At this point of the season we have seen enough baseball to start making decisions about how well, or how horrible, our fantasy players are. The decision on how long we hold onto a player is pretty rough. Murphy’s Law tells us that the same day we gave up on a guy, he starts hitting like crazy.
On the other hand, wait too long and you won’t even be able to pawn the guy off in a trade, a total loss.
The time to act is now. You must trust your instinct and go by what you have seen so far this season. Projected stats and career averages do not give you points in fantasy baseball.
Cut Your Losses
· Francisco Liriano (MIN-SP) That no-hitter he threw last week makes it easy for people to overlook the fact that he pitches for a team in shambles or more importantly that he walks way too many batters to be a consistent pitcher. Package him up nicely in a two-for-two trade.
· Lance Berkman (STL-OF) I know it may sound crazy to give up a veteran like Berkman, especially since he just keeps getting hits. His value will never be greater than it is right now. Trade High
· Brandon Lyon (HOU- RP) Out of all the closers on the verge of losing their title this year, Lyon seems the least likely to bounce back. Melancon only has to pitch adequate to keep the job and he should do at least that.
· Russell Martin (NYY- C) Hurry, while everyone is still chanting “Russell Has Muscle”. I see the Yankees eager to keep Montero in the mix which tells me one of two things. Montero is trade bait or Russell Martin is trade bait.
· Madison Bumgarner (SF- SP) He did so well in his rookie season last year, but he just isn’t showing the confidence this year. He is walking too many batters and I can’t justify putting him in my rotation when there are so many quality pitchers around.
· Chris Sale (CWS-RP) This highly touted closer of the future is no-where near convincing Ozzie that he has the command of a closer. In fact, he has now been diagnosed as having some mechaninge cal flaw and will likely spend most of 2011 trying to fix it... and on top of all that, Ozzie found Santos…
Hold Em
· Matt Garza (TB-SP) At the end of the season we will laugh at the ones who were misled by his 1-4 record and his sub-par ERA. The only stats I see are his 58 strikeouts in 44.2 innings so far this season.
He has proven he is a solid pitcher over the past two seasons. He has gone over 200 innings and maintained an ERA under 4 in the American League East.
· Homer Bailey (CIN- SP) I promise that if Homer Bailey doesn’t pitch well this season I will never bring him up again. Oh, and Cincinnati won’t either because he is out of options.
· Derek Jeter (NYY- SS) I am aware that Jeter hit 2 homeruns last night and stole a base. You have probably moved on to fretting some other slacker in your line-up for now. Just remember that players like Derek Jeter don’t just give up, and they don’t forget how to get on base. Jeter may have seen his best days, but he is still going to give you better stats than 90% of shortstops in baseball.
· Alex Rios (CWS-OF) Hold out for any of the power hitters on the White Sox line-up. When they get hot, you do not want to be watching it on some other guy’s roster.
Act Now
· Kyle McClellan (STL SP) The pitching staff in St. Louis has done a magnificent job dealing with the loss of Wainwright. I tend to like a pitcher who strikes out more batters than McClellan does, but he went 8 innings last night and has yet to be pulled out before the 6th inning. He is 5-0 in seven starts, Tied for the most wins in the NL.
· John McDonald (PIT SP) His bullpen isn’t going to help in the win department, but McDonald strikes out batters and has only allowed 2 earned runs in his last 18 innings. His ERA is inflated due to his first two outings so hurry and grab him now or you will regret it.
· Anthony Rizzo (SD- 1B) While everyone is bidding too much on Eric Hosmer, I go quietly to buy Rizzo for a dollar. It may be a few more weeks until we see him, but given the way Hawpe continues to struggle, along with the fact that Rizzo is tearing up Triple-A… his arrival is inevitable. Sooner more likely than later.
· Brandon Belt (SF- OF, 1B) Brandon Belt will be back in the majors playing the OF for the Giants very soon. Have you noticed that any time a ball gets past the in-field; the batter gets at least a single? The lack of Range in the San Francisco Outfield makes Jeter look good.
· Kyle Farnsworth (TB- RP), Joel Hanrahan 9PIT- RP) and Sergio Santos (CWS- RP) should be owned right now in every league. Out of all the “could be closer” types, these guys have the best shot at keeping their job as closer.
· Anibal Sanchez- (FLA-SP) Strikes out batters like crazy. Haven’t you heard? I proudly went out searching the wire for this kid in every one of my leagues. He is that good.