Down the Stretch

Hey, thanks for stopping by the site once again. Do you want to find out large but subtle ways to improve your team? Today I am going to talk about strategies that will help you (mainly focused on ROTO leagues) down the stretch. As you know July is coming to an end and the fantasy baseball season is going into the last third of the year. Everyone is trying to make a trade that could push them over the edge or for keeper leagues figure out which guys to keep for seasons to come. Make sure that you send some e-mails out to managers. One very important thing to look at that often goes unnoticed is looking at your stats compared to teams close to you especially the one right above you. Say the owner one place better than you is just ahead of you in steals.

However, say you have three really good closers and have a ton of saves and the other guy is last in saves. Go ahead and give him one of your closers, but get one of his speedy players. Now in two months, he can’t really gain far on you or any of your league mates in saves, but you maybe got like 7 or 8 steals all depending on the player. Currently, there are over 25 players who are averaging 8+ steals in 2 months, so getting a player like that is not that difficult. But when you do addition by subtraction that trade has helped you jumped about 15 steals, which is a large difference.

For many leagues, the difference of 15 steals will probably be enough to leapfrog the guy above you. So all of a sudden players like Abreu or Beltran can win you a championship. In many instances, a subtle trade can have a major impact for you. Sometimes people forget the Roto baseball is all about having the best overall team. If you are the best in your league in one particular area by far such as homeruns, go ahead and trade away Adam Dunn and get a good pitcher or fill a spot you need. At this point you can trade away players supplying your strong points to get guys that fill needs. Many times you must think of the categories and not so much match up the talent and numbers. Now I’m not saying to go out there and trade a superstar like a Reyes but if you also have like Damon and Figgins, go out there and grab a guy like Sizemore or Byrnes to fill many needs.

Deadline Watch

Keep in mind to watch for players on teams in a pennant race. Mark Teixeira is on a last place team right now, but if he is traded to Atlanta, he may heat up and have much better RBI totals with good players around him. Ryan Braun is a player in a pennant race that looks to be the real deal. Braun has 10 home runs and is batting .356 in July. Freddy Sanchez has been a good option at second the past month for those looking for a replacement for Utley. Two veterans who have played very well of late is Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez, who had two bombs last night. Tim Lincecum and Javier Vasquez are both pitchers that have been fantastic recently. Also watch Ted Lilly, on the contending Cubs, who has given up only 1 run in 4 of his last 5 starts. That’s all. Good luck with all of your leagues.