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• Matt Capps: $7 DiFino (losing bids: $6, $5, $4)
• Homer Bailey: $4 DiFino ($3)
• Ryan Braun: $3 DiFino ($1)
• Kazuo Matsui: $3 DiFino ($1)

That's a lot of bidding: Yes it is … and it's a lot of winning bids, too. As league commissioner A.J. Mass (yes, the dude who writes the column is our actual commissioner) pointed out, "Bob Barker would be proud." But why did I feel the need to add four new players?

Team DiFino is in eighth place in a 10-team standard league. Granted, I can take some feeling of goodness away because I'm ahead of Ron Shandler, but I'd really like to aim a little higher -- like Jennie Finch. On offense, I could use steals, so I snatched Kaz Matsui off the waiver wire. Strangely, in a moment of the world righting itself, Hideki Matsui was released by David Young. So one enters, and one must leave.

On the pitching side, Team DiFino has been victimized by Bronson Arroyo's ridiculously bad season, coupled with a lack of saves. Capps will not be the cure, but I did beat out three other people to get him, so I'm not the only one thinking that he'll hold onto the closer role.

Braun and Bailey are rookie phenoms we've all been watching for a while, and they most likely will be getting mentioned soon by Molly Qerim on the "Most Added/Dropped" segment of "Fantasy Focus."

• Brad Lidge: $2 David Young

No "Wheelers Coming Off" puns: They're worse than the ones during football season when the Arizona Cardinals have a running back push Marcel Shipp down on the depth chart. Lidge got a lot of attention this week, with Dan Wheeler showing signs of shakiness and Lidge firing balls past batters like it was 2005. As a potential closer, he's as good as they get on the waiver wires; but even as a WHIP- and ERA-lowering middle reliever, he'll get your team strikeouts as we patiently wait for him to reassume his ninth-inning duties.

• Brad Hawpe: $2 Young ($1)
• Jhonny Peralta: $2 Young
• Eddie Guardado: $1 Young

Interesting: Guardado's comeback attempt from Tommy John surgery is on the fast track, as he already has been pitching in Class A games, and should be ready to close out games for the ragged Cincinnati bullpen within a month. With an empty DL spot, there's no reason not to pick him up, stash him away and wait for his glorious return.

• Bengie Molina: $1 Tristan H. Cockcroft

Jose stands alone: Molina left Friday night's game with a left arm injury, clearing the way for Eliezer Alfon- oof … I mean … um … Pedro Feliz? … Er, never mind. Monitor Bengie's injury status closely. If he ends up on the DL with his brother Yadier, you might want to look elsewhere for catching help. All of this, of course, happened after the bidding deadline. Sorry, Tristan.

• John Buck: $1 Ron Shandler
• Kevin Youkilis: $1 Eric Karabell

Trade!

• Ron Shandler (BaseballHQ.com) trades Shea Hillenbrand to Lawr Michaels (CREATiVESPORTS.com) for Cha Seung Baek

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Lawr Michaels: "Well, Baek was a reserve pick, so in essence he precipitated a 'free' swap. I did not have to trade an auctioned player who cost part of my $260 cap, nor did I have to spend FAAB. You gotta love that.

On the other hand, I got Hillenbrand, not a player I have ever coveted, but one who is streaky and could give me at-bats and pop. And, at least he is in the majors. So, it's speculative, for sure, but not a swap that will hurt me or cost me much.

And for the other side … Ron Shandler telegraphed his move right here on ESPN.com: "My column this week answers why I was interested in Baek. My FAAB winners tell what I need to do to win this thing. Hillenbrand was becoming expendable for me with Josh Fields promoted. All that's left is a lot of praying."

FAAB

• J.P. Howell: $25 Ron Shandler ($25, $18, $15, $12, $1)
• Andy Sonnanstine: $25 Shandler ($25, $11, $10, $7, $1)
That's three! Three Tampa Bay starters! … Ahahahahahaaa [thunder claps and lightning flashes]: If this is how Ron is going to "win this thing," Devil Rays fans should be giddy with excitement. Sonnanstine and Howell received a combined 12 bids -- all remarkably similar and both featuring a Ron Shandler-Jason Grey tie at $25 for their rights. Shandler's will to own every Tampa Bay starter -- he also has Edwin Jackson in his rotation -- eventually won out (he actually was lower in the standings and won the tiebreaker). But will we be seeing Sonnanstine and Howell in mixed league bidding any time soon? Here are your cheat sheets, just in case:

Sonnanstine: He's 24 years old, capable of striking out a batter per inning, owner of a ridiculously low WHIP throughout college and the minors. He was a 17th-rounder in 2004 and the Rays' 2006 minor league pitcher of the year.

Howell: One month younger than Sonnanstine, traded from Kansas City for Joey Gathright, "J.P." stands for "Just Peachy." That was a total lie. James Paul also could strike out a batter per inning, he was the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year in 2004, but his WHIP is noticeably higher than Sonnanstine's.

• Santiago Casilla: $14 Jeff Erickson of Rotowire.com ($13, $6, $5, $5)

You want more Lawr? Here you go … What's it like to be on the losing end of a bid for a guy with one save? "I had thought a $16 bid on Casilla would bag him. But, at the end I decided no one would covet another potential A's closer and bid $5. Wrong there, 'cause I second-guessed myself. Fortunately, the last thing Jeff needs is another closer (he is tied for the lead with 31), so at least that mistake will likely not cost me too much."

• Nathan Haynes: $1 Rick Wolf/Glenn Colton of Rotoworld.com
• Gary Glover: $1 Rick Wilton of BaseballInjuryReport.com
• Raul Casanova: $1 Sam Walker, author of "Fantasyland"
• Curtis Thigpen: $1 Walker

We hardly knew ye, Riggans: With Shawn Riggans' stay in the majors turning into a very short one, the coveted role of "Backup to Dioner Navarro" falls into the hands of Casanova. He'll see some extended playing time for the immediate future as Navarro is out with the neck injury.

Thigpen's situation depends entirely on the intertwining situations of Gregg Zaun, Jason Phillips, Lyle Overbay and Sal Fasano. With Overbay out, Phillips is going to see time at first base. As long as Zaun is out, Fasano will catch. But with Fasano being injured, Thigpen -- who was batting .299 with a steal in Syracuse -- most likely will see time at first and catcher. When Zaun returns (supposedly later this week, but keep in mind that B.J. Ryan had "back" problems while masking a torn rotator cuff), all of this will be in disarray, but there is a small chance Thigpen could stick as a catcher/first baseman.

• Shane Costa: $1 Wolf/Colton
• Mike Rabelo: $0 Wolf/Colton ($0)

More catchers! Rabelo will serve as the backup to Ivan Rodriguez. He has hit for average in the minors, but has shown little in the way of power or speed. Still, he's batting .286 and will see the occasional start.

• Willie Eyre: $0 Matthew Berry of ESPN.com

NL Tout Wars

• Yunel Escobar: $25 Scott Pianowski of FantasyGuru.com ($24, $19, $12, $10, $7, $5)

Now with less power! Yunel replaces Chipper Jones at third for the Braves, and he offers all the batting average with 75 percent less power. He does have a decent amount of speed and could be helpful down the stretch in mixed leagues, as well. For those who covet multipositional eligibility, Yunel should be available in most leagues as a shortstop (where he played the bulk of his minor league games) and third (where he is playing now in Atlanta).

• Rajai Davis: $14 Mike Lombardo of Wise Guy Baseball ($13, $11, $11, $7, $2)

"Rajai" means "Felix Hernandez" in Sanskrit? Davis is Chone Figgins, but without all the fancy positions listed after his name. He'll get the occasional outfield start for the Pirates and will leave a trail of fire behind him on the base paths. He probably won't steal as many bases as Joey Gathright, another base stealer who was called up this week, but he should be a serviceable second choice if Gathright is gone. And yes, "Rajai," you will hear a million times, translates to "King" in Sanskrit.

• Steve Kline: $1 Jeff Erickson of Rotowire.com

Hey! I know his middle finger! Kline got the save for the Giants on Thursday night, causing a bidding frenzy among experts and mass pickup chaos on the waiver wire 11 experts to shrug. Kline and his 5.40 ERA garnered a single $1 bid. Brad Hennessey is still the closer (Kline's save came in the 11th inning), but Kline is 38-for-38 in save opportunities in his career, so his name might as well be thrown into the mix for "possible San Francisco save candidates down the stretch."

• Geoff Blum: $1 Pianowksi
• Chris Woodward: $1 Cory Schwartz of mlb.com ($0)
• Jamey Carroll: $0 Peter Kreutzer of AskRotoman.com
• Ruben Gotay: $0 Kreutzer

"A thoroughly depressing week": Those were Peter's words, not mine. Rotoman begrudgingly bid on Woodward, Carroll and Gotay, and ended up with the latter two. Is there good news in the future?

Carroll returns to the bench upon the return of Kazuo Matsui, but may see some time in the lineup this week with the DH being used at Baltimore and Boston. The once-hot-prospect with Kansas City, Gotay may see even less time with Jose Valentin back from his DL stint, and could even find himself being sent to New Orleans. Which isn't such a bad thing, when you think about it …

• Matt Treanor: $0 Brian Walton of CREATiVESPORTS.com
• Sean Gallagher: $0 Scott Wilderman of TheRotoTimes.com
• Sean Barker: $0 Pianowski

Help! How do I tell my Seans apart? Gallagher is the Cubs pitcher who strikes out a batter per inning and will work in relief with Angel Guzman on the DL. Barker is the reserve outfielder in Colorado who was bating .333 with 9 steals in the minor leagues before his call-up. If you need to visualize the difference between the two, think of Gallagher the comedian, and replace his hammer with a baseball, which he throws, instead of pounding watermelons with it. Like a bat. Wait. That's a horrible visualization. Even I'm confused now. Look, just be happy it's not Ryan Braun (MIL) and Ryan Braun (KC). Gallagher throws, and Barker hits.

Trade!

• Todd Zola (Fantasybaseball.com) trades Curt Schilling to Alex Cushing (MLB.com) for Bob Wickman and Daniel Cabrera

Zola: "That's what you get for shaking off 'Tek."

Damn it, Zola, be serious! "At the draft, I went where I found value and ended up with a deep pitching staff. The plan was then to deal starters for help elsewhere, as back-filling starting pitching is pretty easy to do in a shallow mixed league, since the waiver wire is replete with viable candidates. I needed help in saves and Wickman gets saves, plus I already have his handcuff in Rafael Soriano. Last season, Cabrera improved his control the second half and I'm hoping he does the same again. He's not yet an automatic start in this format, but the reward is worth the risk."

And Mr. Cushing: "Daniel Cabrera might indeed become an ace down the line. Today, however, all he does is tease you with greatness only to fall back to earth faster than Paris Hilton getting sent back to jail.

Saves are my team's strengths, so getting value for Wickman -- who has Rafael Soriano breathing down his neck -- is positive either way.

In Schilling, I get back much-needed reliability in the rotation. It's just too bad Zola got his one-hitter as a parting present."

FAAB

• Matt Capps: $22 Larry Schechter of SandlotShrink.com ($21, $17, $5) • Brad Lidge: $17 Irwin Zwilling and Lenny Melnick of LennyMelnickFantasyBaseball.com ($16, $5, $4, $0)

So I pay 5 dollars more, and I get an actual closer? But Lidge waits in the wings. Notice, too, that Lidge got more bids, although Capps' bids were higher.

• Joey Gathright: $11 Mike Salfino of RotoAction.com ($10)

Watch this: Gathright could steal 7,500 bases by the end of the season, but he'll still be best-known for jumping over cars. He has started every game since his call-up and already has managed to steal two bases. If you need speed, there is no better option. Not even King Davis.

• J.P. Howell: $4 Dave Adler of BasebalHQ.com ($0)

No, J.P. Kastner of CREATiVESPORTS did not have the losing bid: But it would have been nice if he had. Rarely do players show up in both mixed and single league formats in the same week. But both Howell and (spoiler alert!) Sonnanstine turned up in Tout Wars mixed. Feel free to acquire at will …

• Juan Encarnacion: $1 Schechter
• Dmitri Young: $1 Zwilling/Melnick
• Steve Trachsel: $1 Adler

Hey … you're not Kris Benson! With a 3.82 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP, Trachsel is actually giving the Orioles what they hoped to gain from another former Mets pitcher. He might finish the season with a 4-to-1 innings pitched to strikeout ratio, but he historically has won games and posted useful ERAs.

• Brendan Harris: $1 Craig Leshen of CREATiVESPORTS.com
• Melky Cabrera: $1 Leshen
• Mike Napoli: $1 David Gonos of CBSSportsLine.com

"In Napoli, where love is Rajai … when boy meets girl … ": Napoli has been on absolute fire recently. His average is coming around; he's flashing some power; and he has four steals. The time to get him might have been two weeks ago, but if he's a free agent, pick him up immediately and open a bottle of your parents' Chianti to celebrate.

• Andy Sonnanstine: $0 Cushing
• Jon Lieber: $0 Cushing

Nando Di Fino is a fantasy analyst for TalentedMrRoto.com and ESPN.com. You can e-mail him at Nando@TalentedMrRoto.com