You can e-mail your Fantasy Baseball questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Dear Mr. Fantasy in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state.
Another week, another Dear Mr. Fantasy.
I could waste your time with a lengthy introduction philosophizing over the use of Dustin Nippert as a seven-inning reliever, but I won't -- not when I have e-mailers like Marty to remind of the importance of brevity.
Hi, Scott. Is Rafael Soriano dead? -- Marty
SW: As a doornail. I went to the visitation, lifted up his arm and confirmed it: dead.
He's gone on the DL with elbow soreness, but he gave us this same song and dance once already this year. Rest hasn't saved his elbow. Nothing has. He called himself 80 percent after a bullpen session Sunday, but does that mean anything? Not to me. He has too far to go and too much to prove before he should regain your trust. And with Mike Gonzalez rocking and rolling in the closer's role, you have little reason to care.
But this isn't goodbye forever. Worst-case scenario, Soriano will need another surgery and miss a year and a half. Best-case scenario, he'll return in a couple weeks and pitch well in setup duty, allowing the Braves to reassess their bullpen situation in the offseason.
Notice neither of those scenarios involves him saving games. I wouldn't hold out hope that he does.
I am in a 10-team Head-to-Head league. I can play five starting pitchers. My pitchers are Felix Hernandez, John Lackey, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Lincecum, Mark Buehrle, Kevin Slowey, Manny Parra and Francisco Liriano (if he ever comes up). Josh Johnson and Kyle Kendrick are available. Which guy would you pick up? -- Chris Laury, Fayetteville, Ark.
SW: I wouldn't pick up either of them, Chris. In a league where you start only five pitchers, you have more than enough depth already. Johnson has potential and had a good -- not great -- rookie season. But it was only one season -- and the 2006 season at that. Who knows how long he'll need to regain that form? And as for Kendrick ... well, I can't imagine a time you'd start Kendrick over your top five even if he had three starts to their one. He is mediocrity defined.
Seriously -- before I turn into Travis Bickle -- what is up with Prince Fielder? Is it the veganism? Was he just way overrated? Is he hurt? Distracted? What am I supposed to think about a guy who was on my team a year before anyone even knew who he was? Talk me off the ledge here! -- The DGP, Seattle
SW: The DGP? As in "Daily Grammar Practice" -- that exercise my fourth-grade class did on the whiteboard together every day before reading another chapter of Charlotte's Webb? Awesome, man. Nice to meet you. Your eye-opening but somewhat monotonous routine carried me all the way to CBSSports.com, so consider it time well spent.
And with that said ... you have so much to live for! Don't end it all just because your second-round pick hasn't performed up to snuff. Now, if you also drafted Miguel Cabrera in the first round, you might have a legitimate reason, but otherwise, no way.
Yes, Fielder might have entered the season a little overrated, and you can partially blame me. I hyped him whenever I could, so I deserve some of the blame.
Does that mean you don't want him on your Fantasy team? No, you do. His current numbers don't exactly embarrass him. They just look more like his 2006 season than his 2007 season. Besides, I expect him to improve in the second half -- he just had an eight-homer June, after all -- so he might still finish with 40 home runs. If you own him, you only risk underselling him by trading him now.
In a 14-man Head-to-Head keeper league, I have five pitchers to fill two keeper spots. Which two pitchers do you see having the greatest potential success over the next four seasons: Johnny Cueto, Justin Duchscherer, Ricky Nolasco, Manny Parra or Andy Sonnanstine? -- Bill, New York
SW: Hard to say, Bill, because we don't really know whether to consider Duchscherer a one-year wonder or not. Maybe we'll see subtle signs in the second half indicating one way or another, but right now, who knows? At only age 30, he could potentially have the most Fantasy value of that group over the next four seasons.
I say you should definitely keep Cueto because 22-year-olds with his stuff almost always become Fantasy aces. Don't even think twice about him. As for your second choice, if you want me to answer right now, I think I'll lean toward Parra over Duchscherer. He just has the better pedigree, and he's shown signs of a breakthrough with a 2.08 ERA in his last seven starts.
But hey, if Duchscherer and Nolasco really separate themselves from him before the end of the season, go with one of them instead.
I'm in an AL-only Head-to-Head keeper league and currently hold the top waiver priority. I'm debating weather Matt LaPorta is worth picking up or if I should wait for a bigger star to land on the waiver wire from the National League. The possibilities include Mark Teixeira, Matt Holliday, Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey and Jason Bay -- or maybe none of them. I'd hope to get someone who can help me this year or next year at the latest. -- Damon, Lehigh Valley, Pa.
SW: You present an interesting dilemma, Damon, and one plenty of Fantasy owners face as the trade deadline approaches. But if you can assure yourself one player -- any one player -- off the waiver wire without any competition from anyone else, you should hold out for a bona-fide stud. LaPorta could become that stud, but it might take a few years. He might not get at-bats until September -- and might not even succeed in those at-bats so early in his career.
I know that, by waiting, you run the risk of no studs moving to the AL before the trade deadline -- and for that reason, I'd tell you to put in a claim for Sabathia if you played in an NL-only league -- but wouldn't missing out on Holliday feel a lot worse than missing out on LaPorta? Let's be honest.
I am contemplating a trade that would involve me shipping away Manny Ramirez for Dan Haren. Would this be a viable trade, or would I be giving up too much to get Haren for his strikeouts and wins? -- Steve Ness, Hawley, Minn.
SW: Looks fine to me. I certainly can't imagine trading anything less than Ramirez for Haren. Of course, I tend to prefer hitters to pitchers, but you can't argue with need if you have one. I should warn you, though, that Haren slowed down in the second half each of the last two seasons. Will he always? I can't say, but don't be surprised if he does this year.
Is it time to cut bait with Eric Byrnes? Even when he has played this year, he hasn't been an above-average outfield option. -- Tim Miller
SW: He hasn't, but he hasn't gotten much of a fair shake either. He hit over .300 through the first three weeks of April, and his legs started hurting him before he went on the DL in May. I don't know that we'll ever see a season from him as good as the one he had last year -- he might be more of a .265 hitter than a .285 hitter, for instance -- but anyone with 25-40 potential deserves to start when healthy. Hold on to him if you still can.
What should I do with Aaron Harang, bench him or replace him? I've tried trading him, and nobody seems interested. -- Michael Vaughan, Fair Haven, Vt.
SW:Too bad I don't play in your league, Michael. I just traded for him in a 10-team mixed league -- and leagues don't get much shallower than that in Fantasy. The thing I like about Harang is his strikeouts haven't decreased and his walks haven't increased during this cold spell, which leads me to believe it's a cold spell and nothing more. He'll come around in time, so keep him reserved and keep him for yourself.
I am in an eight-team, AL-only, 5x5 Rotisserie league, and I would like your opinion on a trade that just happened between two teams. I suspect fishy behavior. One team traded Brian Bannister, Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Garko and Nick Markakis for Joe Saunders, Johnny Damon, Carlos Guillen and Brian Roberts. Our commissioner let it through, but there were some complaints from team owners. What's your take? -- Bret Adams, Rego Park, N.Y.
SW: I couldn't get through a whole Dear Mr. Fantasy without settling a trade controversy, but what can I say? I love them as much as they love me.
I'll try to examine this one without my usual angry rant, Bret. Let's see ... Team 1 gets the two best individual players in Cabrera and Markakis, but Team 2 gets four of the six most useful players considering Bannister and Garko might not have roster spots in mixed leagues. Team 1 gets all the power, but Team 2 gets a little more speed and a little more pitching (if you honestly believe Saunders can sustain his pace).
Yeah, the deal looks fine to me. I'd probably take Team 2's haul in an AL-only league, where quantity often matters over quality. But if I had plenty of depth already, I'd prefer the second-half potential of Cabrera and Markakis. Your commissioner sounds like a smart guy.
You can e-mail your Fantasy Baseball questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Dear Mr. Fantasy in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state.
