Yes. Then start trading from depth.

Is Michael Cuddyer (1B, 3B, OF) droppable?

3/28, no XBH, no R, no RBI, no SB

I have him on my roster mostly for flexibility, he's a good person to fill in on days off. Hitting 5th in MIN lineup today. Would not start on my team when everyone is healthy.

I want to pick up Sam Fuld instead.

not after tonight

I actually picked up Ogando instead. I waited for Delmon to clear waivers. How much is he actually worth?

A few pitchers I could drop to get him.

Wade Davis
Clayton Richard
Javier Vazquez

Also a couple other players are on the wire.

Rafael Furcal
Jorge Posada
Russell Martin (I am starting Wieters)
David Freese (I am starting Chipper Jones)

Depends on league size. He is never again gonna put up the seasons he did in 2006 or 2009.

Expect about the same as his line last year, maybe a couple more HRs, small drop in batting average, and small drop in run production.

Furcal is probably going to retire so I wouldn't grab him.

Trying to figure out a way to grab Jesse Crain in one league...

My current staff is:
Felix
Weaver
Lee
Narveson
Beachy
-------------------
Kimbrel
Nunez
Walden
Soriano
Venters

I'm currently right on pace with my innings cap. Do you drop either Venters or Soriano for Crain? Those are the only droppable RP imo. I could also drop one of Beachy/Narveson and go with 4 SP (3 of which are bonafide aces)

I'd dump Vazquez if I were you. Maybe give him 1 more start to prove himself but that's it. I have McCann in a 1 catcher league and grabbed Martin last week in hopes of being able to trade him (no luck yet). I think he's too good relative to other C to just be sitting on the WW. He's looking primed for a top-5 season right now.

I'm a mildly frustrated Cuddyer owner, too, but I think you have to hold onto him. He's obviously going to start hitting at some point (possibly starting last night), and the potential for 2B/3B eligibility is a really nice bonus. He started at 2B again today, and he only needs to play (not even start) there ~2 times a week before Nishioka is healthy to gain 2B eligibility.

I'm decided to carry 0 true RPs and focus on having all starters in the hope I win Ws and Ks each week. Who are the SP, RPs I should look to pick up?

Here's the WW:

Matt Harrison
Narveson
Crow
Masterson

Thoughts?

I'd go Harrison, out of that list. I'm scared of older players with hot starts, Narveson/masterton. And Crow has only had 1 good start.

Alexi Ogando 2-0 13IP, 8k, 0era, 0.5 whip - Texas, lots of wins there

Zach Britton same numbers but vs TB and NYY - Balt, not lots of wins there, true rookie

which has better long term value

With the exception of Feliz, Texas bullpen is really weak and they have several starters who should be getting healthy soon. Ogando only threw ~70 innings over all levels last season, so hes not going to get pushed much past 130-140. All these factors point to him getting moved to relief sometime in early/mid summer to both strengthen the bullpen and limit his innnings this year.
So for the long term i would say britton, but to be honest im not really high on him either... even though he has looked really good so far, he still must face Tor/Bos/NYY all the time, and Camden yards is one of the most HR friendly parks in all of baseball. Not a good combo, esp considering he will also be on an innings limit.

Now if this is a temp pickup for the next 2-3 months, then i would take Ogando, no questions asked.

If either Beachy or Pineda are available, i would grab either/both before the guys you mentioned. Pineda is the more hyped of the 2, but Beachy has the control and stuff to become the right handed Cliff Lee - his minor league numbers were absolutely ridiculous, and he can even light it up in the mid 90's when he wants. Look here:
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx...851&position=P

now heres my question...
--My league allows only 3 adds per week, and we have 3 DL slots.--
--we have 3 SP, 2 RP, and 2 P slots (24 man roster)--
--H2H 6x6 with these pitching categories: W sv era whip QS K's--
Frank Francisco and Brad Lidge are both curently on the DL, but are available as FA.
i currently have Kimbrel, Street, Walden, and Conteras on my roster. When i activate Morrow form the DL I am going to add either Lidge/Francisco but my question is which one?

Lidge would allow me to hedge my bet considering I already have Contreras, but i have a hard time believing he will be back anytime before the All Star break, and he might not be right the entire season. But he is great insurance for Conteras (or the other way around)

F. Francisco will be back within the next week or 2, but he may not immediately be given the closer role, and he has been getting lit up in his minor league rehab appearances. But he *was* acquired via trade specifically to close for the Jays.

Also, im mostly looking to add one of these guys so that i can trade him or one of my current closers in the near future... either to upgrade a position or get a draft pick for next yr. i dont really want to carry 5 RP on my active roster bc i think the bench spots are more valuable for SP.

here is my pitching roster:
Pitchers
SP: Jon Lester (SP), Mat Latos (SP), Daniel Hudson (SP)
RP: Jose Contreras (RP), Craig Kimbrel (RP)
P: Jordan Walden (RP), Huston Street (RP)
BN: Michael Pineda (SP), Max Scherzer(SP), Jordan Zimmermann (SP), Brandon Beachy (SP), Ricky Nolasco (SP)
DL: Brandon Morrow (SP), Stephen Strasburg (SP)
(this is a keeper league which is why i have Strasburg - i can keep him in the 20th rd next yr.
also Nishioka is using my 3rd DL slot)

he was just tilted after fluke breaking his thumb, he's not gonna retire

Harrison isn't some young kid really. He is 25 and less than 6 months younger than Masterson. And with how funky aging curves are for pitchers I wouldn't worry much about the difference between a good start of the season from Narveson who is 29 and a 25 year old.

Also Crow has 0 starts this year and I think the Royals see him as a bullpen arm only at this point. And people considering Crow to boost their ratios out of the pen should consider Tim Collins instead. He has been just as good this year and has had better previous years and much better projections coming into this year. Plus hes like 5'5 so hes more adorable.

Both of them are running good. Britton is a much better long term option, as he is a genuine starter, and should be at least a no. 2 in the end. Ogando is only being used as an emergency starter, and doesn't have the repertoire to start regularly. Both of them could end up out the rotation when injured players come back. Also, I suspect the difference in wins is not that high - Baltimore's lineup is really not that bad.

Also, Narveson is continuing from a very good second half of last season. I would pick him first, then Masterson/Harrison pretty interchangeable. Crow is a reliever now.

In my one 12-team league with no discrepancy between SP and RP (all slots are labeled as 'P', which means I can play more RP on a single day than most people), my staff is currently as follows:

SP: Felix
SP: Weaver
SP: Lee
SP: Beachy
SP: Narveson
RP: Kimbrel (c)
RP: Nunez (c)
RP: Walden (c?)
RP: Thornton (c?)
RP: Venters
RP: Soriano
DL: Downs (just letting him sit in the DL spot until he becomes closer/I need DL for someone else)

In scouring the WW, I've noticed that Kameron Loe has been having a solid year (6.2IP, 1 W, 7K, 2BB). With Axford and Saito both under performing, he might even get a shot at the closer role at some point. Now, I don't want to overreact to 2 weeks, and I had Venters and Soriano way above Loe on my draft board, but does anybody drop someone on my staff for Loe?

Pitching Categories are - W, QS, ERA, WHIP, SV, K

Because my top 3 SP are so studly, I might even be able to drop one of Beachy/Narveson and go with 4 SP and 7 RP. I'd probably hit the 1500 innings cap right on pace. However, QS being a category might make this strategy a bad idea.

Most people don't think Beachy's stuff is good enough to be more than a no. 4-5 starter at the big league level. Also, there's a suspicion that he's only in the rotation so that the Braves can manage Mike Minor's service time.

Pineda, I would take over Britton, but primarily because he has a permanent job. Britton gets a ridiculous number of ground balls, as well as a respectable strikeout rate, so will not be as affected by the park as a lot of other pitchers. Most prospect gurus have Pineda slightly ahead of Britton, but not by a lot.

I think Ogando could be trouble against a better team, and may only stay in the rotation for a month or so. The Rangers still have Harrison (I think) to come back from injury, and the original plan was that Ogando was filling in for him.

i dunno abuot that, ZiPS projections for Beachy are definitely better than a 4-5 starter (3.46 FIP/1.34 WHIP), he had a great walk rate and above average k rate at all stops in the minors.

most people are wrong.
Cliff Lee doesnt have great stuff. he has above average secondary pitches, an average fastball, and elite control/command.
And we all know about Maddux.
Beachy is the same type of pitcher, with similar command, altho obviously not near that level yet, (or perhaps ever).
but he can also can even hit 95+ on occasion.

the fact is, he was better than Mike Minor in the minor leagues, better than Minor in the bigs last yr when both were called up, better than him in spring training this yr, and better than him through 2 starts in the reg season.
Thats why he was given the spot over Minor. Not to protect Minor's service time.... the braves have already proven they dont F their rookie superstars by holding them back for monetary reasons when they think they are actually ready - just look at Heyward and Freeman as prime examples.
Oh and everyone raves about how Minor is a future ace, so what does that say abouth Beachy?

Now im not saying that Beachy will 100% have a better MLB career than Minor, or even that he will remain in the rotation all season. but i think both are very likely.

Also another little known fact is that Beachy has only been pitching for ~3 years. at any level. EVER. he didnt decide to pitch until very late in his amateur career (cant remember exactly off top of my head, but definitely not before his senior year, maybe even after high school? ) and went undrafted. When he started pitching in college he wasnt even the most heralded pitcher on his own team. So he literally came out of nowhere and has incredible polish for such a relatively novice pitcher, with huge upside to improve

John Sickels rated him 9th best Braves prospect - "Finished product, can be a number four starter or a very good reliever. Grade B-"
Kevin Goldstein rated him 10th best Braves prospect - 3 stars - "As easy as it is to like him, it's hard to see Beachy becoming more than a back-end rotation regular."

I think projections are often pretty random for rookies, and shouldn't be relied on too much.

Drop Ian Stewart for Jhonny Peralta / Macier Izturis?
Drop Kila Monster for Garret Jones / Brandon Belt / Brett Wallace / Daniel Murphy?

Sorry to keep clogging up this thread lol, I swear I'll stop.

Last question for the week:
Ian Stewart, Danny Valencia, or Jhonny Peralta? (AVG, OBP, HR, R, RBI, SB)