Thoughts on what I should do

[JoseA]

Wow, that is quite a tough trade to even decipher....but I would maybe think about duing it

I don't like the fact that you are losing David Wright. Javier Vazquez usually starts the season off hot, so now is going to be when his stock is the highest. I suggest if you want to do the trade do it soon.

DiceK would be great to add on your team, he showed his dominence a few times. Matt Holliday is a little better than Crisp in my opinion.

Tough call, but I would go ahead and do it, depending on what starter you can snag on free agency

[BMW]

David Wright is the most tradeable commodity I have. Chad Tracy makes him extremely expendable, and he is 27 this year. My hope with Daisuke is that I can put in him, Willis and Sheets every week regardless of whether they are a two start or not. Then I can put in Brad Penny, Cole Hamels, Tim Hudson, Claudio Vargas, Chuck James, Josh Johnson or Tim Wakefield in my other two spots based on what their matchups look like, mostly using Hudson, Penny, Hamels and James.....the Free Agency spot will probably be used on someone like Luis Gonzalez or David DeJesus as another backup OF.

[BMW]

I've come to the conclusion that David Wright is the most annoying fantasy baseball player ever!!! He has a 26 game hitting streak so he is considered a hot commodity. Yet, I start him in this points league, and he is one of the lowest scoring 3B around. The guy gets like a single (1 point) every day. 0 HR, 4 RBI....what the heck happened to the DWright I knew and loved from last year...he hit HR's, drove in RBI's and scored runs...which added up to a lot more points, even if he did have an 0-4 day once a week.

[Nocahoma]

LOL -- I have come to see what you mean. Maybe he thinks he is Pete Rose (God forbid), keeping that streak alive at all costs.

[BMW]

Originally Posted by Nocahoma

LOL -- I have come to see what you mean. Maybe he thinks he is Pete Rose (God forbid), keeping that streak alive at all costs.

It was absurd. It was like he didn't want to let loose and really swing at the ball to drive it to the gap, he just wanted to get on first base. Either way, now that the streak is over I have decided to keep him, I think he'll change his mentality and return to form.

I do still have a trade offer that I made for him, but I think it would be a good deal...

David Wright
Coco Crisp
Tim Wakefield

for

Carlos Lee
Jered Weaver

There is almost no way the guys accepts the trade, but I'd rather him reject it than never see it at all.

I also changed my approach for Matt Holliday (who was the 5th best OF last season). I have sent out two offers for Holliday...the first being

Chad Tracy for MH

the second being

Akinori Iwamura and Coco Crisp for MH

I picked up David DeJesus last night and dropped Jeff Weaver. With the way my SP is going, I wont EVER use Weaver. Hudson had another great game, only he was on my bench because he was facing the Mets, I went with Willis instead...ooops. Either way I am back up by 30 points and I have Cole Hamels, Chuck James and Brad Penny going today....my opponent has Nate Robertson and Adam Loewen. Neither of us have any pitchers tomorrow,so if I can add to my lead today it should be all over. My hitters got me 46 points last night!!! Hafner, Fielder, Cuddyer with HRs. Hoping I can get that Brad Penny 8 INN, W with T. Saito 1 INN, S

[BMW]

So I had a monster day scoring 97.17 today. I have a 79.34 lead going into tomorrow when we only have our hitters going. So barring a W by Street and one of his hitters hitting for the cycle, while all of my strike out several times...I will be 3 and 0. I am now the league's highest scoring team by 48.5 points over Team 2, 62 points over Team 3, and around 100 over anyone else.

             Team - W - L - T - GB - Strk - Div
Milwaukee Maulers - 3 - 0 - 0 - 0 - W2 - 3-0-0
Gary Pounders     - 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 - W2 - 2-1-0
EL GATO           - 1 - 2 - 0 - 2 - L2 - 1-2-0
2nd2none          - 1 - 2 - 0 - 2 - L1 - 1-2-0
JIMMY JOHNS       - 1 - 2 - 0 - 2 - L2 - 1-2-0
No Joke           - 1 - 2 - 0 - 2 - W1 - 1-2-0

Those are the projected standings based on the scores. Either way there will only be one team that is 1 game behind me...everyone else will be 2. The team I'm playing next week is the 2nd lowest scoring team in my division, with the team I'm playing this week being the lowest. Last week I got off the hook against No Joke who is actually 2nd in scoring in the division, just happens to be 0-2 going into tomorrow....

So far this week everyone has one game to play, none of the SP's will go tomorrow but we both have our closers...this is their score up after 6 days though....

Milwaukee Maulers
C M. Barrett 23.5
1B P. Fielder 21
2B I. Kinsler 23
3B D. Wright 8.5
SS H. Ramirez 29.5
OF C. Burke 14.5
OF M. Cuddyer 23
OF J. Willingham 14
DH T. Hafner 37
SP C. Hamels 45
SP B. Penny 31
SP B. Sheets 14
SP C. James 3.67
SP D. Willis 0
RP T. Saito 13
BENCH
2B B. Upton 17
3B A. Iwamura 2
3B C. Tracy 7.5
OF C. Crisp 19
OF H. Matsui 0
SP T. Hudson 27
SP C. Vargas 30
SP J. Vazquez 12
SP T. Wakefield 24
SP J. Weaver 2

Maulers Batters 194 points/180
Maulers Pitchers 106.67/120
Maulers Bench 140.5
Maulers Total: 300.67

Jimmy Johns
C V. Martinez 13
1B C. Delgado 10
2B C. Utley 15.5
3B T. Glaus 0
SS D. Eckstein 9
OF J. Bay 20
OF E. Byrnes 23
OF A. Dunn 10.5
DH J. Drew 9.5
SP R. Hill 30
SP S. Kazmir 4
SP A. Loewen 16.67
SP N. Robertson 10.67
SP B. Webb 26
RP H. Street 22
BENCH
C J. Bard 0
3B R. Aurilia 25
OF J. Pierre 33
SP M. Buehrle 58
SP B. Colon 24
SP O. Hernandez 31
SP C. Lee 0
SP J. Lester 0
SP K. Lohse 17
SP J. Sowers -6.67
SP K. Rogers 0

Jimmy Johns Batters 110.5/180
Jimmy Johns Pitchers 109.34/120
Jimmy Johns Bench 181.33
Jimmy Johns Total 219.83

As you can see, I just out hit him really really bad. If he would have started Aurilia instead of Glaus, Pierre instead of Drew he would be at 269.33, and of course if he would have started Buehrle over Kazmir he would have been at 323.33. Of course if I would have started Coco Crisp over Josh Willingham and Claudio Vargas over Dontrelle Willis, and Tim Hudson over Chuck James and Tim Wakefield over Ben Sheets I would have had 369...so it's all a wash....

Anyway next week I am matched up against 2nd2None, who will likely be 1-2.

I plan on starting
C M. Barrett 6G
1B P. Fielder 6G
2B I. Kinsler 7G
3B D. Wright 6G
SS H. Ramirez 6 G
OF C. Crisp 7G
OF M. Cuddyer 7G
OF D. DeJesus 7G
DH T. Hafner 7G
SP C. Hamels WAS (Shawn Hill)
SP T. Hudson @FLA (Scott Olsen)
SP B. Penny @SD (Clay Hensley)
SP J. Vazquez @KC (Brandon Duckworth) ANA (John Lackey)
SP D. Willis ATL (Kyle Davies) @PHI (Jamie Moyer)
RP T. Saito 6G

MMBatters 59G
MMPitchers 7S + 6RPG

I could start
SP Claudio Vargas @ CHC (Carlos Zambrano) @HOU (Woody Williams)
or
SP Tim Wakefield TOR (Tomo Ohka) @NYY (Kei Igawa)
in place of Brad Penny or Javier Vazquez...but I don't really feel comfortable with that yet....I'd love to hear some input on that...

as 2nd2None lineup stands right now...he is ineligible...he has 11 bench players instead of 10...so he'll have to drop someone tomorrow or forfeit the week....but anyway...his current lineup that is set up for next week is....

C M. Piazza 7G
1B T. Helton 6G
2B J. Kent 6G
3B C. Jones 6G
SS J. Reyes 6G
OF B. Abreu 7G
OF L. Berkman 7G
OF J. Hamilton 6G
DH V. Wells 7G
SP B. Bonser KC (Z. Greinke)
SP K. Igawa @TB (C. Fossum) @ BOS (T. Wakefield)
SP G. Maddux LA (B. Tomko)
SP J. Moyer WAS (J. Bergmann) FLA (D. Willis)
SP A. Pettitte TOR (A. Burnett)
RP J. Isringhausen 6G

Offensively I can't see him changing at all...his bench has Mark Teahen, Aubrey Huff and Gary Sheffield...who are all cold compared to his current lineup. His bench SP are....
SP AJ Burnett @NYY (Pettitte)
SP John Danks DET (Durbin)
SP Jason Hirsh ATL (Smoltz)
SP Robinson Tejeda @TOR (Chacin)
SP Josh Towers @NYY (Karstens)
SP Brett Tomko @SD (Maddux)

If he makes almost any changes he will be putting in two SP going againt each other....a terrible way to get points. This could be a tough game if he gets lucky with his SP or mine just blow it this week...but I feel good again about this matchup...so far I've said that I feel good about each of my first 3 matchups...and I feel like I'm a little biased going into the week, but then again I am 3-0...improving to 4-0 here with a Gary Pounders loss would put every team at least 2 games behind me...that would be UNREAL to start the year.....

[BMW]

So I am 3-0 and the overall points leader so far the two closest teams to me are in the other division, who we only play once a year...and they are both 30 points behind me, which isn't a lot...but I'm glad I'm in the race early, last year by this time I was 200 points out of the high points. One guy just ran away with everything (he had Chris Carpenter, Jose Reyes, Alfonso Soriano as his first three picks)...anyway my SP are

Ben Sheets
Dontrelle Willis
Cole Hamels
Tim Hudson
Javier Vazquez
Brad Penny
Chuck James
Claudio Vargas
Tim Wakefield
Josh Johnson on the DL

We start 5 every week obviously, so I am thinking about possibly making a trade for Josh Hamilton to beef up my OF. I think I could get him with Javier Vazquez. Would you guys do that deal in my situation. I think I can throw out the first 4 guys on my list EVERY week and mix in the other 4, and then when Josh Johnson gets back he should be right up in there as well...Thoughts?

[BMW]

Well the guy accepted my trade offer. So now it has two days of voting, so we'll see where that takes us but it looks like Vazquez is leaving and Hamilton is coming in. I'm pretty excited about it, Brad Penny will now move into my normal Top 5 behind Sheets, Willis, Hudson and Hamels...with Chuck James, Vargas and Wakefield still on the bench. I'm just going to make sure to watch the WW for young up and coming pitchers who might make a splash their first run through the league.

I must say I love the stability Hamilton will add to my OF....my lineup will look something like

Barrett
Fielder
Kinsler
HRamirez
DWright
HMatsui
MCuddyer
JHamilton
THafner

man that looks scary when my SP have all been as solid as they have for the first 3 weeks....the only one who is struggling is Ben Sheets, who will probably be my top SP by the end of the year once he gets going...

[BMW]

You know every day Hanley Ramirez is doing something right. It seems like even when he doesn't steal a base or get an extra base hit, he gets HBP or a BB and a R or two...he's just a points machine.

[BMW]

The Milwaukee Maulers have suffered their first lost of the year. I'd like to blame that Yankee SP that got hurt and had Igawa come in and get 24 points for him, but I lost by 27.16 so I can't.

Maulers
C MBarrett 5.5
1B PFielder 22
2B IKinsler 28
SS HRamirez 21.5
3B DWright 15
OF MCuddyer 12.5
OF HMatsui 21
OF JWillingham 26
DH THafner 24.5
SP DWillis 42
SP THudson 25
SP JVazquez 10
SP CVargas 25
SP CHamels 2.67
RP TSaito 17

Maulers Hitters 176/180 (not bad, but not enough)
Maulers Pitchers 121.67/120 (again, with Hamels struggling I still went over my 20 points per player goal)
Total 297.67

2nd2None
C MPiazza 15.5
1B THelton 30.5
2B JKent 21
SS JReyes 30
3B CJones 31.5
OF BAbreu 9
OF LBerkman 22
OF MTeahen 12.5
DH VWells 41.5
SP BBonser 11
SP KIgawa 20.67
SP GMaddux 24
SP JMoyer 38.67
SP APettitte -0.67
RP JIsringhauen 17.67

2nd2None Batters 213.5/180
2nd2None Pitchers 111.33/120
2nd2None Total = 324.83

His hitters were ridiculous over mine.....there's nothing anyone can really do when your opponent has 4 hitters over 30, and then Jamie Moyer had two strong starts..David Wright is killing me right now though...he has been my weakest spot left unaddressed (since I traded for Josh Hamilton and picked up David DeJesus to shore up my OF).

Anyways...on to this week...my opponent is El Gato who is the only divisional team I haven't player. He is 1 and 3, but has been scoring a lot of points, as I am still the highest point scorer with 1235.2 and he has 1166.7. He has just has some bad luck, so I can only hope that continues into this week. Also my first week opponent, Gary Pounders, is now tied for the division lead with me....it goes...

Milwaukee Maulers 3-1 Overall, 3-1 Division, 1235.2 Points For
Gary Pounders 3-1 Overall, 3-1 Division, 1215.3 Points For
2nd2None 2-2 Overall, 2-2 Division, 1 Game Back, 1117.0 Points For
Come Back Kids 2-2 Overall, 2-2 Division, 1 Game Back, 1029.3 PF
No Joke 1-3 Overall, 1-3 Divsion, 2 Games Back, 1212.8 PF
EL Gato 1-3 Overall, 1-3 Division, 2 Games Back, 1166.7 PF

This week I play El Gato, Gary Pounders plays 2nd2None, and No Joke plays the Come Back Kids. This week will either spread our division out a lot or crunch it all up into a ball...hopefully I can spread it out. It could concievably end with teams being 4-1, 4-1, 2-3, 2-3, 1-4, 1-4 or it could be 3-2, 3-2, 3-2, 3-2, 2-3, 1-4.

This week I am going to make some changes to my lineup, because of the trade, and because BJ Upton is getting red hottt!!!!

C MBarrett 6G
1B PFielder 7G
2B IKinsler 7G
SS HRamirez 6G
3B BJ Upton 6G (over DWright 7G)
OF MCuddyer 6G
OF JHamilton 6G
OF HMatsui 6G
DH THafner 6G
SP CHamels @ATL (Mark Redman), @SF (Russ Ortiz)
SP Shawn Hill @SD (Chris Young) @CHC (Ted Lilly)
SP THudson PHI (Jon Lieber) LA (Randy Wolf)
SP BSheets STL (Braden Looper) PIT (Tony Armas)
SP DWillis SD (GMaddux)
RP TSaito 6G

Maulers Batters 56 Games
Maulers Pitchers 9 Starts, 6 RP Games

EL Gato Projected Lineup
C Johnny Estrada 7G
1B Adrian Gonzalez 6G
2B Robinson Cano 6G
3B Ryan Zimmerman 6G
SS Jimmy Rollins 7G
OF Carlos Beltran 7G
OF Grady Sizemore 7G
OF Alex Rios 6G
DH either Kevin Youkilis 6G, Rocco Baldelli 6G or Corey Hart 7G....since Thome got hurt he hasn't replaced him yet...

SP Jeremy Bonderman BAL (Daniel Cabrera) @KC (Zack Greinke)
SP Zach Duke CHC (Rich Hill) @MIL (Jeff Suppan)
SP Noah Lowry COL (Josh Fogg) PHI (Jon Lieber)
SP Mike Pelfrey FLA (Ricky Nolasco) @ARI (Livan Hernandez)
SP Ian Snell CHC (Jason Marquis)
RP Armando Benitez 7G

EL Gato Batters 58 or 59 if he starts Corey Hart
El Gato Pitchers 9 Starts, 7 RP Games.

This matchup scares me more than a little bit. His hitters are hot coming into the week, mine are just average right now. His pitchers aren't the best but they have favorable double starts. Mine are a little better but they have worse starting matchups....Today is going to be a huge day as I have 1 SP going and he has 3. He gains his main hitter advantage today as well, it's going to be frustrating to start from behind, but tomorrow I have 3 pitchers to his 1. This also hurts me because any rain delay will cause one of my 4 to go next monday instead of Sunday...he has 2 going saturday and 2 sunday.

[BMW]

It's early, but this week has been frustrating as it feels like all four of his SP had good starts and his hitters are all hot. My bench hitters are on fire out of nowhere Coco Crisp has 6 after 3 ABs, Josh Willingham has 12 on Tuesday, and David Wright is 3 for 3 so far tonight with a single, double and HR....

[BMW]

Well the rest of my team picked it up yesterday almost immediately after my post. The Brewers gave Sheets some run support for a 22 point W, Cole Hamels came through with a 23.67 point Win. Takashi Saito got a 1 inning W yesterday for 12 points. Shawn Hill pitched well in a loss and still got 6.67 points. Prince Fielder got a couple of points, Upton got 2.5, Hafner hit a HR....I scored over 100 points yesterday. I now have a 15 point lead and we each have 5 pitchers left to go. If the Cubs can bang around Ian Snell today at 1235, he'll be down points and a pitcher...woot woot!

[BMW]

Ian Snell got -1 point today in his start, at the same time Takashi Saito added on 10 for me. Depending on Armando Benitez tonight, I'm going to outpitch him on a day where he had a starter and I didn't. So far after his first 5 of 9 starts, and the first 4 of my 9 starts I am outpitching him 87.34 to 54.33. It is making all the difference in our matchup so far....I just hope my team can keep it up, and stay at least consistant with the bats....

[JoseA]

ESPN says that fantasy teams should trade Tim Hudson now because they think he is going to get injured and start having pitching problems....

Just some advice, take it for what it's worth....It is kind of hard to part ways with Hudson now, he is having a great season, but his stock is high

[BMW]

Yeah I've thought about dealing him high. Problem is, who do I replace him with? I mean the guy who has Carlos Beltran AND Grady Sizemore is looking to deal for Pitching, but I don't know if I could trade yet another pitcher for another OF. I wish I hadn't overreacted to wanting Josh Hamilton as at this point I would rather have Javier Vazquez because David DeJesus, Coco Crisp, Josh Willingham all have heated up since I acquired Hamilton. Not to mention Matsui and the currently injured Cuddyer. Shawn Hill was a decent pick up for me...but I think I'm going to ride out the storm with Hudson and see how it goes. If he doesn't get hurt he is a huge steal for me, as is Cole Hamels to go with Sheets and Willis who were picked at value.