***Official July Fantasy Baseball Thread***

[4 High]

I would test the waters, and if you can get good value go for it.

Out of Olsen, Wakefield, Glavine and Colon which one do you guys like best for having a good second half. I could use the spot to stream i guess, but i dont have the time to really do in depth streaming.

[NT!]

[ QUOTE ]
so what do we think of Brad Penny? due for a bad 2nd half, or is this a return to good form for him?

I'm torn on him. his first half was great, and anything close to that in the 2nd would help me out. in addition, he only costs me $3, so could be a good player next year at $6.

hedge my bet by trading now for a good player?

[/ QUOTE ]

i don't know so much about keeper leagues but he has an injury history and tends to fade in the 2nd half, they were discussing him in the megathread IIRC

[NT!]

midseason brag / strategy update:

sold high on ordonez, have a bunch of great relief pitching, am running good with my starters and have been lucky to avoid major injuries.

i am looking for ways to improve my current lineup and am wondering about moving manny for either a SP or a top-flight SS. i just got tulowitzki and he could end up being extremely valuable at SS so i'm leaning towards going after a SP. this is all contingent on luis gonzalez being consistent and manny not tearing everything up in the 2nd half (i don't think he will).

anyway, 6x6 standard roto adding holds and OPS, here is what i have now:

C Mauer
1B V Martinez
2B Utley
3B A-Ram
SS Tulowitzki
LF Manny
CF Sizemore
RF Drew
UTIL Frank Thomas

Bench: Zimmerman, Luis Gonzalez, Brendan Harris, Mike Cameron

my hitting looks pretty [censored] sick right now although drew still makes me a little nervous. but if he and mags are in line with 2nd half projections he isn't much of a downgrade and i turned mags into grady sizemore so that seems like a no-brainer.

my pitching is ok - my bullpen pwns and my SP is meh

SP: Maine, Lowe, Vasquez, Maddux, Randy J, Sean Marshall
RP: Saito, Okajima, Accardo, Heath Bell, R Betancourt, C Villanueva

since we count holds, all of those guys but accardo is among the top 10 in RP so far this season.

so right now i am thinking i should

-drop cameron and look for a RF / UTIL type guy on waivers instead
-think about selling high on maine
-possibly move mauer since he's allegedly going to be bothered by that leg all year
-maybe move manny for a SP or a SS

any thoughts on these ideas? i'm in 3rd out of 12 with two guys a little bit ahead of me and everyone else way back. so far i have been struggling on offense (runs, RBI, HR) because a couple guys have been underperforming, but after bringing in sizemore i have high hopes.

[dkgojackets]

So I'm dumping Alex Gonzalez (Reds) from my UTIL and going to pick up a FA. I'm looking at

Josh Willingham
Dan Johnson
Khalil Greene
David Dejesus

My other current position players are
Hernandez
Delgado
Uggla
Zimmerman
Reyes
Ordonez
Holliday
C. Lee

I was thinking Willingham.

[slothinator]

[ QUOTE ]
I would test the waters, and if you can get good value go for it.

Out of Olsen, Wakefield, Glavine and Colon which one do you guys like best for having a good second half. I could use the spot to stream i guess, but i dont have the time to really do in depth streaming.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd rank those 4 in this order:

Glavine - numbers are meh, but he'll win with the Mets

Wakefield - like Glavine, wins from offense; prone to disasterous starts

Olsen - pitched better lately, but a lot of walks and blows up once in a while

Colon - we have seen the best of El Tubbo; those days are not coming back, and you do not want

Depending on your needs, I'd go with a high K / low ERA / low WHIP RP in this spot. I've mentioned the 3 relivers equals one starter strategy on here before. I'm doing this in a 5x5 roto league. I couldn't find a suitable starting pitcher, so I'm using Bell / Gallardo / Marmol instead. It takes 3 roster spots, but I'm getting 200 IP of great ERA and WHIP, better than a K/IP, and combined they'll win 10-15 games and get me around 5 saves. Not many SP provide those kind of numbers.

[slothinator]

Don't cut Cameron; try to trade him. HR/SB combos are hard to find, and you should be able to get something if you package him properly.

I'd hang on to Maine, as it's looking like his correction to the norm may not be as bad as expected. His control has been improving (4 BB in 40 IP in June) and he'll win a lot of games with the Mets. Worry about removing Maddux; he's the sore spot in your rotation.

Move Mauer for a 1B and move Martinez behind the plate. Maybe do Mauer/Cameron for a good 1B.

Manny >>>> Gonzalez; plus, one of the unwritten rules of fantasy is never trade a bat for an arm. Also, you can't get fair value for Manny with his low production so far this year. Ride him out unless someone blows you out of the water (someone offered me Manny and I-Rod for Dice-K; LDO, i took the trade. Viva la Manny's 2nd half!!!).

[slothinator]

[ QUOTE ]
So I'm dumping Alex Gonzalez (Reds) from my UTIL and going to pick up a FA. I'm looking at

Josh Willingham
Dan Johnson
Khalil Greene
David Dejesus

My other current position players are
Hernandez
Delgado
Uggla
Zimmerman
Reyes
Ordonez
Holliday
C. Lee

I was thinking Willingham.

[/ QUOTE ]

Willingham for sure, unless you need help in a specific area. Otherwise, just take the best player available.

[NT!]

sloth,

actually, i'm afraid cameron won't get me much of anything in trade in this league. people just don't want him. he was on waivers most of the season. i offered him as part of the sizemore package and the guy wanted matt kemp instead (non keeper).

and someone will probably grossly overpay for manny. i could probably get a good OF like victorino (who has actually been better so far this year) along with a SP for him. if i packaged manny and mauer i could probably get a top flight SP and a 1B. i might go this route.

[slothinator]

If you've already exhausted the trade route with Cameron, then let him go IF there is a useful player available on the WW. Don't cut him just to cut him, get something you can use or someone that has some potential or upside.

As for Manny, like I said, deal him if you get an offer that blows you out of the water. Just don't let him go for his "current" value; he's still Manny Ramirez.

[Karak567]

Haren and Cust for Sheffield and Kevin Gregg

pretty baller trade eh?