Week 7 Fantasy Stockwatch

Aaron Laffey is on quite a streak, but Fantasy owners aren't paying much attention. Our Eric Mack tackles that and more in his latest Fantasy Stockwatch.

Every Monday we'll take a look at the Fantasy Baseball gainers and decliners in our Fantasy Stockwatch.

This week's potential 'Buy Guys'

	SP Aaron Laffey, CLE How in the world of Fantasy have owners not caught on to Laffey's 14 consecutive scoreless innings? He is owned in only 13 percent of CBSSports.com's leagues right now. In Laffey's 20 innings this season he has given up runs (four) in only one of them -- the final inning of his first start against the Yankees. Comparable rookie arm Greg Smith is currently owned in 76 percent of leagues. Although the A's are winning now and the Indians are not, you could look for Laffey to outproduce Smith. Smith might be a better long-term prospect, but in yearly leagues the A's offense will cool, while Laffey's Indians figure to get hot.
	SP Clayton Kershaw, LAD Our weekly Kershaw update. His last outing came in relief, but he starts Monday night in Double-A and can make himself a candidate for the vacant No. 5 starter's spot with the Dodgers on Saturday, May 17. Esteban Loaiza (shoulder) or Jason Schmidt (shoulder) won't be able to return until at least June and the Dodgers seem to like Hong-Chih Kuo in relief. Take that flier immediately on Kershaw in any league, especially if he has a nice six-inning outing Monday night.
	OF Chase Headley, SD This is a guy we figured had a good enough spring to make the woeful Padres outfield out of camp, but he wound up going back to Triple-A to work on his defense and hit just .242 in April. He is hitting .400 in May now, though, and the last-place Padres are showing some impatience with their veterans in the majors. They sent out pricey Jim Edmonds this weekend already. Headley's hot streak, the Padres' struggles and his status as a potential impact bat on a floundering team combine to make him a must-add flier in deeper NL-only leagues right now. He is not quite Kershaw exciting, but there is room for him in San Diego sooner than June 1.
	OF Milton Bradley, TEX We wrote this entry with the expectation of a news story coming out that Bradley is headed to the 15-day DL because he broke his hand brushing his teeth in the morning. But Bradley is strangely healthy right now, having played in 10 consecutive games in May. He could always hit and is sitting at .311 on the season with a .424 OBP and a .529 SLUG. As surprising as his games played streak, his ownership only finally climbed over 50 percent Monday. It could rise all the way to the 80s if he can stay healthy. Consider him in any league when he is going well and you have a spot open in the outfield.
	SP Mike Mussina, NYY This might surprise you more than it does us, but Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy were Fantasy cannon fodder to start the season and Moose has won his past four starts. In fact, Moose hasn't lost since Manny Ramirez used him as a BP pitcher and prompted knee-jerk Hank Steinbrenner to suggest he wanted Moose to pitch more like 40-something Jamie Moyer. Moose's response? "I don't have a left-handed glove." Mussina will be a two-start pitcher in Fantasy Week 8 (May 19-25), an excellent time to take the flier on him in the 40-some percent leagues he is available in.

Some more 'Buy Guys' we couldn't fit in: SP Ian Kennedy, SP; 2B Howie Kendrick, LAA; RP Ryan Franklin, STL; 3B Blake DeWitt, LAD; C Chris Snyder, ARI; RP Guillermo Mota, MIL; RP Salomon Torres, MIL; RP David Riske, MIL; 1B Matt LaPorta, MIL; C Max Ramirez, TEX.

This week's potential 'Goodbye Guys'

	RP Jason Isrinhausen, STL OK, so we are a little late on the trigger on this one -- unlike last week's pre-emptive strike against Eric Gagne in this space. The most disconcerting to Izzy's Fantasy owners has to be the effectiveness of replacement closer Ryan Franklin. If Franklin doesn't fail as the closer, who is to say he can't keep the job for the rest of the season? Despite a bad September last year in his first full season as a reliever, Franklin was remarkably consistent and reliable for the Cardinals. You can justify dropping Izzy in all mixed leagues right now.
	SP Nick Adenhart, LAA Here is a name we didn't think we would have to downgrade. John Lackey (triceps) is expected to return Sunday, though, and Adenhart has pitched like an arm that needs another few months back in Triple-A. We suppose we should have been warned by his 1-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in the minors thus far this season, but we were sucked in by the hype. We are not giving up on Adenhart long term, but clearly he doesn't deserve to be on Fantasy rosters after his final start Monday night.
	SP Max Scherzer, ARI We said Scherzer would run alternately hot and cold, which was apparent in his two-start Fantasy Week 6 (May 5-11). Although he showed immense Fantasy potential in two of his three major league outings, the D-Backs are resigned to sending him to the bullpen when Doug Davis returns next week from thyroid cancer surgery. Now, we wouldn't necessarily dump him off your roster, because he can be impressive in Rotisserie as a reliever and could be a big-time stretch run starter in the Head-to-Head playoffs. He is a guy you will have to wait for a D-Backs injury before he is starting again, though.
	SP Armando Galarraga, DET Other than his last outing against the world champion Red Sox, Galarraga doesn't deserve to be the one dropped from the Tigers' rotation upon the return of Dontrelle Willis (knee) as soon as this weekend. But reports are that is the way the Tigers are leaning. Nate Robertson could still prove ineffective or needing a DL stint, but Galarraga (2-1, 3.07 ERA and 0.99 WHIP) looks like nothing more than a middle reliever for the deepest of leagues that use true middle men now.
	OF Vernon Wells, TOR We try to avoid the easy answer of posting injured players here, but this one is arguably the most costly hitter injury in Fantasy this season. It is frustrating to lose him for 6-to-8 weeks, but even more so when you consider he was just getting hot, hitting .387 in May after a sub-par April (.250). Only the losses of Alex Rodriguez and Troy Tulowitzki compare to Wells in Fantasy pertinence. Tulo wasn't hitting, though, and A-Rod should be back before June. Wells and Tulo might be out until the All-Star break and are extremely disappointing cuts in leagues without reserves and DL spots.

Some more 'Goodbye Guys' we couldn't fit in: SP Kei Igawa, NYY; RP Eric Gagne, MIL; SP Sidney Ponson, TEX; SP Jon Lieber, CHC.

Stock advisor

Alex Berkowitz, Brooklyn, N.Y.: I am in a 10-team Head-to-Head league that awards heavily for stolen bases. I have a pending trade offer where I would receive Jacoby Ellsbury for Geovany Soto. My other catcher is Victor Martinez, but Soto has done much more so far. My outfield corps is weak, and we start four outfielders. I have Ichiro Suzuki, Adam Dunn and Hideki Matsui in every day, and platoon between Jeremy Hermida and Delmon Young. Would you recommend that trade?

Emack: Soto is arguably the No. 1 catcher in Fantasy Baseball and Ellsbury still has to contend with Coco Crisp for starts. We say keep Soto right now. Trade V-Mart for a more elite outfielder, perhaps a Grady Sizemore?

Joe Dorneo, Springfield, N.J.: I am in standard 5x5 Rotisserie league: Would you trade Bobby Abreu for Robinson Cano? Secondly, what should I do with Andruw Jones, drop or hang on to him?

Emack: Yeah, buying low on Cano is a decent move with Abreu. Drop Jones. He looks like toast.

Stephen Chambers, Stratham, New Hampshire: I know Prince Fielder hasn't been hitting well, but I've stuck with him just because he might blow up at anytime. I may be giving up on him too early, but I have Conor Jackson sitting on my bench. Should I bench Fielder and start Jackson and wait for him to cool down, or should I still hope for a Fielder explosion?

Emack: Jackson is a candidate to start over Fielder in weeks where his team is scheduled for more games, but otherwise just ride Fielder right now.

Jeremiah J. Simpson, Denver: My final outfield spot is a toss-up between Garret Anderson and Jayson Werth. Who would you recommend starting? Also, at what point do you recommend benching Ryan Howard in favor of say an untested player like Daric Barton, even though Howard should be putting up far better numbers?

Emack: Werth is more intriguing here than Anderson at this point in their careers. Also, we wouldn't bench Howard, especially with the return of Jimmy Rollins likely to boast the RBI opportunities.

John, Cleveland: Who should I give up for Jake Peavy: Albert Pujols or Chipper Jones? I'm in a 10-team 5x5 Rotisserie league. I'm currently in first place, thanks mostly to my offense. I have been offered Peavy for Pujols. I'm considering it, since my staff is hurting in Ks, wins and WHIP. What I'm wondering is should I maybe consider offering Chipper for Peavy instead of Pujols. If I were to trade Pujols, I would have Carlos Guillen and Mike Jacobs to put in the 1B spot. If I trade Jones, I would have Guillen and Blalock (if he fully recovers) to plug in at third base. I know both Albert and Chipper have injury possibilities. And I'm kind of worried about changing anything with my offense since I would have Lackey coming back soon.

Emack: Insist on doing Jones for Peavy. Pitching is less important than hitting in Rotisserie -- mostly because it impacts your team rarely over once a week. Don't trade Pujols for any starting pitcher in Rotisserie. Also, we are not convinced Peavy will get enough run support to be the Fantasy ace he should be.

Mike Morcos, Aurora, Illinois: I am in a 5x5 Rotisserie league. I have very strong pitching (Ervin Santana, Chad Billingsly and Jon Lester on my bench). My starters are Aaron Harang, Brett Myers, Shaun Marcum and Fausto Carmona. I am looking at giving up Myers and Ryan Church for Matt Cain and B.J. Upton. I figure sell Church high and pick up stolen bases with Upton. If Cain gets hurt or falters, I still have a strong bench.

Emack: Myers and Church for Cain and Upton is a trade weighed heavily in your favor. Doubt he goes for it, but worth a shot, we suppose.

Karl: I play in a 5x5 Head-to-Head league. I am about average in most categories. I have been offered a trade that would give me Ryan J. Braun for Mariano Rivera. Rivera has been great this year, but I wonder how long he could keep it up. I could certainly use an upgrade at third, because I have Alex Gordon, who hasn't been great, and if I gave up Rivera I would probably lose saves in most weeks since my only other closers are Kerry Wood and Rafael Soriano (almost worthless). Does Braun still have good enough value to pull the trigger on this?

Emack: Heck, yes. After Sunday, it might be too late to buy low on Braun and sell high on Rivera.

You can e-mail Emack your Fantasy Baseball Stockwatch questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Stockwatch in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses to all questions.