With the first quarter of baseball coming to a close shortly, there has never been a better time for the Peckin’ Order to get back into the swing of things, no pun intended. Teams are approaching their 40th game of the season and as much as we have had some player surprises, teams have done a little shocking of their own.

Who would’ve thought the Baltimore Orioles would be leading the AL East after 36 games? Not I. The Orioles have come out throwing punches and drop kicking just about every opponent they have faced so far compiling a 22 – 14 record, more than 25% of the wins they have had in each of the last 7 seasons. Meanwhile, the Red Sox who are on a 4 game winning streak are still 3 games under .500 at 16 – 19, a record no one thought would happen with Bobby V at the helm.

In the National League, the Washington Nationals currently lead the Eastern division with a 22 – 13 record while the former NL East Champion Phillies sit below .500 after 36 games.

When it comes to players, I must say I told you so. Albert Pujols (1B, ANA) currently has.510 OPS with only 1 homer in his first 142 at bats, while Paul Konerko (1B, CHW) ranks in the top 10 of 1B in OPS with .957.  And that’s not all I was correct about, See: Mike Morse (1B, WSH), Gordon Beckham (2B, CHW) and Ryan Roberts (3B, ARI).

With that said, let’s check out the players at each position that are climbing up the charts.

Catcher: 

Carlos Ruiz (C, PHI) is one of the only true bright spots in the Phillies offense so far. He currently leads all catchers with at least 100 at bats in OPS at .965 he has driven in 23 smacked 6 dingers and scored 16 runs. Just below him is Matt Weiters (C, BAL) who is second among catchers with at least 100 at bats in OPS with a .902. Weiters has knocked 8 pitches over the outfield fence driven in 20 runs, and scored 21 to help lead the Orioles to their first place position.

First Base: 

Bryan LaHair (1B, CHC) is tearing the cover off the ball. LaHair has a 1.154 On base + Slugging percentage hitting 9 big flies with 20 runs batted in and 16 runs scored. He currently leads the league in OPS for first baseman and ranks 3rd among them in homers. Another shocking revelation is that of Adam Dunn (1B, CHW). This South Sider is currently first in homers for a first baseman, second in runs scored, runs batted in, and his OPS of 1.003 ranks fourth among first baseman.

Second Base:

After hitting at least .290 in each of the three previous seasons prior to 2011 Omar Infante (3B, MIA) saw a bit of a decline last year. He is showing so far that it was an abnormality with a .304 average so far, Infante has the highest OPS of any second baseman with at least 100 at bats and has 6 round trippers while stealing 2 bags. Jose Altuve (2B, HOU) has been a nice fantasy addition for some teams with OPS over .830 Altuve has stolen 6 bags and scored 20 runs. He isn’t a power hitter so the power numbers won’t be there, but he can get on base and steal bags two things everyone can use a little more of.

Shortstop: 

Cody Ransom (SS, ARI) hasn’t gotten the At Bars so far, with only 45 on the year. However in his limited time he is making fantasy owners demand more playing time. He has a .289 average with 4 homers 12 runs batted in and has compiled an OPS of .982 tops among all shortstops with at least 45 at bats. As much as I like to rub it in when I am right, I’ll be the first to step up and say it when I am wrong. And I was flat out wrong about Rafael Furcall (SS, STL). Obviously there is still a lot of time left and he can get injured at any time, however, thus far he is on fire. Furcal is currently hitting .370 with 7 stolen bases and 25 runs scored. He only has 2 homers thus far but has 16 runs batted in to show for it.

Third Base:

Another player I was wrong about was David Wright (3B, NYM). Before the season started I wrote that he was someone you wanted to stay away from. However after 118 at bats Wright has four homers, and leads the league in OPS among 3B with 1.083. Wright has scored 25 times and driven in 21 runs while stealing 3 bases. Un-owned in more than 40% of leagues Will Middlebrooks (3B, BOS) is ripping the cover off the ball in his limited playing time. Middlebrooks will most likely be sent back down to the minors when Kevin Youkilis (3B, BOS) comes back from the DL but his 4 homers and above 1.000 OPS is going to make it hard for Bobby V to pull that trigger.

Outfielders:

It isn’t a surprise that Carlos Beltran (OF, STL) is playing good, but that he is playing THIS good. Beltran has been on a steady decline in power output since his 41 homer 2006 season. So far in 2011 he already has 13, and we are only just about to reach the quarter mark. If he continues on this pace, he will shatter those 2006 numbers. Jay Bruce (OF, CIN) has always been known for his power potential but he has yet to be able to get the average up to match. This year seems to be a bit different as in his first 126 at bats he is hitting .302 with 10 homers and 26 runs batted in. He has also swiped 3 bags which isn’t normally his strong suit.

Starting Pitchers: 

Jake Peavy (SP, CHW) has been an injury waiting to happen for several years now, and much like with Rafael Furcal there is plenty of time for him to get injured. However, in the first quarter of the year, Peavy is tied in quality starts with 7 and currently boasts a 1.89 ERA with 44 strike outs in just over 52 innings pitched. Brandon McCarthy (SP, OAK) started his career with Texas and couldn’t seem to get things going. But since being moved to Oakland he may have found the right home. McCarthy has 6 quality starts in 2012 with an ERA under 2.60 and 36 strike outs in 52 innings pitched.

Relievers: 

Jim Johnson (CL, BAL) was named the closer this year, and in just 15 appearances already has 11 saves more than any other previous year’s total. Not only is he closing games (13 Game Finishes of his 15 appearances) his ERA is under 0.60 second lowest among closers with at least 10 saves. The closer with the lowest ERA in that group is Fernando Rodney (CL, TB) who has a 0.54 ERA with 10 saves.  While Rodney is currently giving up more hits than Johnson is his strike outs and walks are better than Johnsons to go along with his 16.2 innings pitched so far.

It is within good reason that some of these players won’t be available to you when you look through the waiver wire. But if they are, these guys are immediate pickups. They are all playing great baseball and with larger sample sizes the majority of them should keep it going throughout the long haul.

(May 8, 2012 - Source: Christian Petersen/Getty Images North America)

Written by Justin Mandaro exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com
Follow me on twitter @PeckinTheFix

Cleveland Indians at Minnesota Twins: It’s going to be a tough year, Twins fans. As an Orioles fan, let me suggest you take solace in the little things, mostly Denard Span. This game was all Cleveland, as Derek Lowe got the complete game shutout without registering a K. Lowe has looked like a different pitcher this year. While his GBs are up, his strand rate has masked a 1.00 K:BB rate and 1.50 WHIP. It’s going to get messy and get messy fast, with an ERA north of 4.50 ROTW. He’ll be borderline unownable from now on, so trade him for anything useful if you can. Shin-soo Choo led-off and went 2/4 with a homer. He has a .245 average and .371 OBP. He’s a good player, stop trying to drop/trade him.

Houston Astros at Philadelphia Phillies: Chad Qualls did what Chad Qualls does: ruined a perfectly good outing by a starting pitcher (in this case Cliff Lee). In a surprise start, Jordan Lyles was called up for the Astros and thereby passed the 100 minimum MLB IP threshold in my dynasty league, so I have to activate him. I’ve been all over Lyles in deeper leagues and think he’ll ultimately stick in that rotation. He has the real chance to spin a 7 K/9 rate. Sure, he’ll walk a good bit, maybe 2.95 per nine, but will be a solid pitcher in deep formats. SHOCKER: Brad Mills brought Brett Myers into a non-save situation in the bottom of the 10th against the heart of the Phillies order. The Astros seem to be doing some smart things down there. Of course, it didn’t exactly work out as Hunter Pence yanked a liner out to left; it was gone in like 2.3 seconds (unofficially). Off the bat, there was legitimate concern it wouldn’t be high enough to clear the fence, but Myers became the goat and Pence the hero.

San Diego Padres at Washington Nationals: The Padres got to Stephen Strasburg early in a rare poor start from the young phenom. Speaking of phenoms, immature bratty Bryce Harper went yard, just enjoy it people. Yonder Alonso scored a run and collected an RBI. While Alonso won’t continue to bat .361 on balls in play, he is posting decent swinging strike, K and BB percentages. If he can continue similar paces, you’re looking at a .275/.355/.415 line the rest of the way. He’ll add 10 HRs and five steals as well. That line screams corner infielder in deep leagues.  Quietly, Will Venable is up to .280/.353/.411 on the year and healthy. He’ll never bat well, but a .260 average and 12 HRs and 18 SBs the rest of the season are possible.

Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals: Paul Maholm pitched “aight” because that’s what he does. Matt Holliday hit his seventh HR because that’s what he does. And Kyle Lohse got hit hard because that’s what batters do against pitchers like Lohse. This contest turned into a bullpen battle, which favors you know who. James Russell had a tough outing, giving up a surprising home run to a lefty (Matt Carpenter) and then a triple to a righty (Tyler Greene). And, of course because it’s 2012, Jason Motte gave up a line-drive no-doubter to Alfonso Soriano to tie the game in the ninth. Rafael Dolis got the call in the bottom of the ninth and gave up a lead-off single to Holliday. Holliday got to second on a groundout and scored the winning run on a single through the hole between first and second by Yadier Molina. Aside from Holliday’s AB, Dolis looked pretty good. That said, nothing in his numbers suggests he’s ready to be a big time relief pitcher.

Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox: Jake Peavy flirted with disaster all game long and decided to consummate the relationship in the 6th in a thumping fashion (two-run HR from Miguel Cabrera and three-run HR from Ryan Raburn). Then Will Ohman came on and gave up another three-run HR, this one to Austin Jackson. Remember when Ohman was the Orioles closer for a hot minute? That was weird. The Tigers then continued whooping up on the White Sox, ultimately showing who the top cats are in the Central. See what I did there? That said, the grandest cat of them all, closer Jose Valverde, left the game with a sore lower back. It's unclear whether there is long-term damage here or whether Leyland will turn to Octavio Dotel or Joaquin Benoit. If you have to speculate, grab the guy who can get both righties and lefties out (Benoit). That said, you can’t ignore the “closer experience” label on Dotel.

Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox:  Josh Beckett looked good (60/93 pitches for strikes) and the Mariners offense looked bad. Shocking, I know. David Ortiz hit another home run and continues to mash. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is now up to .261, look out, he's becoming a solid catcher option. Ichiro got two hits, stole two bases and his teammates combined for two hits, blech.

Oakland Athletics at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Another poor hitting AL West team, another snoozer. Ervin Santana owned the A's, locating a lot of pitches and working into the 8th. Santana's K's are still down but he's getting those ground balls. ROTW: He's not out of the woods yet, but is safe to start against the dregs of his division. Of note is that Scott Downs picked up Santana in the 8th, before giving way for the last out to Ernesto Frieri in the 9th. Mike Trout hit a homer and stole a base, he has three of each on the year. I kind of hope the Angels finish a game out of first, serves 'em right for keeping Trout away from baseball fans. Not much on the A's side. Kila Ka'aihue got a hit and is sitting at .289/.349/.434. 

Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue Jays: Some wretched strike calls in the 9th got Fernando Rodney through the inning quickly and without issue. It should be said that Jose Molina got called out in the top of the frame on what looked like a pitch well off the plate. Molina didn’t argue. Brett Lawrie, meanwhile, went ballistic after he got jobbed on two calls. He just might get suspended. Sometimes baseball is lame, usually when it involves the "human element." Henderson Alvarez was rolling until the 7th. He got nipped by some poor fielding and the long ball. With how hard he throws and the amount of ground balls he gets, he should be better. At the moment, he's really just an Ervin Santana type (sad face). Edwin Encarnacion hit another homer, thank whatever deity was responsible for me choosing him on my HR-only team. Ben Zobrist kept his hot hitting with a 3/5 day. 

New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles: Take that Jeffrey Maier. I suppose the Yankees won’t toast the jack-off who helped the Yanks to their only runs of the night the same way they did Maier. Anyway, Jim Johnson closed the door on the Yankees and he's looking like one of the only reliable closers out there. It's insane. Adam Jones hit another HR (god bless the Erik Bedard trade). Matt Wieters hit another double:  Orioles Magic. J.J. Hardy also doubled (god bless the relievers-with-no-names trade with the Twins). Xavier Avery got a start and should fill in admirably with Nolan Reimold on the shelf. With a little creativity, I can get Avery to a .270 average and 25 SBs. He's a nice target in deep leagues. Don't look now but old man Alex Rodriguez stole his fourth bag of the year. He's hitting .286/.387/.421. Mark Teixeira went 1/4 to raise his line to .232/.285/.399. Yep, still rather have Paul Konerko.

Milwaukee Brewers at New York Mets: things didn’t go so well for Dillon Gee as he deserved the Scarlett L in this game. He has a 4.78 ERA, but a 3.82 FIP and 3.08 xFIP; ROTW: 4.25 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 7.45 K/9 rate.  Meanwhile Zack Greinke deserved the varsity W in this outing, shutting down a weak Mets offense. David Wright got two hits and that's about it for bright spots, as he was eventually pulled from the game to avoid being hit by a pitch in retaliation for the Mets hitting Ryan Braun. The Mets struck out 10 times and reached base six times. What do you know? Rickie Weeks got off the bench and hit a homer. It's time to acquire him everywhere, trust me. 

Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves: Tim Hudson allowed a lot of base runners but only surrendered two runs en route to the victory. Johnny Cueto wasn’t so lucky as six of his base runners scored (one was an unearned run). Brian McCann hit his 6th HR, he's fine people, really. Jason Heyward hit a double and is posting an intriguing .252/.348/.463 line. Heyward ROTW: .260/.368/.440 with 15 HRs and 14 SBs. Jay Bruce hit another double and is straight raking it. That said, it's doubtful his ISO (.333) is going to continue. He's posting a high (20.4%) HR/FB rate and is really selling out for FBs. At a certain point they'll stop clearing the fence and his batting average will suffer. ROTW for Bruce: .255/.332/.485 with 22 HRs. 

Pittsburgh Pirates at Miami Marlins: Josh Johnson got off the snide and shut down a shutdown-able offense. I still maintain that the only question with Johnson is health, you can bank a 2.95 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 8.4 K/9 rate ROTW, but the innings are the question. Andrew McCutchen got a hit, a walk, a run and a SB…ho-hum. Hanley Ramirez hit a couple of doubles and Omar Infante had four hits off Kevin Correia. And, of course, if someone is going to hit a ball out of Marlins Park, it’s going to be Michael McKenry, right?

Kansas City Royals at Texas Rangers: Vin Mazzaro worked around a ton of base runners to get the victory. Colby Lewis couldn’t work around a bunch of base runners and a few errors on the other side of the ledger. Mike Moustakas hit a homer and is having an impressive year. Greg Holland came on in the ninth after Brandon Snyder (a total grab in deep leagues) hit a homer to bring the game to three runs and Holland got the final out. Nothing special here, just that if elite middle relievers are ownable, see if someone dropped Holland and scoop him up.

Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers: Things didn’t go well for Chad Billingsley and Javy Guerra pitched the fifth, so those two have fallen pretty far, pretty fast. Jason Kubel continues trouncing National League pitching and has been a huge asset. Justin Upton collected a hit and a walk to bring his line to .227/.319/.336. While his K% is up, it’s no different than 2009-2010 and he isn’t swinging and missing any more than he did last year. So far, pitchers aren’t working him any differently and his batted ball rates seem normal, yet his BABIP is a bit under expectation. ROTW, Upton is a .280/.367/.495 hitter with 22 HRs and 18 SBs. Wade Miley shut down an incredibly punchless Dodgers line-up. Going forward, don’t expect much of this, unless he can keep facing AA hitters.

Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants: Tim Lincecum struck out a hitter an inning and limited base runners, yet still allowed four runs. Go figure, baseball’s a funky game. I suggest you go out an acquire Lincecum if you can, he’ll be good for a 3.15 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 9.75 K/9 rate ROTW. Gregor Blanco got another start and batted leadoff. In deep leagues, Blanco is absolutely worth a grab, as he could bat .270 with 20 more SBs. Of course, he could also hit .230 with five SBs and lose the job. Still, the potential is worth speculating on. Santiago Cassila allowed a homer to Marco Scutaro off all people to get the loss. Rafael Betancourt worked around a few base runners to get the save. Bullpens suck.


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Written by Albert Lang exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com

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Mark Teixeira also went yard Monday night.  Teix went 2-of-4 from the plate, hit his fifth home run of the season and knocked in two runs.

The nightly Bryan LaHair home run came through as usual, his 9th of the season in a 6-4 Cubs win over the Cards.

Speaking of power sources coming out of no where, Josh Reddick mashed his 9th home run of the season as well.  Reddick is now hitting .289 on the season, but it remains to be seen if the regression police will need to be called in on this one.

Although the official news hasn't broke yet it looks as if Ray's starter Jeff Niemann broke his leg after getting hit in the right foot.  This was quite the bad break for Niemann as he was off to one of the better starts of his career, with a 3.48 ERA and 1.16 WHIP to date.

Placido Polance homered for the 2,000th hit of his career in a Phillies win over the Astros.  Did anybody see that one coming at all?  I know Polanco has been around forever, but this one took me by surprise.

Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers squeaked out a win over the D-Backs with the news hitting the deck that Matt Kemp will be placed on the 15 day DL.  Kershaw hurled 7.0 innings of no run, six strikeout ball.  Kanley Jansen picked up his 4th save of the year in a clean inning.  Don't expect Javy Guerra to get that job back this year.

One night after giving up a miserable six runs over 0.1 innings Addison Reed picked up his third save of the season.  Reed notched the handshake but it wasn't the cleanest inning.  Reed put two men on base before getting himself out of the inning.  The White Sox bullpen will most likely be a tumultuous one all season.

Nelson Cruz hit a homer for the first time in a ridiculous 91 at bats on Monday night.  Cruz's bat has woken up of late, as he led the Rangers' in hitting last week, with a .500 average in 28 plate appearances.

The handshakes of the night were made by; Kanley Jansen (4), Joel Hanrahan (7), Chris Perez (12), Frank Francisco (9), Sean Marshall (6), Addison Reed (3), Jonathan Broxton (8), Sean Burnett (1), Rafael Dolis (4), Santiago Casilla (8), Rafael Soriano (2).

The pitching match ups I'm looking forward to move tomorrow; Max Scherzer (DET) Vs. Jake Peavy (CHW) and Anthony Bass (SD) Vs. Strasburg (WSH).

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Written by Mike Naclerio exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com

Follow Mike on twitter @MikeNaclerio.

_ Hitters to Start

Adam LaRoche |Washington Nationals| (94.6%) – Adam LaRoche has the pleasure of facing three of the weakest pitching staffs in baseball this week all at home. First he faces San Diego.  Against the two San Diego starters LaRoche is hitting .500 with half of his hits going for extra bases.  After San Diego, LaRoche will take on the Pirates at home.  In 85 career at-bats against the Pirates LaRoche is hitting.341 with a .429 OBP.  Half of those hits have gone for extra bases as well.  LaRoche will cap the week and face the Baltimore Orioles.  Against the Orioles during his career LaRoche is hitting .375 through 40 at-bats.

Denard Span |Minnesota Twins| (33.4%) – Denard Span could be a steal from the waiver wire for this week.  He has great split numbers against the pitchers he’ll be facing which could lead to more stolen bases for the speedster.  He starts off the week at home against the Indians facing Gomez and Lowe.  Against the two he’s hitting .333.  Span will then move to Detroit and take on Fister and Porcello.  Against those two Span is hitting .389 in 36 at-bats.  Next, Span will face the Brewers in Milwaukee.  He doesn’t have much experience against their staff, but he will be facing nothing but right-handed starters from them.  Against righties this year Span is hitting 42 points higher than their southpaw counterparts.

Hitters to Sit

Yunel Escobar |Toronto Blue Jays| (65.3%) – Yunel Escobar starts his week off facing the powerhouse Tampa Bay Rays pitching staff.  Against the two starters he’ll face from them Escobar is hitting .172 in 29 at-bats.  Escobar will then face the Yankees at home.  Over the last three years against the Yankees staff, Escobar has compiled an unimpressive .253 BA and paltry .634 OPS.  Escobar will then face the Mets’ pitching staff whom he has yet to get a hit off of.

Jay Bruce |Cincinnati Reds| (100%) – Jay Bruce will face a tough week ahead playing anywhere but home.  First up for him is Atlanta.  Away games have been brutal for Bruce.  In away games Bruce is hitting 130 points lower than at home.  In 21 at-bats at Turner Field Bruce is hitting .143.  After Atlanta Bruce and the Reds fly to New York to take on the Mets.  In 23 at-bats at Citi Field Bruce is hitting only .217 with a .250 OBP.  Bruce is only hitting .214 throughout his career against the two Mets starters that he’ll face.  Bruce will move across town and take on the Yankees to end his week.  Against the three Yankees starters that he’ll be facing, Bruce is only hitting .148 through 14 at-bats.  Also, in 23 at-bats against the Yankees, Bruce has 3 hits.

Two-Start Pitchers to Start

Ross Detwiler |Washington Nationals| (54.9%) – It’s a surprise to me that Ross Detwiler is only owned in roughly 50% of the leagues.  The man is sporting nearly a 2.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP.  Detwiler starts his week against the weak San Diego lineup which is cause enough for a start and a celebration.  After his start against San Diego he faces the visiting Orioles.  Detwiler has improved his GB/FB ratio so well this year that he’s 11th in the league in the category.  While pitching at home this year Detwiler has held hitters to a .197 BAA and has kept a 1.04 ERA. 

BONUS: Don’t start any lefties against Detwiler.  They’re hitting .069, 2 hits in 29 at-bats against him.

Yovani Gallardo |Milwaukee Brewers| (99%) – Yovani Gallardo is one of the most suspenseful pitchers in baseball.  He can either be a one-man wrecking crew or a fantasy team saboteur.  This week he’ll pitch against two of the league’s worst offenses, the Mets and Twins.  The first start takes place at Citi Field.  The entire current Mets lineup is hitting a combined .241 against Gallardo.  Their superstar, and league-leader in batting average, can only muster a .241 career average against him as well.  Gallardo comes back home to make his next start against the Twins.  The Twins lineup is hitting a combined .222 with only 3 extra-base hits in 72 at-bats against him.  In 4 starts against the Twins Gallardo has a 2.48 ERA and 1.10 WHIP

Two-Start Pitchers to Sit

Jason Vargas |Seattle Mariners| (39.5%) – Now is the perfect time to sell high on Jason Vargas’ season.  He faces two teams this week that stand to alter his stats and possibly your fantasy team’s standings.  Both starts come on the road this week and Vargas has proven to be a home-sick pitcher throughout his career as well as this year.  While pitching away this year, Vargas has a 3.86 ERA, more than 3 times higher than his home ERA split.  In 3 career starts against Boston, hitters have a .311 BAA.  The worst has yet to come.  His next opponent of the week is the Colorado Rockies.  In three career starts against Colorado, Vargas has given up 19 earned runs in only 10.1 innings.  In those three starts the Rockies are hitting .500 against Vargas.

Ryan Dempster |Chicago Cubs| (100%) – Statistically speaking, Dempster has been putting up a stellar year.  However, it looks like the Cubs haven’t noticed since he has yet to be awarded a win even after only surrendering 4 earned runs in over 35 innings.  Dempster’s first start of the week takes place at Busch Stadium against the Cardinals.  Cardinals batters a hitting a combined .302 with a .395 OBP against Dempster.  In 157 innings at Busch Stadium, Dempster has a 4.52 ERA.  Dempster and the Cubs end the week against their cross-town rivals the White Sox.  In 42 innings against the Sox, Dempster has a 4.89 ERA and .311 BAA.  Adam Dunn has a 1.261 OPS against Dempster.

Written by James Bryce exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com

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(May 1, 2012 - Source: Denis Poroy/Getty Images North America)

Last time around I discussed how much FAAB I was going to use to bid on phenom outfielder Bryce Harper, preaching how typically spending a large chunk on one player is not the most efficient way to use your FAAB budget (I know that is redundant but it sounds better). 

But, spending $65 on a player like Bryce Harper this early in the season may really pay off – yes that was the top bid in our league – but only time will tell. 

Some owners take the strategy in an “only” league to hold onto their FAAB to spend it on a big name that will jump from one league to the other at the deadline.  The most recent notable name to do so, that went for big money in our league, was Matt Holliday in 2010.  By doing this you essentially are regulating yourself to picking up very low end guys to replace your injured players, or passing on guys that could contribute close to 400 at-bats to your team versus the 200 or so at-bats a deadline bat would add to your lineup.

Recently Allen Craig came off of the disabled list, making him eligible to be bid on in our league.  I saw this as a great opportunity to upgrade the weaknesses at my corner infield spot, and even though he does not have guaranteed at-bats when Lance Berkman becomes healthy, if he is producing at the plate he will easily get 350-plus at-bats the rest of the way.  I confidently bid $27 on him, but lost out to another league member in a similar situation - who also is a Cardinal fan – who bid $33.  If we used a soft bid system I probably would have gone much higher, and I would have been willing to pay $34 if I knew that was the magic number, but I thought $27 would be enough.

Bobby Abreu became eligible this past weekend after the trade from the Angels to the Dodgers, and was able to be bid on Sunday night.  With Willie Bloomquist occupying an outfield slot I saw this as an opportunity again to upgrade.
Considering Abreu can swing the bat from the left side, and Juan Rivera not being the most consistently healthy right handed bat, I figured he would get enough at-bats to make him part of the roster.  I put the modest bid of $5 on him and won.  I am sure if Rivera hit the DL before bidding happened he would have gone for more – and I would have bid more as well, but Monday morning I got a text from a league member asking why I overpaid for Abreu. 

Well, it is simple, I’d rather have 350 at-bats from him instead of 350 at-bats from Bloomquist here on out, so I bid accordingly, not being afraid of not having enough FAAB in the middle of July for the sexy name that makes the jump to the National League.

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Written by Nate Springfield exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. Check back weekly for Nate's NL-Only expertise, and follow him on his journey for a title of the State House League in 2012.

Follow Nate on Twitter @NateSpringfield

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Written by Mike Naclerio exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com

Follow Mike on twitter @MikeNaclerio.