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Making pickups and trades is not only fun, fantasy baseball championships are often times won through insightful in-season roster moves.
Therefore, each week during the fantasy baseball season, the Player Xchange examines players that should be appearing on your league's transaction wires—the hot pickups, buy low/sell high guys, and of course the "Dump of the Week".
Buy Low
Bobby Abreu, Phillies: It never fails, every year some great players get off
to slow starts and their short-sighted fantasy owners wind up panicking. Abreu's
slumping bat is one of those eliciting the most groans of frustration from owners.
Through April 22, the Phillies' right fielder was hitting a paltry .170, with
two home runs, four RBI, four runs, and zero stolen bases. Mind you, this is
a .304 career hitter we're talking about. Bobby has stolen more than 20 bases
and hit at least 20 homers in five straight seasons. Abreu was even given the
day off on Tuesday, but remains confident. "I don't get frustrated,"
he told the team's web site. "Anyone can get in a slump. I'll get out of
it. I'm staying positive." I'm positive he'll turn things around too. Send
an email or place a phone call to the owner in your league that has been suffering
through Abreu's lack of production and see whether they are ready to dump him
on the cheap.
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Carlos Delgado, Blue Jays: Last week I told you to try to get Vernon Wells at
a bargain price. This week, I'm advocating making a run at the guy who hits
behind him in Toronto's lineup. At this rate, I'll be talking about Josh Phelps
in this space next week. Why? As a team the last-place Jays are hitting only
.222. Delgado has contributed a .170 mark from his cleanup spot, snapping a
4-for-34 slump with a pair of hits Friday against the Red Sox. And don't worry
about his knee. He says it hasn't bothered him since that brief flare up toward
the end of spring training. It's his timing, not his knee. Do I seriously think
you'll be able to acquire Delgado cheaply? Not really. But his value is definitely
a little down thanks to the ice-cold start at the plate. Delgado is working
on a six-year run in which he has hit between 33-44 homers and knocked in between
100-150 RBI. This year he is on pace for 22 and 54. You know as well as I do
that it's not going down like that. But if there's even a trace of doubt in
the mind of the owner in your league who is frantically rubbing his Delgado
bobble head for luck, you need to hastily take advantage.
Sell High
OF Marquis Grissom, Giants: Somebody's got to tell Marquis that he doesn't have
to try to keep up with the really big guy over in left field. It's not going
to happen. Grissom is doing his best Barry Bonds imitation thus far, belting
four homers and 11 RBI to go with his .339 average. Admittedly, the numbers
are not quite up to Bonds' absurd standards, but they aren't bad for a guy who's
hit .300 just twice in 15 previous big league seasons. Grissom's average power
output has been 17 homers and 71 RBI, but he is currently on pace for 41 and
111. Despite what Barry has done, SBC Park is a pitcher's park and you can expect
the 37-year-old Grissom to start tailing off soon. He might hit .300 and crack
75 RBI from the third spot in the order, but the home run pace will slow way
down.
P Jose Mesa, Pirates: When Mesa went in our league auction back in March, there
was much giggling and mocking. "Nice pick!" was a common taunt. "He's
never let anyone down before" was spit out between guffaws. Who's laughing
now? Mesa has already recorded five saves, but more impressively has yet to
allow a run in seven appearances and has a 0.63 WHIP. Opponents are batting
.095 against him. This is not the Mesa I remember. His 2003 ERA was 6.52. That's
the Mesa I remember. Considering his struggles last year, the fact that he turns
38 next month, and the team he pitches for, Mesa's value is at its peak.
Hot Pickups
P Jose Acevedo, Reds: Acevedo is throwing the ball as well as anyone in the
National League right now. He has yet to face any patsies in his three outings—the
Cubs, Phillies, and Braves—yet he is 2-0 with a 3.26 ERA and 0.88 WHIP.
Opponents are batting just .174 against him and his 17 strikeouts are only two
fewer than Roger Clemens has through the same number of starts. The 26-year-old
right-hander was easy to overlook on draft day following a season that was cut
short after five games because of foot surgery. Pitching in Cincinnati, where
they seemingly had 50 guys vying for a spot in their rotation this spring, also
obfuscated his outlook. A glance through last year's abbreviated season, however,
reveals a 2-0 record, 2.67 ERA, and .183 batting average against, so maybe we
shouldn't be too surprised. Will he maintain his current rate? Probably not,
but he's worth picking up to find out.
P Nate Robertson, Tigers: The names at the top of the strikeouts leader board
in the American League should surprise no one. You've got Curt Schilling in
first place, followed by reigning Cy Young award winner Roy Hallady in second.
Pedro Martinez is in fourth, with the likes of Mark Mulder, Bartolo Colon, and
Kevin Brown just behind. Then there's Robertson…in third place. He's pitched
in four games thus far—appearing in two games in relief (and earning a
save) before the Tigers needed a fifth starter—and is fanning hitters
at a rate of 12.23 per nine innings. That's the best rate in the major leagues
right now. Better than Schilling, Pedro, and Halladay. Better than Big Unit,
Wood, and Beckett. I can't explain it," the 26-year-old southpaw recently
told the Detroit Free Press. "I'm not really a strikeout guy. Maybe it
has something to do with the fact that I worked my tail off in the off-season
and I feel like I'm really in great shape right now. That's probably half of
it — the other half is going out and making the pitches. I've had good
stuff so far." Nate is 1-0 with a 2.55 ERA, and he's probably available
in 90 percent of leagues. I never thought I'd be advocating picking up the Tigers
fifth starter (a role he seems to be cementing), but what the heck? If you need
pitching help, why not take a flier on him? The numbers don't lie.
Dump of the Week
DH Erubiel Durazo, Athletics: When Durazo was acquired by the A's back in December
of 2002, general manager Billy Beane referred to him as his "Holy Grail."
Talk about high expectations! He was supposed to be the replacement for Jason
Giambi's power. Instead, he hit 21 homers and had 77 RBI in his first season
with Oakland. This year the batting average is about what you'd expect at .256,
but Erubiel has yet to hit a home run and has generated exactly two RBI even
though he is batting in the fifth or sixth spot in the lineup on a nightly basis.
He went the first 33 at bats of the season without an RBI, prompting A's manager
Ken Macha to admit he was concerned. "You want those 4-5-6 guys knocking
in runs," he told the Oakland Tribune. "Ruby is a guy who we need
as one of our main guys." It seems like the A's are trying to force "Ruby"
into a "main guy" role, when in reality he's probably not up to the
task. There are a lot of other better first baseman/designated hitters out there
from which fantasy owners can choose.