Fantasy Mailbag: Time to start dealin'?
Our Brian Flood answers some of your pressing Fantasy Baseball questions.
By
Brian Flood
•
5 min read
Editor's note: Each week a CBS SportsLine Fantasy writer will sift through the hundreds of e-mails from Fantasy Baseball fanatics and address a handful that will benefit all owners. Send your questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com and maybe your question will be answered in this space! Be sure to include your name and hometown.
I have been offered a trade in my league and would like some input on
whether or not to accept it. I have Travis Hafner and Ryan Howard on my
team and a guy in my league is offering Josh Beckett, Mark Mulder and Nick
Johnson. What should I do? - Eric Erwin, Paris, IL
B.F.: Hafner and Howard might be my two favorite players in
baseball. I think they combine for 80-plus homers this season, and could
nab a few MVPs between the two of them in the near future. I made it a
point this season to target both of these young studs on draft day. That
said, there is no way I can give logical advice without having more
knowledge of your situation. Can you afford to dump all this power? Do you
desperately need pitching? Are you in a bind because you own too many
quality 1B/DH types? How deep is your league? Without knowing any of this,
I would say keep the sluggers. If you really need pitching, keep Hafner or
Howard and trade the other for an ace. Why do you need to make such a
blockbuster?
I have a pretty decent, while somewhat underachieving, outfield
consisting of Jason Bay, Carl Crawford, Scott Podsednik, Jermaine Dye and
Casey Blake. I'm in a standard Head-to-Head league that starts three
outfielders, and I'm looking to move one or more of them to improve my
third base position where I currently have Aramis Ramirez. My first
question is who should I look at moving? And second, who are some third
basemen that I should be able to get in return? -Chad, Iowa City
B.F.: I have always been a believer in Ramirez. I understand that
he's been horrible, and you should probably reserve him if you have an
extra third baseman, but he should come around eventually. I wouldn't even
consider giving up someone with the upside of Bay or Crawford to upgrade
Ramirez at third. Bill Hall qualifies at third in many leagues, and will
play everyday for a while with the injury to J.J. Hardy. By the time Hardy
returns, Ramirez should be out of his slump. Hall would be a perfect
player to acquire in the meantime. Other third basemen that may be
available via trade are Joe Crede and Mike Lowell. I'm a big fan of both
of these players, and Dye or Blake might get a deal done if a team needs
some outfield depth. Remember: Keep Bay and Crawford!
I have a tricky situation that I'd like a little advice on. I have
Prince Fielder, Derrick Lee and Travis Hafner in a H2H league. Obviously,
I can only use two of the three at any point in time. Who should I be
looking at moving once Lee comes back? - Jason, Wausau, WI
B.F.: Keep Hafner regardless. He's too good and too healthy to
consider dealing. If you can get nice value for D-Lee right now, I'd
probably pull the trigger. He's not even expected to return for a few more
weeks, and who really knows how he'll perform once he returns (he'll
probably be a stud, but who knows). If you can get someone in exchange for
D-Lee that would immediately improve your team, then that is much more
valuable than holding onto Lee and being stuck with an extra first baseman
in a few weeks. Offer him around the league for some ace pitchers, or a
top offensive player at another position. Don't give him away, but if you
could land someone that would help you win in the upcoming weeks -- do it.
Injured players hurt more in Head-to-Head leagues as opposed to
Rotisserie. If you wind up keeping Lee on your roster and he returns at
full strength, Fielder would become the guy that I'd look to deal. That
will be about the time that he could possibly hit a rookie wall, although
that is more common in other sports, and Lee and Hafner are clearly more
reliable at this point when they are healthy.
Should I consider moving Nick Swisher while he is hot, or can he keep
this up? - Nick, Little Rock, AR
B.F.: Swisher was a .261 hitter during his minor-league career and
is only batting .250 through 654 major-league at-bats in his career. All
signs point to his current .301 average dropping off significantly, but
the power is for real. He should finish with 30-plus homers and an average
in the .270 range. If you like how that sounds, keep him. If you need
something else, trade him while his average is above .300.
I play in a 10 team keeper league with seven keepers per team. I
recently, like countless other owners, lost the service of Hideki Matsui
for the foreseeable future. With Robinson Cano on the free-agent list and
with news that Cano would move up in the order, I made a quick move to add
him. I'm in pretty good shape already at 2B with Figgins (OF eligible) and
Kent. Do you think I pulled the trigger on this too quickly or have I
helped myself over the long haul? - Charles Hanson, Daphne, AL
B.F.: Cano is the man! Nice move. He should match Matsui in batting
average, and possibly approach his RBI totals now that he's up in the
order. The only real difference is in homers, but Cano might surprise
people and hit 20-plus. Figgins should shift to Matsui's spot in your
outfield so Cano can start on your team at second. Let me ask you
something -- why was Cano still available?
Editor's note: Each week a CBS SportsLine Fantasy writer will sift
through the hundreds of e-mails from Fantasy Baseball fanatics and address
a handful that will benefit all owners. Send your questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com
and maybe your question will be answered in this space! Be sure to include
your name and hometown.













