Trust in Your Top Players

Team names of the week----

ThatsWhatSheetsSaid

Fukudome? Fukedoyou!

King fe-lix my balls

I wanted to talk today about trusting in your top players. A lot of top baseball players have slumped recently (or are still on a cold streak,) but this does not give you a reason not to believe in them, and you should know that they will soon return to their dominant form.  These players are the ones that have proven themselves to you and the league, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t get out of their slump and perform again.

Now don’t get confused here. I’m talking about once great players that have proven to be great before and have currently hit a bit of turbulence in their careers. Please do not think that everyone who was once good will always be good in the future.  Note- this also does not apply to former great players like Sizemore who are still battling injuries (he’s out another 4-6 weeks and going to have surgery, in case you didn’t know.)

Back to the main point- this rule is very important not just in fantasy baseball, but also in all fantasy leagues. But we are going to stick to baseball for today. If you do not have faith in your top performers, you are not going to win. It’s as simple as that. Play them every night. However, for example, if Tim Lincecum has been struggling in his last couple of starts, and he is scheduled to face a great team like the Phillies next, you might want to bench him.  But please, don’t panic and act like a maniac and post tons of messages on your league board, begging to trade him. He will prevail.

Here are some superstars (or those who once were) that hit a bit of a rough patch this year, but came through. And if some of these players didn’t come through yet, they will.

     1.  Joakim Soria- Came through- when he was removed from his role as closer, owners panicked. Even in my league. He was dropped for Aaron Crow, and I quickly snatched him up. Good move, huh?

     2.  Albert Pujols- Came through- it’s been a tough season for him, but he came back earlier than expected from his injury, and started hitting immediately. A lot of owners lost faith, and I’m sure they regret that, as we move closer and closer to the playoffs (can you believe it? I feel like the season just started yesterday!).

     3. Joe Nathan, Carlos Mormol- Joe Nathan officially reinstated as the closer as of last weekend, and Mormol was pulled out of his role, just like Soria. Wow, did we get a lot of questions about him. He will work on his mechanics, and be back as closer before you know it

     4. Carlos Gonzalez- he got off to a terrible start, but drastically improved. Coming into the season he was among the top outfielders in the draft. He is sure starting to live up to those expectations now

     5. Carlos Pena- I’m the one that actually suffered with him. He got off to a terrible start, and I didn’t stick with him. I dropped him, and another owner immediately swooped him up. Bad move on my part, so I hope he slows down ;)
    One final note on trust- my team this year got off to a terrible start. I had a decent draft for a 14-team league, and I didn’t know what to do after dropping to 10^th place and 20 points under .500. After making some adjustments ( but no trades) I prevailed. I’m in a position to move into second place after this week. I stuck with my stars and this is what happened. We hope you didn’t give up yet. 
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Question from a Fan and The Answer

Welcome back!

It's a cloudy Friday afternoon here in NYC, enjoying some sushi as a midday snack. This is our first post in a while, and we want to thank you for visiting. We received a question recently from a loyal fan and supporter and we thought we should share it with our followers. The question: what to do when you're in trouble in the standings.

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"Fantasy Thief,

Thank you very much.  I have the following line-up in a traditional but deep 5x5 roto league of 15 teams and for some reason it cannot get out of the basement in hitting and pitching isn’t great either but the stats seem easier to improve.   What do you suggest I do?  Should I sit tight and expect more of these hitters to come around?  Or should I make a big deal?

Tonight, someone offered me Alex Avila, Charlie Morton and Justin Verlander for Elvis Andrus and Alex Rodriguez.  I think Avila and Verlander are reasonable offers but I’m not crazy about Morton and need more hitting than pitching (especially with getting Verlander).  He has Prado, Howie Kendrick, Votto, Berkman, Mauer, LoMorrison as some of his better options.  I doubt he’ll give me Votto or  Berkman, which I view as his best; I have plenty of catchers; so I feel like countering to get Prado or Kendrick along  with Verlander + Avila. Does that seem reasonable for A-Rod and Andrus? 

I’m figuring  I should sell high on A-Rod because I’m not trusting his stamina and age to keep him performing the rest of the long season.  What do you think? 

Y. Molina C

P. Konerko 1B

D. Uggla 2B

A. Rodriguez 3B

E. Andrus SS

D. Espinosa MI

P. Polanco CI

C. Blackmon OF

C. Heisey OF

R. Ibanez OF

O. Infante OF

B. Revere OF

G. Parra DH

G. Soto C,DH

D Span  

R Ibanez

Pitchers

A Bastardo

B Wilson

J Jurrjens

J Vargas

M Capps

N Blackburn

R Dempster

T Hudson

B Colon (R)

C Villanueva (R)

C Lewis (R)"

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Let me explain it to you this way-- this is a really hard team to turn around, but you still have time. Anything is possible, right? I just hope you didn't invest a lot of money in this league.

Ignore that Verlander trade, given it is still on the table. Better hitting is always more valuable than better pitching, and you are not in position to give up a great hitter at this point. A-rod will get better. No worries there.. 

My advice from this point forward: Are you in a Yahoo league? if you are, click on one of the tabs named 'research' and it will show you all the players that are on a hot streak. Give those players a chance. If you're not in a Yahoo league, go to the available players and see who is doing well. It's gonna take a lot of work to turn this team around. Make as many moves as possible with the waiver wire. No one wants to trade with you right now, and I most certainly wouldn't unless you are offering me A-rod and Uggla and Andrus for Berkman. And you don't want to to that. I would start by dropping Span, Ibanez, Dempster, Polanco, Blackmon and blackburn. Those players are doing pretty bad right now.

The Thieves

P.S. Never sit tight with a team unless you know it has talent, and have confidence in your players.

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Hope you enjoyed that. Till next time!!
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