3 SP out for season & in playoff contention...what to do?!

[jmlevy]

20 team dynasty H2H; 6x6 w/OPS & Holds; 22 ML keepers, 12-man farm (only those with < 130 AB/50 IP for career can be kept on farm); currently tied for fourth place, 11 games behind first

C- Suzuki
1B - C Pena
2B - Hudson
3B - Blalock
SS - Renteria
LF - Holliday
CF - Werth
RF - Dunn
UTIL - Teahen, Pagan, Jayson Nix, Salty(DL)

SP - Johan (NYM), Wainwright (StL), Cahill (Oak), Blackburn (Min), A Laffey (Cle), Webb (Ari; DL, out for season), Outman (Oak; DL, out for season)
RP - Sherrill (Bal), F Francisco (Tex), Ziegler (Oak), Troncosco (LAD), McDonald (LAD), A Guzman (CHC), K Medlen (Atl), Putz (NYM; DL)

Farm Club:
1 - Arrietta, Jake (0 IP - SP - Bal)
2 - Brignac, Reid (69 AB - SS - TB)
3 - Duchscherer, Justin (rehab, out for season) will NOT be eligible to be kept on farm over offseason
4 - Everidge, Tommy (60 AB - 1B - Oak)
5 - Hicks, Aaron (0 AB - OF - Min)
6 - Joyce, Matt (demotion) will NOT be eligible to be kept on farm over offseason
7 - LaPorta, Matt (42 AB - 1B/LF - Cle)
8 - Main, Michael (0 IP - SP - Tex)
9 - Stubbs, Drew (20 AB - OF - Cin)
10 - Weglarz, Nick (0 AB - OF/1B - Cle)
11 - Westmoreland, Ryan (0 AB - OF - Bos)
12 - Villalona, Angel (0 AB - 3B - SF)

So as you can see, I currently have three starters who are officially done for the season: Webb, Outman and Duchscherer. Obviously, Webb is not going anywhere, but I am having doubts regarding what action to take with Outman and/or Duchscherer. The trade deadline was yesterday, so trading these players to a rebuilding team is no longer an option, unless I was to wait until the offseason. Outman might not return until later next season, while Duchscherer has always been an injury-risk, even when putting up solid numbers as a starter when healthy.

So my question is this, what stance would you take over these last couple of weeks? As it currently stands, I have 29 players who are not eligible to be kept on the farm club, while only 22 of those players can be kept for the 2010 season. I am going to have to make a decision on fringe players like Joyce, Teahen, Pagan, Nix, Renteria, Blackburn, Laffey, among the numerous middle relievers/setup men.

Would you cut ties with veterans/fringe players and focus on youth and upside given the age of my stud hitters (Pena, Holliday, Dunn, Werth)? Where would that leave me with Duchscherer? I assume that Outman’s spot might be a tad safer, considering he is young and has more upside than Duch.

If you have time, who would be your 22 keepers at this point in time? How would you rank the bottom 7?

Notable free agents include Garrett Mock, Jon Garland, Phil Dumatrait.

Thanks in advance and feel free to leave a link!

[misterf]

I'm not too familiar with leagues that large....or dynasty leagues. So I wont try to tell who who on your roster is expendable and who is not. However, in terms of general strategy for this season, I have a few suggestions.

Don't be too affraid of cutting ties with the fringe players that might (or might not) help you in the future in order to pick up somebody that might help you win this season. This season is more important than future season.

Also, you still have a couple of good SP's left, but it will probably be very tough for you to compete with the other teams in the Wins and K categories since they will likely have more healthy arms. So I would focus on trying to win the WHIP, ERA, and Hold categories. I wouldn't start any of your marginal SP's so you can keep the WHIP and ERA down. Heck, I'd even bench Johan and/or Wainwright if the matchup was bad enoigh. I'm sure it's impossible to find any closers in your league, so the save situation is what it is. But if you can scrounge any holds off the waiver wire grab them up. But if you have any ERA/WHIP killing relievers you might want to bench them, too. I think your best bet at winning will be to minimize your innings pitched by useing only your elite SP's and relievers in the hopes of winning ERA and WHIP. Then, if you squeak out a victory in either Saves or Holds, you can break even in the pitching categories.

Whatever you do, don't try to stream pitchers to make up for the injured guys. In a league as deep as yours, the talent is too thin and streaming will only ruin your ERA and WHIP with only very limited benefit to K's and Wins....so not only will you be dropping players that could help you in the future, but you would actually be hurting your chances for this season.

Hope this helped.

Help with mine?


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