| The Six-Month Grind | | | | these slumps any day now. |
| | | | |
| We're three weeks into the 2006 baseball | | | | On the Rise |
| season, and if your fantasy team looks | | | | |
| anything like mine, you're ready to unload | | | | Targeting players who are showing signs of |
| half of your roster. I know it's hard, but | | | | breaking out is another key to making the |
| be patient. The worse thing you could do | | | | right roster adjustments. Here are a few |
| right now is panic and make a bad trade or | | | | players who might be available and could |
| drop a good player. | | | | definitely help some teams: |
| | | | |
| Baseball, more than any other sport, is | | | | Josh Barfield - The rookie second baseman has |
| driven by statistics. It's a long season | | | | excelled since being moved to the No. 2 spot |
| with a lot of ups and downs for most players. | | | | in the Padres lineup. He's got his average |
| In the end, the numbers usually even out. | | | | over .300 and has 2 HRs and 6 steals. Grab |
| If you stick with your guys long enough, they | | | | him if he's still available. |
| should come around and start producing like | | | | |
| you expected them to. | | | | Ty Wigginton - Playing for his third team in |
| | | | four years, the journeyman third baseman |
| MLB Baseball Future Betting @ Sportsbook | | | | seems to have found a home in Tampa Bay. |
| | | | He's taken advantage of Aubrey Huff's knee |
| Off to a Hot Start | | | | injury and already has 8 home runs and 20 |
| | | | RBI. Playing in hitter-friendly Tropicana |
| While it's very difficult to watch your team | | | | Field should help, too. Ride him while he's |
| stumble out of the gate (as I'm writing this, | | | | hot. |
| my offense is a collective 0-15 today and I'm | | | | |
| about ready to have a fire sale), there was a | | | | Brad Hawpe - The Colorado Rockies outfielder |
| reason why you drafted these guys. If you | | | | has established himself as the everyday right |
| were lucky enough - or smart enough, | | | | fielder and is firmly entrenched in the heart |
| depending on how you look at it - to draft | | | | of the Rockies lineup. He's batting over |
| Chris Shelton, Jonny Gomes or Nick Swisher, | | | | .340 and already has slugged 5 HRs. The 2000 |
| you're probably at the top of your league, | | | | College World Series MVP is well on his way |
| right now. But are these guys really going | | | | to a .300-30-100 season. You never can go |
| to lead the league in home runs? | | | | wrong having a Rockie in your lineup. |
| | | | |
| Manny Ramirez hit his first two home runs of | | | | |
| the season, last weekend. Mark Teixeira and | | | | |
| Richie Sexson have three and two homers, | | | | The Pitching Hole |
| respectively, through the first three weeks. | | | | |
| These guys are all perennial | | | | While there is plenty of time to make up |
| 40-home-run-hitters, and barring injury, you | | | | ground on offense, falling behind in the |
| can be sure that they will get their numbers | | | | pitching categories - especially ERA and WHIP |
| by the season's end. | | | | - can be a killer. Avoiding those complete |
| | | | disasters in the early season is a key to |
| Waiting for the Right Time | | | | remaining competitive on the mound. |
| | | | |
| Everyone's heard the cliché "buy low, sell | | | | With pitchers, it's all about the matchups. |
| high." It's sound advice. Knowing the right | | | | Don't be afraid to bench one of your better |
| time to deal that guy who's off to a hot | | | | pitchers for a riskier play if the matchup is |
| start is the key to making this happen. | | | | right. Throwing a marginal starter against |
| There's no way Shelton, Gomes and Swisher are | | | | Kansas City or Pittsburgh is always better |
| going to keep up the pace they've set so far | | | | than having just about any starter face the |
| - Shelton's already started to slow down - | | | | Yankees or pitch at Colorado. |
| but how can you not ride their hot streaks a | | | | |
| little longer? Just don't wait too long if | | | | Whether you find yourself at the top of your |
| you're planning on dealing them. | | | | league or at the bottom of the pack after |
| | | | these first three weeks, don't stop looking |
| Knowing players' trends is another key in | | | | to make your team better. Stocking your |
| making the right deal at the right time. | | | | bench with productive players who could be |
| Some players are traditionally slow starters, | | | | used as trade bait is always a good idea. |
| like Ramirez and Jim Edmonds, and trading for | | | | The inevitable injuries will come, and having |
| them at the end of their slow start could | | | | players to step in during those times will |
| mean big stats for you the rest of the way. | | | | help you avoid having to make a desperate |
| A lot of hitters heat up when the weather | | | | deal. |
| does too, so they could be busting out of | | | | |