The 27-year-old, no-name rookie, Daniel Nava, came out of nowhere, hitting a grand slam on the first major league pitch he saw. This all came after not making his college team, working as their equipment manager, finally playing college ball, going undrafted in the major league draft then being cut by the Chico Outlaws, which I believe is the minor league affiliate for Chico’s Bail Bonds. Even his ESPN player photo makes it seem like he was in the Witness Protection Program. Shoot, maybe he is. If so, I hope Hermida starts his car for him. Eventually, Nava caught on with the Outlaws, impressed the Sawx and the rest is history. Nava is old for a rookie and his success at the majors may be short-lived, but he showed a good eye in the minors with modest pop. He could be a flash-in-the-pan, but he’s worth grabbing in AL-Only leagues and monitoring in mixed leagues. He may get bumped when Ellsbury returns and then it’s back to egg noodles and ketchup. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Josh Beckett – Played catch from 90 feet. Guess when he returns he’s going to pitch from 2nd base.
Stephen Strasburg – 5 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners (5 BBs), 8 Ks. Gave up only 2 hits, one of them was him getting Pronk’d in the 2nd inning. As I’ve been saying, his hype is over his value right now. On a related note, I wonder what the Nats TV ratings look like when Strasburg leaves the game. Probably a similar ratings plunge to when LC left The Hills. Who are you, Kristin Cavallari? I know Heidi Montag. I know Brody Jenner. I even know Justin Bobby. I do not know, Kristin Cavallari.
Austin Jackson – Left the game with back spasms. Could be a few days of no action Jackson.
Troy Tulowitzki – Out with a strained groin. Or as they call in the Tulo household, a strained pipski. Could be back by Tuesday.
Edinson Volquez – Barring any setbacks or an effective test for HGH, Volquez should be back just after the All-Star Break. Definitely worth stashing if you have DL room.
Zack Greinke – 9 IP, 3 ER, 5 baserunners, 12 Ks and zero opportunities for the Royals bullpen to screw things up.
Joey Votto – 2-for-4 with 2 homers. Now has 13 homers and 7 steals while batting .306. Having exactly the kind of season you’d want from him and he hasn’t even had any prolonged hot streaks. He’s going to be a good one for a long time.
Billy Butler – 4-for-5 with his 6th homer. Or 3 homers per moob.
Garrett Jones – 2-for-4 and his 2nd homer in two games. In the preseason, I told you to skip Butler and grab Robot Jones later on. Right now, Robot has 10 homers and 5 steals while batting .274. Since Butler couldn’t steal 5 bases in a slow pitch softball league, Jones has been more valuable, even if Butler has the bigger name recognition.
Raul Ibanez – Homer yesterday and now hitting .350 over the last week. Ibanez, “Hello, Corner, I think I’m going to turn you.” Corner, “About time.”
Jake Fox – Designated for assignment. I don’t know what I’m going to do with all of these “Unathletic like a Fox” shirts.
Jorge Posada – Two games, two grand slams as the Yankees scored 22 runs in their three game sweep of the Astros. Now the Orioles and the Astros have something to talk about on their date.
Delmon Young – 1-for-3 with his 8th homer and 3rd in the last week. It feels like forever and 3 days ago when Young was a big-time prospect, but he’s still only 24 years old. Grab while hot.
Kevin Slowey – 4 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 10 baserunners, 6 Ks. Hey, Slowey, here’s a crazy thought, instead of giving up hits to everyone, how about you walk a few people?
Kris Medlen – 8 IP, 3 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks. Still hasn’t touched 100 pitches in a game, but has now thrown 5 solid starts in his last six. Really should be owned everywhere…. Actually should’ve been owned for the last month.
Troy Glaus – 4-for-5, 2 homers. I get the feeling people are waiting for the other shoe to drop with Glaus, but the only thing that really stood in his way was his health. If he’s healthy, there’s no reason why he can’t hit 30 homers and .260. Playing first could be the answer to his health woes. Hey, maybe the Braves can let Glass Chipper simultaneously play first too. It’s the WebMD defensive shift.
Tyler Colvin – 0-for-3. Piniella said he wants to play Colvin more. Steve Stone said, “Yeah, I thought so.”
Ted Lilly – 8 IP, 0 ER, 2 baserunners, 3 Ks. Took a no-hitter into the 9th inning as Cubs fans’ brains were clouded with Pappas & beer. Unfortunately, Pierre pulled a Joyce and singled up the middle. Lilly has been terrific since he’s returned from the DL. Hopefully, that jinxes him because I don’t own him anywhere.
Gavin Floyd – 8 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks. He was mentioned in the post of pitchers who should be better. Hey, look at that. He was.
Alcides Escobar – Wait a second… Are my eyes seeing right? Alcides Escobar has stolen a base in each of the last two games. Do you believe in miracles?! Yes!
Prince Fielder – 2 homers, supposedly. I think it was Corey Hart wearing a Professor Klump Halloween costume.
Colby Lewis – 8 IP, 2 ER, 4 baserunners, 10 Ks as he wowed the crowd in this heated Brewers/Rangers rivalry. Interleague fail.
Josh Hamilton – 2-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 15th home run. Owning Hamilton is like holding your breath for 6 months. Honestly, I’ve been trying not to talk too much about Hamilton this year because I own him on more teams than I want to admit and I don’t want to jinx him. Just give me 500 ABs, Hamilton. Please.
Julio Borbon – 2-for-5 while hitting 2nd and batting .500 over the last week. He’s not racking up the steals, but he could steal 4 bases in a game any day now and be off and running. Literally.
Mike Stanton – 2-for-2, 2 RBIs and his 2nd steal. I think he could be a fantasy first rounder as soon as 2012. This guy is ridiculously huge and he has speed. He’s so big the television cameras film him at the plate like Al from The Naked Gun. You know, the guy who’s head is out of the frame.
Sean Rodriguez – 3-for-3, 2 steals after appearing in Friday’s Buy/Sell, but you knew that already because you read the site.
Jeff Niemann – 6 IP, 5 ER. Mmm… Sweet, sweet regression.
Jeff Suppan – Signed on with the Cardinals as Dave Duncan takes on his toughest challenge yet.
Chad Qualls – 1/3 IP, 2 ER. Someone put him out of his misery. Or put him in Misery by tying him to a bed and breaking his ankles.
Krispie Young – 3-for-5 and 2 Krispie flies. Now has 12 homers on the year while hitting a respectable (for him) .277. According to ESPN’s Player Rater, he’s had top 15 value for all outfielders so far. I could see him putting it together and walking away with a 30/30 season.
Aubrey Huff – 2-for-4, 2 homers, batting .303 with 10 homers on the year. Looking like a poor man’s Glaus a.k.a. matte.
Ryan Spilborghs – 3-for-5, 2 homers, hitting almost .700 over the last week as Seth Smith loses time even against righties. Maybe Seth Smith slept with the Rockie manager’s daughter, Tracy Tracy.
Wooo Hills references are back haha
2nd base is 127’3″ from home plate.
(1) Pure genius as always!
(2) Since someone dropped Pena right before his hot streak, I burned my waiver priority to snag him and dropped the frustrating-the-hell-out-of-me Seth Smith. Since I grabbed a source of power and RBIs I felt I didn’t need Damon’s boring path to a 10/20/.280 and snagged the heating up Borbon. So thanks Grey for verifying these moves as awesome.
(3) Unfortunately that leaves me with an unfortunate situation right now:
6×6 H2H (OPS, K/BB)
C Soto
1B Fielder
2B Stewart
3B Zimmerman
SS Reyes
LF Borbon
CF B.J. Upton
RF Bruce
UT Rasmus
BN Pena
I was thinking of trading Rasmus since he has the most value of my Outfielder I’ve got now. Do you think that’s a good idea, and what range of starting pitching should I target? I was thinking the Lester/Verlander/J. Johnson tier.
Mmm… egg noodles and ketchup. I loves me a Goodfellas reference, early in the morning.
Who do you like as a replacement for Bautista, who apparently couldn’t make contact if he were swinging a folding chair? Notable names on the waiver wire/trading block: Byrd, Robot Jones, Rasmus, Boesch and Krispie.
H2H, 7×7 (OPS), and obviously not deep enough.
Thanks!
Oh yeah, my other OF are Werth, Bruce, and Beep-Beep*
*As in: Car go…
Got a free roster spot, and I was hoping to land a RP who might take the closer role and I saw both Frasor and Downs available. I think to myself, “Hey, Gregg has been downright awful as of late, lets get the next guy in line” So I look at their numbers, and Frasor and Downs have also been downright awful. Is it even worth trying to stash either of those two guys for the time being? Because no matter how bad Gregg is, he isn’t going to lose his job if the other two options aren’t any better.
Alcides or Sean Rodriguez over yunel E?
@aconstipatedmonkey: rasmus might be solid trade bait, but he’s also nice to keep around for rightie matchups.
and you know pena is gonna go on an extended cold streak sooner rather than later. cause that’s what pena does.
Hey there Grey. I love the site. Just found it about a week ago and have been coming here daily since. Had a question for you since I got a big h2h matchup this week. As you know, there are not many games today.
I got 4 player with games:
Napoli
McGehee
Luke Scott
Franklin Gutierez
Now, Luke and Franklin are typically my pine riders. I was of course thinking about playing them today, but Scott is vs Jonathon Sanchez and Franklin is vs Wainwright.
My opponent has 2 players going today.
What do I do? Keep them both benched or play them both with my fingers crossed?
Grey would you drop Span or Cuddyer for Young or neither and hold both?
Also whats your take on D Lee? Is he ever going to put a good week together?
Got offered this trade late last night (5×5 head to head long term keeper league very deep)
I give up Jorge Cantu for Dallas Braden and James Loney
Having a hard time deciding on this one. I could use some pitching depth what do you think?
Gomes or Huff the Magic Dragon?
3rd grade math problems:
G. Floyd>Anibel S.?
Sean Rod>Wiggington?
Happy Monday!
@Mr2Bits: later cuddyer
Hey, great write-up this morning.
How’d you rank these pitchers?
Monasterios, Ely, Niese.
Soto or Montero?
Is this the week Ron Washington puts Frank Frank back in the closer role? I say yes. I mean no. I mean maybe.
@Grey: Inspired stuff. Fielder entry killed me. Was Al Bubba Smith’s character or George Kennedy’s in Naked Gun? Was Bubba even in Naked Gun or am I mixing up my zany police comedies?
Nara better keep stirring the sauce. If not there’s an abandoned lot that I’d like to show him in Ozone Park.
Since I’m so magnanimous, before I went offline, I gave Votto’s owner a chance to beat that Werth/Posey for Cruz/Hill/Wieters deal. I’ll give him another hour, when I have to move my car for street cleaning.
Am I crazy if I drop Bruce for Gomes?
I’m in need of power and a decent RP, so I was offered Cruz and Rivera for [Heyward or Victorino] and [Hanson or Verlander or Liriano]. Is there any combination that makes the trade worthwhile?
Greydaddy: Tabata, SeanRod, Borbon, Jose Gullien or Tejada going forward? needs out the window…
@jk:
I would hold on to Bruce. If you really want Gomes there has to be somebody else you can drop
“If so, I hope Hermida starts his car for him.”
Simple, but funny.
@aconstipatedmonkey:
You can try that but I doubt Rasmus lands you one of those guys.
You are more likely to land a solid # 2 like Weaver or Hamels
man was i wrong about giving you shit for ranking qualls so low
16 team h2h keeper league, keep 16
Team A Gets: Texeira, Kinsler, youkilis
Team B gets: Morneau, Cano, M. Young, Ricky Romero
which side do you like better?
Guys – Would you trade Cruz and CJ Wilson for Justin Upton and Michael Stanton? OBP league, not Avg league. Cruz has been the best player in the league when healthy, just not sure that is enough.
I read the blurb, but I’m in need of average. Should I trade Valverde to get Butler? I can easily give up the saves, but I’m not sure if I could get more for Valverde.
Ryan
drop Randy Wells for Medlen?
haren and bell for price, oswalt and napoli? (price has 17th round keeper eligibility)
@Giacomo: It’s ok. I’d rather have more of a sure thing if I’m going to trade Cruz. Otherwise what’s the point of trading him for inconsistancy and rookie-risk in a redraft league?
For context: In an OBP, redraft league I traded Cruz for Youk straight up two weeks ago.
@Timequake: Victorino/Liriano. I wouldn’t move the others for that package.
@Grey: Done deal. I send Cruz/Wieters/Hill for Werth/Posey. Wow that was like getting wisdom teeth pulled. Now I need a MI. Drop Quentin or Jackson for F Lopez or F. Sanchez? Now I’d like to move Posey or Santana for a pitcher.
This is what the offense looks like:
C: Santana
1B: El Hombre
2B: McGehee
SS: Jete
3B: Panda
CI: Swish
MI:
OF: Edge
OF: JWill
OF: Hart
OF: Pagan (wow, demon and pagan, how satanic)
UTL: Posey
BN: Quentin
BN: Jax
BN: Tabata
wait, so…5 rando steals > over 60 points in average? can i join on of yer ‘pert leagues? not to mention 2 of jones’ steals came in april when he hit a ripe .207.
it’s not like the dude’s a rampant thief on the basepaths.
I was offered Matt Kemp and John Lackey for Alex Rios and Jorge Posada.
I already have Russell Martin and Carlos Santana (2 catcher league).
Is this a no-brainer? Or, am I right to be hesitant due to Rios?
Forgot Damon is in there too.
Punted Chipper for Sean Rod, for one game it worked out well.
Hi Grey: What do you think are the chances that Brian Roberts comes back this season and contributes?
He’s on my roster in a 20-team non-keeper roto league where my current 2B options are Jose Lopez and Sean Rodriguez. I hate to just drop Roberts’ level of talent — especially in a league this deep. But at the same time, I don’t want to burn a roster spot until August, when the Os will be 30 games back, so he can come return to the lineup and hit a meek .220 and rest every third day.
If I drop him, I’d put Beckett in Roberts’ DL slot and probably grab Spilborghs as a 5th OF with the extra roster spot. Or should I hold on to poor Roberts to see if any good news emerges in the next week or two?
So I was smart enough to sit Nolasco’s ass against Tampa Bay and it ended up paying big dividends in my H2H. Has anyone been able to actually watch him pitch? How does he look?
And do you start him at home vs. Texas? Feels wrong the way starting him @ TB felt wrong.
16-team, H2H-POINTS Keeper League
Still trying to solve my 1B and, to a lesser extent, 2B problem(s)…
The trade from last week, A-Rod (non-keeper) FOR Tex (non-keeper) & Figgins (non-keeper) is now a no-go with A-Rod’s hip issue. What do you think about:
(1) Colby Lewis (keeper) FOR Swisher (non) & Sean Rodriquez (keeper)
he’s also willing to add in Arroyo (non) FOR J. Chacin (keeper), so then it becomes:
(2) Colby Lewis (keeper) & Chacin (keeper) FOR Arroyo (non), Swisher (non) & S-Rod (keeper)
My current pitching staff (start 5) is:
Lincecum
Nolasco
Latos
Lilly
Lewis
Zito
Hammel
Chacin
…so I think I can spare Lewis to address my 1B/2B needs
You agree? If so, is (1) or (2) the better way to go?
Thanks.
MJC
Good morning Grey!
If you don’t mind, could you rank the following starters (and in my H2H league – W, L’s!, K’s, K/9, ERA and WHIP are all counted stats)
Gavin Floyd, Brandon Morrow, Justin Masterson, Carlos Zambrano, Madison Baumgardner, Jeff Francis
Thanks!
@SpiralArchitect: I do that deal for Kemp alone
@Nathan: When his slider is working, he looks very good. His velocity is down a little and he’s not missing as many bats. I’ve seen him three times against the Mets and he wasn’t very impressive in those starts. The one start against the Phils that I saw, he was dominant.
Interesting read:
http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/where-did-nolascos-strikeouts-go/
@grey – Jake Fox – Designated for assignment. I don’t know what I’m going to do with all of these “Unathletic like a Fox” shirts.
what am I going to do with my FOX ON THE RUN CD
@ThePoonTycoon: That’s probably the truth. I just hate to see either one of those guys sitting on the bench for any extended period of time. I got Jiminez, Buchholz, Price, and Nolasco on my staff currently, and I just feel like I need another quality arm when the regression inevitably occurs.
@KarlJ.: I’d definitely settle for either of those guys, or maybe Kershaw, but I was hoping to start at Verlander.
@3FingersBrown: Thanks! I’m not really a stat-head myself, but reading those fangraphs columns is fun sometimes. Just gotta keep reminding myself of the 2nd half Nolasco had last year.
Glad to see Slowey is back to his 5/8/5/5/0/3 ways: for two seconds, I was bummed about dropping him. Oh wait — I traded him. The other guy dropped him.
Glad to see Krispie being so Krispalicious. Holy Krispie, Krispie!
After going into the draft with one objective — secure a top-flight OF — my OF is in shambles.
Drafted: Grady Sizemore (Rnd 2); Lind (5); Dunn (6); Borbon (10). Injured, sucking and benched, traded, dropped.
My current OF: Brett Gardner (the new Borbon!), Krispie (the new Grady!), Stanton (the new Heyward!), with Lind and Bruce on the bench, fighting for PT.
Anyone FA you’d recommend adding to this Moribund Stew: Willingham? Gomes? Sean Rod? FraGu? Bueller? Anyone?
@Nathan: Nolasco is now BUSS (Benched Until Stops Sucking). Nolasco is my current blunderBUSS.
@airlifting: I think it’s 5 random steals, 4 HR, drafting Hamilton in the 6th round, and drafting Jones 10 rounds later > 60 points in avg for a 6th round pick.
@Baron Von Vulturewins: Or maybe Trendy Delmon Young?
@Baron Von Vulturewins: “blunderBUSS” – LOVE it.
What should be all do with Ian Al Stewart the year of a wasted draft pick
I need speed
please rank: Pierre, Davis, Gardner, Bourn, Podsednik as overall players…
I have Pods, and thinking of trying to trade up to Pierre or Bourn – does that make any sense (as I’m trying to get more speed)?
Thoughts? Thanks!
@Baron Von Vulturewins: You must be in a shallow league? All of those guys are gone in my 16-team leagues. I’ve been riding Gomes for a month and loving it.
(Yes, I know how that sounds, and I don’t care. My loving Jonny long time)
Why did I draft Adam Lind ? it wasn’t for his steals
@mr baseball: Would you believe I missed out on him in every one of my leagues? I was actually thinking of buying him on the cheap, (he hasn’t been dropped in the deep leagues I play). I say hold unless you’re looking at hot replacement like S-Rod
@Commish Cauda: Yeah, it’s pretty shallow — 12 teams mixes with 3OF/1 Util spot, so only 36-48 OFs are owned in all. Willingham is pretty much this year’s winner of the Brad Hawpe/Michael Cuddyer Award For OF Right On the Cusp of Pickupability. I even took a recent spin with him.
If Borbon was stealing at all (or more often), he’d no doubt be owned. I’ve less use for him now that my R/SB slot has been taken by Gardner. I’ve been tempted by Gomes but have stuck with the Other Red, Bruce, in hopes of a BA breakout. Stanton’s 2/2 with an SB last night convinced me to start playing him everyday, though I fear I’ll soon catch him reading ‘The Corrections.’
drop sorry ass Markakis for Borbon?
Grey lets say you were in the Insane Asylum would you take a gamble and pick up Sean Rodriguez and drop Ian Al Stewart
@Timequake: victorino + hanson, probably wouldn’t do other combos
@mr baseball: stick with stewart
@YourMom’sBoyfriend:
Only if you need steals. I am trying to get Markakis. I think he has a nice 2nd half (12-15/70/10)
@Get Figgy With It: Hehe
@aconstipatedmonkey: Thanks! If you can get one of those pitchers for him, go for it.
@Lines: Ha… Krispie…
@cleaver596: Nope
@bodymore: Sean-Rod…
@Long Bong Hitters: Thanks for the kind words. Play your guys.
@Mr2Bits: Cuddyer for Young. Lee should pickup his average at some point.
@Doug: Not great.
@Eric C.: Gomes
@Jangles: Floyd, Sean-Rod, you too.
@dave: Niese, Ely…
@DavidSouter: Montero…
@pubscout: Ha… Maybe… Not?
@3FingersBrown: Ozone Park – ha! It’s Al.
@jk: Yup
@Timequake: Nope
@Sal: Borbon
@Mark Geoffriau: Thanks…
@Critter Nagurski: Yup
@Justin: B, by a hair.
@Giacomo: It’s fair, I’d take the Upton side.
@polczek5: Sure
@anon: Yup
@joey joe joe jr shabbadoo: I’d take the Price side.
@3FingersBrown: Ha… Lopez.
@airlifting: Steals, extra homers and 60 picks later balance out the extra average.
@SpiralArchitect: I’d take Kemp.
@papasmurf: Eh, you won’t miss Chipper.
@Enrique: Grab Beckett.
@Commish Cauda: 1 seems fine for you.
@Howie Met Your Mother: Good morning… Floyd, Francis, Morrow, Zambrano…
@mr baseball: Ha
@Baron Von Vulturewins: blunderbuss – ha! I’d hold your OF for now.
@PopQuizHotShot: They’re all the same player.
@YourMom’sBoyfriend: Sure
@mr baseball: Say? Eh, I wouldn’t do that.
Gotta vent here. With Rolen relying on time travel or witchcraft or whatever to have the first half he’s had, I see him as a rather valuable trade chip. Or I would if ESPN didn’t keep posting shit like this on his player page: “As far as trying to sell him high goes, you’ll likely have a difficult time finding an owner in your league who is confident in Rolen’s ability to stay healthy.”
Maybe it would have been easier if they weren’t staring at that line you jackasses!!!
@Grey: You missed the best part of the Nava story! He’s been leaving a ticket for Erin Andrews (yes, that one) at every PawSawx game with no luck and no response for the last three years. Then she finally acknowledged the guy over Twitter last night. It’s like a sappy 80′s movie fusing with 2010. (We can all imagine our own montage.)
2 Fridays ago, it seemed like Lindstrom was on the verge of getting demoted and Lyon taking over the closer role. I picked up Lyon, but don’t have an RP spot to play him, so he’s just clogging up the bench. It seems like Lindstrom bought himself some more leash. At what point to I send him back into the waiver pool for someone I’ll use?
Also, how many weeks late am I on cutting Gordon Beckham? I keep looking at his rest of season ZIPS projections and they still look better than anything I can get on the wire. Still, everyday I look at what he did and think there has to be a better player out there.
@Grey: thanks. BTW, loved the Goodfellas reference in the Nava lead
“Huff looking like a poor man’s Glaus”……no. disagree. Huff hits 300 30 100 and has 1st base/OF eligibility…..a big plus
Question to Grey (awesome work as usual) and everyone:
Who do you like more going forward – Nolasco, Dempster, or Lilly?
@Lines: Please pick up Krispie. He’s got over 40 ribbies, 12 HRs and 10 SBs, most of which came in the last two weeks when he suddenly remembered he has legs. Also: Upside. I guarantee you he’s better than 1/3 of the OFers owned in your league right now.
@Grey: Cool. Thanks. Someone on my team needs to be held about now. Sniff!
@PopQuizHotShot: Get Gardner. He steals a lot and scores a bajillion runs in the Yanks offense and occasionally (okay, very occasionally) homers and is, like, the 21st ranked player OVERALL in Yahoo right now.
@Eddie: Ha!
@Seequinn: Yeah, saw that. Didn’t find a way to work it in.
@happygostabby: No idea who’s available to replace Bekcham. You can lose Lyon now.
@Commish Cauda: Thanks!
@Strasburger with cheese: Lilly…
@Grey: hmmm… I gotta go back and catch Naked Gun again. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Mr. October used as a Manchurian candidate.
@Nathan: In need of pitching help, I’m keeping a close eye on him. I’m not a pitching coach, but Nolasco seems a mechanical tweak away from being a top notch guy.
Nolasco or J. Vasquez? Which headache is going to be less of a headache going forward? I just know that Nolasco’s velocity has apparently been down…
@Eddie: if you are in a reasonably competitive league, i doubt other owners need espn to tell them rolen a buy.
i mean, i have glaus, and don’t expect to sell him for near the value he’s given me, so i’m riding him till the wheels fall off or someone gets desperate close the the trade deadline, by which time glaus (hopefully) ripping the ball for ~3 months will have sold some owners on him as a viable power source.
Alright guys – Here is another one. OBP league again – Adrian Gonzalez and Hamels for Braun and Cecil? Fair? Which side would you prefer?
Please rank: Medlen, Lilly, Richard, Peavy
All these guys are in the FA pool in my 12 tm roto.
2 questions:
1. If you had to keep 1, Rich Harden or Derek Holland?
2. Better start this week, Carlos Santana or Russell Martin?
And thank you Grey!
One more for ya.
Miguel Montero is a FA in my league and I got Napoli at catcher. Who do you think is going to have the better rest of the season? Napoli is playing some 1B so he’s getting more playing time, but Montero is injury prone.
I have been doing alright at catcher, considering I drafter Wieters. I was pretty quick to drop him for Barajas when he was hot and dropped just in time for Napoli’s hot streak. I’m wondering if its now time to ride Montero.
What do the rest of you think? Who are the Top 5 catchers for the rest of the year?
Who would you rather have the rest of the season: Hochevar or Floyd?
@Kazmere: Lilly, Peavy, Richard, Medlen
@3FingersBrown: Ha
@Eric C.: Nolasco…
@Giacomo: Fair, Adrian’s side.
@Kazmere: Lilly, Medlen…
@SpiralArchitect: Holland, Santana…
@Long Bong Hitters: You’re welcome. Napoli…
@TonyCino: Floyd…
Better start today: Garland or Tillman?
So I gotta say watching Strasburg yesterday makes watching baseball more and more difficult. The announcers never acknowledge anyone else on the damn field and repeat the same lines over and over about Straz this and Straz that…..holy damn, just shut up already.
Anyone else notice that players are losing all plate discipline when they bat against him? It’s like they are trying to go up and and rip the cover off the ball just so they can be “that guy”. Not to mention I could throw strikes on that soft k zone these umps are opening up to him. The K zone box had about 10 balls that were called for strikes yesterday which seems a bit high as I know other guys don’t get that comfy zone.
Grey, could you rank Simon, Fuentes, or Axford at this point? Or are they all the same player?
@Grey: Re: dropping Brian Roberts. I already have Beckett — I’d just move him into Roberts’ DL slot.
My question was whether or not it was worth dropping Roberts in a deep 20-team non-keeper league. That’s a lot of talent to place on waivers, and a healthy Roberts beats my current 2B options of Sean Rodriguez or Jose Lopez. But if he’s more or less done for the year, what’s the point?
If I dropped him I’d use the spot for a hot bat (probably starting with Spilborghs).
grey what do you see happening to medlen when jar-jar returns? no way he gets bumped right????
@Mr2Bits: heh, sounds like someone doesn’t own Strasburg.
Time for my SS carousel question…Keppinger, Alcides, or Brignac?
Should I consider benching Holliday for Stanton or McCutchen?
@Bring Back Pluto:
Never had a chance. In a keeper league and one guy bid his entire years minor league salary on the guy and closed out bidding the second it started.
Someone just cut loose Bronson Arroyo, not realizing that his Key West 6-finger cat powers only come out in the 2nd half. Think it’s worthwhile to drop Jaime Garcia for him?
@Mr2Bits: Of course they’re going to talk about him, he’s Big Baby Jesus. That wasn’t a nationally broadcast game because Smooth was called up…
Everyone loses their shit against BBJ, except… Smoooooth. He eats whole grain for fiber and yawns at balls an inch off of the plate.
Vacuum question.
In a vacuum, which would you rather have in your CI slot: Chase Headley or Gaby Hoffmann-Sanchez? (the one from the Marlins, NOT the child starlet from Field of Dreams).
@Howie Met Your Mother: Tillman…
@Mr2Bits: Still walked a lot of guys.
@Bring Back Pluto: Fuentes, same player, same player…
@Enrique: I’d hold Roberts until a player better than Spilborghs appears.
@alex: Should remain in the rotation, but I guess you never know.
@Mark Geoffriau: Alcides…
@SpiralArchitect: McCutchen if I needed steals.
@Long Bawls: Nope
@IowaCubs: Ha… Headley…
@Grey:
Can’t make their love for him too obvious. Just wait until someone homers against him and he still manages to throw a no hitter…that’ll be the day.
@Grey @Baron von Vulturewins: Thanks for the input. I was hesitant to pick up Krispie because I drafted him last year, and well, we all know how that worked out. But now, with your support, I finally feel ready to let the past be the past and step out into the bright new world of tomorrow, borne on the broad shoulders of my brand new outfielder…
As soon as I see if our league punching-bag will trade me Strasburg for Bautista and a closer. Yes, seriously.
@Grey: As always, thanks, Grey.
With a situation like Roberts’ will the team announce he’s out for the year? Or is it one of those things where you have to read between the lines to figure out his chance of being helpful this year are gone? When is it time to pull the plug?
@Mr2Bits: Hehe
@Lines: Ha
@Enrique: I don’t think he’s going to be helpful, but dropping him for Spilborghs isn’t that enticing.
@Grey: Thanks.
AND TO ALL YOU MOOCHERS OUT THERE GETTING FREE FANTASY BASEBALL ADVICE, IT’S TIME TO BELLY-UP, BUTTERCUP.
Give $7 today to the Grey Albright Scholarship Program (the link with the drink on it on this page). The Fantasy Baseball College of Charleston thanks you.
Need to pick 2 out of these 3:
Hammel- MIL
Slowey- @PHI
E Jax- @DET
Grey: what do you think happens to Brignac and Rodriguez when Bartlett comes back this week? Who do you think sees the biggest dent in his playing time?
@IowaCubs: Hehe
@Campbell: Hammel, Jackson…
@Enrique: They both lose playing time especially Brignac if Sean-Rod continues to hit.
fyi if anybody’s interested…you can get a month of mlb.tv for $5 at http://www.groupon.com/memphis/
Grey,
As someone who owns Strasburg and would like to sell high, if I were to do a 1-for1 trade, what tier of pitchers would be a good place to start targeting?
I saw Manny Parra pitched 6, gave up 3 and K’ed 8 on Saturday. I may have been drunk but he almost looked ownable for favorable matchups.
@Grey: 5×5 14 team league with OPS instead of AVG and QS instead of W. I’m 1st in K’s and towards the top in QS. ERA and WHIP are both lacking still. I have a staff of Hamels, Bills, Shields, Ervin Santana, Liriano, Jaime Garcia, Gio Gonzalez.
I need an OF. Between Maybin and McLousy, I’m struggling to round out my OF. I was offered McCutchen for Hamels. I was going to offer him Santana for McCutchen. But I’m starting to think Ervin might be better from here on out, and he won’t see it that way.
Would you do either one of those? I could use R/SB, so McCutchen is definitely on my radar.
Grey, your thoughts on Kubel? He’s out of his slump from earlier in the year, right? Worth a grab?
I’m wondering if I should drop Nyjer Morgan for Borbon… I think I’m hesitating because, last year, I picked him up around this time after someone dropped him… and he danced his way into my heart.
H2H league – Which one for saves? Lindstrom/D Hernandez?
PS for this week only…
Ryan Howard or Josh Hamilton?
@Enrique: Needing a 2B, someone just offered me Roberts for Quentin. I’d rather dump him on waivers and get Lopez or whoever’s hitting this week. I think at his best, if Roberts comes back this year, he’ll be another yawnstipating blanco polanco.
@Cole: Yeah I’ve been watching him with my 3rd eye. I’ve had and dropped him too many times to count since he’s been in the league. I’m grabbing him again if he keeps this up. Hopefully he’ll take the next step and be another Dirty Sanchez.
@IowaCubs: You’re damn right. Shrinks get paid a lot and don’t work out nearly as many problems.
@AdamPS: F-Her…
@PureBwa: I’d do either, I’d trade Ervin first.
@Ryan Beariot: Sure, he’s hitting now.
@peter: I wouldn’t.
@AdamH: Lindstrom…
@Matt: Howard…
@Grey: Have a drink on me, to celebrate helping me send my problems away to another team.
@3FingersBrown: Thanks!
*****THERE’S A NEW POST FOR FOLLOWUPS FOR ME.*******