Luis Rivas worth picking up?

[Guest]

I'm in a 4x4 10 team league and was wondering if I should pick up Luis Rivera. I'm currently:

10th in BA (.263)
4th in RBI's
1st in HR's
6th in SB

Here is my lineup:

Gil, Geronimo BAL C
Marrero, Eli STL C,OF
Bagwell, Jeff HOU 1B
Spivey, Junior ARI 2B
Chavez, Eric OAK 3B
Rodriguez, Alex TEX SS
Anderson, Garret ANA OF
Sanchez, Alex MIL OF
Salmon, Tim ANA OF
Kearns, Austin CIN OF
Guerrero, Vladimir MON OF
Eckstein, David ANA SS
Jordan, Brian LA OF

Who should I drop, Brian Jordan or Junior Spivey?

[it'sbeenawhile]

Am I missing something? Why would you drop B. Jordan, let alone Junior Spivey for of all people Luis Rivas?

Very curious,
Shreeps

[it'sbeenawhile]

Ok, after some research I further modify that previous comment. If you can pick up and use him as trade bait, do so. But, still, injuries are injuries....so be cautious.


Shreeps

[Arlo]

Hang on - we're talking about Luis Rivera, the injured pitcher in the Orioles system? If so, the answer is no - do not pick him up.

I love his stuff - Rivera has downright nasty movement on some of his pitches - but his shoulder injury dropped his value down to zero as far as this year is concerned. Even in keeper leagues, there's no way of telling if he can come back and realize his potential.

If it's Rivas you're thinking of, I don't really see a spot for him on your team. Juan Rivera, on the other hand, is an intriguing gamble who might pay nice dividends. If you decide to roll the dice on him, Jordan - a gamble himself - would have to be the one to drop with Spivey being your only option at 2b.

[Guest]

It's Luis Rivas 2nd baseman for the Twins. You don't think he will have a better year than Brian Jordan.

BA, HR's, RBI's and SB count in my league.

Rivas is a possible 30-30 guy. What do you think?

[Arlo]

Ok - I get it now. Jordan and Rivas are both gambles - big gambles, in fact. It would probably take a physician to figure out which one is more likely to succeed this year, but I'd lean toward Jordan. A wrist injury like the one Rivas is coming back from can take a while to recover from and can cause loss of bat speed - not good for a hitter like Rivas. I certainly don't see him as hitting 30 home runs this season (or the next, for that matter).

However, since steals and average are what you need, he might not be a bad gamble, considering that Jordan might ride the pine on your team even if he is healthy. A fully-recovered Rivas would also presumably have more trade value than an of like Jordan due to positional scarcity.

Hmm... tough one. I think you could argue this one either way. Having only seen Rivas play a handful of games since coming back and considering the nature of his injury, Jordan seems like the safe bet. Given your team, however, there would be nothing wrong with taking a gamble on Rivas.

Which way to go depends on your own style of play. If it were my call, I'd stay put for another couple days (seeing as Rivas wasn't picked up after his great first game back) and monitor Rivas. If you like what you see, pounce.

[Guest]

Instead of picking up Rivas what if I traded Glavine for Soriano? Is this a fair deal?

[Arlo]

Certainly, if both players keep playing at their current level. if your rotation can handle the loss of Glavine and Soriano's hip doesn't start acting up again, this sounds good.