2011 Fantasy Baseball: Is Bartolo Colon Worth Adding?

I am fairly certain the date is April 21, 2011. Why, then, do I feel like I am back in 2002 writing an article about Bartolo Colon?

Bartolo Colon? The pitcher who was last relevant what seems like a decade ago? The guy who wasn't even in the league last year?

That Bartolo Colon?

Yes, him.

What I'm about to say may be outrageous; it may be insane. You may read this and say "just another Yankee fan making a fool of himself."

Add. Bartolo. Colon. Now.

Since winning the American League Cy Young Award in 2005, Colon has essentially been irrelevant from a Fantasy perspective. His career since that point has been, well, downright terrible:

13-21, 5.20 ERA, 1.50 WHIP. He hasn't accumulated 100 innings in any season.

Yet, here we are, almost a month into the 2011 season, and Colon is a legitimate option as a starting pitcher.

Colon will relinquish the No. 3 spot to Phil Hughes when he returns from his DL stint. But there is absolutely no reason he couldn't slide into the No. 4 slot currently occupied by Ivan Nova.

Nova, a 24-year-old righty, has been awful this season, looking more like a batting practice pitcher then a starter on one of the best teams in the game. The Yankees have no allegiance to Nova. There is reason to think that, when Hughes returns, Colon will remain in the rotation while Nova finds himself as a long man out of the bullpen or back in AAA Wilkes-Barre.

Colon can't be expected to throw as lights out as he did in his first start against Toronto. But all he has to do is go out and give the Yankees a quality start to have a better then average chance to pick up the win.

While he may fade towards the All-Star break depending on his workload leading up to it, Colon, at the very least, will be a good source of wins and strikeouts. If he can keep the mistakes to a minimum, an ERA in the mid to upper threes is attainable.

There are risks involved. If you are looking for the savior of your pitching rotation, or a long-term answer, then he's not the guy. But if you're just looking for another arm, or a spot starter, you could do worse then the big BC.

What do you think? Am I crazy, or is Colon worth a spot?