Scratch that one too – he is in Baltimore.

See, this is why pitching depth is a good thing.

The best option here right now is Mark Lowe, and he is going to pick up saves. However, rather than going into a long, descriptive look of Lowe like I did with Prado, I am simply going to warn you not to get your hopes up here of Lowe picking up anywhere near enough saves to justify the prices he will be commanding this weekend.

Why am I selling him short? Two reasons – the first because Putz is simply not going to be out long enough to make this investment pay off. Secondly, there are multiple options in the pen besides Lowe that could also factor into the situation, including Miguel Batista, Sean Green, and Eric O’Flaherty. In other words, Lowe could get nine saves while Putz is out, no saves while Putz is out, or anywhere in between. That gamble is simply not worth paying for.

That wraps it for this week – next week, two more treasures, and we will also look back to see how he did with these two.