Rounding Third: Chris Heisey, Acquired

My big FAAB acquisition in both the NFBC Main Event and in the NFBC/RotoWire Fantasy Baseball Online Challenge this week was Chris Heisey. In retrospect, I spent too much on him in the second contest, a 12-team league, but I'm happy with the purchase in the Main Event, which is a 15-team league with no trades. He replaces Jeff Francoeur in the lineup for now, but I like having a number of alternatives for the spot. His first week wasn't all that great, but he offers 20-25 homer potential while batting second in a good lineup and in a great ballpark. The threat here is small in Xavier Paul, though it's worth noting that Paul and not Heisey started in left field Sunday against Stephen Strasburg and the Nats. A platoon of course would be a nightmare. Though I did at least hedge that risk a little by snagging Paul in NL LABR, where every active roster hitter spot is scarce.

Here are the results from bidding in those respective leagues:

Main Event

RFBOC

So yeah, I overpaid for Henderson and Heisey both, and this illustrates the difference between the 15-team league and the 12-team league. Ubaldo Jimenez's good first start against the Blue Jays was probably a mirage (100% strand rate, 92.0 mph average fastball), but his next three starts could be decent - home starts against the Yankees' watered-down lineup and the White Sox this week, then a start against the Astros. It's worth a furtive stab to see what he has.

Harry and the Hendersons

It's a matter of time before John Axford loses his closing duties - and in fact, judging by reports early Monday morning, it might just be a matter of manager Ron Roenicke informing Axford that he's out of the role. The likely candidate to replace him is Jim Henderson, who briefly took over for Axford last year and has pitched well in his brief campaign this year. But Henderson doesn't have much of a pedigree, so while there's value in going to get him, I'd advise against trading for him. It's one thing to spend a free agent slot on him and cutting your worst player, but giving up any player of value could be a mistake, even if there's no obvious candidate to wrest the job away from him. Closers can come from anywhere - so maybe eventually Alfredo Figaro is a threat, or perhaps a starting pitcher like Wily Peralta or Mark Rogers.

Houston Streamers

We've made the point repeatedly that you're going to have to act in advance to stream against the Astros, who are on-pace (yes, I know that "on-pace" means nothing after a week - just go with it) to strike out over 1,900 times this season. To that end, here are the Projected Starters this week and next against them:

@Seattle (4/8-4/10): Joe Saunders, Brandon Maurer, Blake Beavan
@Angels (4/12-4/14): Tommy Hanson, Jered Weaver* (if Weaver can't go, it might end up being Jerome Williams or Garrett Richards), C.J. Wilson
@Oakland (4/15-4/17): Tommy Milone, A.J. Griffin, Bartolo Colon
vs. Cleveland (4/19-4/21): Ubaldo Jimenez, Carlos Carrasco, Brett Myers

Interleague Play

Interleague play all season long has snuck up on a few owners in the first week, as we've seen two AL teams play in NL parks so far this year. Peter Bourjos lost three starts to begin the season for the Angels, and then Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler had to split the duties at first base in Philly over the weekend. This week we have the White Sox going to Washington, then the Mets traveling to Minnesota. The significant takeaway will be for the White Sox, who will have to figure out who sits among Paul Konerko, Adam Dunn and Dayan Viciedo. For the Mets, their bench isn't especially deep, so the DH windfall potential is pretty small.

Other Scheduling Notes

- The Cubs, Indians, Yankees, Mariners, Giants and Rangers all have seven games this week. Everyone else has six games.
- The following week, the Royals only have five games, thanks to a two-game series against the Braves in Atlanta.
- There's a number day games again this week, between the second set of home openers and concerns about April weather.