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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