Second place, time to throw in the towel? Need lots of advi

[kingmike74]

I have been in second place since May. Up and down, sometimes within 6, sometimes within 20. This morning I stand at 14 points down.

Here are some cats I can gain some ground.

ERA- Can gain 3 spots
WHIP- Can gain 2 spots
Wins- Can gain 1 spot
Saves- Can gain 5 spots

I am in the top 3 in every offensive cat except average I am 4th and can gain a few.

Should I start to dump some good SP and grab MR to gain in ERA and Whip. Keep 4-5 closers active and scarp wins? What to do if anytng?

MY LINEUP 10 man, 5x5 roto, weekly lineup setting


C- Kenji Johjima
C- Ben Molina
1B- Derek Lee
2b- Brian Roberts
3B- AROD
SS- Rafael Furcal
OF- Bill Hall
OF- Aubrey Huff
OF- Aaron Rowand
OF- Grady Sizemore
OF- Ichiro
UT- Howie Kendrick
UT- Adam LaRoche

SP- Matt Cain
SP- Aaron Harang
SP- Tim Lincecum
SP- CC Sabathia
SP- Mike Mussina (YIKES!)
SP- Carlos Zambrano
RP- Saito
RP-Corpas
RP- Soria

BN- Curt Schilling
BN- CJ Wilson

The guy in first place has 88 points and has some players playing out of their a!$ but if he slips and I can make a few drastic moves that work out, who knows.

[oakscorps]

This one is a tough one

If you have bench spots in hitting I would drop a hitter and pick up a MR that you can gain in ERA and WHIP

If you only have the 2 bench spots in pitching it would almost force you to drop one of yours closers and either pick up a MR or the best starter left to try and pick up wins and possibly ERA

[A Fleshner Fantasy]

First and foremost, get rid of Mussina. I'd activate C.J. Wilson to try to help you get those points in saves. See if you can pick up another closer (is Rafael Soriano available?), and maybe a few spot starts down the road. It's not likely that you pull this one out, but it's definatly possible.

[kingmike74]

How much ERA & WhIP ground can one makeup over the next 4-5 weeks with 2-3 solid MR's?

[Grouperman941]

How much ERA & WhIP ground can one makeup over the next 4-5 weeks with 2-3 solid MR's?

You may improve a couple of hundredths. Don't forget, too, that the guys ahead of you may lose a couple hundredths, so it helps. At this point in the year, there is daily movement in the thousandths column for the most part, and as innings build, the movement happens in the next column to the right.

I am in a similar position as you, currently down 13 points, but I have a shot, and I have second locked up, barring catastrophe, so I have been doing a lot of this type of thinking.

Also look at where you are safe and it is unlikely you will lose or gain position, or where you are likely to lose points with bad performance. If you forget wins, for example, (which is hard to manage to anyway,) if three guys might pass you, it is not worth the risk if you won't gain 3 or more points elsewhere.

Look also at where the guy ahead might lose points. You might not need to go +11 if he could lose ground.

Good luck!