Some players to keep an eye on and possibly add:
Wilson Ramos – He’s about to take the starting catching job for the Nationals and he will run away with it. He will hit for average, has good power, and will be an offensive threat for years. He was almost traded for Cliff Lee last year to Minnesota, but the Mariners chose Justin Smoak instead. The twins then traded him to the Nats for Matt Capps. He is currently platooning with Ivan Rodriguez, but that will soon change with the way he is hitting. Rumor is that the Red Sox could be interested in acquiring Ivan Rodriguez, which would really free up the spot for him. Regardless of whether or not Pudge moves, Ramos is going to be the starter.
Hank Conger – Same thing for Conger. Soon he will be the everyday catcher in Los Angeles. This guy is the reason why the Angels traded Napoli away. He is already performing in a platoon role, and will be a good add when the job is safely his. If you refer back to my early catcher rankings blog you will see both Ramos and Conger in there.
Chris Coghlan – The former rookie of the year looks the way he did his rookie season. He’s leading off for a great Marlins offense and getting tons of hits. Soon Logan Morrison will return to the lineup, and soon Hanley will start hitting. Once that happens the Marlins will have one of the scariest lineups in the NL, and Coghlan is the guy who sits atop that. Don’t expect much power, but expect lots of hits, average, and runs.
Ryan Raburn – He now has a secure starting job and he’s putting up decent numbers. He has 2B and OF eligibility and is capable of 20-25 HR.
Ryan Ludwick – He is heating up and should be a decent source of HR and RBI.
Buy low on:
Jay Bruce – Now that he is in the #2 spot he should get better pitches to hit. He has major 40 HR power, is now hitting in front of Votto, Phillips, and Gomes, and can run. Someone may be willing to sell him because of his slow start so try to trade for him.
Justin Morneau – He is starting to heat up. Most of his owners are disgruntled and may sell him thinking he is done. Get him now and watch him hit a hot streak for you.
Last week I listed the top 8 two start pitchers to get. For credibility purposes lets see how they looked in their first start this week:
Bud Norris – 6 IP 0 ER 6 K and a no decision
Jon Garland – 7 IP 2 ER 4 K and a no decision
Charlie Morton – 6 IP 1 ER 6 K and a no decision
John Lannan – 5.2 IP 4 ER 3 K and a loss
Zach Britton – 6 IP 1 ER 2 K and a WIN
Dustin Moseley – 6 IP 3 ER 2 K and a no decision
With the exception of Lannan all of these guys got quality starts. They helped your ERA and some of them got you a nice number of K’s. Unfortunately Wade Davis was rained out and Randy Wolf pitched on Sunday. Overall my formula for picking two starters works. If you would like a review of that formula click here.
Looking for some tips.
I’ve got
C – Carlos Santana
1b – Ryan Howard
2b – Brandon Phillips
3b – Pablo Sandoval
SS- Hanley Ramirez
OF – Shin Soo Choo
OF – Andrew McCutchen
OF – Carlos Beltran
UTIL – Colby Rasmus
UTIL – Billy Butler
SP – Michael Pineda
SP – Yovani Gallardo
RP – Jeremy Hellickson
RP – Drew Storen
P – Chris Perez
P – Craig Kimbrel
P – Mat Latos
P – Josh Beckett
P – Ricky Nolasco
BN – Jordan Zimmermann
BN – Jorge De La Rosa
DL – Zach Greinke
DL – Ryan Zimmermann
@Zach Wilt – You should be winning. I don’t really see any holes there at all. Even when Greinke and Zimm come back its going to be hard to find anyone to dump. The only person to possibly upgrade is Beltran. Maybe add a bench hitter to platoon with Beltran when he has bad matchups, but again I don’t see anyone to cut. Your fine as is. I’d imagine you’ve been winning.
Cool. I feel pretty good about my guys. Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing anything right in front of me.
A couple of important notes. Albert Pujols is starting tonight for the Cardinals. Also Wilson Ramos is starting his 3rd consecutive game for the Nationals. He’s still not going to play every single game but it could now be a 4-3 or 5-2 game split in his favor over Pudge.
What do you think about nick swisher and Bret Gardner
@Andy – Both are fine 3rd outfielders. Depends who you have and who you will cut for them. Swisher doesn’t have any HR yet and will still hit 25, so that makes him a buy low. Gardner is also a buy low because he’s struggled so far, but he should be fine too.
So someone just dropped Gardner would you drop him for a guy like Freeman, where he is just a backup?
@Stephen T. – I wouldn’t cut Freeman for him. Much more upside. Swisher just hit his first HR btw. Swisher has more value than Gardner and he has officially just started a hot streak.
What do you think about giving up Michael Bourn for Howie Kendrick? I got shafted in the draft on 1B so I have Carlos Lee, and he’s been playing pretty terrible. I don’t have an especially fast team, but looking at the past weeks, the steals that Bourn has gotten wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the category. I feel like replacing an outfielder will be easier than finding a decent 1B.
If I don’t take the trade, should I just cut Lee now and grab someone off waivers or hold him for a bit longer. Freeman, Ka’aihue, and Wallace are available now, and Pena just hit the waivers.
@Scot – Kendrick is starting to tank as I expected he would. He’s always had potential and he should be better than the previous seasons, but I still don’t see him as a superstar. I think Bourn has more value as an elite base stealer. If you want to punt steals then get someone better for Bourn. Carlos Lee is a slow starter so I wouldn’t dump him. Dump someone else and grab Freeman/Smoak/Wallace. Smoak and Wallace are really hitting right now, which should die off eventually as they will level out to around the same average as Freeman. Its a toss up between all of those guys on who to get. Hard to predict how rookies will continue to play. If Smoak is available he’s been the best and I would take a chance on him first. Then I would go with Freeman since he has massive power and great defense. Wallace would be last because I feel his power is far less than the others. But he will probably give you a better average. I wouldn’t dump Lee for one of these guys though. I’d cut someone else if you have a worse player.