unread for July 25th 2006

Jay
Charleston, WV 

I’m in an AL/NL, 10-team, head-to-head league, with two divisions – top four teams make playoffs.  I’m in contention, but have dealt with my fair share of injuries (and we don’t have a DL spot)…I’m trying to solidify my team for the stretch run.  Right now, my team consists of:

Hitters:  Victor Martinez, Mark Teixeira, Jorge Cantu, Chipper Jones (picked up Mike Cuddyer for this week), Felipe Lopez, Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, Coco Crisp, and Jeff Francoeur
Pitchers:  Jason Schmidt, AJ Burnett, Francisco Liriano, Jered Weaver, Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Matt Cain, Erik Bedard, Ervin Santana, Chuck James (for the two starts this week), BJ Ryan, and Francisco Rodriguez.

We start C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, DH and 7 Pitchers (any combo).

Some intriguing names available include:  Hideki Matsui, Brandon Inge, Gary Matthews, Jeff Kent, Rondell White, Adam LaRoche, Jacque Jones, Marcus Giles, Mark Prior, Rich Harden, Nate Robertson, Jeff Francis, Dave Bush, and Jake Westbrook. 

I can do without Cuddyer if Chipper returns this week (and assuming Berkman plays through the groin injury as reports indicate he will).  I will likely drop Chuck James for a better arm. 

Any thoughts, suggestions, etc.? 

Thanks for your insight.

Cory:

Jay, given the depth on the waiver wire I think you can afford to try a hot hand here or there, most likely in place of Crisp (chipping in some SB’s but little else), Francoeur  or Cantu (both give HR/RBI but little else). It looks like you could use more team speed, so Matthews, Jones or Giles might be worth a look, although none are exactly burners either. LaRoche has been hot lately too. As far as the pitchers, I like the guys you have better than the free agents. And as for the injured guys you mentioned — Matsui, Prior and Harden — do you want to gamble your postseason chances on guys who aren’t even playing right now? Who knows what they will do for you down the stretch, if anything… find the best combination of present AND future value.

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