You got Revere at the end. it might make sense to go heavy on OPS at the start and sprinkle in speed guys toward the teens: Fowler, Revere, de Aza, Cain, etc.

1. Joey Votto (Cin – 1B)
2. Hanley Ramirez (Mia – SS)
3. Pablo Sandoval (SF – 1B,3B)
4. Hunter Pence (Phi – OF)
5. Ben Zobrist (TB – 2B,OF)
6. Madison Bumgarner (SF – SP)
7. Lance Berkman (StL – 1B,OF)
8. Gio Gonzalez (Was – SP)
9. Mat Latos (Cin – SP)
10. J.J. Putz (Ari – RP)
11. Nick Swisher (NYY – 1B,OF)
12. Mark Reynolds (Bal – 1B,3B)
13. Shaun Marcum (Mil – SP)
14. Kyle Farnsworth (TB – RP)
15. J.P. Arencibia (Tor – C)
16. Jhoulys Chacin (Col – SP)
17. Brandon McCarthy (Oak – SP)
18. Matt Joyce (TB – OF)
19. Jonny Venters (Atl – RP)
20. Grant Balfour (Oak – RP)
21. Ryan Vogelsong (SF – SP)
22. Ben Revere (Min – OF)
23. Jim Johnson (Bal – RP)

In h2h, you might want to spread it out as from week-to-week OPS can be so variable.

Thanks for reading and the kind words. Happy to see we’ve been helpful!

Is that good strategy or you think I only need one or two to make the difference?

Thanks. Regular reader. Love the site. -w

In addition, who knows if Thome can even stay healthy playing 1b part time. that said, a late flier, especially OPS leagues makes a ton of sense.

In addition, those in NL only leagues should have him on their radar for any interleague series in the AL.

i do feel your pain though

The announcers also could not stop gushing over his work ethic, lost weight, locker room leadership, and general saintly nature of Thome, but as a White Sox fan, I know that most of these claims are only 98% true and might be due to the fact that said announcers were Philly homers. Still, with the Howard setbacks, potential sleeperiness of Thome (is he even being drafted in most leagues?), and , what harm is there in a late round flier on this man amongst Piggies in the Island of the Flies that is MLB. And by piggies I mean boys of course!

Seriously, we need to see a sleeper post for Jim Thome. But…not really is my point.

I’ve been mostly a standard guy and have played in a ton of OBP leagues, but just a few OPS ones.

Good to know what you’re doing! But i had to be careful.

Also, always feel free to throw as many players at me as you need to — it gives me more to do!!!

Anyhow, I appreciate taking the time to respond and giving me a hand.

I have Cutch over Stanton in every league basically. Although adding OPS makes it close. We could see Stanton at an .890 OPS with Cutch at .835 or so, but I think Cutch is safer and adds more versatility.

OPS guys to target aside from the obvious: Ortiz, Morse (although his injury concerns me), Avila, Alex Gordon, Pence, Michael Young, Montero.

As for SS, Peralta? Hardy, Asdrubal, Yunel Escobar,

Can you think of any SS that won’t absolutely KILL you in OPS leagues (sans Tulo, Hanley, Reyes)?

I have the #1 pick in my OPS league. Im planning to take Miggy and then pair him up with the likes of Wright & McCutchen/Stanton to round out the 1st 3 rounds. In an OPS league, do you like McCutchen or Stanton more?

And other than the guys you mentioned, can you think of any other players to target in an OPS league (i.e. Uggla, Bruce, any SS at all???)… or anyone to specifically avoid?

We like to say Bourn-types are one-category guys in standard 5×5 but their averages aren’t bat. In reality, they become one-cat guys in OPS leagues.