SELL HIGH ---------------------------------BUY LOW
Ian Kinsler------------------------------------ Albert Pujols
Marcus Giles---------------------------------Alfonso Soriano
Torii Hunter------------------------------------Chase Utley
Barry Bonds----------------------------------Ryan Howard
Moises Alou-----------------------------------Lance Berkman
Edgar Renteria--------------------------------Mark Teixeira
Chris Duncan----------------------------------Manny Ramirez
Dmitri Young-------------------------------------Jason Bay
Shawn Green------------------------------------Andruw Jones
Sammy Sosa--------------------------------------Rafael Furcal
Rich Hill-----------------------------------------Chris Carpentar
Josh Beckett------------------------------------Carlos Zambrano
Tim Hudson--------------------------------------Brandon Webb
Ted Lilly--------------------------------------------Ben Sheets
Ramon Ortiz---------------------------------------Scott Kazmir
Tom Gorzelanny-----------------------------------Jered Weaver
Ian Snell--------------------------------------------Aaron Harang
Tim Wakefield---------------------------------------Chris Young
John Maine-----------------------------------------Mike Mussina
Mark Buehrle--------------------------------------Ervin Santana
Highlights: Sell High
Ian Kinsler -
Ian Kinsler is one of the hotest bats in the major leagues right now, so letting him go may be really hard to do. He's batting .318 with 7 homers and 14 RBI's, 12 runs and 2 stolen bases. But there is a multitude of reasons as to why it isn't humanly possible for him to keep up these kind of numbers. First and foremost he's batting in the 9 spot and can't seem to hit a lick when they move him higher up in the lineup. He's still young, which is good, but he lacks plate discipline as was evident in his .286 batting avg last year. He hit a total of 14 dingers all of last year and pulls along with him some injury risk. So a decline in both average and power is inevitable. See if you can't package him with an upside pitcher like John Maine for a more established second baseman like slumping Chase Utley.
Marcus Giles -
On top of Giles hot start he's got great name recognition for anyone who has been around fantasy baseball more than a year. He's approaching 30 years old and has been a major injury risk his entire career. His overall stats have been on a steady decline since his breakout season in 2003 with Atlanta falling as far as batting to the tune of .262 last season. Deal Marcus now while he's hot and try to grab someone who has a lesser chance of coming up gimp running down the line.
Barry Bonds -
Talk about having a job put on a golden platter. Barry Bonds is chasing the home run record which plasters his name across every news station in the united states. Every single home run he hits is completely blown out of proportion on ESPN and keeps everyone remembering his name. But mark my words, Barry is NOT a guy you want on your fantasy team when you can get much more in return. Barry is on a strict diet of playing limited innings in a season. You'll be lucky to see him play 130 games, and a good portion of those will only be for 4 to 6 innings. Although his state line will be nice when he's in the game, that will be offset by the times you're unable to pull him from your lineup when he's not playing. Let's face the facts, Barry's 42 years old and we all know he took steroids (whether it was on purpose or not is for another story). He's playing on borrowed time, he's one torn ligament away from being a distant memory. Deal him for a better than avg outfielder who will play everyday, at the very least you'll get similar stats, with less of the injury risk.
Josh Beckett -
Don't get me wrong here, Josh is a great pitcher. He's got the stuff to be a top 5 starter, there's no doubt about that. But Josh has a hard time putting it all together. At 27 he's right at his prime so there's still a possibility that he can really “find his own” but I think the cards are stacked against him at this point. Last year he won 16 games which is great but his ERA hit the 5 run mark and that's just no good. He's a power pitcher who pays little attention to counts or the batters that he's facing, he had issues with walks and has yet to surpass the 170 mark for K's which is unusual for a pitcher of his caliber. He plays for a great team so he's bound to win 15 to 17 games, on top of this he has great name recognition and should be able to hook a real gem if you sniff it out correctly.
Tim Hudson -
At 32 Tim has passed his prime, his glory days in Oakland are well behind him and I expect that to continue into this season. However he's done it, Tim has pitched to the tune of 2 and 0 with a .86 ERA....WOW. Awesome start for a guy who's seen his ERA jump over 2 runs since 2003. But he's done it against Florida, Washington, and a slumping Philadelphia squad. You can put money in the bank that teams such as the New York Mets are going to have none of that. Hudson owners are in for a huge disappointment once he starts facing teams who know how to hit. Get rid of Tim now while he's hot and thank me later.
Ted Lilly -
As a cubs fan this pains me to even say, get rid of Ted Lilly before he throws another game. There is absolutely no way a lifetime .500 pitcher with a career era of 4.55 through 9 seasons is going to continue his current pace, especially for the Chicago Cubs. It just isn't going to happen, every game he pitches I'm just waiting for the blow up that will put him back to his old “so-so” self. The law of averages is very much against this guy, trade him now, his value has never been higher in his life. Let someone else carry the fall.
Highlights: Buy Low
Albert Pujols -
Any smart owner will know that Albert is just a game away from returning to his normal monstrous self, but right now he's in a major slump. His timing is off and he's pressing at the plate. If, somehow, you can pry this guy out of another owner's hands, you would be a lucky man for doing so.
Alfonso Soriano -
It's likely that Soriano doesn't put up the kind of numbers he had last year so his slumping start may void any kind of decreased value an owner may put on him. But if you can find the right trade, grabbing Soriano now while he's down will help your team later in the game.
Ryan Howard -
What a slow start to Howard's season, he's got to be burning owners who grabbed him with their 1st round pick. Add in the fact that he recently hurt his knee and you have yourself a prime example of a player with decreased value. Throw some trades at him and hope for the best. He's in for a huge season.
Chris Carpenter -
Carpenter's DL stint isn't serious and the Cardinals are looking for his return in the next couple of weeks. He had a horrible outing before he hit the DL so his state line is ugly. See if you can't find an owner who's ready to pull the plug early on this fantasy stud.
Carlos Zambrano -
Zambrano has his mind on his money and it's showed the first few games with the cubs. Don't worry though, Zambrano is a natural ace and will hit his stride by early May. See if you can't grab this guy up while he's pitching like the old Ted Lilly. You won't be disappointed.
Mike Mussina -
If you can handle an ERA over 4 Mike's your man. His first few outings were less than steller and he's now rotting away on the DL. He's old and that makes him a risk, but for the right price you would be snagging a 15 win pitcher with 170 K's.
