James Shields was traded to the White Sox for Erik Johnson and Fernando Tatis Jr.  I remember well his father, Fernando Tatis Jr. (yes, they are both juniors; not at all confusing).  I remember Tatis because he was the reason back in 2000, I said on my Geocities site, Fantasy Baseball and Neon Green Backgrounds, the following, “The Cardinals won’t bring up Albert Pujols because they have Fernando Tatis.  Let’s just be grateful we made it through Y2K with all of our AOL emails intact.  I got this forward from my uncle that is hilarious!  Also, I think JC Chasez is easily the best singer in NSYNC.  Justin Timberlake?  More like Give-Me-A-Timberbreak!”  Wow, that didn’t age well at all.  So, the Padres finally listened to me and attempted to get younger.  No idea about this Tatis; he’s so young he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page yet — and Carson Cistulli has a Wiki page longer than Harriet Tubman!  Elsewhere, Erik Johnson becomes an NL-Only add, but his wonky control leaves him a streamer for now in mixed leagues.  As for Shields, leaving Petco + aging pitcher who hasn’t looked great for over a year now = Aged Balsamic.  Hmm, math’s off there, was supposed to equal risky bet for mixed leagues with increased win potential and decreased ratios.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Jose Abreu – 1-for-4 and his 7th homer.  I feel like I’m a 6-year-old and was just told Santa is real, as in a real person who I watched leave Macy’s and sit in his Toyota Tercel for twenty minutes, crying.  Only realizing later that he was crying from joy that he won $20 on a scratch-off ticket.  See, there’s a mild happy ending with Abreu, but it’s been thoroughly depressing getting there.
Jose Quintana – 4 2/3 IP, 5 ER, ERAÂ up to 2.58. Â The Regression Fairies know someone who went to visit Richard Simmons in the hospital, their motto in life is “Eat, Pray, Love with Pride,” and they will trounce your ratios.
Todd Frazier – 1-for-4 and his 18th homer.  He left the city that made him famous this offseason, and it didn’t seem like he could succeed elsewhere, but then Frazier put up some witty title cards between segments, and you need to Crane your neck to watch his homers.
Justin Verlander – 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.97.  He had an ERA of 3.16 in May, and his K-rate is 9.6 with a 2.6 BB/9 and a 3.84 xFIP.  In other words, he’s a solid number three fantasy starter with a hot wife-to-be.  He’s like a modern-day Chuck Finley.  Hopefully, Kate doesn’t start taking krav maga classes.
Cameron Maybin – 1-for-3, 2 runs, hitting .414. Â Isn’t he overdue for an injury?
Mark Teixeira – Hit the DL with articular cartilage tear, which sounds like it could knock him out for months if not the year. Â Chris Parmelee, which is Chris with cheese in Italian, was called up, but Rob Refsnyder stands to gain the most playing time. Â Refsnyder is your standard Yankee prospect. Â Not very good, but you’ve heard of him because of the Yankees. Â In 300 ABs, he’d be looking at around 8 HRs, 6 SBs and…What did I miss? Â I totally fell asleep. Â Nothing? Â Cool.
CC Sabathia – 5 IP, 0 ER, 8 baserunners (6 BBs), 5 Ks, ERA down to 2.58. Â His cutter usage prior to this year never exceeded 3%. Â This year, he’s thrown it 28% of the time. Â His fastball has gone from overpowering to batting practice, but he’s reduced its usage from 56% to 36%. Â This correlates to effectiveness. Â It doesn’t correlate to a 2.58 ERA. Â He’s likely around a 3.75 ERA pitcher who’s getting lucky on homers. Â So, am I buying? Â Not really in 12 team mixed leagues and shallower outside of streaming. Â The Stream-o-Nator hates his next start, and I wouldn’t go near him. Â Now, ignoring everything I just wrote, here come the Sabathia questions.
Brett Gardner – 3-for-4, and 7 for his last 12, hitting .237. Â Has been pretty meh for the season, but could be finally coming out of it. Â He does have five homers and 10 steals on the year. Â If he gets to 15 HRs and 25 steals, it wouldn’t be a bad season, and he’s not that far from that pace.
Kevin Gausman – 6 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.52.  Solid start, but ask his owners how much fun it is to start him game after game with bad matchups.  Ooh, that gives me an idea.  A fantasy baseball hotline where you can call guys who own a player you’re interested in.  “Hey, I’m thinking about trading for Chris Archer.  How’s it been owning him?”  “Do you have five hours?”  “You need that long to explain?”  “No, but I’m looking for a friend to watch the game with me.  Bumble Friends suck.”
Jonathan Villar – 0-for-3 and his 21st steal, after a slam (5) and legs on Saturday.  I love this guy so much I’m about to buy on eBay a jersey of ex-Brewers pitcher, Carlos Villanueva, and alter the last name on the back!  Well, I love Villar, but I’m also cheap and no one wants a Villanueva jersey.  When I’m not wearing it, I know where I can hang my Villan- jersey!  Millionaire Dollar Idea Alert!  I was carrying laundry the other day and it dawned on me, there should be a coat rack that plugs into your navel that you can hang clothes from.  A navel plug, if you will.
Tommy Joseph – 2-for-4, 1 run, 1 RBI and his 4th homer on Saturday. Â Hey, Tommy, that deaf, dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean 1st base, just please don’t sign him to a 10-year, $250 million contract.
Odubel Herrera – 4-for-5, 2 runs and his 7th steal.  ODB needs to release his Phillies-centric album, “Phila Please!”
Aaron Nola – 6 IP, 0 ER, 10 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.65. Â Dudes and five girl dudes, don’t ask about pitchers getting shut down early when we’re in June. Â So many things can happen between now and September. Â This isn’t fantasy football where there’s ten games a year.
Maikel Franco – 1-for-3, 2 runs and his 10th homer. Â Solid buy low guy. Â Could see him going on an Adam Duvall-type run.
Jimmy Paredes – 2-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 2nd homer.  Time for my annual rant that is more of a bi-monthly rant.  Why don’t we have players’ stats carry over in the box scores?  There’s interleague games now.  The Cubs and White Sox can play each other but stats don’t carry over if a player moves to a new league?  This is so unnecessarily confusing.  It’s like if every time a car was sold, the odometer went back to zero.  Nice, Hyundai, but that shizz does not have twelve hundred miles.
Sonny Gray – 5 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 5.77 as he was activated from the DL.  Not an easy assignment returning in Houston, but he looked solid, inducing seven ground ball outs to three fly ball, and 16 first-pitch strikes to 21 batters.  Even as I thought he’d regress this year, I didn’t think near-6 ERA, so he can come down a bit.
Henderson Alvarez – Threw off the mound on Saturday and is considering his next step now.  Hopefully he’s not standing on an escalator, because you only have so much time to consider a next step before you fall over like the Yodeler on The Price is Right.
Luke Gregerson – 1/3 IP, 1 ER and blew yet another save on Saturday, and the Astros were just being stubborn for stubborn’s sake.  They should’ve let Ken Giles be the closer about a month ago.  You traded for him so he could close!  You remember that, right?  Velasquez?  Hello, not sang like Adele!  Yesterday, Will Harris (1 IP, 0 ER) got the save, and has been insane all year (0.34 ERA), but I don’t think he gets the closer job.  Giles threw two innings on Saturday and was likely unavailable.  Of course, sometimes all it takes is a guy to get a save on 11 pitches like Harris did.  The closerousel begins, shituation developing.
Lance McCullers – 7 IP, 2 ER, 11 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 4.23. Â His walk rate has been off-the-charts terrible (6+ BB/9) but he’s likely just rusty like kuntz.
Evan Gattis – 1-for-4 and his 9th homer. Â I keep saying he’s a top 5 catcher when he gets the eligibility, but he might be more like a top three.
Carlos Gomez – 2-for-4, 2 runs and his 1st homer. Â I knew he had been bad, but didn’t want to draft him in the preseason, so didn’t own him, and had no real concept that he only had zero homers going into yesterday. Â More like Carlos Gomess. Â With that said (Grey’s making a U-turn!), just that one homer could help get him going. Â For how cheap he likely is to acquire (in my RCL, he’s on waivers), could be worth the flyer.
Adam Duvall – 1-for-5, 1 run, and his 16th homer on Saturday. Â This is funny (not funny). Â He’s in 2nd place for most homers in the National League. Â Yet, Duvall’s not owned in 50% of leagues. Â Lot of people disliked Tender Mercies this much?
Raisel Iglesias – Reds said he will return as a reliever to prolong his inevitable shoulder injury, but it seems like it would just expedite it.  Does it really help a pitcher to have him dial it up every other day rather than resting five days between starts?  Since the Reds bullpen is such an effin’ fiasco — a effinasco? — I guess Raisel could see the occasional save, but it seems unlikely and he’s still about a month away from returning.
Anthony DeSclafani – Will return on Friday.  Jon Moscot will likely be bumped from the rotation.  To that news, Moscot sarcastically replied, “Grape.”
Dan Straily – 7 IP, 2 ER, 4 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.34. Â Fun fact! Â He puts granola with bird seed and coconut flakes and calls it Dan’s Traily Mix. Â Straily could barely keep his ERA under 5 in the AL. Â In the NL? Â He’s a 3.34 ERA pitcher. Â So it goes, so it goes. Â The Stream-o-Nator is meh on his next start, but I could see streaming him there.
Jay Bruce – 1-for-3, 2 runs, 3 RBIs, hitting .280 and his 13th homer.  Last year, his 1st half was 13 HRs and a .251 average.  2nd half was 13 HRs with a .199 average.  Bruce, doode, you a Romanian witch?  13’s not a lucky number.
Stephen Strasburg – Left Saturday’s game with a limp, but said he just cramped up during the rain delay. Â Where she owns Strasburg, Shirley Manson’s conflicted about her fantasy team.
Tanner Roark – 3 IP, 5 ER, ERA up to 3.21. Â This start came agains the Reds, which was adapted into the short story, Tanner Gets Reds, Melanoma Isn’t Just AÂ Spice Girl’s Name.
Daniel Murphy – 3-for-5, 3 runs, 3 RBIs and his 10th homer, hitting .384. Â Apparently, the hypnotherapy worked to get him to believe he’s in a 162-game playoff series. Â “What if we tie at 81 games each?” Â Shh, Murphy, it’ll be okay.
Wilson Ramos – 3-for-5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 8th homer, hitting .350. Â Officially moved past Buster Posey for catchers on our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater. Â His prize is proving that you should punt catchers. Â Yes, it’s a lame prize.
Albert Pujols – 1-for-3, 3 RBIs and his 12th homer, hitting .238.  Difference between .238 and .250 is, like, one extra hit every two weeks.  No actual math done here, but it’s likely accurate because I can figure out a gratuity by just doubling the tax, no matter the state.  My apologies to Delaware waitresses.
Matt Harvey – 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 4.95. Â Now has two quality starts in a row, or Quality Starts as they call them in baseball. Â I wonder if he attributes his turnaround to Dallas Diamond Page yoga like Jake “The Snake” Roberts.
Jose Fernandez – 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 14 Ks, ERA at 2.29. Â I’m not saying he could be even better, but I am saying that when you consider he’s still moving further away from Tommy John surgery. Â Move over, Fred the Furrier, Jo-Fer is the best Fer in the business.
Jeff Samardzija – 5 IP, 6 ER, ERA up to 3.33.  Can we get Samardzija back to the NL West where he excels?  Samardzija is Jeff who lives at home.
Jarrett Parker – 1-for-3, 2 RBIs and his 2nd homer, hitting .205. Â Not much here yet, outside of deep leagues, but with the Gangly Manbird sidelined for two months, Parker should see most ABs from the strong side of the platoon. Â Okay, the other side is Mac Williamson, so anyone on the other side would be the power side.
Michael Wacha – 5 IP, 4 ER, 8 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 5.16. Â For a guy whose last name sounds like what Pac-Man would say, Wacha’s not exactly eating up the competition.
Marcus Stroman – 5 2/3 IP, 6 ER, ERA up to 4.82. Â I guess you could convince yourself that, while this was a bad start, you wouldn’t have started him against the Red Sox. Â Cool story, brah. Â He gave up 7 ER to Tampa too.
Jose Bautista – 1-for-4 and his 12th homer, hitting .229.  Oh, c’mon, with the leadoff man experiment!  It’s so stupid!  Hey, Gibbons, a baboon would know better, said the zookeeper to no one.
Russell Martin – 1-for-3 and his 4th homer. Â Not totally interested in more catcher questions, but Martin’s four homers all came in the last ten games, and is likely better than that other schmohawk you’re trotting out there in your C slot. Â That’s catcher slot, not the probable UrbanDictionary definition of a C slot.
Eduardo Rodriguez – 5 2/3 IP, 5 ER. Â Um, yeah, see what I said for Gausman and the last fifteen AL East starters. Â Blue Jays, Orioles, Red Sox…The Rays have scored 224 runs on the year. Â The 2nd best team in the NL East has only 219 runs scored (Marlins).
Mike Napoli – 1-for-4 and his 14th homer, and, like, 10th homer in the past five games. Â Wow, he’s on another level right now. Â Like right above the waist, but below the chin. Â That kind of level.
Francisco Lindor – 2-for-3, 3 RBIs and his 6th homer.  Member when Christall Young only used to give up steals?  Now he’s like a charitable organization for neutering rodents, as he’s all about the gopher balls.
Tyler Naquin – 2-for-2 and his 3rd homer, and 3rd homer this weekend.  Hot schmotato alert!
Corey Kluber – 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.84. Â Just my luck that he’s cruising, and then the game goes into a rain delay. Â Stupid Chief Wahoo did the wrong dance.
Logan Morrison – 2-for-5, 3 RBIs and his 6th and 7th homers after hitting a homer on Friday and Saturday, after appearing in my Buy column on Friday. Â Oh, he will cool off at some point, but you should absolutely own him right now everywhere.
Evan Longoria – 3-for-4, 3 runs, 3 RBIs and his 13th and 14th homers, hitting .281.  Longoria, man, you’re going to ruin your reputation for being a boring guy to own in fantasy.
Drew Smyly – 5 IP, 4 ER vs. Twins, ERA up to 4.94.  I had high hopes for him in March too, but what are you doing right now?  You trying to prove something by starting him while he’s struggling?  There’s no Purple Hearts for showing bravery in fantasy baseball.
Brandon Guyer – Hit the DL with a hamstring strain. Â Who’s hurting? Â This Guyer with two thumbs and one working hamstring!
Matt Andriese – 5 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.52. Â Like your 4th grade teacher told you about your hand, I’m not a fan, but if you want to stream him, see the Stream-o-Nator.
Eduardo Nunez – 2-for-4, 2 runs and a slam (7) and legs (12). Â Nunez is quietly a top ten 3B this year. Â Not quiet if you own him. Â Well, quiet if you own him and you’re reading this in a library.
Byron Buxton – 3-for-4, 1 RBI, now has three straight games with multiple hits.  Next up, power and speed.  Wouldn’t be the first player to go to the minors, build up some confidence and return looking renewed like a your Columbia House subscription.
Kevin Jepsen – 2/3 IP, 2 ER, ERA up to 6.26. Â Sigh.
Jake Arrieta – 5 IP, 3 ER, 10 baserunners, 12 Ks, ERA at 1.80. Â Well, that’s one way to lessen the difference between your ERA and xFIP while upping your K-rate.
Javier Baez – 1-for-3 and his 4th homer. Â Now has two homers in his past four games (three games started), and is worth a flyer in leagues where he’s available, well, dur, of course.
Patrick Corbin – 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.73. Â Not a terrible start, but the Cubs did have out there their (stutterer!) B lineup. Â Though, their B lineup is better than most A’s, including the A’s.
Jurickson Profar – 2-for-4, 1 RBI, leading off, as he played Saturday and Sunday after Odor returned.  Turned out the Rangers had a different odor in mind to get rid of to play Profar.  A large, odious Prince Fielder.
Edwin Diaz – Called up on Saturday. Â Diaz was named the Mariners top starting pitcher in the minors two years in a row (2014-15), so they converted him to a middle reliever. Â Um, yeah. Â Club decisions are like assholes…. Sorry, that should be club decisions are made by.
Felix Hernandez – Mariners said he’s still not throwing.  Hey, Felix and I have something in common!
Nelson Cruz – 1-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 13th homer, and 2nd in as many games. Â Finally, the inevitable home run streak.
Nathan Karns – 4 IP, 7 ER, ERA up to 4.23. Â Well, starting him for his two starts last week (Padres, Rangers) went exceptionally mediocre.
Jon Gray – 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 12 Ks, ERA at 5.33. Â I think his only bad start of his season is the one where I started, but for that to be true, he would’ve had to given up like 17 runs in 2/3 IP. Â Hmm, maybe that is true.
Carlos Gonzalez – 2-for-5, 5 RBIs, and two more homers (12, 13), hitting .308.  Incredibly (depending on your definition of incredible), CarGo didn’t even really get started hitting homers until July of last year.
Nolan Arenado – 3-for-3, 4 runs, 3 RBIs and his 18th homer, hitting .291.  Are you sure you don’t want the Torenado insurance on your home?  Cause I think it might be wise.  Unless you don’t care about your Hummel figurines.
Wil Myers – 2-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 10th homer. Â Never underestimate the 14th post on the post-hype sleeper.
Andrew Cashner – 5 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 11 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA ay 4.78.  In Cashner’s last six starts, he’s given up three runs in every start.  Elias Sports Bureau said the last guy to have three runs in more starts in a row (98 starts) was “Three-Earned” McPhee in 1934, but he suffered from OCD and when he couldn’t touch the clubhouse doorknob three times between batters, he declared himself insane and retired to raise three-toed sloths.
Matthew Wisler – 4 IP, 8 ER, ERA up to 3.98.  I’m going to leave my Kool-Aid on the table of this Al-Qaeda-hosted BBQ while I go to the bathroom.  I’m sure no one will touch it. *five hours later*  Hey, why are my legs being fashioned into military boots?  AH!!!!! ROOFIE!!!!
Corey Seager – 3-for-5, 4 RBIs and his 13th and 14th homers, and 7th homer this week.  The Owner Of Seager Who Was Angry At Him In April said, “Okay, my bad.”
Yasmani Grandal – 1-for-4, 2 runs, 3 RBIs and his 5th homer, hitting .193. Â Still more than I got from Mesoraco!
Trayce Thompson – 1-for-3, 2 runs, and now batting third, as he hit two homers on Thursday and Friday, then three steals on Saturday. Â Trayce went tres? Â Okay, where do I sign up? Â Tell me the line to get in so I can get a piece, because I’m feeling Trayce lecherous.
Carl Crawford – Designated for assignment. Â Looks like the Dodgers are as cakey for Trayce lecherous as I am.
Clayton Kershaw – 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 1.46.  Yeah, yeah, but he walked a guy and only went six innings vs. the Braves.  If there were over/unders prior to this game of zero walks and nine innings, I would’ve taken the under and over, betting my life savings that is going towards my navel plug.
Trade Chris Davis and Jeanmar for Rizzo?
My Kluber and A. Russell for Kang and Giles in a 10-team 6×6 roto league w/OPS and Holds?
There are 11 active bats (real baseball positions plus 1 INF, 1 OF, and 1 Util.) 1400 IP limit, I’m projected +60 now but recently had Darvish come off the DL and SPs aren’t super deep with the saves and holds elements.
My roster would be
C: Martin
1B: Rizzo
2B: Rendon
3B: Franco
SS: Kang
INF: Pujols
LF: Braun
CF: Gardner
RF: Stanton
OF: Springer
Util: J. Upton
Bench: E. Nunez, Khris Davis, Span
SPs: Strasburg, Darvish, Salazar, Matz
RPs: Cishek, Jeffress, Osuna, Street
Plus various holds guys: Giles (from the trade in question), Will Smith, Nate Jones, Diekman, Barraclough, Hochevar
I could drop a holds guy after the trade as I can only get 9 Ps in the lineup if I don’t have a SP going, so that could turn Hochevar into an open spot. I could add Hundley to try to improve at catcher.
I’ve been rocking Eduardo Nunez at SS to rave results over the past week. Still, it would seem I’m better off with Kang as a long-term SS option. Since it’s a Holds league, that would seems to relieve some of the risk with Giles in Houston.
I actually made this offer a week ago and it was declined. He’s now coming back with the same package, probably because hopes seemed higher for Giles a week ago. But with Nunez’s emergence I have more pause on if I’d be getting enough for Kluber, for whom I did pay the 33rd pick. I could ask for more or a different player than Giles coming my way.
Should I ask for Ramos or Ozuna with Kang, or is that asking too much?
Thanks for any insights. Love the site daily!
What do you think of Boxberger and Dee Gordon? A manager on my league needs to open some slots and I have been DL lucky.
Would you trade Jake Lamb for Gordon?
Thanks for taking all of these questions. I spend a lot of my day searching them for tips.
J Up hits a dong, steals a bag….and I get a trade offer for Frazier. My team:
Vogt, Gattis
Goldy, Franco, Park
Suarez, Villar, Schoop
Polanco, Marte, Betts, Khris, Maybin, J Up, Odubel
I am thinking I have to take this and then deal Park and either Vogt or Gattis. Thoughts?
Got Domingo that I need to activate from the DL, but then I also have Trace who, like Domingo, is eligible at LF, CF and RF. Who you like best looking forward?
What’s the take on archers start tonight? I’ve been thinking of buying up shares of him lately.. Trying to cash in on ozuna idk if I’m buying his hype, granted I haven’t been an archer owner either.. You optimistic?
Which side you do you like… Gattis for Odubel and Realmuto
@Grey: Will Smith > Giles? Or one Giles loss doesn’t change the landscape… yet…
Is there any hope for Yordano Ventura?? ROS and long term?
Let’s walk this off Rangers. Get Dyson a W.
@Fred Garvin MP: ROOOOGY! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
Goldy side
Which side do you prefer: Goldschmidt, Stroman and Franco or Cabrera, Cole and Frazier? Thanks
Paxton hittin 99 and a Hundo on the gun. What is this sorcery?
@Fred Garvin MP: The sorcery of SON
@William Hung: Still inefficient as all get out.
@Fred Garvin MP: what’d you expect? he was sent down at the start of the season for a reason
Great column Grey!
10man ESPN H2H 6×6 (OPS & QS)
Currenr pitchers: JoFer, Salazar, Carrasco, Joe Ross, Rich Hill, McCullers, Velasquez, I Kennedy, Carlos Rodon, Hector Rondon, Sam Dyson
Descalfani, Shields, Bradley, McHugh, Guerra, Taillon, J Gray, Jeffress and Vizcaino are all available..any of these guys worth adding over my current staff?
Lastly, I have under performing Hamilton and Dickerson slotted in my UTIL and BN spot…DPeralta, Profar and Trayce Thompson are all available..
Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks
Would
Gray, Bradley….Rodon, Velasquez…. Profar
@GoodWood:
Martin, Miggy, Odor, Desmond, Donaldson, Dan Murphy, Valencia, Betts, Marte, Polanco, Braun, Ellsbury current offensr
6 category OBP and Slugging league, who would you rather have out of the three? Matt Adams, Byron Buxton, and Tommy Joseph
Joseph
there needs to be a term for what Archer is going through right now – because not only is he just generally sucking, but I’ve watched his starts and I can’t recall any batter all year where he was able to just throw 3 straight strikes…
He’s struggling with mechanics, I think, it’s effin nightmare
@Grey: i didn’t know he went to the school of Oliver Perez and Victor Zambrano… where’s Rick Petersen? He’ll fix him in 5 minutes
@Grey: sounds like grey has archer on more than 1 team!
@Grey: what’s also ridiculous is that 90% of his outs are K’s so his BABIP is a bit high and his XFIP is pretty decent – everything that screams buy low but I’m trying to package him and Mazara for Harvey and S. Perez…
I feel like a chump buying into Archer and Cole this year…
For the record, Trout dogged a catchable flyball to center which would’ve ended the 8th inning, instead it dropped, Shoemaker was pulled and Alvarez gave up a 3-run jack to Beltran. Shoemaker’s line should’ve been 8IP 2ER rather than 7.2IP, 4ER.
Yeah, saw ‘highlights’
@Steve: even worse shoemaker struck beltran out last at-bat
Long-term keeper (keep 18), need some pitching, trying to win this year.
Trade Donaldson for Cueto?
No
Grey,
Would you drop Billy Burns for Alex Reyes in a 12 team H2H redraft?
Thanks.
Meh, apples/oranges
I’m in a 10 team keeper points league and I have been offered Carrasco and Herrera for my Chris Davis and Vince Velazquez. At pitcher I currently have Bumgarner, Salazar, Harvey, Matz, Guerra, and Ross and in the outfield/first I have Rizzo, Marte, Polanco and Cain. I have four keeper slots currently occupied by Bumgarner (7), Rizzo (11), Polanco (3), and Marte (1) with Carrasco being a 3rd rounder and Herrera a 20th. Should I pull the trigger or hold off?
Hold
@Grey: not concerned about Salazar getting skipped with elbow fatigue?
Yes, of course I am
Shoulder injury for Salazar… Sell now while we still have the jump on time or wait to hear the severity?
What kind of outfielder you think I could wheel him for
ThanksZ
Rip Salazar
@Pootang: shit I just traded for him
You’re gonna sell him now?
@Grey: look what happend with rasiel. Granted he has a hx of shoulder issues but you’re not concerned?
Of course I am
@Pootang: I’d wait for more details before selling him off – this could bite you in the ass hard
@William Hung: not if I get fair market value for him and he ends up being skipped/shutdown or done for the year
@Pootang: pootang stop acting like you actualy have a pootang. man up son!
I feel bad for shoemaker
his line looks way worse than it should
Yeah
Who knew that Duffy, Shoemaker, and Fulmer would be outplaying guys like Archer, Harvey (though he’s turning things around), and Keuchel
Don’t pay for SPs
@Grey: Archer just done got pitch-slapped
Chances he makes it out of the 4th inning?
He’s so frustrating
@Grey: I mean seriously – you strike out 2 guys ahead of the pitcher then give up a single to him???? If he ever pitched against Thor or MadBum, they’d go like 9-10 with 8 HRs and a triple… in fact, if MadBum does take part in the HR Derby, I hope he calls up Archer
should see Baez getting some steadier PT if Soler is out for a bit
@Knucks: check that, soler and fowler… Yikes
He should
NL only where i have howard and t.joseph, but few MI (when mercer misses time or has off day i don’t have a backup MI), paredes over howard?
@For an Armenianless Vacation Come to Akron: whole roster (10 team NL only with no ratio stats). 2 keeper with no costs.
C hundley
1B au rizz (keeper)
2B rendon (used to be keeper years ago, still have him every year somehow)
SS villan
3B murphy
CI fatt adams
MI mercer
OF (4) marte/heyward/parra/jaso (also CI)
Util (2) joseph/span
BN grichuk/heyward/arcia
@For an Armenianless Vacation Come to Akron: marte other keeper of course, could’ve went with arrieta but didn’t. was able to draft lester as ace anyway.
Sure
@Grey: howard is one of the BN bats, not heyward twice, although that would be a neat glitch.
Nisacio’s start skipped due to rainout. Lineups locked. Start lost.
Might be for the best
josh naylor already has a sweet nickname for when he’s up hitting homers in a few years, “knife prankster”, or “power knifeist” or “stab stab homer” or “naylor, i barely cut her” or “cut her, i just wanted to naylor”
@Let us Now Praise Famous Death Dwarves: hahha ‘naylor, i barely cut her’ is the winner
@Knucks: big power fish a cut above the rest
HA
i felt it when upton homered (really it was just that he had enough effort to steal in previous at bat and when i saw the score went up 2 more i knew the 3 guys around him in lineup were up, so not really clairvoyance here, but since he had only 1 homer all year kinda), him AND heyward being useful in the same day! 12 teamer h2h with OBP over AVG, total bases and hits added. losses added for pitchers. wow, upton just hit again.
C hundley
1B rizzo
2B walker
SS villar
3B frazier
OF (3) mookie, heyward, hanram
util (2) ortiz, duvall
BN upton, segura, turner
DL leonys, swihart (likely don’t need him when he comes back, holt will probably be back by then, but catchers get hurt all the time, and have DL room for now)
SP carrasco/salazar/duffy/smyly/shoemaker/chen/wisler/nola/walker/gausman/porcello
RP dyson/casilla/allen/osuna
NA reyes
with the utter travesty that is the WAS management with turner (3/4 and a BB and can’t get a 2nd day of at bats eh, that espinosa D better really be as good as alien simmons over there) am i better off holding turner in active slot or dropping him and holding alex reyes? my pitching hasn’t been that good for a while.
2. also, with that lineup trade n.walker for shark? an owner was looking for a power hitting MI. other things from that opp’s roster that are worth trading for would be k.davis/cargo 1/harper/cespedes but i doubt he moves me most of those for n.walker
@Let us Now Praise Famous Death Dwarves: only have 1 NA slot.
I’d go Reyes, but I’d ask Ralph 2. Works for me
Are either Duda or Freeman droppable? 12 team 6×6 OPS.
Duda
Oh snappp cats out of the bag.
I heard about your Shoemaker/Fulmer discussion for the pod from the future.
Looking forward to it
How did you do that? Were you snooping through my house while we recorded?
Wow! My weekly H2H league team really knows how to help player out if there funk. For at least a week anyway.
Add J Upton to the list.
Ha
K-zar scratched from tomrrows start with shoulder fatigue?? where did this come from??
The devil
Drop Joc for Napoli, K. Davis or Beltran?
Davis
Offer y Ventura for taillon?
Sure
Here come J-Hey and J-Up. Double resurrection.
Love it!
@Grey: Hell yeah! I own both these ‘tards in my big money league. They owe me a solid month of awesomeness each.
Totally
@Cram It: i also own both of those in my biggest money league.
@goodfold2: but the rest of my hitters are actually very very good, esp last week with 155 bases with only 12 of them from sunday, with 23 homers (only 3 OF, no CI/MI slots)
Drop shaw, Napoli or sterling Castro for profar?
Triple tonight dude on fire
Castro
Justin Upton with a slam and legs!
It’s an early Xmas miracle
@bossmanjunior333: In the words of Tigers’ announcer Rod Allen, “I see ya J UP.”
Hey Grey,
I appreciate everything that you do. Always will be your #1 Fan. So I was offered this trade.. kind of having mixed views about it since I really love Frazier this year.
My Frazier and Bartolo Colon for his Castellanos or Beltre (I get to choose) and David Price. Do you think David Price turns it around? I could use pitching reinforcements even though I have taillon and glasnow on the way. Here’s my team:
C: Gattis
1B: E5
2B: Schoop
3B: Frazier
SS: Seager
OF: Harper, Khris Davis, Starlin Marte
Util: Jupton, Trayce Thompson
DL: Leonys
NA: AJ Reed
SP: Harvey, Salazar, Darvish, Joe Ross, Liriano, Rodon, Hendricks, Colon, Fiers, Shoemaker, Glasnow, Taillon
RP: McGee, Krod, Britton, Rodney
DL: Tyson Ross
Is this trade a no brainer? I was thinking I’d choose Castellanos if I took the trade. Do you think he can continue what he did earlier this year? I know he’s been slumping as of late. Thanks Grey!!
#1
Big bat over big arm so hold
10 team h2h points league
Should Rodon or Ed Rod be dropped for Archer? Or hold?
Rodon
@Grey: Throw Shoe in the mix…..is Rodon still the drop?
I’d look at matchups
Hey, Grey! Archer, Pom or Jon Gray?
@Jerry:Jon Gray
Archer
Realmuto or Martin?
Martin
Think I have to drop Fielder for Profar???
I heard that Prince is going to play first and Moreland is out
Profar DH ???
Thoughts/insights????
@GMoney: Profar is playing 2B tonight.l
@Malicious Phenoms: So…it seems that they are going to find ways to keep in the lineup?
@GMoney: As long as he is hitting he is gonna be in the lineup..I think they will have a long leash with him…He was a 2 time MLB.com overall #1 ranked prospect…Fielder, Hamilton, Elvis, somebody will be moved..
@Malicious Phenoms: hamilton on TEX isn’t relevant to profar or anybody else’s playing time. you might be thinking about 4 years ago
I’d want Profar
@Grey: Damn, I should’ve dropped Kipnis for Profar!
Profar’s been up for ten days, see where he is in 50 days before kicking yourself
@Grey: Profar or Moreland? Just need a ROS bat…not feelin Fielder
Profar
Need to let go of one bench bat. Who would you cut if position doesn’t matter?
Joc, Trayce, wil m, or AJ reed
Thanks!
@Ross: Reed
Reed
Sale/Wacha or JoFer/Estrada? Also, Manaea or Urias? Thanks.
Sale, pretty fair… Urias
12 team dynasty was offered G. Polanco for Nola. Fair Trade?
I’d want Polanco
Trade…which side?
Degrom, Villar and Robertson
For
Chris Sale
@Mike: Sale
deGrom
@Grey: Wow I thought Sale would have been your choice here..
Top 15 SP, top 10 SS and top 5 RP? Doesn’t sound like a bad get for Sale, obviously Sale’s the best one in trade
We need a term for a frequent commentor who never actually brings anything of substance to the site, but instead repeatedly only seeks trade advice for utterly complex, and big name deals, deals which appear to derive from a 4 team league filled with themselves and 3 Kevins from ESPN.
I will begin with Iran-Contra. Not sure why, but I know it involved trading arms for hostages.
@Mrs.Featherbottom: The term you are looking for could be called a Kimmel,,,LOL
@Malicious Phenoms: kimmel’s aren’t complex at all, just inane that he’d have to ask them, until you learn he doesn’t actually read anything else in the site at all, except for the answers, and even then, doesn’t understand what “no” or “hold” means half the time.
Y’all a bunch of Ollie Norths!
10 team h2h mixed
I have Frazier, Franco, and Castellanos, so I can afford to move one of them. I need pitching.
Castellanos too much to give for Tanaka?
Not too much
Parra over grichuk and t thompson? Only can have 1/3
Trayce
Hey Grey,
10-team roto w/ QS instead of Wins. Drop Liriano for Shoemaker? is there any chance at all Liriano heats up with the weather or will batters never swing at his out-of-the-zone crap again?
Thanks!
Meh, if you like, push at this point
can you rank your top 10 d.l stashes as of today? Why no go on Polluck? Says he coming back, could be a early xmas gift for playoffs…
Sure, stash him if you like
Starting Fulmer today at home versus the Jays? Surprisingly the Jays have been almost exactly average offensively this year overall, versus RHP, and away.
I’d start him in most leagues
Taillon or Gausman ROS? Either of them over Taijuana Walker
I like Walker still…Taillon over Gausman if he were up, but who knows when he’s finally going to be up
In a 12-team mixed keeper Yahoo league. Here is my roster:
C – Evan Gattis
1B – Anthony Rizzo
2B – Rougned Odor
3B – Manny Machado
SS – Carlos Correa
OF – Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, Kole Calhoun, Michael Conforto
BENCH – Jonathan Schoop
SP – Corey Kluber, Dallas, Keuchel, Jake Odorizzi, Carlos Rodon, Rick Porcello, Jameson Taillon
RP – Trevor Rosenthal, Jeanmar Gomez, Hector Neris, Will Harris, Ken Giles
As you can probably guess, my team is struggling at pitching. Would you trade away Machado for Danny Salazar & Evan Longoria? I can’t keep Machado after this year.
No, trade cheaper bat for cheaper SP…
@Grey: @Grey: The other team also has Carlos Carrasco and Jon Lester. Would you trade away Machado for Longoria and one of these pitchers?
Nope
Round 2: Long-term keeper (keep 18), need some pitching, trying to win this year. Like either of these?
A) Hosmer for Bumgarner
B) Fowler for Velasquez
A is okay, B is not going to do anything for you
Jon “GAAAAAAAA” Gray.
I lost my week last night by exactly one Jon Gray. Meh. Dropped him after he got shelled and I mean SHELLE– … nevermind, you know. Went to pick him up again … *poof*. SonOfaDrop!
a) I was going to stream Robbie Ray tonight but I keep on coming across doom-n-gloom. Pass?
b) Start(Stream)/Sit – Fulmer v Detroit? Niese v NYM? Archie Bradley? Duffy v Bal?
Finally gave up on Revere and cut him. 2/5 that very same day. He was waiting.
Couple of OF Q’s – (12 Team, 7×7 … 5+ OBP, TB)
c) Ozuna … for real or just on a crazy streak?
d) Piscotty, Ozuna, LoCain, Odubel, Saunders, Yellich (Pence – frickinsigh)
– Who would you drop for any/all of …
– Trayce Thompson, Owings, Matt Joyce, Jon Jay, Pearce, H-Soo Kim, Orlando?
e) 1B -PFulled the pin on HoPark (I’ve got Piscotty 1/OF and Hosmer) … but I play Piscotty in the OF a lot. Could you rank top-3 rosterable 1B?
– LoMorrison, Dae Ho Lee, HoPark, Matt Adams, Smoak, Mauer, T Joseph, Valbuena
Last of the laundry list … :P
f) I have stashed Arcia, Trea Turner (sigh), Glasnow, Taillon, Reyes … who would you drop for … Bregman and/or AJ Reed?
Muchly appreciated.
We are not men, we are DEVON(s)! :P
Damn! A) Sure B) Stream Fulmer is a Tiger, Bradley C) Real D) Saunders for Trayce E) LoMo, Adams F) Turner, Arcia
@Grey: lol … yeah … Fulmer v Jays … /facepalm.
So passin on Robbie Ray, Niese. Was feeling hinky about Robbie anyway – I’ll wait for a better matchup.
I’m a big fan of Archie Bradley. Had him last year and he was lights out until he took a line drive off his noggin.
I like Saunders, but I like doin’ better in FBB more … .I may see if I can trade him in a package with Aaron Sanchez for a solid pitcher that isn’t on an innings count.
LoMo makes me skeered, but I can be less terrified if he parks a few in the stands for me.
Lost faith in Turner – or rather … in Washington’s interest in winning this year … *ahem* … in Washington’s “long term development ‘strategy'”?
Thanks again.
(Torn between JaysLove and Fulmerneed tonight … how about one inning, five errors and 5 unearned runs? #dreamplan).
Turner was sent down and didn’t play when he was actually in the majors
@Grey: Yeah, it was sick. 3/3 and a BB I think. Then parked for the rest of his stay.
Lesson in “how to piss off your top talent”. I’m hoping they bring him up after the ASB … but no holding of breath here.
Even if they bring him up, they’re not playing him without an injury
Yo Grey,
Matz, Archer, Fullmer for Odor, Kluber, Wade Davis
Marte for Piscotty, Franco, Steven Wright
Odor….Piscotty/Franco
Grey, drop castro, heyward, shaw napoli for profar? 5X5 OBP 10 team keeper league
Castro is awful, but I know by dropping any of the above they will be scooped up. Waivers stinks for 2B, SS and 3B in my league.
I do own C Seager, Arenado and Kinlser.
Can’t imagine he will be scooped up if Profar is still sitting there
Wong optioned
Yup
Starting Hahn @brewers or Cody Anderson vs oakalnd?
No
The pirates are the 4th best team against lefties and they go against Matz today. Just saying
SON doesn’t like it either
@Moscowitz: Scattered T’storms in Pitt tonight as well, if you’re coming from a DFS perspective.
12 team 5×5. I’m first in HRs by a good chunk and need Ks bad.
I should try to trade Duvall for any top pitcher, like a Stras, Bum, Sale type to some owner desperate for power, right? I would replace Duvall with J-Up and pray he finally gets hot.
Hope they bite.
Hope they bite
In a redraft points league you are taking Kluber for Matz right?
Yeah
@Grey: Thanks man! I’ve been out of the loop – just got back from Kansas City – pretty cool town. Toured a coffee roaster as part of my conference, found out that a single coffee tree produces only 1lb of coffee beans (they are really seeds) a year. My coffee tree footprint is likely the size of a small forest.
Haha, awesome… Glad to hear it was fun… Always wanted to go but lots of places I want to go more
@Grey: If Isle Royale is on your bucket list, you have a spot to crash for the next year or so.
Thanks, Featherbottom!
Carlos Perez, cervelli, James mccann, grandal, rupp, butera
Pick 1
Yasmani
If I were to trade Khris Davis for Ks in an AL Only league, what level of SP do you think I’d get back? Could I aim for Kluber? Or Should I try and go for like 2 mediocre SPs for him? Think Gaussman and someone?
Much love you hue of black! ;)
Try for Kluber
@Grey: He wants me to add in Aaron Sanchez.. who I just acquired for near nothing (Ventura and Gregerson).. I feel like I should do it?
Go for it
Keeper forever, not really competing this year: K-Zar or Urias?
Salazar
Someone talk me off the ledge….17 games back of playoffs, just traded votto/jo Fer for bryant/cueto to maximize my roster flexibility.
10 team h2h 6×6 OBP / QS league
C McCann
1b Goldy
2b Profar
3b Frazier
SS Villar
MI Kang
CI Pujols
OF Marte
OF J.D Martinez
OF Bryant
Util Franco
BN Heyward
SP Cueto,Darvish, Matz, Maeda, Bradley, Kazmir, Taillon, Smyly
Rp Jansen, Britton, Rosenthal
1) Lose heyward for a different 2b to fill in when profar isn’t playing?
2) Lose heyward for speculative hot prospect aj reed?
3) Do nothing, continue to put up great numbers and hope you don’t play the team that goes off for the 6th week in a row….Eva longoria seriously?!?!
Hold
I can’t figure out why I’m in last place now. I thought my team would get better after dropping Greinke,Harvey, Pujlos, Seager, JD Martinez, the first week of May. Where did it all go wrong..
HA
How’s Scout going? Same mediocrity?
Nah, I was a point out of first this weekend, fell to about 5 points out now… Strasburg, Kluber have done their part… Betts hasn’t hurt
@Grey: Nice, man. Still in first. Been as much as 10 points, but down to 3 or 4 lately. Guys have been stepping up where other’s have faltered/DL’d/demoted. Certainly not on cruise control though.
Nice! If Kluber can manage a 2.50 ERA for about two months, I’d be in great shape
You?
SPs- Thor, Yu, Salazar, Matz, Hammel, Shark
RPs- Casilla, K-Rod, Gomez, Dyson, Neris, and Pedro
Holds league. Want to pick up CarGo for a bench bat…drop any of the above or hold? Thanks grey!
Pedro?
@Grey: yeah you know Pedro, my cocaine dealer. He lives over on 18th Street.
Trade offered to me:
Adrian Gonzalez
Tulo
Aaron Sanchez
for
JD Martinez and Gerrit Cole
@PetFed: JD
@PetFed: JD. Not close.
JD
@PetFed: this sounds like something kimmel would ask about, the kind somebody offered him if he was the cole owner.
Dynasty league Grichuk owner, is Trayce Thompson a better bet for this year and the future? Thanks
Better for right now
Hi there, Grey. Thanks for the write-up. Monday write-ups are the best.
What type of prospect(s) would you expect to get for Kevin Gausman in a 15-team AL-only dynasty league with deep minor league keepers? What about for Sonny Gray? This is my first time ever dealing with anything more than a 10-team standard mixed league and I can’t figure out what the hell players are worth.
Thank you, Grey.
Why are you getting rid of Gausman?
I’m not as of now, but he is one of my most valuable assets and I’m having difficulty assessing value. I may have to rebuild my roster and want to consider all possibilities.
Depends what you need, I could see going for a young bat, maybe Maz?
Max Kepler?
Nah, you’re overthinking… I’d want someone in the majors
Oh, Nomar Mazara. Gotcha. I’m too old for all this hip talk you youngsters are into.
Thanks, Grey. I appreciate the help as always.
Oh, you thought I said Max Kepler? Ha, nah…Mazara, yeah
@Grey: old people apparently read “z” as “x” sometimes, you know, end of alphabet and all, it’s so damn long, easy to fall asleep near the end.