Carlos Pena - Carlos Pena is making a bid to keep his playing time once Aki Iwamura returns, as Pena is hitting 343/429/629 for the month of May. Ty Wigginton is the entrenched veteran in the Ray lineup, so perhaps he'll be tough to move based on reputation, but his 240/276/411 line screams to be replaced, and Pena and Iwamura have much more upside if you ask me. Pena is definitely worth owning in AL-only leagues at this point, and since the Rays have been looking for a 1B seemingly since inception, Pena is in the best situation possible.
Gil Meche - Let's make that eight out of nine quality starts to begin the year for Gil Meche, including seven in a row now after last night's gem against the A's. Unfortunately, he was matched up against Dan Haren, who matched him zero for zero through Meche's seven-inning stint. Meche has been outstanding this year, and watching him last night throwing freely between 93-95, it was easy to see why the Royals ponied up so much cash for him. Somehow he's taken a major step forward with his control this year, and that's all it has taken for him to move from an inconsistent #4 starter to a potential rotation ace. Fewer homers and walks plus the same number of K's equals a heck of a lot better, and with Meche only turning 29 in September, he might be able to validate that contract yet.
Esteban German - German triple and walked in four trips to the plate last night, and while everyone knows that his OBP is a strength (currently .415), he's also slugging .494, which is good for second on the team. He's already played second, third, short, and the outfield so far this year, so his flexibility exacerbates the value that his play is bringing. He's still a very underrated player, particularly in leagues that value OBP.
Dan Johnson - That's 14 straight with a hit for Dan Johnson, who was left for dead around this time last year. Johnson has had a pretty sizable split between his minor league numbers and his major league totals to this point in his career, and seeing as how this is his age 27 season, perhaps it's not all that surprising to see him bust out like this. A BB:K ratio of close to 1.0 is usually a good indication that the hitter can control the strike zone, and if you can combine that with some power you've got yourself some serious potential. That's exactly what Johnson is able to do, which is why we shouldn't necessarily expect him to cool off substantially going forward. Obviously he won't carry an OPS of 1.150 around all year, but .900? It's possible.
Ivan Rodriguez - How bad is Pudge right now? He has one extra-base hit this month, and his outright refusal to walk is becoming comical. He has fewer walks since coming to Detroit in 2004 (79) than Barry Bonds might have before the All-Star break. Pudge has a ton of mileage on him, and while he isn't the worst starting catcher in baseball just yet, I think the time has come where he is a below average answer at the position. 239/244/351 doesn't have a lot of uses, regardless of where you play on defense. Even his upside from there is only about 70 points of OBP and SLG, which is still fairly poor.
