The beauty of daily leagues, much like the beauty of baseball, is you have to get right back out there the next day.  And in daily fantasy, it is with a clean slate.  I can dig that.  So we jump back in trying to find the best matchups for Saturday May 18th.  It’s the same free game on Draft Day. One piece of information that might be useful, only the night games are being used for the player pool.

SP – Tim Lincecum ($11,500) Lincecum is clearly a risk at this value but he has had good K numbers this year and sports a 6-3 career record at Colorado.

SP- Brandon McCarthy ($10,250)  This is strictly a “he’s facing the Marlins” pick. I do think the value on McCarthy is a bit high here, but I figure it worth a shot to go up against Miami.

C- Josh Donaldson ($6,800) I wanted to go cheap at catcher and figured I go outside of the position as well.  Donaldson has been playing 3b so far this year for Oakland and has put up some great numbers.  Ervin Santana has pitched well of late, but Donaldson’s splits suggests he will do just fine against the righty.

1B- Paul Goldschmidt ($10,100)  I’m chasing the high from last night.

2B- Matt Carpenter ($7,450)  The night time second base pool was a bit more shallow than I expected but Carpenter has been really hot of late, picking up three multi-hit games over his last five starts.

3B – Miguel Carbrera ($12,900) Between Goldschmidt, Miggy, and McCutchen, I have to get some homers right?

SS – Jean Segura ($7,450) I will ride Segura until he proves he isn’t worthy of that designation.

OF- Andrew McCutchen ($9,950)  See Goldschmidt entry…

OF- Jon Jay ($7,700)  I almost went with Andre Either here for $50 less.  I figured Jay was the hotter bat and in a lineup that seems to have it a bit more together as of right now.

OF- Matt Holiday ($9,980) Two Cardinals… one lineup.  Good choice? I can’t say for sure I know how to do the daily game yet, so I am going with a couple of batters who I like no matter what lineup they are in.  Holliday has had a nice four game run.

DH – Mitch Moreland ($6,450)  In having the cash I had left over, I felt Moreland was the best pick of the lot.

I left $100 on the table in tonight’s lineup.

Each week, I would scour the pitching probables for the best low end options with the “streaming” owner in mind. I always pictured someone who was at the end of their h2h week in either roto or points, and needed a boost off the waiver wire. The owner I didn’t consider, and this is just me being honest, was the daily fantasy baseball player. The reason being was I just didn’t know the game all that well.

I grew up on h2h points leagues. I do a couple of roto leagues every year, but I love points leagues with large scoring systems because I think they imitate the real game a bit more than roto. I hadn’t even thought of wading into the new world of fantasy baseball promoted by sites like DraftDay.com, FanDuel.com, and DraftStreet.com. If you follow enough of the big names of the fantasy world on Twitter and their sites, it’s hard to ignore the game now. So, I decided to try my hand at it and see where it got me.

Here, I’ll post my picks and recap from the day before. For now, and for the purposes of this post, I’ll be using Draft Day and entering the free game they run every day. You start with a budget of $100,000.

Today’s line up:

SP – Madison Bumgarner ($14,700)- The lefty sports a 6-3 lifetime record against the Rockies with a 2.45 ERA, 55 Ks, and just 23 walks. He’s pitched well over his lat three as well.

SP- Jaime Garcia ($10,600) – Garcia was a bit of a value pick, slotting in right behind Kevin Slowey of the Marlins (yes, that Kevin Slowey). He gave up five runs in his last outing, but continues to have impeccable control over his last three starts (13 Ks to 2 BBs). He’s pitched well against the Brewers so far this year, and over the life of his career, so I expect good things from him.

C – Joe Mauer ($8,550) – Mauer is as hot a hitter right now as anyone in the majors. That is good enough at any of my positions to put them in my lineup. He is hitting over .400 in May with 13 runs in as many games. Mauer doesn’t have the power numbers that these daily leagues seem to love, but he’ll be serviceable if he continues to hit so well.

1B – Freddie Freeman ($9,000) – I drafted Freeman in three out of four of my leagues this year. He seemed to be delivering on his upside before getting hurt early on. I like him coming off a big day on Wednesday. I could have gone cheaper at first base and applied the money else where, but the options below Freeman weren’t enough to let me pull the trigger. This is one position I may regret tomorrow morning.

2B – Dustin Pedroia ($9,400) – I had originally picked Chase Utley here as I liked his value ($8,950) and his recent at-bats. But once I dove deeper and saw he’d be facing Tony Cingrani for the first time tonight, I figured his splits against lefties were enough to push me away. Pedroia has been great all year with the batting average and runs. He hasn’t had a real power break out as of yet, but has really been driving the ball of late. Tonight may not be the break out, but I expect a doubles/homers power binge soon.

3B – Manny Machado ($8,200) – I was a bit surprised Machado was valued behind Ryan Zimmerman and Chase Headley. The youngster has been hitting all season long for the Orioles. I will definitely take the extra cash for other players and insert a great option at the hot corner. He has great numbers off of right-handed pitchers, so I don’t fear the match up against Hellickson.

SS – Jean Segura ($7,450) – Segura currently costs less than the ice-cold Jimmy Rollins. That makes sense. He is facing my starting pitcher, Jaime Garcia, so it is a bit of a shooting myself in the foot here, but I can’t turn down all the opportunity for stats Seguar provides.

OF – Adam Jones ($9,450) – I will take Adam Jones every time I can. I love his power/speed combo no matter what game I am playing.

OF – Matt Kemp ($9,950) – Kemp has an active hitting streak, is scoring runs, and seems to be finding a small groove. He faces a lefty tonight and his splits prove he sees the ball well in that scenario, batting over .340 against southpaws. The problem with Kemp has been his decline in home runs. In a daily league, I am obviously looking for the homer potential, but I like the idea of Kemp below 10K here.

OF – Garret Jones ($6,350) – The daily leagues really are time consuming. If you want to do it right, it’s important to check out all that matchups you can. Jones is one that peaked my interest. He is batting .500 against Houston starter Jordan Lyles with two homers. I will take my chances with that!

DH – Mitch Moreland ($6,350) – Moreland has really played himself into a decent middle of the road fantasy option this year. He’s always had good numbers but never seemed to be given the full time at-bats. His splits are pretty close to even against lefties and righties on batting average, but his power comes against the righties. Luckily for all of us he is facing Rick Porcello tonight.

Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles depth in their starting rotation is certainly being tested. First they had to give Freddy Garcia a start and now with Wei-Yin Chen heading to the DL they will call upon Jair Jurrjens. Jurrjens has fallen a long way since a hot start to the 2011 season and somehow I don’t see the American League as a cure for what ails him…..Anyone else realize that the O’s lead the AL East in runs scored and are third in all of MLB? All this team needs is a true ace.

Boston Red Sox: The Sox are coming back down to Earth after a hot start to the season. They have now lost three series in a row and may be starting to worry about their starting rotation. Jon Lester and Clay Buccholz look good but Ryan Dempster is starting to regress, John Lackey is just someone you hope can keep you in the game at this point in his career, and the team itself doesn’t have any faith in Felix Doubront. The good news for the Sox though is that they will have the cash to find a replacement should they decide to go that route…..Outfielder Shane Victorino was lucky to only have suffered a bruised chest after crashing into the short RF wall at Fenway on Sunday. That didn’t look to good for a while.

Chicago White Sox: Starting pitcher Chris Sale pitched that complete game shutout over the Angels on Sunday night with an abscessed tooth, man that just doesn’t sound good…..The Sox have sat 1B Paul Konerko down now two straight games as they try and give him a couple of mental days off to help him break out of his season long slump…..Chicago is still second to last in MLB in runs scored. This is stunning to me with a team that has a pretty good lineup and plays in a park in which the ball flies out of.

Cleveland Indians: The Indians demoted 3B Lonnie Chisenhall on Tuesday which could have a domino effect on the team. Mark Reynolds will move over to play 3B, a position at which sometimes he struggles, Nick Swisher will play 1B (far from a gold glover there), and Jason Giambi could end up being the primary DH versus right-handers. None of this really matters however, this team can hit, they still need pitching…..They are getting some good SP however as Justin Masterson looks like an ace as he has figured out how to get left-handed hitters out this season and even Ubaldo Jimenez has looked good of late, I mean, even Scott Kazmir is starting to look like his old self. If they can just get something from Trevor Bauer…..

Detroit Tigers: How many fantasy owners were livid that OF Austin Jackson was placed on the DL after the lineup deadline for the week had passed, Andy Dirks gets a boost in his value…..When talking about the best starting staff in the majors, don’t forget to include the Tigers. Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez, and Doug Fister can be as good as any teams top four, even Rick Porcello can have his moments…..The Tigers did call up Avisail Garcia who was tearing it up in AAA but may not have an everyday role, especially against RHs.

Houston Astros: To put it nicely, the Astros are a hot mess, and now their best player, 2B Jose Altuve will be lost to the team due to a jaw injury suffered in a collision during the game Monday. Altuve won’t be placed on the DL as his grandmother passed away also so the team placed him on the bereavement list, thus hoping the three to seven days he must remain on that list is enough for him to recover from the injury…..More bad news for the Astros, SP Bud Norris had to leave his start with back spasms, he is their only pitcher worth watching at this point…..We all know how unhappy Nolan Ryan seems to be about his role in the Rangers organization, could he be thinking about a move to Houston now that President and CEO George Postolos has resigned? I know where I’d rather be.

Kansas City Royals: The Royals early season magic seemed to run out in their sweep at the hand of the Yankees over the weekend, not quite ready to play with the big boys just yet…..Although manager Ned Yost won’t confirm, it does look like a platoon is developing between RFs Jeff Francoeur and Jarrod Dyson, and all I can say is it’s about time. I like Francoeur, seems to be one of the good guys in the game, but he really doesn’t have any business being a full-time player at this point in his career.

Los Angeles Angels: Ace Jered Weaver will make at least two starts in AAA before being activated off of the DL according to the team, that would put the best case scenario for a return to the rotation at 6/1…..Shortstop Erik Aybar who has battled a couple of leg injuries so far this season is back in the lineup Tuesday, so is OF Josh Hamilton who had to leave Tuesday’s game early after feeling sick…..Another SP, Tommy Hanson is also out of the lineup, for personal reasons, Barry Enright will start in his absence.

Minnesota Twins: First baseman Justin Morneau isn’t showing much in the power department but he is hitting at a .375 clip in his last 12 games…..Outfielder Josh Willingham is dealing with a sore wrist. Really don’t like it when hitters have wrist, hand, or finger injuries, this always seems to sap their power…..How are the Twins 18-17 with that starting pitching staff?

New York Yankees: Was trying to figure out what the Yankees were going to do now that OF Curtis Granderson has been activated off the DL. With Granderson, Brett Gardner, Ichiro Suzuki, Vernon Wells, and Travis Hafner, they would seem to have five guys available for four spots. Well Hafner took care of that in the short term. He will be out at least a couple of games with a sore right shoulder, an MRI will determine if he will miss much more time than that…..If you haven’t heard by now, RP Joba Chamberlain admonished closer Mariano Rivera who politely asked him to tone it down a bit as Joba was talking extremely loudly to a group of relatives while Mo was giving an interview, good to see that Joba just doesn’t get it. Really have a hard time believing he is back with the team next season, think the NYY are tired of his act, time to move on. Certainly didn’t help matters any when Joba didn’t apologize, stating he wouldn’t change a thing. He’s either stubborn or stupid.

Oakland Athletics: Outfielder Coco Crisp who was having a good start to the season before injuring his hamstring could be ready to play as soon as Wednesday…..Another OF Yoenis Cespedes, who had to leave the game early Monday due to an illness, is back in the lineup Tuesday. The A’s are a much better team with Cespedes in the lineup than without. They really need him to stay healthy and play 150+ games, but this may not be that year…..Yet another OF, Chris Young, could be ready to join the team this week also, there are going to be some playing time issues in what is a very crowded OF in Oakland…..Starting Pitcher Brett Anderson, he who is immensely talented but can never stay healthy, should return to the rotation Friday.

Seattle Mariners: Ace SP Felix Hernandez had to leave the game against the NYY in the 7th inning Tuesday due to what looks like a tweak in his lower half. Hernandez did have a slight collision with NYY 1B Lyle Overbay while trying to cover first, this didn’t seem to be a big thing, but he was shaking his leg afterwards…..When do the Mariners finally give up on 1B Justin Smoak? It really is time to move on…..Another youngster, C Jesus Montero is also having his problems. He can’t catch, the Mariners seem to know that now, and with the glut of OF/DH types they have on the team, there really is no place for Montero right now. Doesn’t help any that he has not hit a lick so far this season. With SP Michael Pineda looking to return to the NYY rotation in early summer, you have to wonder if Seattle and not the Yankees would like a redo on that trade.

Tampa Bay Rays: Outfielder Desmond Jennings who had missed a couple of games due to a groin injury returned to the lineup Tuesday…..In the strange but true department, SP David Price needed eye drops because allergies had made it difficult to impossible for him to pick up signs, I’m sure opposing batters are just thrilled to hear that Price couldn’t see all that well…..Fantasy owners had to be flipping out last week as SP Jeremy Hellickson managed to blow a 7-0 and 6-2 lead in his two starts.

Texas Rangers: Catcher A.J. Pierzynski will more than likely come off the DL the first day he is eligible, next Tuesday…..Apparently 1B Mitch Moreland has gotten the message that his job could be in jeopardy if his play doesn’t pick up, he hit his seventh HR of the season Monday…..Starting pitcher Martin Perez was activated off the DL and immediately optioned to AA, he will have to work his way back into the Rangers rotation.

Toronto Blue Jays: Things may finally be stabilizing for Toronto as they have won three straight, they also received good news when it was announced that SS Jose Reyes may be able to return to the team in a little over a month…..Relief pitcher Sergio Santos however had to undergo surgery for bone chips and will be lost for another six weeks…..SP Josh Johnson will begin a rehab assignment shortly and should be back the first week in June…..Outfielder Melky Cabrera won’t miss any games but is undergoing tests to find out why his legs feel “heavy”.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Arizona Diamondbacks: Outfielder Jason Kubel was kept out of the lineup again Wednesday, the sixth time in eight games that he hasn’t started. While it’s true that he has been nursing a couple of nagging injuries since the end of spring training, this doesn’t seem to be injury related. If manager Kirk Gibson continues to bench Kubel, it may only be a matter of time until he is dealt away…..Starting pitcher Patrick Corbin has been quite a find for the DBacks, that’s seven straight quality starts if you’re counting.

Atlanta Braves: How good do you think that HR that OF Justin Upton hit against the Diamondbacks, his former team, in Arizona felt Monday night? Brandon Beachy, remember him, is just about ready to start a rehab assignment and could be ready to join the rotation in about a month. Who will lose their job when he comes back? Certainly won’t be Tim Hudson. Kris Medlen isn’t pitching as well as he did last year, and although his WHIP may be a bit high at 1.41, his ERA of 3.44 is respectable. Mike Minor has been a revelation so far this season. Julio Tehran has been great after a rough start (Arizona seems to have made a huge mistake in not taking him back in the Justin Upton trade). Could Paul Maholm be the odd man out? If you’re going solely by production I would think so.

Chicago Cubs: I know there are some that will criticize 1B Anthony Rizzo for signing the seven-year $41 million contract earlier this week, thinking he left a ton of money on the table should he continue with his progression, but you know what, he now doesn’t have to worry about money for the rest of his life. He can just concentrate on baseball. If he blows out a knee or injures a shoulder, he’s good, his family is taken care of. I don’t blame the Rays 3B Evan Longoria either. No reason to risk your financial future, and both players will get a chance to sign another big contract.

Cincinnati Reds: Certainly good news for the Reds when it was announced that SP Johnny Cueto will return to the rotation Monday versus the Mets…..Tony Cingrani, who may very well be the odd man out when Cueto returns, has had his next start pushed from Thursday to Friday, as he is dealing with a sore shoulder. This may just give manager Dusty Baker another reason to send him down to AAA to make room for Cueto…..Outfielder Chris Heisey looks to have suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury. He had to be pulled from his rehab start due to lingering soreness.

Colorado Rockies: Starting pitcher Roy Oswalt must really want to pitch again to sign with the Rockies, usually veteran pitchers try to avoid Colorado like the plague…..Outfielder Michael Cuddyer had to be placed on the DL with a bulging disc in his neck, he also had to have an epidural injection, ouch.

Los Angeles Dodgers: The Dodgers get one of their walking wounded back Wednesday as SP Zack Greinke will return from the DL, unfortunately Josh Beckett had to be placed on the DL to make room for him, or maybe not unfortunately as Beckett has really pitched kind of lousy this year anyway…..Want to know how desperate the Dodgers are for starting pitching, they signed Jonathan Sanchez on Wednesday to a minor league contract…..Kenley Jansen got the call on Tuesday in a save situation over Brandon League, has a change been made?

Miami Marlins: Outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is running in a pool as he tries to comeback from his hamstring injury, still, his return is a long way off…..Ricky Nolasco isn’t doing much for his trade value with a 4.39 ERA, and let’s face it, any veteran on the Marlins is only playing for a trade…..Outfielder Logan Morrison, remember him, has been playing in extended spring training, he should be ready for a rehab assignment shortly and then brought back up to Miami sometime during the second week of June.

Milwaukee Brewers: RP Francisco Rodriguez, KRod, was called up by the Brewers on Wednesday. He will have to assume some sort of setup role as Jim Henderson has done nothing to lose the closer’s job…..The Brewers have made a long term contract offer to SS Jean Segura. Now I don’t know what the numbers are but assuming it’s along the lines of the contract that Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo and Rays 3B Evan Longoria signed, I would have to give it serious consideration if I was Segura…..

New York Mets: The Mets may have dodged a bullet when it was announced that Zack Wheeler’s shoulder discomfort is due to minor inflammation. Works out another way also, now the organization has an excuse not to call him up until after the super two arbitration line has passed, most likely in early June…..How desperate are the Mets for OF help when they sign Rick Ankiel who was just released by the hapless Astros. Now Ankiel has some power, but he’s also a consistent source of air conditioning with how often he swings and misses…..I’m on board with those who believe Matt Harvey should start the All-Star Game. Give the Mets fans something to cheer about.

Philadelphia Phillies: Speaking of teams that are desperate, did the Phillies really just sign pitcher Carlos Zambrano? That should be interesting…..Will the Phillies trade SP Cliff Lee at the deadline? Assuming his sixth year vests, Lee is owed about $60 million over the next three seasons. It may be time to move on if you can get a good haul for him…..Would trade 2B Chase Utley also. He’s in the final year of his contract, you can always re-sign him next year if he wants to come back and you want him back…..Who is Jonathan Pettibone? At least there is some good news for Philly, but I do wonder when he turns back into a pumpkin.

Pittsburgh Pirates: With their win Wednesday night over the Brewers, the Pirates now have the third best record in the National League, unfortunately the two teams that have better records also play in the NL Central. Question now becomes can the Pirates continue to play this well over the long season and not fold in the later stages…..The good news for the Pirates is that they do have reinforcements in Gerrit Cole and James Taillon ready to help out in the rotation, offensive pieces however are tougher to come by, and the Pirates will have decisions to make eventually on whether they want to do what it takes to acquire those pieces.

St. Louis Cardinals: Pitcher Chris Carpenter is making quick progress and should be sent out on a rehab assignment soon. He could join the staff in late June or early July, it’s supposed to be as a reliever but it really shouldn’t surprise anyone if he ends up back in the rotation eventually…..Starting pitcher Jake Westbrook was placed on the DL with elbow inflammation, he is at least 10 days away from returning to the rotation.

San Diego Padres: Seems to me the Padres should be playing OF Kyle Blanks everyday to find out whether or not he can be a full-time player, one start in five days just doesn’t make much sense to me.

San Francisco Giants: What is wrong with SP Ryan Vogelsong? Since last year’s ASB he has the second worst ERA in the majors. His time as a quality starter may be over…..Tim Lincecum however looked like the slim Tim of old in his last start. Think the Giants would take that trade off…..The Giants have been handed their lunch in the past two games by the Blue Jays, AL lineups are much deeper and stronger, it’s a tough adjustment for junk ball pitchers.

Washington Nationals: This is what drives certain people crazy. We all saw OF Bryce Harper crash into the wall face first Monday. He took 11 stitches and has missed the past two games with nausea. The Nationals however refuse to call it a concussion and won’t send him for additional tests. Where do they think the nausea is coming from? Jordan Zimmerman has been the best and most consistent starting pitcher on that staff so far this season, Ross Detwiler may be second on that list, who saw that coming…..Fantasy owners who are worried about 1B Adam Laroche need to develop some patience, first half problems are not something new for Adam.

George Kurtz is a contributor to Going 9 Baseball each week, and served as co-host for “Going 9 Fantasy Baseball” on SiriusXM for the 2012 season. Now a featured host on “Fantasy Pros 911″ on SiriusXM, Kurtz is one of the up-and-coming stars of the fantasy sports world. He is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, and is the co-host of “Fantasy Pros 911″ on SiriusXM’s Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210 / XM 87). His published work can also be found at RotoWire.com and Seamheads.com. You can follow him on Twitter @georgekurtz

He has 11 hits in his last 24 AB’s, including two games this week with at least three hits. Rizzo’s average is .269, which is not bad, but I would like it to be a little higher. It is difficult to complain about his average right now because he was hitting under .200 earlier in the campaign. The first baseman is only 23-years-old and has an upside that could lead to fantasy dominance. The Cubs and fantasy owners are hoping that Rizzo keeps the good times rolling for years to come. 

Mark Ferraro is a contributor to Going9Baseball.com and Going 9 Fantasy Baseball on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio. You can follow him on Twitter @MarkFFerraro

These are phrases we have all used (minus the term “bro” for some) to taunt our fellow fantasy opponents. Giving our opponents a hard time is an essential part of fantasy sports. Flustering your opposition can sometimes be an effective way to throw them off their game. I love being the team that people circle and mark as a must win. Sometimes if you get inside your opponents’ head, they will start someone they would otherwise probably bench. If you propose someone a trade and they decline, send them an e-mail later when the player they would have received hits a homer. Send them an e-mail when the player you were supposed to get suffers an injury. Maybe later, this will subliminally cause them to make an advantageous trade with you. Little mind games like these can cause you to gain some sort of advantage in fantasy, and that is what we all are looking for.

Some will advise against fantasy “smack talk” because what goes around comes around. Just like in other aspects of life, they will say there is fantasy baseball karma. Well I’m here to tell you that I don’t believe in karma. Smack talk does not affect the play on the field. Nothing I have ever said about a player on twitter (@RSanders85) or to a friend has caused them to strikeout. Never have I written something in an article that caused a pitcher to pull a groin. There is no such thing as fantasy karma. The only karma that exists is if you talk smack and then lose. You give your friends a chance to have a field day roasting you after you told them they were done. These are chances I am willing to take in fantasy, and did take this week on twitter. I will discuss what happened in my matchup in the next paragraph, but basically I was winning and taunted my opponent. On Sunday, I ended up losing. Oh well, I will go on talking smack to my next opponent and we’ll see what happens. Either way, it enhances the fun in fantasy sports and creates rivalry. Isn’t rivalry why we play the game anyways? Like Herm Edwards says, you play to win the game.

MATCHUP OF THE WEEK: Chicago Scrubs (Ricky Sanders) vs. Moose’s Infantry (Brian Migdow)
FINAL SCORE: 8-2
MATCHUP SUMMARY: The worst matchup of the week was actually the best matchup of the week in week 6. I know you are thinking, “How could that be possible?” I’ll tell you how: I started Sunday up 8-2 and ended up losing 8-2. Every single category I lost was incredibly close besides strikeouts. I lost R by one, RBI by two, SB by three, AVG by .001, W by one, Ks by 13, ERA by .07 and WHIP by .04. Talk about a brutal way to lose big. My team went 3/32 on Sunday with a 13.50 ERA. Days like these are why I favor rotisserie style scoring over the head to head format. I had a good week and ended up with a terrible week record wise. I don’t think you should be punished if it performs well, and that is why I will always recommend roto for baseball.

TOP HITTER: In my book, there was a tie for National League player of the week last week. One guy you probably drafted as one of your top hitters, and the other guy has been the definition of a sleeper. Paul Goldschmidt, who I drafted on many teams, was a guy I had pegged as the #2 1B in the NL. His success so far has not been the least bit surprising to me. This week, he compiled a .348 BA with 4 HR, 9 RBI, and 5 R. My take on him is to continue to value him as a top hitter not only in NL only leagues, but mixed leagues. The sleeper of the year so far continues to be Jean Segura, and he had a monster week. Segura hit .500 (10/20) with 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB, and 5 R. Segura for the year now sits as the #3 ranked player in the NL behind only Starling Marte and Goldschmidt. If I had to choose between Marte and Segura to keep it up, I would definitely choose Segura. We are watching a fantasy stud in the making.

TOP PITCHER: Rockies pitchers typically are fantasy kryptonite. Owning a Colorado pitcher aside from Ubaldo Jimenez a few years ago usually proves to be a losing proposition. Last week, however, Jorge De La Rosa showed up for fantasy owners in a big way. In two starts, De La Rosa went 13 innings with 0 ER, a 0.69 WHIP, 9 K and 2 W. De La Rosa has had decent years in the past, but was forgotten about after his injury plagued 2012 with a 9.28 ERA. If you value Jorge as a bottom of the fantasy rotation guy in NL only leagues, I think you will be reasonably happy with his returns. Expecting under a 4.00 season ERA may be a bit optimistic however, so temper your expectations.

WAIVER WIRE MOVE OF THE WEEK: Apparently I didn’t get the memo about Derek Dietrich because I was damn near the only team not to bid on him. The move of the week goes to In Theo We Trust (Sean Madigan) for bidding the highest to win Dietrich. At $37 bid, he won the bidding over another team by $1. There were also bids of $32 and $15. Dietrich will get an opportunity to play 2nd with the injury to Donovan Solano (who of course is on my team). He hit 21 HR at A ball for the Rays in 2011 in only 127 games. Since then, he hasn’t shown much power. His highest batting average at any level was .282. Seeing these numbers, I feel like Dietrich is a shot in the dark. For a shallow middle infield position in one league leagues, I suppose he is worth a flier. Clearly, everyone else felt that way.
BRAIN FREEZE OF THE WEEK: Bryce’a’Roni (Ricky Daniels). Team Bryce’a’Roni started an injured Roy Halladay who was placed on the DL on Monday. He left Kevin Slowey on the bench, and some decent middle reliever options. Sometimes, it is beneficial to start an open pitching spot if your bench guys may kill you. However, if I had Slowey, I would have had no problem slotting him in. Even with the brain gaffe, he still won the week 6-2 and remained in first place.

That is all for this week’s recap. If you want to check out the Going 9 NL Only league for yourself, as always, here is a link:

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/92354

Thanks for reading and catch you next week. If you can’t wait that long, you can always follow me on twitter @RSanders85.

To put it bluntly, many of us wouldn’t enjoy the success and blessings that we have without our mother’s helping hand, so I wanted to take a moment to say “thanks mom” and send some love her way. With that said, lets dive right into our week 6 recap!

If you haven’t already viewed our AL only league, I’ve included the link below for you:

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/142822

Top Hitter: Evan Longoria (3B – Tampa Bay Rays) Longoria was selected with the 10th overall pick in our league by George Kurtz’s “Evil Empire” and thus far has completely justified his selection. Longoria has batted .333 with 9 HR and 26 RBI on the young season, including a ridiculous week six split (.464 AVG, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 8 R). The third base position is fairly shallow this year after the first few elite players. Longoria owners are always keeping their fingers crossed that he can play 145+ games, as he has only accomplished that twice in his career. When healthy Longo will definitely produce fantastic numbers, although owners should temper their expectations due to a diminished Rays lineup this year with the loss of B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena.

Top Pitcher: Chris Sale (SP – Chicago White Sox) Sale had a breakout campaign in 2012 and many questioned if he could continue his success this year. He has answered his critics loud and clear, actually improving both his ERA and WHIP and K/9. Sale nearly had a no hitter against the Los Angeles Angels yesterday, striking out seven batters over nine frames. Sale also picked up the win and tallied a 12K, 0.55 ERA and 0.43 WHIP line in week six, helping RotoValue secure a 7-2 win over the Bumping Ugglas last week. Sale has a very awkward delivery which has resulted in arm issues in the past, so throwing more than 200 innings without a DL stint may prove to be a challenge.

Waiver Wire Move of the Week: Chris Melchiorre’s “Road to Glory” team managed to pick up Scott Kazmir off of the waiver wire back on May 6th, who was absolutely electric on Thursday’s outing against the Oakland Athletics. I’ve been begging people to remain realistic with their expectations of Kazmir, as the 10 strikeout showing has generated quite a bit of press. This is the same pitcher who has been around since 2006 and who suffers from control problems and injury concerns. The start (although impressive) was against a team who is mired in a horrible slump, and isn’t considered to be an offensive powerhouse. If he continues his success then this is a great pickup for Chris, but I would again caution owners to remain calm while bidding on him. I still view Kazmir as an AL only, rather than mixed league play for now.

Keep an eye on:

Brendan Harris (SS – Los Angeles Angels) Harris has been filling in for the Angels while Erick Aybar has battled hamstring issues early on. In just 66 ABs he has provided a .260 AVG with 3 HR and 10 runs scored. If Aybar continues to be sidelined and the Angels lineup finally starts hitting, Harris would be a sneaky pickup in AL only leagues as a SS or MI fill-in.

Avisail Garcia (OF – Detroit Tigers) Garcia is one of the top hitting prospects in the Tigers organization and has been promoted to replace Austin Jackson, who recently hit the DL with a strained hamstring. Garcia has been absolutely killing it in AAA Toledo, and boasts and impressive combination of power and speed. If he is able to make a good impression he may take over for Andy Dirks in left-field. I would definitely add him in AL only leagues, and if he makes a good impression then he could see mixed league play as well.
Best of luck to all of our readers this upcoming week!

A veteran fantasy sports player/commissioner for the better part of a decade, I am a contributing writer for several major fantasy websites including FantasyTrade411.com, Rotowire.com and Going9baseball.com. I am always willing to share my advice and opinions on your questions and the latest fantasy news. Feel free to contact me with any sports related inquires on twitter @Roto_Wizard, or by e-mail at RotoWizard01@yahoo.com.

Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox are getting their first taste of adversity as they deal with rosin gate regarding SP Clay Buccholz and injuries to both closers, Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan. First Buccholz, yeah he probably was cheating to some degree, but so do many pitchers. Didn’t buy his excuse that it was rosin and water/sweat, I’m sure there was a little extra in there but what I find more curious than anything is that it wasn’t the Toronto team that complained but rather announcer Jack Morris. Have no problem with Morris talking about his suspicions on the air during the game but to make a spectacle of it after the game caught me as a bit odd. Why weren’t Jays players, coaches, or management up in arms? Back to the injuries, can’t be surprised about Bailey, he’s hurt every year and it looks like they dodged a bullet with Hanrahan as well, he could be back by the end of the month.

Chicago White Sox: The Sox were almost no-hit by the Mets Matt Harvey on Tuesday, and while that’s nothing to feel bad about, they are also last in the American League and second to last in all of MLB in runs scored, and that is something to feel bad about…..It looks like Jake Peavy will make the start Wednesday versus the Mets, wouldn’t write this in pen, but have to think he will do all he can to get in a game versus the offensively challenged Mets.

Cleveland Indians: Been a few questions asked about 1B Mark Reynolds and how he took his time leaving home plate after his monster HR off of the A’s Jarrod Parker on Monday. I’m old school and generally I’d assume he would be brushed back or throw at in his next AB, but we tend to forget that Parker hit Reynolds up high in his first AB, Reynolds didn’t say or do anything, just walked to first base, he got the ultimate revenge in that HR at-bat, really don’t have any problem with what he did.

Detroit Tigers: I have to think the happiest person on the planet besides Astros 1B Carlos Pena on Sunday when he broke up Justin Verlander’s no-hitter was Tigers manager Jim Leyland. Verlander was already over 100 pitches and probably would’ve needed 130-140 to complete the no no, Leyland had to be happy not to have to make that decision…..With all due respect to the Brewers Ryan Braun and several other players, 3B Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter in the game and I’m not even sure it’s all that close.

Houston Astros: Astros have made a slew of moves this week. They sent IF Brandon Laird and a pair of OFs, Rick Ankiel and Fernando Martinez packing, activated J.D. Martinez off the DL and called up Trevor Crowe and Jimmy Paredes from AAA. As for Laird, Martinez, and Ankiel, if you can’t make it on Houston, it may be time to give it up, remember when Martinez was the next big thing supposedly for the Mets, yeah, me neither. Really have to wonder how good a career Ankiel might have had as a pitcher if he had stuck with it or as a batter if he had been a hitter from the beginning of his career.

Kansas City Royals: Manager Ned Yost is taking some heat for removing James Shields from the game Monday after he had pitched eight scoreless innings and only thrown 102 pitches. Doesn’t Yost know that Shields has thrown a ton of complete games in his career, not to mention he is the best pitcher on your staff, leave him in the game Ned…..One of the young Royals players that we don’t talk about near enough is OF Lorenzo Cain, and he is playing great right now, certainly better than his much ballyhooed teammate, 1B Eric Hosmer.

Los Angeles Angels: The Angels are struggling, there is no two ways around this and SP Jared Weaver is still at least a couple of weeks away from being able to help…..Some good news is that RP Ryan Madson could be back in the bullpen next week, but it’s really hard to see him turn things around…..Outfielder Mike Trout is certainly starting to look like the player he was last year once again and even Mark Trumbo has been pounding the ball of late, in the end however, if you don’t have starting pitching, you just can’t win on a consistent basis.

Minnesota Twins: Have to wonder what the Twins are going to do with young OFs Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Garcia, they seem to have to many OF/DH types. Not enough lineup spots to go around and these two guys have to play, either at the MLB level or back in AAA. Not sure if the Twins would deal OF Josh Willingham to open up some room, but Ryan Doumit would certainly be on the trade block. He won’t bring back what Willingham would, but could get you another piece to your rebuild.

New York Yankees: At Colorado on Tuesday the Yankees started a backup 1B (Lyle Overbay), the backup to the backup at SS and 3B (Jason Nix/Chris Nelson), their fifth or sixth string outfielder (Ben Francisco), backup catcher (Chris Stewart), and were without their seventh and eighth inning setup men (Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson). Is it any wonder they were shutout and only had four hits, they never even came close to scoring…..As for injury updates, OF Curtis Granderson could be back this weekend or early next week, and this team needs the help as the injuries are starting to take their toll.

Oakland Athletics: Oakland’s best pitcher, Brett Anderson, is already on the DL, no big shock there, he always is, but now we are hearing that Jarrod Parker may have to join him with neck pain. Perhaps this would explain his extremely slow start to the season…..Was talking earlier in this column about great young hitters, and if you put OF Yoenis Cespedes in that category (he was a professional in Cuba) than he is right there with anyone, a superstar in the making, just has to stay healthy and play 150+ games.

Seattle Mariners: The Mariners are another team with quite a few OF/DH types. Now Raul Ibanez won’t bring back much in a trade, but 1B Kendrys Morales could, doubt you could get a box of donuts for Jason Bay, certainly not ones with those rainbow sprinkles…..Seattle has Joe Saunders and Aaron Harang in their starting rotation, it’s like they’re playing slow pitch softball…..Might be time to admit you made a mistake with 1B Justin Smoak.

Tampa Bay Rays: Have to admit I chuckle every time I see closer Fernando Rodney struggle. I hate the shooting arrow thing he does after a save, don’t like showing up the other team, act like you have done it before. Tuesday night IF Ryan Roberts even did the same thing after driving in a run with a single. Back in the good old days Bob Gibson or Don Drysdale would throw at you for digging into the batter’s box and getting to comfortable, imagine what they would do today after seeing these clowns.

Texas Rangers: Prospect Mike Olt was put on the AAA DL with an eye problem. He wasn’t all that close to a call-up anyway but the Rangers and Olt don’t really know when this problem will go away…..Catcher A.J. Pierzynski was scratched once again Tuesday with a sore right oblique, these injuries are scary for a hitter as you constantly aggravate it with swings, really think the Rangers should just play it safe and put A.J. on the DL, better to lose him for two weeks and get him back to 100% than to see him lost for 6-8 weeks.

Toronto Blue Jays: If you haven’t seen it or haven’t heard, SP J.A. Happ was hit in the head by a comebacker off the bat of Rays OF Desmond Jennings on Tuesday. Happ never lost consciousness, but was bleeding from his ear and was taken away on a stretcher. Here’s hoping everything turns out well for Happ and he’s able to return to the team in a timely fashion…..All of the tests on SP Josh Johnson’s arm came back negative and he was eligible to return Tuesday, but it looks like the Jays are going to give him a couple of rehab starts to try and build up some arm strength.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @georgekurtz.

“Son, there are a few things you’ll learn about baseball. One, no lead is ever big enough. Two, great pitching will always beat great hitting. And last? Anything can happen.”

That always stuck with me, and over the years I’ve figured out what he was getting at. I’ve seen huge leads evaporate more times than I can count due to pitching implosions. I’ve seen all-star pitchers get absolutely shelled against terrible hitting teams, and I’ve also seen terrible pitchers shut down a dominant offense. There is a reason that they play the games, after all. Shortly after he imparted those words of wisdom the Yankees came right back to win it in the bottom of the ninth inning. Go figure.

Bottom line, no one can predict what is going to happen in baseball. We may crown ourselves to be “experts” but in reality we are all just guessing what will happen. It’s a hell of a game. If going into the season if I would have told you that the Toronto Blue Jays would have an 11-21 record and their pitching staff would be the third worst in all of baseball you would have laughed at me. Or how about that Josh Hamilton would struggle so much hitting in the middle of the Angels lineup? Or that the third best offensive team in baseball would be the Cleveland Indians? No way. This (as my father would say) is why they play the games. No one knows.

If you haven’t already viewed our AL only league, I’ve included the link below for you:

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/142822

Top Hitter: Miguel Cabrera (3B – Detroit Tigers) Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Miguel Cabrera is good. As in, really really good. As in, when he plays against two of the weakest pitching staffs in all of baseball (Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros) he’s pretty much going to single-handedly carry you to a win in a head to head format. Cabrera likely needed to be removed from Houston kicking and screaming after an absolutely ridiculous statline for the week: 8 R, 3 HR, 10 RBI and a .423 AVG. The triple-crown winner from last year has picked up right where he left off, and shows absolutely zero signs of slowing down. Cabrera was drafted as the first overall pick in our AL only league, and is proving his selection so far.

Top Pitcher: Justin Verlander (SP – Detroit Tigers) Did I mention earlier that the Detroit Tigers had an absolute cakewalk for a schedule in week five? Verlander absolutely dominated both the Twins and Astros to the tune of a 2 W 17 K 0.64 ERA and 0.79 WHIP line for last week. The Astros free-swinging nature certainly helped his K totals, but Verlander’s totals are absolutely no joke. He’s the top pitcher in baseball and a leading candidate for the AL Cy Young. Nothing new here folks.

Waiver Wire Move of the Week: Ryan Raburn (2B, OF – Cleveland Indians) The Clown Questions run by Ricky Sanders made what is quite possibly the best pickup of the season thusfar, adding Raburn from waivers for $35. Raburn went on an absolute tear early in week five, going 7/8 with 4 HR and 7 RBI. Raburn has long been known as a streaky player and certainly will not keep up with this rate of production.

Keep an eye on: Ichiro Suzuki (OF – New York Yankees) After an incredibly slow start to the 2013 season, Ichiro has picked it up as of late, raising his average to almost .280 and collecting a handful of steals since late-April. Earlier in the season managers were concerned about not only his lack of production but not even attempting to steal a base. Yankees manager Joe Girardi was resting Ichiro several times each week to start Brennan Boesch or Ben Francisco. Since elevating his average in the last few weeks Ichiro has been all over the New York lineup, floating between the second and sixth spot in the batting order. In a perfect world Ichiro would either be the leadoff or eighth hitter, but injuries have forced New York to get extremely creative with their lineup.

Joel Hanrahan (RP – Boston Red Sox) During Hanrahan’s DL stint Andrew Bailey hit the ground running with the closers role in Boston, tallying five saves. His run came to a screeching halt with a bicep injury and has subsequently been placed on the DL, allowing Hanrahan to regain the closer gig. In shallower leagues where he may have been dropped, Hanrahan is definitely worth reacquiring, as Boston has been the best team in baseball so far this year.

Best of luck to all of our readers this upcoming week!

~ Roto Wizard

A veteran fantasy sports player/commissioner for the better part of a decade, I am a contributing writer for several major fantasy websites including FantasyTrade411.com, Rotowire.com and Going9baseball.com. I am always willing to share my advice and opinions on your questions and the latest fantasy news. Feel free to contact me with any sports related inquires on twitter @Roto_Wizard, or by e-mail at RotoWizard01@yahoo.com.

Dee Gordon was still in our free agent pool this week when he was called up to fill Hanley Ramirez’ DL spot. In an NL Only league, middle infielders that play every day and produce are in high demand. Most rosters only have one or two middle infielders that play on a daily basis. Requirements for the league state you must start a 2B, SS, and MI. Therefore, when free agent bidding came this week, I knew I would have to break the budget if I wanted him. Gordon has long been considered a top prospect for the Dodgers. His plus speed at the shortstop spot has always been enticing. The problem is when he has made the majors; he hasn’t been able to steal first base. This year he seems to have turned that around. In 25 games at AAA this season, Gordon has hit .314 with a .397 OBP. If he can translate that to the pros, he should be able to steal 40+ bases for the rest of the year. I was willing to take the chance that I may get that kind of production from him the rest of the year. Of my $1000 budget in NL Only, I made the winning bid on him at $223. Quite an investment for one player but sometimes you have to be bold and go for the player you want. If he keeps it up, I will easily be able to trade him also because every team is looking for a productive middle infielder. That is fantasy sports economics at its finest.

MATCHUP OF THE WEEK: Chicago Scrubs (Ricky Sanders) vs. Hoosiers Daddy (Bruce Sanders and Mark Resnik)
FINAL SCORE: 9-0-1
MATCHUP SUMMARY: I know what you are thinking: 9-0? How could that be a good matchup? The answer is simple. It wasn’t. None of the matchups this week in our league were remotely close. The closest matchup’s final score was 5-2. Therefore, it is my article, so I decided to just boast about my big win. Why not? Finally my team started performing like it should. With a 9-0 victory, I jumped from 7th place to 2nd. It was even that much sweeter because I shut out my dad. To be fair, I won pitching with a 4.50 ERA because all of his SP just got demolished. Beckett, Estrada and Wandy Rodriguez all had ERAs of 9.00 or above for the week. I now feel like my team is set up to establish itself as a force to be reckoned with moving forward.

TOP HITTER: Starling Marte made a good run for player of the week last week, but the award has to go to Carlos Gomez. Carlos Gomez put up the best week that any hitter in the National League has so far this week. Listen to this: 12/26 (.462 BA), 8 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI, and 5 SB. White hot does not even begin to describe the way Gomez is playing right now. Five categories of pure goodness are what fantasy owners enjoy. Last year, he put up his first big year that included 19 HR and 37 SB. Obviously, he is carrying over that success into 2013. I expect at least that many SB this year, and the homers seem to be repeatable also. Gomez is a very useful upper echelon NL OF moving forward.

TOP PITCHER: Would you believe it if I told you the pitcher of the week honors in the National League belonged to a Marlins pitcher? Well believe it because Kevin Slowey had an incredible week. Slowey, an average AL pitcher with the twins, has found a home in Miami. Slowey quietly was always very good at keeping his WHIP down. The reason he keeps his WHIP down is because he never walks anybody: his career K/BB is 4.68. In the NL, this should only make his results that much better. Last week in 15 IP, Slowey put up a line of 1 W, 15 K, 0.60 ERA and 0.53 WHIP. I added him in free agency earlier this year and traded him for John Buck. I would take him back in a heartbeat. While I don’t think he is this good, I think the low WHIP is legit and he should be a decent mid-tier fantasy starter.

WAIVER WIRE MOVES OF THE WEEK: I already discussed the absurd $223 I spent on Dee Gordon earlier in the article, so I’ll just highlight some of the other waiver moves here. Willie Bloomquist was the second high bid of the week at $40. He is currently on the DL, but when he gets back he is always a decent source of steals. I would not have spent that much personally because I don’t see where he gets his playing time. Could he play second? Even if he does, it will be a temporary fix for when Aaron Hill gets back. Also, I wanted to touch on the $36 winning bid of Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna, who surprisingly was called up over Christian Yelich, is off to a hot start. Getting the opportunity because of Stanton getting DL’d, Ozuna is hitting .478 so far. Ozuna has been described as having “light tower power” by scouts and I think his short term fantasy value is obvious. I worry a little about whether or not he will get sent down when Stanton is back, but if he continues to hit I think he could earn his spot.
BRAIN FREEZE OF THE WEEK: Scrambled EG (Eric Grant). There weren’t very many questionable moves this week, so I may be calling out Eric undeservingly. I think he overspent by $8 when he bid $9 on Joaquin Arias. This is what I mean about middle infield being scarce when Arias (SS eligible) goes for $9. I think for the little that he produces that he could have been had at a $1 bid. Besides that, most of the experts in the league were smart this week.

That is all for this week’s recap. If you want to check out the Going 9 NL Only league for yourself, as always, here is a link:

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/92354

Thanks for reading and catch you next week. If you can’t wait that long, you can always follow me on twitter @RSanders85.

Sometimes, however, a poor April can foreshadow a lost season. Last season, Royals’ hyped first baseman Eric Hosmer limped out of the gate and showed absolutely zero power, hitting just .188/.274/.388. His start would be the clue to a lack of power that would plague him for the entire season. Adam Dunn of 2011 is another prime example of a terrible start being just the opening to a terrible season.

The three hitters illustrate the difficulty when making a decision in fantasy baseball. In a fantasy league, these decisions get even more complicated because if you cut bait with a player who was simply off to a slow start, you’ve potentially lost that player for multiple seasons. I’ve preached patience during the first month of the season, but as players begin to get into the 125 at bat area, some decisions can be made. By this point you can see your team deficiencies as well as finding potential trade partners based on who you want to acquire and who you can deal with.

While Roy Halladay’s struggles are widely reported, Jay Bruce of the Cincinnati Reds is having the worst opening month of his Major League career.

Since entering the Major Leagues in May of 2008, Bruce has been one of the few legitimate young power hitters in the sport. Since 2008, he has improved his home run total every season while also adding to his doubles total every year. From the ages of 21 through 25, Bruce has produced an average season of .255/.330/.483 with 23 doubles, 3 triples, 27 HR, and 75 RBI. Over the past two seasons, he has hit 32 and 34 home runs, respectively. Because of the ballpark and the fact that he is just entering his prime seasons, there is every reason to believe that Jay Bruce is primed for yet another leap. For fantasy baseball purposes, he is one of the ideal players in a keeper league as he is young and one of the few true power hitters in the sport.

Except, it hasn’t gone that way in 2013 as Bruce has just one home run through his first 33 games. While the nine doubles and one triple are acceptable, they are of no use in fantasy baseball. His batting line of .246/.297/.398 reads more like a Seattle Mariners’ middle infielder. Power hitters are prone to slumps. Power hitters who like to strike out are even more prone. Bruce is in the latter group as he posted strikeout rates of 23.7%, 23.8%, and 24.5% in the last three seasons. His rates have been about 5 percent above league average over that time period. This season, Bruce has taken a dramatic turn with his strikeout rate as he is striking out at a 32.4% rate, compared to the league average (which is higher than normal) of 20.4%. Poor luck can’t even be blamed for this as his batting average on balls put in play is .371, much higher than the league average. In other words, Bruce is either a strikeout or a hit. Because he is striking out at an alarming rate, his numbers are quite low.

Bruce’s problems are directly related to his ability to make contact. He is swinging at more pitches (51.8% of them) than he has in the past (career 48.3% swing rate) and missing more. His contact rate is just 69.8%, compared to his career average of 74.1%. Even more alarming, he is swinging and missing at 20% of pitches thrown in the strike zone.

Slumps are one thing. While he doesn’t have a history of slow starts (although he is a strong finisher), Bruce’s struggles mirror those of Adam Dunn. The difference between Bruce and Dunn is that Bruce doesn’t have the plate discipline that Dunn has shown throughout his career. Bruce’s walk rate has declined in three consecutive seasons, all the way down to just 6.8 percent. With just 12 road games thus far, Bruce has failed to take advantage of a home friendly start to the season.

It is now starting to become decision time in the fantasy baseball world in regards to Bruce. In a keeper league, he was likely a keeper before the draft or a player who was acquired at a moderate price during the draft. Undoubtedly, he was being counted on as one of the main sources of power for many fantasy owners. Is it time to cut bait?

The short answer is no. At this point, releasing Jay Bruce isn’t an option unless you are in a four team, mixed league. He has little trade value so any trade involving him will be unfavorable. At this point, owners just have to hope he starts to lock in. He’s never been a source for batting average so the slow start doesn’t hurt there. If you believe that he is, at minimum, a 30 home run hitter, a big finish is a realistic possibility. Like Giancarlo Stanton, another elite home run hitter off to a terrible start, belief in the history has to override the impatient needs of a fantasy owner.

His slow start does represent the right time to acquire him from a frustrated owner. If he can be acquired cheaply, the expected home runs can actually make a difference. There is really no risk in getting him if you lack power and the owner is frustrated enough to trade him at his lowest value.

There is a chance that Jay Bruce could have one of those lost seasons where he doesn’t hit for power–think Justin Upton circa 2012. But, there is just as much of a chance that he gets hot, hits a bunch of home runs and winds up with his usual 30 home runs by the end of the season. Owners have no choice but to stay patient right now. The strikeouts are troubling, but there is just too much potential to give up after one month. Remember, 57 of his 135 career home runs have come during the months of August and September.

Atlanta Braves: Outfielder Jason Heyward who underwent an appendectomy last week doesn’t expect to return to the lineup until late May or early June…..Catcher Brian McCann however is hoping to return to the Braves next week…..That’s back to back solid outing by Julio Teheran, perhaps he has figured it out…..Shortstop Andrelton Simmons has replaced B.J. Upton as the leadoff batter. This is the right move. Even if Upton were hitting, he has never been a high on base guy, he would be batting lower in the lineup.

Chicago Cubs: Do the Cubs not have anyone who would be a better option at closer than Kevin Gregg? He was just signed a couple of weeks ago. Manager Dale Sveum has also hinted about using a closer by committee approach even when Kyuji Fujikawa returns…..The team is also making noise that if the city doesn’t agree to make the necessary upgrades to Wrigley Field that they will look into other places to play. This is probably just a bluff as the only draw to watch the Cubs play is Wrigley.

Cincinnati Reds: All eyes will be on Manager Dusty Baker when SP Johnny Cueto is ready to return from injury. Tony Cingrani has looked great and one would think deserves to stay in the rotation but Baker may not be inclined to keep him over Mike Leake…..Speaking of Cueto, he makes his first rehab start Friday and if all goes well could return about 10 days after…..Mat Latos had to leave his last start early with a hip injury but it is not serious, and he is expected to make his next start.

Colorado Rockies: I know it comes as a complete shock that SS Troy Tulowitzki is hurt once again. The good news however is that his shoulder is not considered to be serious, just a day to day thing and he should be back in the lineup shortly…..Nolan Arenado is going to be given the chance to win the 3B job as Chris Nelson wasn’t impressing anyone…..For those wondering if OF Dexter Fowler is the real thing or just hot? Have a feeling he is the definition of a player who has finally figured things out.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Hanley Ramirez is back at SS for the Dodgers having recovered from his thumb injury and this team could use the help….Outfielder Carl Crawford has a tight hamstring and has been given the last couple of games off with the hope that combined with Thursday’s off day will be enough to get him healthy…..Starting pitcher Ted Lilly however may have to go on the DL as he needed an injection into his rib cage. If he has to miss a start/s Matt Magill would take his spot in the rotation.

Miami Marlins: As if the Marlins offense wasn’t inept enough, star OF Giancarlo Stanton will most likely be lost for all of May due to a hamstring injury suffered Monday versus the Mets…..There was some thought that Christian Yelich would be called up to replace Stanton but alas, that’s not going to happen…..There really isn’t much to watch for in Miami, the state of Florida should be thrilled this team is no longer named after them. Let owner Jeffrey Loria be Miami’s problem.

Milwaukee Brewers: What has gotten into 3B Yuniesky Betancourt? That’s seven HRs he has now, seven. He’s played so well that Milwaukee has already announced that he will be the primary 1B when 3B Aramis Ramirez returns from the DL, which could be as early as Friday…..Shortstop Jean Segura is starting to make the Brewers organization look pretty smart for obtaining him in the SP Zack Greinke deal. This kid looks really good with a solid mixture of speed and power.

New York Mets: Management and fans aren’t sure what to make of the performance from 1B Ike Davis so far. He is off to another incredibly slow start and is now batting seventh in the order. The team can’t really afford to wait until the summer for his bat to heat up once again…..Shortstop Reuben Tejada who is known much more for his glove than he is his bat is having a tough time in the field so far this year…..David Wright who missed the start Monday with a stiff neck is just fine, no reason to worry there…..Living in New York, I can tell you it’s a good thing the Mets avoided being swept by the Marlins on Wednesday or there might be quite a few people on top of bridges and tall buildings.

Philadelphia Phillies: The topsy turvy season for SP Roy Halladay continued once again Tuesday as he was shelled by the Indians. Fantasy wise, he is more than a matchup play, but I wouldn’t start him against good offenses, his ball just doesn’t move like it once did, he is still trying to figure things out…..Outfielder Delmon Young returned to the lineup Tuesday and actually hit a HR. He will help the lineup as he will provide power, but his play in the OF leaves quite a bit to be desired although in Philly, anything hit in the air tends to be a HR anyway.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Outfielder Starling Marte is yet another player in fantasy where we need to determine, hot start or the start of something special? I’m sort of in between on this one, in other words, I’m just not sold on him yet…..In your weekly SP Francisco Liriano update, he is expected to join the rotation on May 11…..Rumor is that 2B Neil Walker may have to go on the DL.

St. Louis Cardinals: Closer Jason Motte has been throwing, 60′/90′ and reporting no pain. The Cards are willing to give him a little more time to see if his elbow will respond. Odds still favor that he will need surgery and even if he can pitch, there is no guarantee the team uses him to close…..Speaking of no guarantees, those of you who are waiting for an injury to one of the OFs, Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday, or Jon Jay so that the team will call up super prospect Oscar Tavares, keep in mind they could always just move Allen Craig back to the outfield and play Matt Adams at 1B.

San Diego Padres: The Padres have been sitting OF Kyle Blanks against certain right-handers, not sure this is the best course of action for someone you would like to be a major power threat in your lineup…..Some were worried that 2B Jedd Gyorko might lose his starting job once 3B Chase Headley returned from the DL, well so far he’s still in there. I’d stick with him if I’m the Pads, he really doesn’t have much else to prove at AAA and you need to see what you have here.

San Francisco Giants: First baseman Brandon Belt has come alive with the bat of late. Would really like to see manager Bruce Bochy leave him alone and let him play every day…..I know baseball is a business but I would really hope that for the benefit of the game the Giants would eventually relent and let the Athletics build a stadium in San Jose, this has been going on for years now and will eventually end up in court. As Andrew Brandt of ESPN would say, there will be lawyers.

Washington Nationals: First the good news. Starting pitcher Jordan Zimmerman has been pretty much untouchable in his last two outings and is now up to 18 scoreless innings. Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman looks good to be activated Friday. The bad, OF Bryce Harper had to leave the game with what looks like an oblique injury, as of right now he’s listed as day to day. Starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg was seen flexing his pitching arm during his last start. Apparently they are blaming it on his workout regimen and not anything that will keep him from making his next start.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @georgekurtz.

Boston Red Sox: Are the Red Sox the best team in the American League? Probably not, but they are better than expected. Question is, what happens when injuries occur, especially to the pitching staff? Can Jon Lester and Clay Buccholz make 30+ starts each? If they can than Boston is likely to be in the playoff hunt all season, if not than it could be a long summer in beantown…..Now injuries to their offense they are more equipped to handle. Outfielder Shane Victorino has missed the last four games with back tightness but is planning on playing in the upcoming series versus Boston.

Chicago White Sox: Wouldn’t recommend him in a 10 team league but in a 12 team or deeper SP Dylan Axelrod wouldn’t make a bad pickup…..The Sox may have dodged a bullet with SP Gavin Floyd. He was diagnosed with a strain of his flexor muscle. He could be back in the rotation shortly after his DL stint is up.

Cleveland Indians: Trevor Bauer is going to make a spot start on Wednesday, hopefully this one goes better than the last…..Outfielder Michael Bourn won’t be returning from the DL as quickly as expected, he is hitting off of a tee, but will need a rehab stint…..Closer Chris Perez is good to go after taking a comebacker off the thumb…..Finally looks like 2B Jason Kipnis has found his hitting stroke, good thing to, because with this pitching staff, the only way this team wins consistently is if they outhit the opponents.

Detroit Tigers: Fantasy owners have to be a little worried about SP Justin Verlander. Not only had the velocity on his fastball been down a few MPH this season, but now they have to contend with cracked skin on his thumb. Not what you want to see during a two-start week…..Hard to believe that the Tigers have committed the fewest errors in MLB, could that be because with Miguel Cabrera at 3B, Jhonny Peralta at SS, and Prince Fielder at 1B, they just don’t get to many balls? Can’t drop what you can’t reach…..Don’t forget about 2B Omar Infante, he’s gotten off to a pretty good start and with this lineup that could continue.

Houston Astros: Have to hand it to the Astros, after getting swept at Fenway Park over the weekend, they went into Yankee Stadium and beat the tar out of SP Andy Pettitte, Lucas Harrell had his sinker going, three double play balls and plenty of runs to work with…..Even thought Phillip Humber has pitched terribly, he’s staying in the rotation for now, Houston just doesn’t have many options at this point.

Kansas City Royals: Can SP Ervin Santana continue to be this good? Might be the biggest question facing the Royals. We know James Shields is an ace, if Jeremy Guthrie can continue to pitch well and Santana be a reliable number two, the Royals might be able to stay in race all season long…..Third Baseman Mike Moustakas has finally started to hit, when will 1B Eric Hosmer follow suit?

Los Angeles Angels: The Angels pitching staff is a wreck and I’m not sure Jered Weaver is going to be enough to fix it if and when he returns to action. It’s not helping that OF Josh Hamilton looks lost at the plate right now and seems to b following that 11th Commandment “thou shall not pass without being swung at”…..As the season moves along, assuming the Angels stay in the playoff hunt and right now they are seven games behind division leading Texas, three and a half from the wildcard, they will be searching for starting pitching. Problem is everyone wants pitching and the Angels may have to pay a heavy price to acquire it.

Minnesota Twins: How is this team 11-11 with that pitching staff? Good to see they have gotten off to a solid start, but if there is ever a team that is going to fall off a cliff, this one is it…..If and when the Twins do fall out of the race the Twins could be a source of power for contending clubs. First baseman Justin Morneau and OF Josh Willingham could certainly help a contender, Ryan Doumit also…..Pitcher Rich Harden had to stop his rehab due to soreness in his shoulder, shocking I know.

New York Yankees: Hard to believe the Yankees are playing .600 ball through the first 25 games of the season. Most expected a free fall, but so far so good, and they are going to get a couple of their big boys back in the near future. Outfielder Curtis Granderson could return in about 10 days with 1B Mark Teixeira about a week after that…..Not all the new is good however. The team erred in letting 3B Kevin Youkilis play Saturday after missing the previous six games, now he has just had an epidural injection, has missed two more games and probably will need to be placed on the DL even though he may not need the full two weeks off. Problem is the NYY can’t keep playing with a 24 man roster. If he hadn’t played Saturday, they could’ve backdated the DL move, and he would’ve been eligible to return this weekend…..Starting pitcher Ivan Nova was also placed on the DL, David Phelps will take his spot in the rotation.

Oakland Athletics: Pretty impressive win for the A’s on Monday versus the Angels. Not only did they overcome a 7-3 deficit and win in 19 innings, but SP Brady Anderson, who didn’t make this start to rest his sprained ankle, ended up pitching 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief…..Now they just need to get there other prized starter, Jarrod Parker untracked. He has been little more than a softball pitcher so far this year…..Anyone see the record the A’s have with OF Yoenis Cespedes in the lineup and without. Check them out. Keeping him healthy should be their first priority.

Seattle Mariners: Outfielder Jason Bay has caught fire of late, going 7-14, further clouding an already crowded OF/DH situation…..Outfielder Michael Morse finally hit his first HR since injuring his finger earlier this season…..Plenty of fantasy owners were extremely worried about 3B Kyle Seagar and his slow start, well he is on fire of late, stop panicking…..SP Hisashi Iwakuma who has been incredible so far this season had to be removed from his last start due to a blister, nothing all that serious, but something to look out for…..

Tampa Bay Rays: Have to wonder about the foresight with pitchers David Price and Jeremy Hellickson. They both got into it with home plate umpire Tom Hallion on Sunday. Price was the starter and didn’t exactly like the strike zone and apparently when leaving the field was yelling at Hallion (not facing him) and claims Hallion cursed at him. This caused several teammates including Hellickson to defend Price, Hellickson was then thrown out of the game. After the game a twitter happened with both sides calling the other a liar. Anyone else have a feeling that Hellickson and Price aren’t going to get the benefit of any close pitches anytime soon.

Texas Rangers: Even though he’s not piling up the wins, SP Alexi Ogando is starting to look really good again, Rangers could really use him to be a number two behind Yu Darvish. Darvish by the way, is everything he was cracked up to be this year, a Cy Young Award waiting to happen…..Fantasy owners should know that the Rangers are close to making 1B Mitch Moreland a platoon player. The good news of course is that he will be on the right side of the platoon. Could Mike Olt be called up to be his platoon partner?

Toronto Blue Jays: The MRI on SP Josh Johnson came back negative and he is expected to make his start this week, that being said, no way I would use him in fantasy leagues…..The Blue Jays have been criticized quite a bit for claiming anyone and everyone off of waivers. Not sure why, they are just throwing mud against the wall and seeing if anything sticks, although SP Aaron Laffey apparently didn’t, he was released after a spot start against the Yankees…..Another SP, R.A. Dickey will have an MRI on his neck/back to try and find the reason for his discomfort. He did pitch well in a loss to the Yankees on Sunday, so all is not lost.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @georgekurtz.

Coors Field is one of, if not the best, hitters’ ballpark in the MLB. The thin air in Denver helps the ball fly out of the ballpark. Coors has instated new humidor baseballs to try and cancel out the effect of the atmosphere, but it’s still an advantage to play in for 82 games. As for the lineup, Colorado has been extremely productive thus far. The average number of runs scored for National League teams is 100. Colorado has managed to score 127 runs (5.08/gm) which is good for 4th in baseball and 1st in the NL. Also, in activating Arenado, the Rockies waived Chris Nelson who was just about their everyday 3rd basemen. So far so good for this kid’s outlook, but it’s not all positive. Looking into Arenado’s minor league numbers, he has hit over 12 home runs in a year once. In 2011, he combined for 26 HR between rookie and high A ball. Last year, in nearly a full season, he hit only 12 HR in 134 G at AA. As a fantasy owner, this worries me a bit knowing the balls aren’t going over the fence. Doubles, however, are the name of his game. The last two years combined he has totaled 80 doubles across three minor league levels. So as I wish more of his minor league hits went over the wall, at least we can see he does possess extra base hit potential. I think only being age 22 gives me optimism about his power being able to develop at the major league level. I think he projects as about a 20-25 HR player in the majors eventually. So now, with all the factors analyzed, the question is: how much FAAB budget is it worth to pick up Nolan Arenado? I think Arenado goes through an adjustment period this year and doesn’t reach his full potential for at least a year or two. I project .270, 10 HR, 50 RBI for him for the rest of the year as his power is still developing. I would spend no more than 20% of my budget to get him. I would definitely be trying to acquire him in a keeper league though because he does have .300, 25 HR, 100 RBI upside in the future.

MATCHUP OF THE WEEK: Hoosier Daddy (Bruce Sanders and Mark Resnik) vs. JK’s Jerkoffs (Jeff Johnson)

FINAL SCORE: 5-3-2

MATCHUP SUMMARY: The definition of a great matchup is when all categories of the matchup are so close they could go either way. This matchup was the poster child for that definition. The pitching categories went down the line as: tie (wins), tie (saves), one strikeout win for JK, ERA win by 1.25 for Hoosier Daddy, and win by .04 in WHIP for HD. Also taking down 3/5 offensive categories, HD earned a much needed win for their team. With the win, they moved from 11th to 10th place and now square off against me this week.

TOP HITTER: The top hitter of the week in the National League was a toss-up between Ryan Howard and Russell Martin. Preference would be the determining factor in who had the better week. Russell Martin’s line for the week: 9/24 (.375 BA), 5 R, 4 HR, and 6 RBI. Howard’s line read: 8/26 (.308), 5 R, 2 HR, and 10 RBI. If HRs are your preference, Martin was your player of the week. If you think RBI is more important, then the player of the week was Howard. Either way, both were outstanding. If I had to choose one to buy on, I would definitely be targeting Ryan Howard.

TOP PITCHER: If you bet Jeff Locke to outperform all other pitchers in the National League this week, you might be a psychic. In two starts, Locke won both of them with a 0.00 ERA and 0.69 ERA. While Cingrani led the NL with 20 K this week, Locke’s 10 Ks were sufficient enough to go along with his other numbers. Locke is immediately worth a speculative add considering his two starts were @PHI and @STL. If he can develop consistency, he can be a low-end SP in NL Only leagues at the very least.

WAIVER WIRE MOVE OF THE WEEK: NEWSFLASH: I did NOT make the high bid of the week for the first time all year. In fact, I didn’t even make a bid this week in an attempt to try and save funds. The high bid of the week ($35) was Brandon Inge by Hoosier Daddy. Interestingly, not a single other team made a bid on Inge. Neil Walker was injured last week and still has yet to return to a game. They bid that amount hoping that Walker would be put on the DL, but it’s looking less likely by the day. The second highest bid of the week ($34) was on Julio Borbon who was recently signed by the Cubs. I suppose he has stolen base potential, but I don’t see a lot of upside with him. The Cubs outfield is already crowded, and he just adds to it.

BRAIN FREEZE OF THE WEEK: TheBigMingWangTheory (Ricky Olshansky). After having added Kyle Blanks in FAAB last week for $11, Mr. Olshansky went and dropped him for a guy (Ryan Wheeler) he spent $5 on this week. Keeping a $5 player over a $11 one a week later? As Johnny Cochran from South Park would say, “that does not make sense.” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwdba9C2G14)

That is all for this week’s recap. If you want to check out the Going 9 NL Only league for yourself, as always, here is a link:

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/92354

Thanks for reading and catch you next week. If you can’t wait that long, you can always follow me on twitter @RSanders85.

Several high draft picks have struggled so far in 2013, most notably Matt Kemp and Giancarlo Stanton. Through week three neither batter had hit a home run and managers were vocalizing their frustration on Twitter. Were these players going to be huge busts this year? What was going on? When were they going to turn it around? I kept begging managers to relax and take a breath, step away from the “drop” button and give it more time. Hopefully they all listened.

Stanton finally broke through towards the end of week three, hitting his first home run on Saturday and two more on Sunday. The Miami offense will certainly hold down his RBI totals since his home runs will often come with no one on base, but Stanton should still smash 35+ this year. Kemp also broke out last week hitting his first home run of the year, collecting three multiple hit games, and has also started to run as well. I still would confidently pencil Kemp in for a .285 25/25 + season without hesitation.

The bottom line? Just breathe. The fantasy baseball season is 22 weeks long and we’ve barely scratched the surface. A little patience will go a long way towards a productive 2013 campaign.

If you haven’t already viewed our AL only league, I’ve included the link below for you:

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/142822

Top Hitter: Josh Donaldson (3B – Oakland Athletics) Donaldson was propelled into everyday duties last year and he responded with a strong power display, hitting eight HRs in the final two months of 2012. He has continued his hot hitting into this season, and had an absolutely incredible week, batting .545 (12 for 22) and knocked in 10 RBI in addition to scoring four runs. Going against this buzzsaw from George Kurtz’s “Evil Empire” team certainly wasn’t fun. Donaldson has never been known for his high average and managers should really expect something closer to the .240-.245 range instead, but he definitely has the potential to hit 20+ HR.

(I wanted to mention that I strongly considered using Nate McLouth here as he also batted .545 with 10 R, one HR, six RBI and one SB. McLouth hasn’t shown this sort of production since his days in Pittsburgh, so I wouldn’t bank on this continuing much longer. He’s batting in the heart of a strong Orioles lineup, but I would definitely view him as a “sell high” player).

Top Pitcher: Matt Moore (SP- Tampa Bay Rays) The Evil Empire strikes again! I had the misfortune of going against both the top hitter and top pitcher this past week. Moore has finally started to show us a glimpse of his talent, as he tallied two wins, 18 K, a 1.29 ERA and a 0.64 WHIP during week four. Moore has always been a power pitcher, but he has appeared to harness his control much better this year, working deeper into games and walking many less batters. It isn’t out of the realm of reason to view Moore as a AL Cy Young candidate this year.

Waiver Wire Move of the Week: The biggest move of the week was made by Ricky Sanders (The Clown Questions) who ended up dropping Dylan Bundy to pick up Garrett Richards. Bundy was widely viewed as one of the best pitching prospects in baseball entering the season, but has experienced a great deal of elbow discomfort and has had multiple MRIs on his throwing elbow. Bundy was due to meet the infamous Dr.James Andrews this morning to see if any structural damage was detected.

Richards is a converted relief pitcher who was brought into the Angels rotation in early April after Jered Weaver hit the DL. He has shown flashes of domination, but has been inconsistent, allowing four earned runs or more in two of his three starts so far. He definitely has the potential to accumulate strikeouts, but needs to keep the ball in the park to be more successful. Richards is currently only an AL-only play in the deepest of leagues.

Keep an eye on: Austin Romine (C- New York Yankees). The Yankees experienced yet another crushing injury with Francisco Cervelli breaking his hand late last week. To help at the catching position they promoted one of their top prospects in Austin Romine, who was hitting .333 in AAA ball. Romine was mainly known for his defense and will still split time with Chris Stewart, but if he is able to maintain his strong start to the season, he could capture the bulk of at-bats and makes for a sneaky AL-only upside play.

As I mentioned in last week’s column, Dan Straily has been called up to start in place of Brett Anderson, who is continuing to deal with soreness in his ankle. If Straily pitches well he may end up replacing Jarrod Parker in the rotation, who has been miserable so far this season. Straily has continued to dominate AAA hitters, which is especially impressive as he is pitching in the PCL (Pacific Coast League) which is widely known as a hitters league. He has posted a 0.96 ERA in 18.2 innings, and managers would be wise to keep an eye on his start tonight against the Angels in Los Angeles.

Best of luck to all of our readers this upcoming week!

~ Roto Wizard

A veteran fantasy sports player/commissioner for the better part of a decade, I am a contributing writer for several major fantasy websites including FantasyTrade411.com, Rotowire.com and Going9baseball.com. I am always willing to share my advice and opinions on your questions and the latest fantasy news. Feel free to contact me with any sports related inquires on twitter @Roto_Wizard, or by e-mail at RotoWizard01@yahoo.com.

You want to assess your roster in an even and fair process and make sure you do not overvalue your own players.  If you want owners in your league to be good partners, make sure you approach the negotiations with an open mind and the ability to bend slightly.  You can’t enter trade talks expecting other owners to give up what you want without being willing to meet them half way.

As to selling high, the truth is a large amount of the names you hear “sell high” on would never be bought at that price level.  The first name that comes to mind early this season is John Buck.  Buck got off to a blistering spot that no one expected and immediately got scooped up from the waiver wire.  Over time, you heard that you had to sell high on him because there was no way he was going to keep that pace up.  Well if I know he won’t keep the pace up, doesn’t it make sense that the owner I would try to deal him to would also know he won’t keep the pace up?  Why would they pay a premium price for a player who is just on a hot streak?

The truth of selling high applies much more to high ceiling prospects and the top tiers of fantasy baseball.  Later in this article, Joe Pisapia , author of the Fantasy Baseball Black Book, discusses Justin Upton.  He is a prime example of a high end talent, who is off to a start that he just won’t be able to keep up.  Adam Wainwright is another example.   It hurts to sometimes deal your best player, but if they are off to a scorching start and you have someone interested, sell at their highest value and get back all you can.

The following is some insight from members of the Going 9 immediate and extended family and their take on making trades in Fantasy Baseball.  If you ever have questions on trades, reach out to any of us on Twitter or call in to the Going 9 Fantasy Baseball program on SiriusXM Saturday nights from 10p to 1a.

Going9: Do you believe in the premise of selling high?  Why or Why not?  

Evan (@Roto_Wizard): I do believe in the concept of selling high if the manager believes that the player cannot continue their current level of production and would benefit by trading the player to address an issue of need. Especially in the case of pitchers who may have had recent success against sub-par ballclubs, if you believe that you’d be able to make a trade to patch up another area on your team, by all means go for it. I’m generally more open to this concept with pitchers over hitters, since good hitters are always more difficult to obtain. As a recent example, I was able to trade away Tony Cingrani in my friends and family league in exchange for Mike Minor. Cingrani has shown flashes of brilliance so far, but his success has come against the Marlins and Cubs, two of the worst hitting teams in baseball. His roster spot isn’t assured once Cueto comes back, and unless Leake falters, he could lose his spot. Minor is a more stable commodity with a locked in spot.

Gary (@GaryArmida): To a certain extent, yes, I believe in the concept of selling high. If there are players who you absolutely believe can’t keep the pace, by all means deal them. But, I look at a guy like Chris Davis who got off to a blistering start. Is his value sky high? Sure. Do I think he’ll sustain? No. He will, however, give great power, even if he hits just .230 the rest of the way. I’d hang on to guys like him. Selling high is for those cases where you just know he won’t continue to give any value.

Joe (@JoePisapia17): Yes. Player stats have ebbs and flows. There are times where a player’s value is never going to be higher, case in point Justin Upton. Is Upton having a breakout year? Yes. Is he capable of sustaining an slugging percentage of .800? Of course not. The key is some owners will just see the breakout and not the eventual market correction. Chances are you have gotten the best month Upton has to offer this season and if he can bring you back multiple pieces to fill gaps in your team it is a wise decision. The other key time to sell high is on young players who succeed out of the gate. They usually get exposed after a certain amount of time in the league and their weakness show. Keeper leagues are the only format where selling high is not recommended.

G9: When you are making a trade what are you trying to accomplish?  Is it getting value for someone who is playing above their true value? Is it filling a hole on your roster?

Evan (@Roto_Wizard): No roster is ever perfect, so the goal of any successful trade should be to address an issue with your current team. The adage has always been “buy low, sell high”, and that especially holds true in fantasy baseball. Taking a gamble on players who are experiencing early season struggles (Heyward, Stanton) for huge long-term upside, or selling high on a player who you believe is playing over their head is definitely a major goal. The key to success with fantasy baseball is patience, so if you are able to pounce when a manager is frustrated and fed up with their situation, you will reap the benefits.

Gary (@GaryArmida): Making a trade during the season is all about how that player fits my roster. Will he help me in a couple of categories to get me the points I need. I don’t really concern myself with getting above value or anything. I look to deal from strength and fill the weaknesses. Because of the way I draft, that usually means finding saves and steals because I stock up on power and strikeouts. Those guys are typically easy to get.

Joe (@JoePisapia17): Every trade has a different purpose. All that matters is that you are being true to your individual philosophies and not “settling” on players you take back in return. More often than not you should buy low. You should always try to fill needs, as long as you are not sacrificing your best talent to marginally improve elsewhere. Lastly, always try to get the best player in the deal.

G9: What makes a good trade partner?

Evan (Roto_Wizard): In a perfect scenario, a good trade partner is looking to obtain something that you are either comfortable trading away or don’t need (an extra utility player or bench depth, for example) and in exchange you would be addressing an area of need. A good trade partner also sets realistic expectations on who they are looking to acquire, and is willing to complete the deal in a timely fashion. If the other manager is approaching you requesting a trade, they should be the one who initially proposes something. As long as the lines of communication are open and people are being honest with one another, a good trade is very easy to pull off.

Gary (@GaryArmida): Someone who is willing to bend on players he’s willing to talk about and also someone who is open to more than just the standard trade board interactions. Whether it’s a phone call or email exchange, a good trade partner has to see the big picture of what I need and not just try to rip me off.

Joe (@JoePisapia17): There are two good trade partners. The first is a knowledgeable owner. People always think preying on the weak owner is best, but more often than not the better owners in your league make the better trade partners since they tend to carry better talent on their roster. You should be looking to make a win/win deal for both parties to ensure good trade relations every season. They next best trade partners is a desperate owner. Whether they start 0-4, or have been riddled by injuries, desperate owners will be willing to give up on players they shouldn’t and give more to save a sinking ship.

G9:  Do you think a commissioner should have the ability to veto a trade in your league?  (Mainly more concerned more with one you’d view as a lopsided trade due to stupidity, not collusion)

Evan (Roto_Wizard): As a commissioner who has run leagues for the better part of a decade, I am completely against the notion of having one person responsible for trades either being put through or vetoed. Trusting one person’s judgement over the rest of your league will only lead to issues, and I’ve seen the consequences first hand. Commissioners need to separate themselves as players within the league while reviewing a trade, which is often hard to do. They also need to be aware of both the long and short term effects that a trade will have (this is even more applicable in dynasty/keeper leagues). I’ve switched all of the leagues that I manage to a league majority vote to either approve or deny trades, and that has been one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made. If enough people feel strongly that a deal is unfair and shouldn’t be put through, it won’t be completed. This take the responsibility off of one person and opens up discussions with the rest of the league.

Gary (@GaryArmida): No, I don’t like the veto rules in leagues. Stupid trades are going to happen all the time. It happens in real life and since we trade much more in fantasy baseball, it’s going to happen more. 

Joe (@JoePisapia17): No. Never. It only leads to bad things. Value is in the eye of the beholder and trades can’t be evaluated the day they happen. Only after the players put forth their performance can a trade be truly evaluated.

Evan (Roto_Wizard): I recently created an article entitled “The art of the fantasy baseball trade” which I think managers would find extremely useful. It points out the do’s and don’ts on how to complete a successful trade, and also provides suggestions on how to gain the most value out of each trade that you are a part of. Feel free to check it out if you have a moment: http://www.fantasytrade411.com/2013/04/14/the-art-of-the-fantasy-baseball-trade/

Joe (@JoePisapia17):  I addressed the topic in the Fantasy Baseball Black Book. http://www.fantasyblackbook.com/2013/03/the-art-of-fantasy-baseball-trade.html

The announcement was made today by Steiner Sports Memorabilia, and Danny Mantle, Mantle’s son. The on line Steiner “Ground-Breaking Auction” gets underway on May 1 and concludes on June 2.

A press conference will be held at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center on the campus of Montclair State University on Monday, April 29, at 11:00 AM to showcase the contract, and other rare artifacts. Danny Mantle, Brandon Steiner, Founder of Steiner Sports, and executive vice president Brett Schissler will be in attendance to field questions.

“My mom (Merlyn) deserves all the credit for saving my father’s contracts in a file cabinet to preserve them,” says Danny Mantle. “The 1960 contract is in perfect condition and looks brand new.

“Even though it’s six months later, the devastation of Hurricane Sandy is still severely impacting many people. We decided to take the contract and put it to good use to raise some money for the victims.”

The auction ironically begins on May 1, 62 years to the date in 1951 that Mantle hit his first of 536 career home runs (ranks 16th all-time) in Pinstripes.

The contract is signed by “The Mick” and Henry Roy Hamey, a long-time employee of the Yankees who he reached the pinnacle of his career when he was appointed the general manager in November 1960. Although he inherited a pennant winner from his predecessor, George Weiss, Hamey maintained the Yankee standard. He produced three additional American League champions and two World Series champions in his three full seasons in the GM chair, before retiring in the autumn of 1963.

The auction also includes the 1939 Yankees World Championship Ring of Weiss, the prolific baseball executive whose Bronx Bombers teams won 10 pennants and seven World Series Championships, including five straight. One of the most successful baseball executives in history, Weiss was the Yankees GM from 1947-60. He was known for developing the Yankees fertile farm system, producing such players as Mantle, Phil Rizzuto and Joe DiMaggio. He was also the first president of the Mets. He was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1971.

A 1929 New York Yankees Team Signed Baseball is in the auction, with clear signatures of such greats as Babe Ruth, Earle Combs, Tony Lazzeri, Lou Gehrig, Leo Durocher, Miller Huggins, and Jacob Ruppert.

The Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund will serve three areas of relief and recovery for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

- Initial relief, especially through these difficult upcoming holiday times,
- Long term recovery, which is outlined below, and
- Long term mitigation building back better and stronger.

Atlanta Braves: The aforementioned OF Justin Upton now has 11 HRs so far. Not a bad start to his Brave career, his brother however has been the exact opposite as he is still struggling to adjust to National League pitching…..Fantasy owners couldn’t have been to happy this week. Not only might they have missed the lineup deadline regarding OF Jason Heyward’s appendectomy, but they also lost three games at Coor’s Field, which is still a hitter’s haven no matter how cold it is. Reed Johnson should be the beneficiary of playing time in his absence but Evan Gattis could also get a look to see if he can handle the job.

Chicago Cubs: The Cubs seem to be at their wits end regarding SS Starlin Castro. He keeps making the same mistakes over and over again. He is still an extremely young player but doesn’t seem to be maturing whatsoever. Don’t be surprised if the Cubs check out his trade value once again this summer…..The Cubs signed RP Kevin Gregg last week, he got the save Tuesday night and might receive a few more chances with Carlos Marmol still a wreck and Kyuji Fujikawa still on the DL…..Manager Dale Sveum has actually threatened Castro and 1B Anthony Rizzo with demotion to AAA if they don’t turn things around soon.

Cincinnati Reds: Starting pitcher Tony Cingrani has certainly impressed the team. Johnny Cueto still looks to be a few weeks away, and if Cingrani is still pitching well when he returns, the Reds will have an interesting decision to make…..Outfielder Jay Bruce hit his first HR of the season Monday in what should be a sign of things to come, when you look at this lineup from top to bottom this team can hit, power, speed, they have it all.

Colorado Rockies: Funny how the Rockies had one of the best records in the N.L. before facing a real team in the Atlanta Braves. The Rockies hot start is a mirage, they don’t have anywhere near the pitching depth to continue this long term…..And speaking of pitching depth they have to hope that SP Jhoulys Chacin is ready to come off the DL when he is first able. He has been diagnosed with a mid-back strain, nothing to serious, but no guarantee it will dissipate in two weeks either.

Los Angeles Dodgers: The Dodgers starting rotation is a mess right now. Clayton Kershaw is not pitching well. Zack Greinke is still on the shelf with a broken collarbone. Chad Billingsley is gone for the year and will need Tommy John surgery and the team may be rushing Ted Lilly back because of the desperation. It’s still very early, but the Dodgers need this rotation to settle down. Top pitching prospect Zack Lee is no longer considered a future star either. The top pitching jewels in the organization were traded last year to the Red Sox for 1B Adrian Gonzalez, OF Carl Crawford, and SP Josh Beckett. The team may wish they had Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa back in the fold.

Miami Marlins: Slugging OF Giancarlo Stanton is still looking for his first HR of the season. His name is going to be thrown out quite often in trade discussions but since he isn’t close to free agency, you have to think Miami will hold onto him. I know they could receive a bounty for him but he is already a proven star, granted an unhappy one, isn’t this the kind of player you want to build around? Ricky Nolasco has to think he might be dealt sooner or later also to a contender that needs a rotation arm.

Milwaukee Brewers: Did anyone see that play involving SS Jean Segura last week. The one where he stole 2B then was caught in a run down along with another runner from 1B. They both ended up on 2B, were both tagged, but Segura didn’t realize that even though he wasn’t the first runner to 2B he is still considered safe because it was his base originally, so he walk off, thinking he’s out, but ends up at 1B because no on re-tagged him. Been following baseball since the 70s, never seen that ,no idea how to score it, and really hope it never happens again. According to the rules czar, he should’ve been called out anyway when he went back to 1B.

New York Mets: Plenty of analysts are making noise that SP Matt Harvey is the best in the N.L. right now. Listen, the kids is good, really good, but can he at least pitch a full season before we go making this statement. In order for the Mets to stay in any kind of playoff race, they need Harvey to be great all year long, Jonathan Niese to be good, and Zack Wheeler to pitch well if and when he gets called up. Now Niese took a comebacker off his ankle Tuesday night and had to leave the game, but looks to have escaped serious injury. Wheeler has been dealing with a blister on his pitching hand for most of the season and has had control problems in AAA. Some people still believe that Wheeler has a brighter future than Harvey, if so, the Mets are in pretty good shape.

Philadelphia Phillies: Third baseman Michael Young has a 14-game hitting streak going. Problem is the last 12 of those games he only has one hit in each, and there really hasn’t been much power going on here…..Catcher Carlos Ruiz should return from his suspension on Sunday to add some depth to the lineup, OF Delmon Young in about 10 days from his stint on the DL…..Roy Halladay had another good start last time out and has started throwing his sinker more and more. He might be figuring things out, but still doubt he ever becomes what he once was.

Pittsburgh Pirates: The Pirates are playing much better ball of late and a good reason for that is because they are hitting better. Catcher Russell Martin and 2B Neil Walker have finally picked up their play and 3B Pedro Alvarez is starting to hit for power. This team has to hit in order to win as their starting staff is average to a tick above average at best…..Speaking of pitching, Francisco Liriano should be ready to join the rotation the first week in May.

St. Louis Cardinals: So, Edward Mujica is now the closer for the Cards, how long until Trevor Rosenthal gets his chance….We’ve heard some comments from OF Carlos Beltran this week that he wants to continue his career beyond this season and would really like to get to 400 HRs. He seems to have also come to the conclusion that a move to the American League and the DH is probably in order. I still wonder if and when the Cardinals feel they need something in order to win this season, if they don’t trade Beltran, thus opening up a spot for Oscar Tavares, and get what they need in return.

San Diego Padres: Outfielder Carlos Quentin has returned from his suspension, now we just have to wait until he gets hurt again…..Chase Headley has also returned to 3B. I’m very curious about him this season. Want to see if he can follow up a breakout 2012 campaign with another. I still have my doubts about him.

San Francisco Giants: In my hosts draft for SiriusXM, I had a choice Matt Cain or Madison Bumgarner, oops…..Fantasy wise I have to take a look at SP Barry Zito, but that being said can really only think about starting him against weak hitting opponents or at home…..First baseman Brandon Belt has come up with a few big hits this week, would really like to see what he could do with 500+ ABs.

Washington Nationals: The Nats have been in somewhat of a tailspin ever since Drew Storen blew the save in the first game of the Braves series. Storen was only closing because Rafael Soriano had pitched in the three games prior. I’m sure this is just coincidence, but the Nats are just 3-9 since that game…..Shortstop Ian Desmond is on pace to make 50+ errors this season, ouch…..I know they have a great starting three, but Ross Detwiler is pretty good also.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @georgekurtz.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and the United States Mint announced today the names of the judges who will help choose the image for the obverse (heads side) of the 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin. The judges are all Hall of Famers and represent more than half of the nine positions on the diamond: Joe Morgan (second baseman, elected 1990); Brooks Robinson (third baseman, elected 1983); Ozzie Smith (shortstop, elected 2002); Don Sutton (pitcher, elected 1998); and Dave Winfield (outfielder, elected 2001).

The design competition, which began April 11 and runs through May 11 at noon ET, is open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents ages 14 and older. The winner of the design competition will be awarded $5,000 and the winner’s initials will appear on the minted coins.

“This is a Hall of Fame lineup that’s sure to produce a winner,” said Jeff Idelson, President, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “Our Hall of Fame members show year-round support for our efforts to fulfill our mission to Preserve History, Honor Excellence and Connect Generations, and this is yet another example of the legends of the game stepping to the plate for the Museum. We are so appreciative of the efforts of Joe, Brooks, Ozzie, Don and Dave – and we all look forward to the final design selection.”

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Richard Hanna sponsored the National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2012. The Coin Act calls for a three-coin program of $5 gold, $1 silver, and half-dollar clad coins, and requires a competition to select a common obverse design emblematic of the game of baseball.

“The Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin creates a lasting legacy for baseball and our national pastime,” said Winfield. “It is an honor for me to be a judge in this competition, to review submissions and help select the winning design that will appear on these coins. This program will ensure that the Hall of Fame can reach new audiences through its award-winning educational programs from Cooperstown for audiences around the world.”

In addition, the $5 gold and $1 silver coins will be the first “curved” coins minted and issued by the United States Mint, with the reverses (tail sides) being convex to more closely resemble a baseball and the obverses being concave to provide a more dramatic design. The winning obverse design will be unveiled later this year.

Click here for more details.

Boston Red Sox: Good to see things getting back to normal in Boston, at least as normal as can be, after the bombing…..Now the Sox need to get their starting pitching in check. John Lackey is expected to return Sunday versus the Houston Astros, not the greatest test on the planet, but the Sox are thrilled to get him back in the rotation, especially after his replacement, Alfredo Aceves, was lit up for 8 runs, 7 earned in just over 3 innings Tuesday…..Some are complaining about the Boston decision to sit DH David Ortiz so often in the early going. Relax people, baseball is a long season, better to sit him now and have him healthy in August then to push to far to fast and lose him for a chunk of the year.

Chicago White Sox: Outfielder Dayan Viciedo had to be placed on the DL with an oblique injury. These injuries can be tricky as it can be extremely tough to tell if a player is completely healed from the injury until he swings violently again…..Dylan Axelrod has had two impressive outings in a row and could be a sneaky pickup in fantasy leagues, especially AL only ones.

Cleveland Indians: The Indians and SS Asdrubal Cabrera got lucky when an unfortunate spill resulted only in a wrist contusion and not something much more serious…..Starting pitcher Brett Myers was sent to the DL with a slight tear in his UCL. Sounds more serious than it is right now and he is expected to begin throwing again in about two weeks, not that it really matters though as he has been pretty awful so far this season, addition by subtraction anyone.

Detroit Tigers: So the closer carousel comes full circle in Detroit, Jose Valverde is expected to return to the role as early as Wednesday, the team also called up Bruce Rondon who will take the spot of Octavio Dotel who was placed on the DL with an elbow issue…..Starting pitcher Rick Porcello may be playing on borrowed time if he doesn’t start to pitch better. The Tigers do have Drew Smyly just waiting to take his chances in the rotation and he certainly can’t do much worse at this point in time.

Houston Astros: Outfielder Justin Maxwell who is mired in a prolonged slump had to leave the game early Tuesday after getting hit in the hand with a pitch…..The Astros announced that they have no plans on trading SP Bud Norris. Yeah, we’ll see if that tune changes by the deadline…..Outfielder Rick Ankiel has nine hits on the season, five of them HRs. That would seem to be the definition of all or nothing…..If you were worried about Ankiel’s roster spot once Fernando Martinez returned from the DL, well now you don’t have to, J.D. Martinez was placed on the DL to open up a spot.

Kansas City Royals: Pretty impressive double-header sweep by the Royals over the Red Sox on Sunday, perhaps this team is growing up a little faster than expected…..Is it time to start to worry about 1B Eric Hosmer? His GB/FB ratio is extremely low for someone who is expected to be a power hitter…..We all knew that the addition of James Shields would be a boon to the rotation, but Ervin Santana could be equally as important if he can continue to pitch this well all season…..Any thoughts of Greg Holland losing his closing role can be put to bed for now, not only did he have a really good weekend, but his closest competition, Kelvin Herrera did not.

Los Angeles Angels: Anyone who has seen 1B Albert Pujols play has to think a DL stint is in his future. They will have to DH him for the remainder of the season. He has plantar fasciitis, and the problem with that injury is, two weeks rest is not enough time for it to heal. Two months may not be enough either…..SS Erick Aybar should be ready to return at some point in the next week…..Tommy Hanson will miss his start Wednesday, not because of an injury, but because he had to be placed on the bereavement list, Jerome Williams will start in his place.

Minnesota Twins: One of the Twins top offensive prospects, Oswaldo Arcia, hit his first career HR on Tuesday. Still not sure what the Twins will do over the course of the season with Arcia as either Ryan Doumit or Chris Palmelee would have to sit in his stead…..I know we have spoken about this before, but still have to wonder why Minnesota didn’t put a retractable dome on top of Target Field. Looks like they may play quite a few doubleheaders this season.

New York Yankees: On the injury front for the Yankees. Best case scenario for SS Derek Jeter is a return after the ASB, pretty much the same as for 3B Alex Rodriguez. Outfielder Curtis Granderson looks like a mid-May return. He needs to strengthen his arm and get some ABs, probably 50-70 between simulated and AAA games. First baseman Mark Teixeira is still experiencing some stiffness in his wrist but his timetable is probably mid-May as well…..I’m sure you have all heard now about 2B Robinson Cano’s link to the PED scandal. Perhaps it was just his charity’s employee and it had nothing to do with him, but his best friend in baseball, Toronto OF Melky Cabrera, plus teammates Alex Rodriguez and Francisco Cervelli have all been connected here. Where there is smoke, there is generally fire.

Oakland Athletics: The A’s received some good news about SP Brett Anderson, it doesn’t look like he will miss a start after turning his ankle the last time he pitched, and with his injury history, that’s no small feat…..Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes will be back with the team Sunday, the first day he is eligible to come off the DL…..A’s also have to be encouraged about Jarrod Parker’s last start, we much better than his previous ones, perhaps he just got off to a slow start.

Seattle Mariners: Looking back at the C Jesus Montero for SP Michael Pineda deal, neither team may have gotten when they wanted. Montero is off to a slow start again and it is painfully obvious that he is a DH in the making, not exactly what you wanted when you traded away a top pitcher like Pineda, but then again Pineda’s shoulder surgery probably eliminates any chances of him becoming a future ace. Guess it all evened out in the end…..For those fantasy owners who were worrying about 3B Kyle Seagar, relax, he looks really good of late.

Tampa Bay Rays: David Price may have taken the loss Tuesday versus the Yankees, but he looked much better in this start than in his first three, this could be the beginning of a nice run for Price…..One SP who isn’t having any problems is Matt Moore, outside of the HR on a hanging curve he allowed to NYY 2B Robinson Cano, he was unhittable Monday. He’s going to have a Cy Young type season…..Think it’s safe to say after another poor outing by RP Fernando Rodney on Tuesday that the Rays hate the World Baseball Classic. There was some noise during the WBC that Tampa was unhappy with how often the Dominican Republic was using Rodney, and those fears have been realized as he is having a poor start to the season.

Texas Rangers: Starting Pitcher Matt Harrison underwent back surgery Tuesday, he is expected to return after the ASB…..Martin Perez is ready to begin a rehab assignment next week, but even if he gets through three or four starts without any problems, he may not be a lock to get back in the rotation, Justin Grimm and Nick Tepesch have pitched pretty well in his absence.

Toronto Blue Jays: Good news and bad news for SP R.A. Dickey. The good, he was able to make his start Tuesday after having to be removed early from his last one with neck and back stiffness. The bad, he got off to a rough start allowing four early runs and took the loss…..Watching SP Brandon Morrow the other night, he does not look like the same pitcher. He didn’t have overpowering stuff and looked like he was aiming the ball rather than just letting it fly.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @georgekurtz.

The keeper league adds that layer of patience that makes every decision a bit more difficult. Still, patience and belief in your draft is needed. Gardner will eventually run. Escobar will hit enough to justify a spot. In one league that I am in, Wade Davis was cut after his first start. The analysis from the experts all pointed to the fact that Davis lost the velocity he had last season when he worked out of the bullpen. Davis spun five shutout innings to beat the Twins in his next start. When I lost a pitcher, I picked Davis off the waiver wire and enjoyed his 7 inning shutout against the Braves. This is where it got interesting. Another owner posted he needed a pitcher because he was sick of watching his pitchers get bombed. I emailed him that I had Davis. He offered Indians closer Chris Perez for him and I quickly accepted the deal. Davis should have a solid season, but because I don’t value closers during the draft, I have been playing the saves speculation game. For the moment, I have an actual closer at the cost of a pitcher who made exactly one start for me.

The lesson? There is never a reason to overreact in the first couple of weeks when it comes to performances. This owner overpaid for Davis, who at best will be a slightly better than league average starter. Even if Perez loses his job or goes to the National Leagues (it’s an AL-only league), I acquired him for a waiver wire pickup. If you can find an owner who will make a panic trade, strike now.

The other lesson is what I’ve been harping on for weeks. Closers are overvalued during drafts. If I had offered that deal during the winter or right after the draft, I’d be turned down. Once the season starts, those once highly valued closers can be had. Saves can be found.

Lesson On Rookies

One of the biggest misnomers of keeper leagues is the importance placed on acquiring rookies. There are owners who love young players, believing that they can build a team around young talent. Rookies tug at all of us. There is nothing but promise when they first come up. We don’t see their flaws. We don’t see the potential for failure. Then, we think of Bryce Harper and Mike Trout, two of the best rookies Major League Baseball has seen in the last couple of decades. The reality is that most rookies put you in last place. The owner who values rookies and trades veterans like Paul Konerko for a young player will never win. Ever.

Aaron Hicks had a nice spring training to win the Twins’ centerfield job. He’s hitting .059/.200/.259. There is no doubt that Hicks has skills and a world of potential. But, he is not ready to make an impact. Even one of my favorite rookies from last season, Matt Moore, wasn’t worth the price he went for in most drafts. Year two is a different story as that year of experience seems like it did him some good.

Already, three highly touted rookies have been called up as the Diamondbacks have called up shortstop Didi Gregorius, the Nationals have called up Anthony Rendon, and the Reds called up pitching prospect Tony Cingrani. Gregorius already has a couple of home runs and Rendon has played in just one game. Both players have a world of talent, but even in the most deep keeper leagues, both should be politely passed by. Unless you were the owner of Ryan Zimmerman or Aaron Hill, there is no reason to release a reliable player for either rookie. Gregorius is more of a defense-first player and the power isn’t likely real. Rendon has some offensive skills, but is still likely too raw right now. Cingrani is the only must-have out of the group as the hard throwing southpaw pitches for a good team, has elite level strikeout ability, and has been brought along properly. If Cingrani is truly up for the season, he can pitch about 180 to 190 innings, making a late season shutdown unlikely.

With the end of the first month freeing up teams to call up some of their better prospects without the risk of losing a year of team control, some big names will brought up in the near future. Oscar Taveras and Wil Myers are the headliners. Taveras has been talked up quite a bit and is even in trade rumors for Rangers shortstop prospect Jurickson Profar. But, Taveras is just 21 years old and hasn’t shown the type of plate discipline that shouts out definite star. Myers, on the other hand, has more than demonstrated it, is a bit older, and has plus power potential. Of the two, Myers is likely to have a more immediate impact.

Keeper leagues do have the element of the long term, but that element isn’t carried as far needing to get young, unproven talent. There is no need to unload the FAAB budget on any highly touted prospect, but if you feel the need, Myers and Cingrani are the safest bets.

Closer Turn
Two former closers have recently signed minor league deals with their former clubs. Jose Valverde signed with the Tigers while Francisco Rodriguez inked a deal with the Brewers. Valverde seems to have the trust of Jim Leyland who practically had to be pried away from him in the postseason. With Leyland not really all that comfortable with the committee approach, Valverde just has to show he is healthy and regained his confidence. Rodriguez could be handed the closer role if he can show he can get outs.

Edward Mujica is next to try his hand at the closer role in St. Louis. With Trevor Rosenthal not really showing much right now, Mujica could hold the job despite his low strikeout rate.

Greg Holland seems to have re-cemented his status as Royals’ closer after his disastrous start. Kelvin Herrera can be safely released for the time being unless your league counts holds for some strange reason.

Under The Wire Pickup
For some reason, I’ve been tracking Roberto Hernandez, formerly Fausto Carmona. Maybe it has to do with him being on the Rays now or maybe it’s just the name, but I liked how he threw in Spring Training and thought it meant something when he was given the Rays’ fifth starter job. His overall numbers aren’t spectacular: 1-3, 4.74 ERA in four starts with a 1.297 WHIP. But, he has 25 strikeouts in 24.2 innings and is coming off his best start of the year. I finally picked him up in one of my leagues. Then, I read this by Jason Collette, one of the best writers and analysts in business. I feel much better about my choice.