I just need to get better.

[J_dogg82]

Hello Everyone. First and foremost, let me introduce myself. I'm J_dogg. I am in my first season as a fantasy manager in a league where we play for points in a set of categories (not sure what the term for that is).

Pitching Games:
W L CG SV ER K GIDP HLD ERA WHIP RW RL NSV

Batting Games:
R H HR RBI SB IBB K FPCT AVG OPS CYC

I entered with a group of students in my graduate program at school, and there is one particularly obnoxious person who is running wild over the league. I'm in the middle for stats, but I have actually been able to hold on to second place most of the season, and that's where I sit. I've done this by cycling a lot of pitchers, and trying to absorb a whole bunch of injuries. Also, I've still got Weeks riding the pine, and that's where Pujols sat much of the season.

Anyway, as you'll see below, I am losing to the player on top of the standings (identified as number 2 below) in every category. I am looking to improve my team anyway that I can so, assuming that I make the playoffs, I have a more competitive team at least in some stats. If that requires I sacrifice in some areas to grow in others (I'm middle of the road on everything right now) then that's what I'll do, but I just can't see what the best route has been.

I have been getting a lot of trade offers by people trying to snag my SPs for OFs. Those are probably my strengths and weaknesses as I haven't been able to get reliable outfield production all season. At the same time, I don't think that fracturing my pitching rotation is worth anything but a dominant hitter at this point. I've actually been cycling starting pitchers to record wins, but I think that that has been a failure most weeks, as I end up overly polluting my starting staff with sub-par pitchers.

- Should I deal a pitcher or two? For what?

- Time to give up on Weeks? Nobody else wants him.

- Should I pursue either LaRoche?

- I'm currently waiting for J.J. Hardy to clear wavers tomorrow, and dropping Luke Scott for him? Good call? I don't have a SS really, as Aviles is utility player, and he has been hit and miss all season.

- Anybody else that I should be looking at for offense? Sleeper OFs? What do you guys think of Nori Aoki for the Brewers, who looks like the lead-off for awhile despite the platoon he's in, and has been hitting 300?

- What should I do about pitchers? I bring in RPs as needed but are there others I should grab and keep long term? It seems like there are relatively few holds recorded in the league. Is it worth two mid-relievers to try to win there, or would I be better of with more SPs? There are virtually no closers available in the league right now.

Any more general guidance would be greatly appreciated. I've provided as much as I can think of below, but if you want anything else I can give it to you. AND THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP IN ADVANCE.

My Pitchers:

IP* W L CG SV ER K GIDP HLD ERA WHIP RW RL NSV
SP
Cliff Lee
(Phi - SP) Player notes
@Bal 6:05 pm 70% 64.2 0 3 0 0 21 66 14 0 2.92 1.01 0 0 0
SP
Justin Verlander
(Det - SP) Player notes
@Cin 6:10 pm 74% 87.2 5 4 3 0 26 86 3 0 2.67 0.97 0 0 0
SP
Jeff Samardzija
(ChC - SP,RP) Player notes
@Min 7:10 pm 42% 69.0 5 3 0 0 24 71 6 0 3.13 1.28 0 0 0
RP
John Axford
(Mil - RP) Player notes
SD 7:10 pm 94% 22.1 1 2 0 10 8 32 2 0 3.22 1.39 1 2 9
RP
Aroldis Chapman
(Cin - RP) Player notes
Det 6:10 pm 86% 30.0 4 1 0 6 1 54 1 6 0.30 0.60 4 1 5
P
Ryan Cook
(Oak - RP) No new player Notes
@Ari 8:40 pm 13% 25.0 1 1 0 0 2 22 3 10 0.72 0.84 1 1 -1
P
Scott Downs
(LAA - RP) No new player Notes
@Col 7:40 pm 45% 20.2 0 0 0 5 0 14 1 11 0.00 0.87 0 0 3
P
Robbie Ross
(Tex - RP) No new player Notes
@SF 9:15 pm 5% 30.0 5 0 0 0 5 20 8 1 1.50 1.00 5 0 0
P
Barry Zito
(SF - SP) Player notes
^ Tex 9:15 pm 24% 66.1 5 2 1 0 22 39 5 0 2.98 1.25 0 0 0
BN
Matt Cain
(SF - SP) Player notes
Tex 9:15 pm 84% 86.0 7 2 1 0 23 82 3 0 2.41 0.94 0 0 0
BN
Zack Greinke
(Mil - SP) Player notes
SD 7:10 pm 78% 72.0 7 2 0 0 25 81 6 0 3.13 1.25 0 0 0

My Hitters:

Statistical order:
% Started H/AB* R H HR RBI SB IBB K FPCT AVG OPS CYC

C
A.J. Ellis
(LAD - C) Player notes
@Sea 9:10 pm 38% 46/150 20 46 6 25 0 5 37 .990 .307 .912 -
1B
Albert Pujols
(LAA - 1B) New player notes
@Col 7:40 pm 94% 55/225 25 55 8 31 3 3 29 .996 .244 .709 -
2B
Jason Kipnis
(Cle - 2B) No new player Notes
@StL 7:15 pm 80% 63/226 41 63 9 35 14 0 39 .989 .279 .787 0
3B
Chase Headley
(SD - 3B) No new player Notes
@Mil 7:10 pm 35% 53/204 29 53 7 29 5 0 55 .974 .260 .805 0
SS
Mike Aviles
(Bos - 2B,3B,SS) Player notes
Was 6:10 pm 68% 61/233 31 61 8 34 6 0 33 .982 .262 .705 -
OF
Shin-Soo Choo
(Cle - OF) Player notes
@StL 7:15 pm 74% 54/192 34 54 3 18 8 0 47 1.000 .281 .790 -
OF
Angel Pagan
(SF - OF) Player notes
Tex 9:15 pm 60% 72/224 29 72 5 21 12 3 32 .963 .321 .831 -
OF
Alfonso Soriano
(ChC - OF) Player notes
@Min 7:10 pm 35% 51/194 17 51 9 34 1 2 47 1.000 .263 .769 -
Util
David Ortiz
(Bos - Util) No new player Notes
Was 6:10 pm 87% 65/214 38 65 13 37 0 7 33 1.000 .304 .955 -
Util
Daniel Murphy
(NYM - 1B,2B,3B) Player notes
@NYY 6:05 pm 42% 65/224 21 65 0 23 4 1 30 .965 .290 .705 -
Util
Justin Smoak
(Sea - 1B) Player notes
LAD 9:10 pm 22% 47/205 20 47 10 29 1 0 49 .998 .229 .678 -
BN
Luke Scott
(TB - 1B,OF) No new player Notes
@Mia 6:10 pm 25% 39/176 18 39 9 35 2 2 38 - .222 .708 0
BN
Freddie Freeman
(Atl - 1B) Player notes
Tor 6:35 pm 58% 49/194 33 49 8 36 0 0 50 1.000 .253 .750 -
BN
Rickie Weeks
(Mil - 2B) Player notes
SD 7:10 pm 46% 31/194 20 31 5 13 4 1 70 .978 .160 .582 -
DL
Pablo Sandoval
(SF - 1B,3B) DL Player notes
Tex 9:15 pm 19% 30/95 16 30 5 15 0 1 10 .930 .316 .912 -

Player Number 2 (the one dominating the league) Pitchers

SP
Brandon Morrow
(Tor - SP) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List @Atl 6:35 pm 67% 77.2 7 3 3 0 25 67 6 0 2.90 0.99 0 0 0
SP
Madison Bumgarner
(SF - SP) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List Tex 9:15 pm 75% 80.0 7 4 0 0 29 62 8 0 3.26 1.15 0 0 0
SP
Adam Wainwright
(StL - SP) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List Cle 7:15 pm 66% 70.2 5 6 1 0 39 65 6 0 4.97 1.36 0 0 0
RP
Kenley Jansen
(LAD - RP) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List @Sea 9:10 pm 82% 28.2 4 0 0 9 7 44 1 7 2.20 0.91 4 0 6
RP
Fernando Rodney
(TB - RP) No new player Notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List @Mia 6:10 pm 91% 26.2 2 1 0 17 3 25 2 0 1.01 0.75 2 1 16
P
Cole Hamels
(Phi - SP) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List @Bal 6:05 pm 84% 83.0 8 3 0 0 27 86 4 0 2.93 1.05 0 0 0
P
Rafael Soriano
(NYY - RP) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List NYM 6:05 pm 71% 20.0 2 0 0 8 4 19 2 4 1.80 1.40 2 0 8
P
Wade Miley
(Ari - SP) Player notes
Propose trade Remove from Watch List Oak 8:40 pm 24% 67.2 7 2 0 0 19 41 6 0 2.53 1.09 1 0 0
P
Carlos Zambrano
(Mia - SP) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List TB 6:10 pm 28% 73.2 4 3 1 0 23 56 6 0 2.81 1.11 0 0 0
BN
Jason Vargas
(Sea - SP) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List LAD 9:10 pm 24% 84.0 7 4 0 0 34 58 5 0 3.64 1.10 0 0 0
BN
Ryan Vogelsong
(SF - SP) Player notes
Propose trade Remove from Watch List Tex 9:15 pm 32% 68.0 4 2 0 0 18 49 5 0 2.38 1.22 0 0 0

Player Number 2 Hitters:

C
Mike Napoli
(Tex - C,1B) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List @SF 9:15 pm 93% 43/166 29 43 10 28 0 3 58 .989 .259 .844 -
1B
Justin Morneau
(Min - 1B) Player notes
Propose trade Remove from Watch List ChC 7:10 pm 38% 36/152 20 36 10 31 0 3 35 .995 .237 .802 -
2B
Ian Kinsler
(Tex - 2B) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List @SF 9:15 pm 97% 66/243 45 66 6 26 8 0 30 .969 .272 .783 -
3B
Hanley Ramirez
(Mia - 3B,SS) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List TB 6:10 pm 97% 59/224 33 59 11 37 10 0 45 .984 .263 .814 -
SS
Asdrubal Cabrera
(Cle - SS) No new player Notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List @StL 7:15 pm 83% 55/186 26 55 5 25 2 1 22 .988 .296 .853 -
OF
Andre Ethier
(LAD - OF) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List @Sea 9:10 pm 87% 65/213 30 65 9 48 1 2 52 1.000 .305 .897 -
OF
Curtis Granderson
(NYY - OF) No new player Notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List NYM 6:05 pm 96% 55/221 39 55 17 33 3 3 66 1.000 .249 .861 0
OF
Melky Cabrera
(SF - OF) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List Tex 9:15 pm 86% 87/239 44 87 4 28 10 1 32 .980 .364 .934 -
Util
David Freese
(StL - 3B) New player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List Cle 7:15 pm 81% 52/192 28 52 12 40 0 0 55 .975 .271 .841 0
Util
Allen Craig
(StL - 1B,2B,OF) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List Cle 7:15 pm 61% 29/76 14 29 7 26 1 1 17 .991 .382 1.174 -
Util
Michael Morse
(Was - 1B,OF) Player notes
Propose trade Remove from Watch List @Bos 6:10 pm 54% 5/20 1 5 0 1 0 0 4 1.000 .250 .668 -
BN
Eric Hosmer
(KC - 1B) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List @Pit 6:05 pm 63% 45/205 23 45 7 29 4 1 28 .994 .220 .657 -
BN
Austin Jackson
(Det - OF) DL New player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List @Cin 6:10 pm 11% 45/136 29 45 5 17 6 0 29 1.000 .331 .958 -
BN
Desmond Jennings
(TB - OF) Player notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List @Mia 6:10 pm 60% 34/126 21 34 3 11 8 0 26 1.000 .270 .744 -
DL
Matt Kemp
(LAD - OF) DL No new player Notes
Propose trade Add to Watch List @Sea 9:10 pm 24% 43/121 30 43 12 28 2 5 30 .987 .355 1.163

League Standing Batter Totals:

Team Name W___L___CG___SV___ER___K___GIDP___HLD___ERA___WHIP___RW___RL___NSV
NUMBER1 37 23 3 40 200 524 42 23 3.13 1.19 8 6 33
ME 25 30 4 20 231 510 37 16 3.75 1.24 3 6 12
NUMBER2 47 39 3 37 272 541 51 8 3.90 1.23 5 4 29
NUMBER3 37 22 1 25 214 417 49 0 3.90 1.37 3 5 17
NUMBER4 26 33 2 40 217 447 36 6 3.94 1.24 1 11 29
NUMBER5 26 31 0 2 244 400 48 6 4.54 1.40 1 2 -1
NUMBER6 28 32 2 42 216 500 44 17 3.71 1.35 4 10 33
NUMBER7 33 33 2 20 217 473 33 6 3.69 1.29 3 4 13
NUMBER8 733 28 24 3 50 197 439 48 7 3.41 1.23 2 4 45
NUMBER9 35 37 5 24 217 493 49 2 3.18 1.13 2 4 21

League Standing Pitchers Totals:

Team Name ___W___L___CG___SV___ER___K___GIDP___HLD___ERA___WHIP___RW___RL___NSV
NUMBER1 37 23 3 40 200 524 42 23 3.13 1.19 8 6 33
ME 25 30 4 20 231 510 37 16 3.75 1.24 3 6 12
NUMBER2 47 39 3 37 272 541 51 8 3.90 1.23 5 4 29
NUMBER3 37 22 1 25 214 417 49 0 3.90 1.37 3 5 17
NUMBER4 26 33 2 40 217 447 36 6 3.94 1.24 1 11 29
NUMBER5 26 31 0 2 244 400 48 6 4.54 1.40 1 2 -1
NUMBER6 28 32 2 42 216 500 44 17 3.71 1.35 4 10 33
NUMBER7 33 33 2 20 217 473 33 6 3.69 1.29 3 4 13
NUMBER8 733 28 24 3 50 197 439 48 7 3.41 1.23 2 4 45
NUMBER9 35 37 5 24 217 493 49 2 3.18 1.13 2 4 21

[J_dogg82]

Here are available players:

Top Hitters arranged by season rank:

Jacoby Ellsbury
Howie Kendrick
Lance Berkman
Dee Gordon
Carl Crawford
Jayson Werth
Brett Gardner
Logan Morrison
Ike Davis
Chris Young
Alexei Ramirez
Adam Lind
Peter Bourjos
J.J. Hardy
Yoenis Cespedes
Erick Aybar
Colby Rasmus
Geovany Soto
Jose Tabata
Brennan Boesch
Gaby Sanchez
Delmon Young
Danny Espinosa
Carlos Lee
Vladimir Guerrero
Jason Bay
Stephen Drew
Carlos Pena
Yonder Alonso
Vernon Wells
Brandon Belt
Alcides Escobar
Lorenzo Cain
J.D. Martinez
Mitch Moreland
Aaron Hill
Chase Utley
Mike Carp
Alex Presley
Travis Hafner
Nolan Reimold
Grady Sizemore
Wilson Ramos
Chipper Jones
Eric Thames
Seth Smith
James Loney
Russell Martin
Zack Cozart
Kurt Suzuki
Marco Scutaro
Gordon Beckham
Ryan Doumit
Ty Wigginton
Ramon Hernandez
Chris Iannetta
Pedro Alvarez
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Sean Rodriguez
Tyler Pastornicky
Ruben Tejada
Jim Thome
Adam LaRoche
Will Middlebrooks
Chris Johnson
Robert Andino
Matt Carpenter
Juan Pierre
Raul Ibanez
Cody Ross
Todd Helton
Rajai Davis
Will Venable
David Murphy
Jon Jay

Top Pitchers arranged by season rank:

Darren O'Day
Jose Arredondo
Felipe Paulino
Craig Stammen
Nate Jones
Tommy Milone
Wilton Lopez
Alexi Ogando
Tim Collins
Scott Diamond
Steve Cishek
Brad Lincoln
Duane Below
Scott Atchison
Mark Buehrle
Koji Uehara
Jason Grilli
Josh Lindblom
Charlie Furbush
A.J. Burnett
Wei-Yin Chen
Neftali Feliz
Jake McGee
Randy Choate
Cory Luebke
Tom Wilhelmsen
Shawn Camp
Matt Belisle
Raul Valdes
Jose Mijares
Craig Breslow
Brad Ziegler
Casey Janssen
Sean Burnett
Antonio Bastardo
Jerry Blevins
Wade Davis
Jesse Crain
Joe Smith
Logan Ondrusek
Mariano Rivera
Jonathon Niese
Clay Hensley
Brian Fuentes
Cory Wade
Luis Ayala
Henry Rodriguez
Matt Albers
Tim Byrdak
Jared Burton
James Russell
Brian Duensing
Jeff Niemann
Adam Ottavino
Brayan Villarreal
Jose Quintana
Tony Watson
Cristhian Martinez
Drew Smyly
Ronald Belisario
Ross Detwiler
Andrew Miller
Bartolo Colon
Trevor Cahill
Jerome Williams
Aaron Harang
Kameron Loe
Joel Peralta
Alex Burnett
Jared Hughes
Glen Perkins
Luis Perez
Bruce Chen
Kelvin Herrera
Lucas Luetge

[iaoto]

I would pick up Saltalamacchia for C, Middlebrooks for 3B, Rasmus and Alonso for OF, and Freeman over Smoak.
Once Rasmus cools off you can replace him by whoever's hot, using the "past 7 days/past 15" tools to find gems, and do the same for that pickup.
You don't need more than 1 bench bat in a mixed league of 12 teams or less, hot bats will always be available to use and dump for 1-2 week periods.
Use that extra bench space to play 2-4 solid RPs who will help stabilize ratios (ERA/WHIP) while giving you chances for Ws and Holds. I recommend Stammen and Collins for extra RPs.

What trade offers are you getting?

[J_dogg82]

The two most recent trades I turned down were:
Matt Joyce OF for J. Samardzija (SP)

Player "Number 2" who's in first by 22 games offered me 2 players for Cain.
Freese and Hosmer.

I thought the Jocye offer was fair but didn't help me enough and the offer for Cain was pathetic, especially with other 1B players playing better on the FA list.

I can't seem to keep Freeman in play, as he has a different injury or disability every day! But OK, I just picked up Smoak anyway. Cut Rickie huh? That sucks because I actually traded FOR him pre-season. I assume you'd keep Pagan and get rid of Shin-Shoo and Soriano?

Replace Zito? I picked him up just today for today's start, as I'm 3 wins behind and 2 losses ahead...so thought I could benefit from the extra start. Any suggestions or should I keep rotating that spot for an extra starter?

THANKS!

[iaoto]

Freese is great, but yeah Hosmer replacements can be found easily on the wire right now.
You could cut loose Scott and Weeks to make room, and then dump Soriano later, when he gets cold. Not Choo though. An OF of Pagan, Choo and Rasmus could work for now. The thing about Weeks is that you have Kipnis, and there are stronger options on the WW for your Util spots. You might as well get that RP help.
Zito's spot can be used to spot start matchups, yeah. You have a really solid killer top 5.

I like your team and it's still early in the season. Because you're in 2nd and will remain very competitive, it wouldn't hurt to wait and see how your team plays once Sandoval, Choo and Freeman are in form before you trade a major SP.