Aaron Laffey

Bouncing between starter and reliever, Laffey finished the year 4-6 with a 4.56 ERA over 100.2 innings. Laffey started 16 of the 22 games he appeared in, but he's a long shot to start after signing as a free agent with the Mets. His low strikeout rates limit his upside and he's never had enough of a good platoon split against lefties to win a job as a lefty specialist. He may languish in Triple-A as a result.

Laffey was decent as a lefty out of the bullpen after being acquired by the Yankees in late August, giving up two earned runs over 7.2 innings in September. He doesn't have an arsenal deep enough to work as a starter and get through lineups multiple times in the same outing, and his future is likely as a lefty specialist out of the bullpen. He signed a minor league contract with Toronto in the offseason, where he'll try to win a lefty specialist role this spring. Keep in mind that Laffey has averaged just 4.45 K/9IP over the course of his career, and his expected LOOGY opportunities won't bare fruit for fantasy owners.

Laffey bounced around between Triple-A and the majors as well as from the starting rotation to the bullpen in another disappointing season. He dealt with some midseason shoulder fatigue which didn't help but it's tough to ignore the disappointing overall numbers. He just doesn't miss enough bats (4.4 K/9IP in his major league career) to have much success as a starter so he'll likely be back as the team's long reliever out of the bullpen.

Laffey made 19 starts for the Indians, posting a 1.619 WHIP and a 4.44 ERA, which pretty much sums up the state of things on the shores of Lake Erie. He'll be competing for a spot at the back of the Indians' rotation again in 2010, but doesn't miss enough bats (4.3 K/9IP in 264.2 major league innings) to portend much success in what figures to be a rebuilding season for the Tribe.

Laffey started the season at Triple-A and got a quick promotion when Jake Westbrook landed on the DL. He went 5-7 with a 4.23 ERA before getting sent back down to Triple-A in late July, made a handful of starts and then was shut down with some minor elbow inflammation. His inability to miss bats (68 K in 143 innings in the majors for his career) figures to keep him from making the leap to anything other than a back end of the rotation guy. He'll be back to compete for a rotation spot for Cleveland in the spring.

Laffey earned a callup for nine starts after a solid, but not spectacular, year between Double-A and Triple-A. A 13-4 record with a 2.88 ERA in the minors isn't anything to sneeze at, especially from a 22-year-old, but his lack of electric stuff is what figures to limit him in the major leagues. His stats with Cleveland are a better indication of his ability: a 4.56 ERA and a 1.338 WHIP in nine starts, six of which were against the Royals, Twins and White Sox. He'll battle Jeremy Sowers, Cliff Lee and perhaps Adam Miller for the last spot in the Cleveland rotation.