13 team 5x5 standard roto league, $300 cap. halladay is $40 for 2009 season. what OF should i be able to get for him, being so much. one team is looking for that dominant ace, and is looking to move ludwick $4 and possibly ibanez $13 too for an ace. Would those 2 be enough for halladay? i basically need another OF and someone to plug in at DH.

his other OF are holliday $16, sizemore $16 (doubt he'll deal him), markakis $10. i thought about asking for holliday, but i'm not sure if that's gonna do it. thoughts?

Have you tried to get Markakis, Holliday or Sizemore for Halladay? I'd see if I could get one of those for Halladay. If you can't, then I'd see if he'd give me Ludwick and someone else. Does he have any other hitters that you can plug in at DH?

not really. this is the team that won it all last year...

c-martin, 1b-teixera, 2b-ramirez, 3b-wright, ss-reyes, of-sizemore, holliday, ludwick, ibanez, dh-markakis

i wouldn't mind teixera either, but i doubt he'll trade him, he'd then have a hole at 1B.

i really doubt he'd trade sizemore either. my order would be sizemore, holliday then markakis. but i'd settle for markakis. i just think he'll want to go the ludwick and ibanez route.

Do you have to keep Halladay for $40?

no, but yes. i have hamels, sabathia, lackey, cain, RJ meche. there's no way i could get him back cheaper as we've allowed an expansion team that will outbid everyone at the auction just to get names on his team. but i can keep him without dropping anyone else good to fit under the cap.

what about halladay for atkins $25? different team that could use pitching.

Can you post your entire team so I can get an idea of what you have?

c - b molina $7, 1b - howard $13, 2b - cano $13, 3b - arod $58, ss - hardy $7, 4 OF - braun $7, hamilton $7, span $4, maybin $7, dh - empty, 4 SP - hamels $10, halladay $40, sabathia $19, lackey $13, 2 RP - nathan $19, wood $5

reserves = clement $7, ian stewart $7, werth $4, cain $13, RJ $17, meche $7, oliver perez $7

there are never any good free agents at the draft. the best pitcher is oswalt who will probably go for $30-$40. the best hitter available right now is thome or chipper. both are always hurt and i'd like to stay away from them if possible.

i'm willing to give cano one more chance, but if he starts out slow he's a goner. i'd like an upgrade at SS too, but hardy isn't all bad.

If Oswalt's the best pitcher to be at the draft and he will go for $30-40 then Halladay's fine at $40. You are trading from a strength with Halladay, since your staff is stacked, but I wouldn't try and force a Ludwick/Ibanez trade if that's the only trade you can pull off. I'd go for Sizemore, Holliday or Markakis (in that order) or hold tight.

yeah i know. i just think my offense is lacking one big bat to help me possibly win. i can probably get beltran $38 or berkman $44 for lackey. the team that has both of those guys wants to cut cap, so that would be the cost for me to take one of those guys. i'd then have to cut RJ and probably swing another deal to get below the cap myself.

or what about lackey $13 and cano $13 for ludwick $4 and alexei ramirez $4? but this would be with the team that won it all. could be strengthening him more.

what are your thoughts on those 2 options?

I'd get Beltran or Berkman for Lackey (in that order) even if you need to lose Randy, before I did the Ludwick/Ibanez trade for Halladay, but I'm not crazy about that trade either. It's okay, but Lackey's a steal at $13, not sure why you're trying to move him. If anything, I'd move Halladay at $40 for Beltran or Berkman but it sounds like that other team wouldn't do this because of cap issues.

Not crazy about the other option either.

I like Lackey at $13 better than Halladay at $40 if that helps.