Upgrading Pitching off Wire

[J_dogg82]

So the same player has been dominating my league all year. After a season of hard consideration, and help from this forum (thanks everyone!), I have been able to charge to Second place and hold it most of the year. The problem is, he's slightly better than me across the board, and every time that I make a move (Recently C. Headley for Chris Sale), he does something similar (trades for Dempster). Now the trade deadline has passed. This is a one time, non "keeper league." And I need to get better pitching if I am going to have a chance I think, because he is going to win more OF categories than I am no matter what.

Any ideas at this point. Ditch Cliff Lee? Probably even though I drafted him he's just never come around. For who?

Right now I don't get many Holds. My WHIP is probably my worst number. But I do get a lot of Ks, and have an ERA between 2.25 and 2.89 each week. Anything that gets me more Wins, more Relief Wins, reduces Loses, without sacrificing too much elsewhere would probably make me more competitive.

Marcum is coming off the DL. He seems too unpredictable. Then again, I've spot started Chen and Niese at times this year, and they are unpredictable too. I dropped Affeldt (who was my prime source for Holds the last two weeks) to pick up Medlen, because I figured he was worth the chance.

Thanks for your help as always!

I have:

Chris Sale
Justin Verlander
Matt Cain
John Axford
Aroldis Chapman
Tom Wilhelmsen
Casey Janssen
Pedro Strop
Chris Medlan (dropped Affeldt for him today)
Cliff Lee
Mike Fiers
Brandon Morrow

Available SP:

Brandon Beachy
Jonathon Niese
James McDonald
Colby Lewis
Charlie Furbush
Bartolo Colon
Mark Buehrle
Wei-Yin Chen
Jason Hammel
Carlos Villanueva
Ross Detwiler
Jose Quintana
Clayton Richard
Alexi Ogando
Bronson Arroyo
Shaun Marcum
David Phelps
Brett Myers
A.J. Griffin
Brad Lincoln
Jeff Samardzija
Matt Garza
Andy Pettitte
Zach McAllister
Felipe Paulino
Andrew Miller
Franklin Morales
Patrick Corbin
Matt Harvey
Adam Ottavino
Wade Davis
Clayton Mortensen
Jeff Karstens
Dillon Gee
Aaron Harang
Travis Blackley
Chris Tillman
Alfredo Simon
Neftali Feliz
Cory Luebke
Tom Gorzelanny
Hisashi Iwakuma
Andrew Cashner
Miguel Gonzalez
Wade LeBlanc
Eric Stults
Lucas Harrell
Marco Estrada
Derek Holland
Jeff Niemann

RP Available:

Charlie Furbush
Vinnie Pestano
Darren O'Day
Robbie Ross
Craig Stammen
Sean Marshall
Jason Hammel
Carlos Villanueva
Ross Detwiler
Wilton Lopez
Darren Oliver
Jose Quintana
Joel Peralta
Tim Collins
Jason Grilli
Jake McGee
Alexi Ogando
Luke Gregerson
Mitchell Boggs
David Phelps
Scott Atchison
Brett Myers
Kelvin Herrera
Brad Ziegler
Octavio Dotel
Ronald Belisario
Jordan Norberto
Steve Delabar
Brad Lincoln
Joaquin Benoit
Jerry Blevins
Jeff Samardzija
Brayan Villarreal
Ryan Mattheus
Troy Patton
Jose Arredondo
Jon Rauch
Joe Smith
Jared Hughes
Felipe Paulino
Andrew Miller
Franklin Morales
Craig Breslow
Patrick Corbin
Matt Albers
Matt Capps
Brandon Lyon
Adam Ottavino
Raul Valdes
J.P. Howell

[paperstacks1980]

yeah ive given up on cliff lee....lots of good players there

[exm]

Dropping C Lee is just silly. Sorry.

[antant42]

I think that you should keep Cliff Lee. I don't see any other options available that would help your team.

[fast dogs]

Fiers is the guy I'd look to replace instead of Lee; I could see him being shut down sooner than later. Keep Lee, look ahead at the week you'd first be in playoffs and who'd be starting then matchup-wise

[J_dogg82]

Regarding Cliff Lee: I know he's a great player. Unfortunately, he only has 2 wins all season and he has an ERA of 3.78. He averages a K per inning pitched over the season, but a few other available pitchers have as well and they actually win. One thing about Lee though, he's my only pitcher who reliably gets GIDPs, because he seems to pitching to contact a lot this year.

Regarding Fiers: I'll probably replace him if he has another poor start (he plays today). Yes, his stats were SO gaudy that they were due for a trim. When he gave up 8 runs in 2 innings two starts back, that was more runs than he had allowed in his prior 8 starts. He gave up 5 earned in 5 his next time out. Maybe he's done. Maybe he'll find it again. His 36 ERA two weeks back just killed me and cost me a lot of scores that week as I was already short on starts.

Is Medlan for real?

Is there an upgrade for RP that might make sense.

I like the idea of looking to the match-ups my first week of playoffs. Good advice.