Don't ya love it when you bail and then move up in the standings?  I don't know if it is a short term aberration or a legitimate move (probably the first), but activating Jay Bruce a week ago helped as I stand in 6th place in a 12 team NL only league.  If you bail, do you still try to compete or mail it home for the rest of the year?

I like to try to compete, at a minimum, because the two leagues I am in reward a 6th place finish with the 1st pick in the minor league draft and on down the way. (So it sucks to finish 12th or last and end up with the 7th pick - a bit similar to the Knicks lottery result this year!)

As with any bail trade(s), there is always criticism on the value preceived to have been received.  I just made two bail trades in my NL only league as my team was dropping like flys and I was done trying to fix it.

So far in two deals combined, I traded a $41 Carlos Lee and out-of-time David Wright at $20 and out-of-time $13 Ty Wigginton for Steven Pearce, Andy LaRoche, Eugenio Velez at $19, Casey Weathers, Matt Antonelli and a $6 Chris Carpernter.  Besides Velez, LaRoche($10) and Carpenter, the rest are $5 salaries in farm status. 

Another owner offered me a $5 Justin Upton ($10 in 2009 or signed for more to be kept beyond 2009) for Wright, Ryan Zimmerman, Josh Willingham and Jake Peavy. (I had traded Lee already but believe Peavy to be a worthy equivalent). Like Wright and Wigginton, Willingham is out-of-time. I obviously declined the highly-touted Upton.

In the end, would you rather have Upton or Pearce,  LaRoche, Velez , Weathers, Antonelli and Carpenter?  I hands down prefered the latter, but I do not believe the Upton owner agrees.  What say you fantasy bloggers?

This is not a fantasy diary, but just curious how others feel about major leaguers complaining about salaries.  Prince Fielder and now Cole Hamels but complained about their clubs renewing their contracts at under market value.  Hamels made $400k last year and will make $500K this year and called it a low blow by the Phillies.  I wish I could get a 20% raise!!  I think the clubs should do whatever they are allowed to do while they can because once these players make it to free agency they will be handsomely overpaid and probably get raises of 50-100% or more.  These players have some F'n nerve!

So I'm in 5th place about 15 or so points behind the leader and another 6-7 from 4th. I'm about 4-5 wins away from getting 1 measley additional point in the category and the 1st place punk offers me a $20 Scott Kazmir for a $5 Hideki Okajima.  I turn it down and basically say I am accepting my position in the standings for the season and not looking to trade probable keepers for non keepers.  He complains that our league is crap and I am playing like a wuss.  I think I am wise to know that Kazmir over Okajima ain't gonna help me move and why bother with a $20 Kazmir and give the possible winner of our league a keep for next year.  What do you think?

I was trying to acquire Millwood with his 6.50era and 1.70 whip who is a "C" contract from a team that has already bailed for 2006 in my AL keeper league. How much should one pay for him at this point in time?  I am thinking a mid level farm player like Glen Perkins? My counterpart however asked for Billy Butler ($5, A contract)for Frank Catalanotto and Millwood. I can understand the other guy not wanting to sell Millwood for his current stats since he has been decent the previous 2 years. Maybe I am lowballing but I think Butler as a very cheap keeper is way to much to pay. What do you guys think Millwood is worth?

Is he one of the worst GMs out there?  What good comes of publically criticizing one of your own players. Saying a pitcher (AJ Burnett)"has to" pitch hurt is idiotic enough and then he adds that he should never have signed him.  Just what a ballclub needs . . a GM with no restraint for public comments and 20/20 hindsight.  He should be fired.  Any one of us could do a better job from our fantasy managing experience.  Hey JP how's that BJ Ryan signing working out also? Jackass.

I drafted Josh Hamilton with the #1 pick in a minor league draft in an AL only keeper league back in 1999.  I finally had to release him from my farm this spring as Tampa Bay (and I can't blame them) finally cut bait on the much troubled former top prospect.

Tampa Bay gave up but I didn't.  After a solid spring training performance, Hamilton made the Reds 25 man roster. Since the oft injured Griffey and Freel were 2 of the 3 starting OFs I went to a bid of $5 in my NL only auction keeper league and nabbed him. I've been rewarded with a .306 avg 8 HR, 17 RBI and 2 SBs.

Fantasy point here is if you haven't noticed and you are in a league where he is available, you may want to check him out (maybe even in mixed leagues if Griffey or Freel hit the DL for any extended periods). He could potentially slump but he obviously has the skills to play major league ball.

We all know Clemen's will pitch starting sometime in June/July whatever.  The story is soooo boring now.  My question is this: Why is Boston always named as a team Clemens will consider?  They basically told him to go screw after the '96 season before he went on to win 2 consecutive Cy Youngs for the Jays.  Why in the hell would he want to go to Boston and help them?  Anyway since we like to talk fantasy here, would you spend your entire free agent acquisition budget on the Rocket in the NL or the AL? (assuming you didn't already own a "Johan Santana")

FOXSports Ken Rosenthal states that he cannot understand why V Wells would sign a 7 year $126MM contract ($18MM/year) now to stay with the Jays because "he could get $20MM per year elsewhere next offseason".  What the F is he talking about?  In real baseball and in fantasy Vernon Wells is not even close to the top player in the game.  Where I would pay $40 in a fantasy league for Beltran, Pujols, Vladimir, Manny, Arod etc, I would never pay as much for Vernon Wells, nor would any major league team in reality pay Wells the second highest annual salary of $20 per (Manny makes this now).  Wells has had a whopping 2 seasons where he barely broke 30HR and 100RBI 3 times in 5 years, only once having more than 110RBI.  There are too many stupid comments by "media folk" who should know what they are talking about. It's so annoying.

So I'm in a keeper league (4X4) and of course players who have cheap salaries are coveted the most.  I don't have a fully stocked keeper list but people have been inquiring about my $10 Coco Crisp.  I was offered Melky Cabrera at $7, I was offered Juan Uribe at $8(plus a marginal player) or Chris Shelton at $10.  Now Coco had an off year with some injury issues but I expect .300/15/75/20 from him next year.  The 20 SBs are the key here and the .300 avg is also very beneficial.  I declined all offers.  My question is, would you have declined also?  How much is a $10 Coco Crisp worth?

A general question: Is it even too early to trade with free agents floating unsigned?

OK, I am a Cowboys fan so that is the only explanation for any writing of Drew Bledsoe.  I'll get to the point . . . he sucks!  Parcells is so tied to veteran QBs that he refuses to admit that he cannot win with such a subpar QB.  Bledsoe needs to go and Romo should start immediately.  Yesterday's game against the Eagles gave you all the proof.  Bledsoe's flaws were all exposed including taking ill advised sacks and not being able to throw the ball away and making poor throws all too often. (interception on 2nd and goal at the end of the game? CMON!!!!)

I don't know about the real MVP race in Baseball, but Derek Jeter is certainly a fantasy MVP candidate. Several New York talk radio personalities tout Jeter as the definitive MVP, citing the Yankees loss of Matsui, Sheffield and other injuries and disappointing players.

The Fantasy Perspective: Jeter should finish around .340, score over 100 runs, crack 100 RBI, have 30 plus stolen bases and maybe 15 home runs. Now 15 home runs is not a lot to cheer about from a fantasy baseball hitter, but put them at the shortstop position and they are more valuable than we would think.  There are not a lot of options out there to get you 30 stolen bases either. In the ever challenging average category, 600 ABs at a .340 clip helps your overall team average immensely.  

The Damon Effect: The addition of Damon to the top of the order directly impacted Jeter's RBI total this season, which is perenially around the 75 mark. In fact, this is the first season since 1999 that Jeter has had over 80 RBI.

Overrated or overpriced as he may be in many auction fantasy leagues, Jeter earned his keep this year. If you have him in a keeper league for $35 or less, he is an automatic keeper for 2007.

The Raiders offense got smacked in the mouth last night and had no answers for the swarming Charger defense lead by a maniacal Shawne Merriman who absolutely dominated.

Fantasy takeaways include:

Aaron Brooks should not be a starter for ANY fantasy team. After years of sub par performances in New Orleans, he brings the same poor execution to a new arena.  He has never completed 60% of his passes in any season. Stay away!

Leading into, yeah Randy Moss is a great receiver, but if Brooks cannot get him the ball, he is not going to help your fantasy team. Moss owners may want to be strategic about starting him.  I would not make him an automatic start every week. Assess the Raider opponent pass defense and go from there.

LaMont Jordan was anemic. Remember that he barely cracked the 1000 yard mark last year as the starting back. Maybe the Jets knew something in letting him go.  He is a DEFINITE non starter next week against Baltimore unless you are in a very deep league and have no choice.

On the other side of the ball was LaDainian Tomlinson who did all you could want from a running back in the first quarter alone! He got 12 touches in the first 15 plays from scrimmage for close to 90 yards and a TD. Just stud confirmation.  If you were lucky enough to draft him, enjoy.

Welcome to the World Series New York Mets!

The National League aka "Senior Circuit" looks like a league of juniors this season.  The Mets are in a class by themselves in the NL, mostly because they are good but also because the rest of the league is so poor. The fact that the other division leaders are part of the wildcard race equation defines mediocrity.

You can argue that the Mets might not have the pitching to get through the playoffs, but I would counter with, who does? No other NL team in my opinion.

Pitching wins in the post season, but no other potential playoff opponent will have enough pitching to be able to stop the Mets offense. They will slug their way right into the World Series and then finally face worthy opposition in the form of the AL Champion.

The stats may have shown the two Mannings to be equal to the task last night, but a closer look reveals, Peyton is still the Manning you want leading your team.  Eli looked composed most of the evening but had his mistakes and poor throws.  Completing big plays by throwing up jumpballs to Plaxico Burress who had six plus inches on the corner covering him did not impress me.  He also had his share of uncatchable or forced throws made under pressure.  A botched handoff to Tiki Barber was a costly error as well.  Don't get me wrong, Eli is improving and may reach elite status someday, but he is not there quite yet.