Don't Believe The Hype: Roy Oswalt Edition

Ross Detwiler lost his job, so go with the crowd and cut him. It's not as if he he was pitching extremely well to begin with. Henry Rodriguez might have lost the closer's job in Washington as well, after slamming his finger in a door while pitching for a team loaded with quality relief options. Henderson Alvarez is slowly being dropped, which I find surprising, since this is a pitcher who is striking out 2.6 per nine.* In a related story, why do 31 of you still own Adam Lind? He's not even on the 40-man roster in Toronto anymore, and is also terrible.

*Not surprising.

As for the adds, we've got quite the pitcher available in most leagues. At least for this week, anyway.

Roy Oswalt, SP (62 percent owned, +27 percent): Now that Roy Oswalt has signed, he's being scooped up by those who didn't think to grab him beforehand. You know the drill with him: if he's healthy, he'll be productive, but back injuries are troublesome, and you never know if he might miss time because of it. The more significant worry, though, as good as Oswalt has been in his career, is how pitching in hitter-friendly Arlington and the difficult American League is going to go. It's likely not a deal breaker or anything, but things might not be necessarily as smooth as they were in the NL, either.

That being said, if you think you'll find a better pitcher than Oswalt on the waiver wire this year, you're even more optimistic than I.

Dayan Viciedo, RF (88 percent owned, +23 percent): Last week, Viciedo was the second-most popular addition as well, and I had this to say:

Viciedo is mostly living off of the hype of his debut partial season in 2010, as he's hit just .266/.300/.425 in 108 games in the majors. He's all of 23 years old, so I'm not saying he's done developing. But I'm not exactly rushing out to have him on my roster right now based on a strong week, either.

He's now had another equally nuts week, and is up to .291/.312/.515. I'm not sure he's as must-own as that 88 percent ownership rate suggests, but he's definitely in get him while you still can territory, if you've got the room to stash, if not start, the right fielder. He definitely has power, and if he can consistently tap into it, then he's going to be useful.

Jordan Pacheco, 1B/3B (18 percent owned, +16 percent): Pacheco was so awful to start the year that he was sent back to the minors, but since his return, he's hit .317/.321/.451 in 84 plate appearances. That's not a particularly impressive slugging for a corner infielder who plays at Coors, and his line is very much propped up by that batting average. The 26-year-old Pacheco was never exactly a beast in the minors, either, even at the equally-inflated Colorado Springs. Unless you're desperate, I would say pass on this one, especially since we're already seeing a clear disparity between his home (803 OPS) and road (649) stats after nearly 100 plate appearances of each.

Michael Brantley, CF (49 percent owned, +13 percent): Brantley had a weird April, where he hit for a low average and drew some walks without much power. Then, in May, he hit for average, but didn't take many free passes, and, being Michael Brantley, still didn't hit for power. He's in the midst of a nine-game hit streak where he's put up a .382/.400/.441 line, though, so he's starting to get noticed. Just remember that this isn't who he is, and that his primary contribution to your team is going to be stolen bases. Of course, with all of the outfield injuries going around, you'd be forgiven for scooping Brantley up to abuse those steals for a week or two.

Wilin Rosario, C (29 percent owned, +12 percent): Ramon Hernandez hit the disabled list, and Rosario has hit in his absence. Well, sort of. He's only hitting .228, and he isn't walking, but he is hitting for plenty of power, as his just-shy-of-.300 Isolated Power suggests. Catcher is thin, as always, so Rosario is an intriguing short-term play while Hernandez is out, especially with the help of Coors.

AL-only

Quintin Berry, CF (8 percent owned, +8 percent): With Austin Jackson on the disabled list, Quintin Berry has been seeing adds. While Jackson is expected back relatively soon, causing Berry to possibly be sent back to the minors, outfielder Andy Dirks has missed the last couple of games with his own injury. Should that turn into an unexpected DL stint, Berry might stick a little longer after all.

NL-only

Kris Medlen, RP (6 percent owned, +4 percent): The Braves need help in their rotation, and Kris Medlen was sent to the minors in order to convert from relief to starter because of it. While he's unlikely to be of much use in mixed leagues, in NL-only, just about anyone with an arm has potential value if they have a rotation spot.