HELP! first time fantasy player....need advice on team

[Philbo135]

12 team HTH league. I need suggestions on wavier pickups and roster moves etc. I'm concerned about my pitching( i have no closer really)and Teixeria's bad start. Should I be thinking trade this early in the season? This is my first time playing fantasy baseball and I just have no idea what I'm doing. Any help/ thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thanks!- Phil

C- Inge
1B- Morneau
2B- Aaron Hill
3B- Atkins
SS- F. Lopez
UTIL- Teixeira
OF- C. Quentin
OF- M. Ordonez
OF- A. Lind
DL- Mauer

Bench: Rolen, Scutaro, Blalock, Nyjer Morgan.

SP- Zambrano
SP- Cain
SP- Buerhle
SP-Purcey
SP- Danks
SP- Floyd
RP- M. Thorton
RP= Percival

[The Mighty Trow]

hey phil, welcome to the caf !

a) don't worry about tex's bad start... he is always slow to warm up. but the numbers are there in the end.

b) your hitting is solid but it lacks stolen bases. i'd look to move morneau for a top-flight pitcher, cuz you do need at least one 'ace' caliber arm. if morneau is out of the way, you can move Tex to first base, and Morgan to utility -- he'll help you with steals.

is this a keeper league? if not, then you might want to unload one of lind or morgan to a manager for a slow-starting hitter. just thinking of ways you can play the hot hands to your advantage...

c) you do need a closer, but i've seen teams do alright by punting saves altogether. keep an eye on the waivers for potential closing candidates, and drop thornton for one. i'd look for manny corpas, he might have the colorado job sooner than later.

be sure to check out the rest of the cafe, there is a wealth of opinions here (and some knowledge, too ). you'll find some great discussions in the baseball leftovers forum -- its where all the great minds meet.

good luck to you

[Philbo135]

Trow- thanks for the response and your thoughts. I've got Morneau on the block but the other teams in my league seem to have more solid rosters than mine, so we shall see if anyone wants him. I'm worried that Lind, Hill, Scutaro, will not keep up this pace. Also Mags is on my bench but has not really been hitting lately. I know he's a solid .300 guy usually but would he be worth trying to move? Also I'm not convinced Nyjer Morgan is my steal guy....he's playing well now but showing signs of coming back to earth. I'm wondering if putting Scutaro/Hill/Lind on the block is a good idea...just to see what I might be able to get for them? Any other thoughts would be helpful. Its kind of overwheming...the season is sooo long and there are so many players...its hard to know who to stick with long term.

[JediMaster]

Your teams looks okay, but I'd look to grab Jason Bartlett if he's still on the waiver wire. He doesn't have much pop, but his speed is for real and he's leading off for the Rays. You do need a closer as well. Your best bet is to pay close attention to closing jobs around the league and pick up a free agent rather than trade for someone as trading could be expensive. Maybe see if you can move Morgan for an underrated but, solid pitcher like Matt Garze or Adam Wainwright. Both are very servicable players and Morgan hasn't proven he can keep up this level of performance.

[Philbo135]

sadly Bartlett got snatched off waviers. Picked up Scott Downs and Ardsma as RP's. Wondering about Endy Chavez?? Is Morgan better than Chavez? Basically at this point I'll be plugging in Morgan in OF on a as needed basis. I'm not liking that Morgan has to take the spot of Lind or Ordonez in my lineup. I'd like to have a steal guy in the lineup everyday, and I don't think Scutaro or F. Lopez is that guy either. What about trying to move Scutaro for Bartlett?