Patience is very important in the first month of fantasy baseball. I live by the rule not to fall in love with a player but in April I will hold on to a player for a bit longer than usual. Give them a few at-bats or pitches and they will get in a rhythm. If they don’t then you can still drop or trade them in May.
Some of my opponents seem to be very impatient and drop players at the slightest sign of a cold streak. That gives me the opportunity to stash my teams with top players who are likely to help me down the stretch.
Here are some examples of what I consider to be steals:
· Alexei Ramirez (CWS)
His numbers are horrid so far. He is 5-for-40 with 2 runs and 3 RBI but everyone who follows baseball knows that his productivity increases with the temperatures. I dropped Orlando Cabrera (OAK) to acquire him and now have Alexei Ramirez, Stephen Drew (ARI) and Ryan Theriot (CHC) as my Shortstops. I can easily afford to bench him until May and should still get some 80 runs and RBIs, 20+ HRs and 15 SB out of him. Something else I like about him is his multiple position eligibility.
· Joe Mauer (MIN)
He may not be available until May but he should have never ended up on waiver wire. Here is what I did: 1) I acquired him from waivers and dropped my backup catcher A.J. Pierzynski (CHW). 2) I put Joe Mauer on DL and acquired Gerald Laird (DET). 3) Two days later I got Pierzynski back and dropped Laird again.
I will drop Pierzynski again as soon as Mauer gets off the DL and will have two of the best catchers in the MLB; Joe Mauer and Brian McCann (ATL) who is my starting catcher at the moment.
· Corey Hart (MIL)
I had to drop Mark DeRosa (CLE) in order to acquire Hart. I thought long about it because DeRosa has multiple position eligibility but he was a bench player on my team and Hart means an upgrade to Jay Bruce (CIN) in OF, whom I regularly bench against LHP.
DeRosa may have had a good start to the season but make no mistake, that’s greatly thanks to one particular game; the 22-4 rout of the New York Yankees.
· Chris Davis (TEX)
I gave up Kazuo Matsui (HOU), my final pick of the draft for Chris Davis. I didn’t plan on playing him often anyway, considering that my starting 2B is Ian Kinsler (TEX). Davis is batting .179 so far with 5 runs, 2 HRs and 4 RBIs, which isn’t too impressive but he could well end up with 30 HRs and 100 RBIs. At the moment I prefer Aubrey Huff at 3B but my options at UTL are endless with Jay Bruce, Bobby Abreu (LAA) and Ryan Theriot.
· Ryan Zimmerman (WAS)
I had too many outfielder anyway and dropped Milton Bradley (CHC). I will hardly start him at 3B because I have Evan Longoria (TB) but I fancy him at UTL against LHP. I was surprised to see him on waiver wire as his season has not been bad at all so far. He is batting .273 with 9 runs, 2 HRs and 10 RBIs. More so, he had at least one hit in 11 of 12 games and is on a 10 game hitting streak!
· Howie Kendrick (LAA)
I had to part with Denard Span (MIN) in order to get Kendrick and it doesn’t look like a good move now. I am aware that this was a risky move to begin with but I have a feeling that this could be Kendrick’s breakout year. I have Ian Kinsler at 2B and Robinson Cano (NYY) at IF but I play either Kendrick or James Loney (LAD) at UTL.
· Francisco Cordero (CIN)
I don’t understand how anyone could drop a closer like Cordero before the season even started. I gladly got a rid of Huston Street (COL) who isn’t even a closer anymore.
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