Friday Fantasy Chat
Update: Chat will start at 2pm instead of noon.
Just a quick reminder to head back here on Friday for a fantasy chat at noon eastern time. We’ll talk strategy, trades, prospects… whatever you want.
Marc Hulet has been writing at FanGraphs since 2008. His work focuses on prospects and fantasy. Follow him on Twitter @marchulet.
What is your take on John Ely? Is he worth a WW pick up or just a spot start? I need pitching and thinking of dropping Carlos Gomez for him. Would you do it?
Thought I would get in line now before the mad rush. I am in a shallow NL only league. I am currently carrying 7 SP (T. Hanson, Jonathan Sanchez, T. Gorzelanny, H. Bailey, J. Garcia, M. Leake and Ian Kennedy) and I really only should have 5 because of innings pitched limits. Which of the aforementioned would you keep and which would you sell or dump? Thanks for the help.
I’m considering trading Rios, CarGo, or Manny. Which player do you think I can get the most value out of on the trade market? Or which player (two players) would you rather have on your team for the rest of the season?
Have a very scuffling lineup with guys who you’d think would rebound (Grady, Quentin, Chone) and need to know whether I should pull the trigger on one of the following deals. If so, which trade should I make?
Giving up Vladdy/Garza for Tex/Markakis
Giving up Vladdy/Garza for Votto/Crawford
You don’t need an expert for that one. Go grab Votto and Crawford, that’s a no-brainer.
Normally I’d agree but Votto’s HR/FB rate is ridiculous right now. Couple that with his terrible LD% and that we penalize hitters’ Ks in my league and I have to wonder if he’s due for a regression. Vladdy’s peripherals are in line with his career and he in Arlington is like Eric Byrnes on a Menlo Park softball field. Of course, Carl Crawford is Carl Crawford.
But do you really think that Vlad will outperform Votto for the rest of the year? And the added touch of Crawford is what puts this over the top. Garza is pitching over his head and you can likely find a pitcher on waivers to perform reasonably well. But finding guys as valuable as Votto and Crawford is near impossible at this point.
I’m definitely leaning toward making the trade but I don’t think Garza is really pitching above his head. I think these are legitimate strides to a career as an ace who contending for Cy Youngs.
Vladdy won’t out perform Votto in terms of WAR or VORP necessarily or even hit more HR but in a league that penalizes Ks (Vladdy amazingly doesn’t strike out despite his O-swing proclivities but Votto on the other hand…) and with a much better offense around him, Vlad could out perform Votto in R and RB to go along with 2/3rd the amount of Ks. OBP & SLG could be a wash. In this league, Vlad is worth a closer look.
But Crawford should seal it. Thanks for the input.
Are there any signs of hope for Adam Jones? What exactly is buttressing his RoS projection which, given his performance over the last year, seems…lofty.
I think you can cut bait with Jones. He had an amazing 6 weeks at the beginning of last season and has been a horrible fantasy player since then. He batted .240 with a .670 OPS from May 21st through the end of the 2009. So it has been about a year since he had the hot streak. I don’t think 2010 is the year you should expect him to figure it out.
my team needs saves; i have decent SP.
Is this a fair trade, or am I an idiot for even considering the following?
Street for Hamels
or
Street for Nolasco
I wouldn’t trade those guys for Street unless your team is loaded with great starting pitchers. Like, if Nolasco or Hamels are among your worst starters, then and only then should you consider this. Saves will probably appear on waivers soon enough. Contreras might take over for Lidge, Hoffman is terrible and might give way to Villanueva, Dotel’s saves could fall to Meek, Thornton could take over for Jenks, Rafael Soriano rarely stays healthy for a full year, Wagner has durability concerns, Fuentes/Rodney is a big ball of uncertainty. I think I would rather hope for one of those scenarios to go my way than trade a good starter for a non-elite (and recently injured) closer.
Who has more value for the rest of this season, David Freese or Ike Davis?
My OF are stacked. 12 team Head to Head points. My SP is good, but I’m looking to bolster it. My OF are Matt Holliday, Andrew McCutchen, Justin Upton, Jason Heyward, and Chase Headley as a 3B/OF. Which one of these guys do you think could end up with the worst season? Which do I look to trade to get a top 25 SP? What caliber SP should I look for? A Ricky Nolasco? Better? Worse?