With the Royals adding Pedro Ciriaco Tuesday, there's a decent chance for AL-only owners to snag a possible starting middle infielder for the remainder of the season. There's plenty of "meh" involved -- the Royals could continue giving Johnny Giavotella and Miguel Tejada the majority of at-bats -- but Ciriaco has some nice potential in batting average and steals, and could end up being a smart add for a Fantasy team weak in MI options.
Ciriaco hit .293 with 16 steals over 259 at-bats with the Red Sox last year. He was fairly erratic with his batting average in the minors (it evened out to .272), but showed some nice speed potential, stealing 35-plus bases twice and 19 or more five times.
With Giavotella hitting .206 and Tejada having a nice season but not expected to handle a full-time role at 39, Ciriaco could step in and provide a solid presence at second base for the Royals. In AL-only, the promise of regular at-bats alone should make Ciriaco a nice add in most leagues. But if he can contribute like he did in 2012 with the Red Sox, Ciriaco could be a nice boost for a team sagging in the standings.