Close battle for 1st - How can I improve my team?

[ggarnold]

Situation:
My team is in a 10-team 5x5 keeper league. Currently I am in 1st place but have been battling to keep it. I have dropped to 2 relievers because there is a gap both up and down. Nick Johnson is off DL but I don't think he can help me (drop?). Do you see any room for improvement?

Standings:
Overall - 1st, close to 2nd, big gap to 3rd
HR - 2nd, several close behind, 15 to top
OBP - 7th, could quickly move to 4th or 9th
Runs - 6th, could quickly jump to 1st
RBI - 1st, decent gap to 2nd
SB - 9th, 10 to 6th, 19 to 1st
ERA - 1st, big gap to 2nd
K - 1st, big gap to 2nd
Saves - 5th, can't gain or lose much here
Wins - 4th, only 4 wins from 1st
WHIP - 1st, big gap to 2nd

My current lineup:
Hall, Toby C
Varitek, Jason C
Thome, Jim 1B
Vidro, Jose 2B
Ensberg, Morgan 3B <-- Will he get playing time?
Furcal, Rafael SS
Walker, Todd MI
Casey, Sean CI <-- OK, but is there better?
Abreu, Bobby OF
Damon, Johnny OF <-- Not been great all year
Guerrero, Vladimir OF
Teixeira, Mark OF
Wilson, Preston OF
Nevin, Phil DH
Brown, Kevin K. SP
Buehrle, Mark SP
Hudson, Tim SP
Mussina, Mike SP
Nomo, Hideo SP
Sabathia, C.C. SP <-- Not been great recently
Wood, Kerry SP
Julio, Jorge RP
Gordon, Tom RP
Johnson, Nick DL <-- Needs to be dropped or given position
Gonzalez, Juan A. DL

Available free agents:
Konerko 1B,DH,CI
C. Floyd OF,DH
Berroa SS,MI,DH
M. Young 2B,MI,DH
Lofton, OF,DH
Batista, 3B,CI,DH
Fick, 1B,CI,OF,DH
Sabathia SP
Meche SP
Chacon SP
Wakefield SP
C. Zambrano SP

[Mr. Smithers]

I would trade vidro for a juan piere. Then pick up young(Has almost identical numbers to vidro just better steals) . Or you could package K.Brown and Vidro for a carlos beltran after that you could pick up Young. I think C Zambrano should pitch fairly well but not great from here on out so he could be a good pick up. Either of these two moves should really help you in steals but it wont hurt your team anywhere else. Let us know how everything works out

[baseballkid]

pick up lofton and possibly young, drop teixeira and possibly todd walker

[d]

Berroa, M. Young should serve your needs.

[tristan_799]

get berroa

[Lofunzo]

The first things that I would do are:

1. Drop Ensberg and promote Nevin to 3B
2. Drop Walker for Berroa
2. Pick up Konerko for DH

The above should make your lineup more balanced. If and when Gonzalez comes back, plays, and stays healthy, then you can move up Konerko to CI (if he stays hot), drop Casey, and move Gonzalez to DH. You really don't need Johnson. He is good but doesn't have a spot in your lineup. Also, if Crawford is available in your league, he is worth a look. He has been running like a maniac lately. Hope this helps.

[jskidder]

i think lofunzo has the right idea, but i would remove casey and replace him with konerko at CI. leave nevin at dh. leave ensberg alone because he is solid when he does play and replace walker with young. young is far more consistent than berroa. this way if juan comes back you can consider moving nevin to 3b, dropping ensgerg and putting juan at dh.

[ggarnold]

Thanks for all the great advice! To simplify, I am left with a couple questions:

Middle Infielder: Walker, Berroa or Young?
Corner Infielder: Ensberg or Casey?

I am leaning towards Berroa at MI. I will probably pick up Konerko and drop either Ensberg or Casey. I am leaning towards dropping Ensberg because of the platoon situation and he has not been hitting well lately.

[Lofunzo]

g......That is the way that I would do it. If Ensberg played every day, then it might be different but Casey plays every day and Ensberg doesn't. As for Berroa, I like him a lot. He is playing really well now.