Fantasy Baseball Free Agent Pool: Speed Demons

The Stolen Base has become chic this year. Jacoby Ellsbury kicked things off by stealing home. Dexter Fowler swiped five bags in one game. Carl Crawford raised the bar with six of his own, tying the modern day record.

Just because you’ve slipped behind in that category doesn’t mean you can’t catch up. Here are some reasonably available SB threats.

Michael Bourn, Houston Astros

Bourn continues to contribute with his average and stolen bases. Last week he was 7-for-21 (.333) with four SBs. He also picked up four runs and two RBI. On the season he’s hitting .299 with eight SBs and 14 runs.

He’s picking up ownership as he was owned in 8.6 percent of ESPN and 21 percent of Yahoo leagues last week compared to 11.9 percent ESPN, 33 percent Yahoo, and 32 percent CBS Sportsline.

César Izturis, Baltimore Orioles

Izturis picked up a couple SBs last week. He didn’t do much else though, going 4-for-15 (.267) with one run and no RBI. On the year he’s hitting .241 with five SBs, seven Runs, and nine RBI.

Not a lot of value here, which explains his three percent Yahoo, 1.6 percent ESPN, and eight percent CBS Sportsline ownership.

Ben Francisco, Cleveland Indians

Ben picked up a couple of SBs last week as well, but he may get cut out of some ABs as the Indians see what Matt LaPorta can do. He was 5-for-15 (.333) with three Runs, a HR, and three RBI. On the year he’s hitting .236 with three SBs, 14 Runs, two HRs, and seven RBI. He’s also not a very attractive option.

He’s owned in three percent of Yahoo, 1.2 percent of ESPN, and 11 percent of CBS Sportsline leagues.

Kazuo Matsui, Houston Astros

Kazuo swiped two bags while picking up his average. He went 7-for-22 (.318) with three Runs and three RBI. On the year he’s hitting .266 with four SBs, eight Runs, one HR, and 11 RBI. He is useful for NL-only or deep leagues.

He’s owned in 27 percent of Yahoo, 15.9 percent of ESPN, and eight percent of CBS Sportsline leagues.

Ryan Spilborghs, Colorado Rockies

Ryan picked up another couple SBs this week, proving last week wasn’t a fluke. He went 5-for-20 (.250) with three Runs, two HRs, and four RBI. On the year he’s hitting .292 with four SBs, 15 Runs, three HRs, and 14 RBI.

He’s worth picking up and is owned in 41 percent of Yahoo, 18.3 percent of ESPN, and 54 percent of CBS Sportsline leagues.

Willie Bloomquist, Kansas City Royals

Willie had a strong week, stealing two while hitting .471 (8-for-17) with seven Runs, one HR, and two RBI. On the year he’s hitting .372 with three SBs, 10 Runs, one HR, and five RBI. There’s a logjam in OF for the Royals with Bloomquist, Coco Crisp, Jose Guillen, and David DeJesus. He probably won’t see enough steady ABs to justify picking up.

He’s owned in five percent of ESPN, 0.6 percent of ESPN, and two percent of CBS Sportsline leagues.

Originally featured at Lesterslegends.com.