The fantasy season is more than half over, and by now you are probably either panicking in the streets, or petitioning for the rights to the nickname, “Talented Mr. Roto .”
For the ones sitting pretty, good job. Keep up the good work, but don’t get comfortable. Make sure to realistically assess your players’ performances up to this point and don’t sleep on the waiver wire. You can always make you team better. Always.
But it’s the managers mired in mediocrity that I’m here to help.
While I normally don’t advocate trading established talent for a group of unproven guys having good seasons, if you’re weak in multiple positions, it might be time to entertain such trade ideas.
It’s a desperate move and you have to be careful, but if you’re continuing to fall in your league rankings, it can’t hurt to make a bold move or two.
If it works, you’re back in the running, if not, you’re pretty much where you were before.
And of course you should become more active on the waiver wire and start taking fliers on possible diamonds in the rough to replace struggling stars like Aaron Hill, Adam Lind, and Aramis Ramirez.
I’ve listed a few below, all owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues. Good luck.
THREE
Home runs for Matt LaPorta since his call up June 27th .
The former major prospect has been disappointing up until this point. He clearly has the power, but has never been able to carry the .296 career average in the minors over to the big leagues, resulting in a more than a few send backs over the years.
Maybe he finally got fed up with traveling to exotic places like Peoria on Greyhounds, because this time the .364 bashing of minor league pitching has translated to a .333 over the nine games he’s been back, along with a ridiculous 1.178 OPS.
He’s the full-time starter at first base for the Indians now that Russell Branyan got shipped back to Seattle.
He’s currently day-to-day with a head contusion after colliding with Elvis Andrus last night, but NL-only and deep leaguers should snag him and hope this time he’s here to stay.
TWELVE
Consecutive game hit streak for new Rockies’ shortstop Clint Barmes, who’s doing all he can to take the sting out of losing Troy Tulowitzki.
Hopefully Tulo owners picked up the hot Barmes, whose batted .403 and knocked three homers during the streak. His BaBIP has been a bit high as of late (.367) but that tends to be how hit streaks happen. It looks like it’s simply correcting an unfair .244 up until now.
His much improved 2.33 SO/BB ratio gives me optimism for a continued run of success for Barmes. Though, let’s temper our expectations to around a.280 average the rest of the way. Career .248 hitters usually don’t suddenly start hitting .300 the second half of the season.
.302
June batting average for Sean Rodriguez, to go along with four dingers and six stolen bases.
Another second base replacement option, he’s the Rays’ every day starter at the pivot position, and like the Yankees and Rangers, you want a piece of this lineup.
I’m a little nervous about the .366 BaBIP, but considering his gaudy minor league numbers in 2009 (87/30/98/9/.294 in 108 games), he could be a big piece of any manager’s rebuilding hopes.
Now for some other numbers from around the league:
1.014
Jaw-dropping OPS for Joey Votto.
Clearly he’s not taking this snub thing too well.
After Monday’s two bomb performance in which he unloaded some frustration on the Big Apple (like, literally ), he’s at 21 home runs for the season, tying him for first in the majors with Jose Bautista. Who picked that in the pool?
There’s no reason the former Rookie of the Year runner up can’t keep this going.
Consider him a lock for 100+/35/100+/.300 and enjoy.
LeBron’s decision here ! Just kidding, it’s more numbers.
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