Daily Dime: Mauer, Jaso and other Friday bargains

If you haven't yet taken daily fantasy baseball for a test-drive, we encourage you to visit the Yahoo lobby and get yourself in the game — maybe with a free contest, maybe for $1. One-day games are the perfect complement to your season-long leagues.

Below, you'll find a 10-pack of bargain plays for the Friday slate. None of the position players listed here will cost you more than $15, none of the pitchers are $45. You shouldn't need an expert to tell you that Madison Bumgarner ($57) seems like a strong play against the Phillies, or that Bryce Harper ($23) should have quality at-bats against Chris Tillman. Here, we hunt for the sort of low-cost value plays that allow you to squeeze Bumgarner or Haper or Trout or Pujols or whoever into your lineup. Got it? Great. Let's do this thing...

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Joe Mauer, 1B, vs. Det (Verlander), $15: In case you hadn't noticed, the current version of Justin Verlander is not exactly a lights-out ace. Over four starts so far this season, he's struck out just 12 batters and walked 10 in 22.2 innings. He gave up seven hits (including two homers) and seven earned runs in his last turn. Mauer's history against Verlander is excellent — 24-for-65, 3 HR, 12 BB — and the man has been surging in recent weeks (13-for-34, 2 HR in July).

Ervin Santana, P, vs. Det (Verlander), $25: Santana's first start of the season for the Twins was plenty useful (8.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 Ks), and his three-game minor league stint went flawlessly (3-0, 1.02 WHIP). I'll happily take him here at the minimum pitching price, facing the Miggy-less Tigers.

As many of you have no doubt noticed, several of the best values in Yahoo's game are players returning from extended absences, like these next four names...

John Jaso, C, vs. Hou (McHugh), $9: He's finally back from the 60-day DL, he's catcher-eligible and he's raking: 7-for-12, double, HR, 2 RBIs. McHugh has been something less than dominant (1.30 WHIP), so it wouldn't be much of a surprise if Jaso's binge continued.

Hunter Pence, OF, vs. Phi (Hamels), $9: Hunter Pence as a near-minimum hitter? Sure, I'll take it. He's 3-for-8 since returning from the DL, and he's a respectable 7-for-25 in his career against Hamels.

Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, at Bos (Buchholz), $12: As with Pence, this isn't the greatest possible hitter-vs.-pitcher matchup, but Ellsbury is so much better than the rest of the names in the $10-$13 bin. Take him at this price while he's available.

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Michael Morse, 1B, vs. Cin (Leake), $7: OK, no, this guy isn't for everyone (or maybe for anyone). But he's a starter with pop at the lowest possible price, and the man has homered twice against Leake in nine career at-bats. It ain't easy finding an acceptable bat at $7 in Yahoo's game; if you're going to start Bumgarner and/or Gerrit Cole, then you'll need to find a bargain or two somewhere.

Eugenio Suarez, SS, at Mia (Phelps), $13: Suarez is slashing .325/.365/.475 for the season, batting sixth for the Reds, and he's 5-for-15 over his last three games. He gets a low degree of difficulty matchup with Phelps, so no reason to fear the opponent. I can't see a similarly priced shortstop I like nearly as much.

Lucas Duda, 1B, vs. Ari (Anderson), $14: Duda is slumping a bit, going 0-for-13 in his last four games, but he was born to hit right-handers like Anderson. Arizona's starter has allowed seven home runs over his last three starts, and he's striking out just 5.57 batters per nine innings.

Hector Santiago, P, at Sea (Montgomery), $44: Santiago has had a terrific half-season (with a dash of good luck), and he's allowed just eight hits and two runs over his last 20.0 frames. Seattle ranks dead-last in the A.L. in both batting average (.234) and OBP (.295), so the matchup couldn't be better.

Jedd Gyorko, 2B, at Tex (Rodriguez), $13: Gyorko is dirt-cheap and hitting reasonably well since his return (10-for-30 for the month). Here's a useful nugget, via the Matchup Ratings page...

At this price, with the encouraging note, I'm sold.