Last season, I have to admit I was not as good or smart of a fantasy owner as I could have been. I think most of us can come out and confess to that. Maybe someone writing about fantasy baseball shouldn’t say something like that, but I can. After all, none of us are perfect. You will look back in early September when you know you aren’t winning it all and say, “If he was still on my team,” I would be much better than these other guys. You say to yourself, “What was I thinking,” when you look at a trade or drop, even though at the time it seemed logical to do the move.
Well if that was you out there than we have something in common. Last year, I did my research and listened to all the video clips of advice. I looked at stats to form my own opinions. I picked out a couple guys I considered sleepers, three really come to mind. They weren’t the best ranked guys or the best known. I offer a trade to someone and they would give me a hard time about the guy even being on my team. That was when I was stupid and made their opinions be my opinions. I ended up dropping all three of them thinking they were right. No big loss. Months later I learned my lesson that sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make. Last May, those three no-names would not have made you say they were bad losses, but now you would. Those three no-names are Ervin Santana, Scott Kazmir, and MVP Justin Morneau.
It’s no surprise that I’m taking this year a tad more conservative. After some big moves, I ended up barely making second place and thankful for it. So this column is designed to help you guys not make my mistake, not complain. I want to tell you a couple of players you have to hold on to.
Josh Barfield: Yeah, yeah, I know the guy isn’t batting a thousand, but you got to wait it out a least a little while. Barfield started the first three months going .257, but raised that average to .280 by season’s end. He also had 3 more homers and 6 more RBIs in the second half despite playing in 12 fewer games.
Nick Markakis: Ah yes, Markakis. You bought into the hype, but you haven’t been impressed. Here is another guy who really was a second half player. He had 2 dingers and a poor average at the break last year. If you keep him, you will probably get a nice late season run. Just bench him for a few weeks if you want.
Mike Mussina: A sleeper last year and I believe one this year, too. He is a solid option that will bolster your team’s era. May not get many strikeouts, but is a good source for a secondary pitcher. Expect Mussina to bounce back and win about 14 games thanks to the potent Yankee lineup. Keep your eye on the injury status. He is also a guy that you can buy low now and stash.
Adam Laroche: Laroche is a guy who I think is highly underrated this year. He has had a slow start, but will bounce back like last year. He has showed signs recently of getting his swing back. Laroche is a very streaky hitter so I expect a very hot streak coming up. Note that he has Jason Bay to drive in, with a hot Xavier Nady to bring Laroche’s run total up.
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