Questions on Position Players

[Mordraken]

I just finished my auction this weekend, and have ended up with too many position players. I will have to drop one to add a pitcher, and have it narrowed down to the following players.

My league is head-to-head, and uses RBIs, Runs, SB, OBP and SLG as the categories. We also only have 8 pick-ups during the season

First question: Is Mark Bellhorn the real deal? 888 OPS last year with a good on base (>370) and qualifies for 2B, 3B, 1B. But he's a virtual unknown....

Second question: I have Mark Bellhorn and Aaron Boon as my 2B/3B/SS combo with Jose Valentine (SS/3B) on the bench.

Outfield I have Bonds, Giles, Edmonds and on the bench Cruz Jr. and Jason Giambi. Also at DH I have Durazo (with Helton at 1B).

Now the question... Given that, who should I drop? I like Valentine as a backup in case either Bellhorn or Boone suck. I think all of Cruz, Giambi and Durazo will have big seasons. But I can't keep them all... Who should I drop and why?

I'm leaning to either Giambi (because of his limited playing time?) or Valentine (the least "good" of the bunch).

FYI, Roster is:

C Toby Hall
1B Todd Helton
2B Jose Vidro
3B Mark Bellhorn
SS Aaron Boone
OF Barry Bonds
OF Jim Edmonds
OF Brian Giles
Util Jose Cruz
Bench Erubiel Durazo
Bench Jeremy Giambi
Bench Jose Valentin

Pitchers
SP Roy Halladay
SP Kris Benson
SP Freddy Garcia
RP Felix Rodriguez
RP Arthur Rhodes
P Roy Oswalt
P Woody Williams
P Tim Wakefield

[hooligan1]

Are you punting saves? Cause you don't have a closer anywhere!

The Bellhorn question is a good one. I think it's really hard to say at this point....we need to see him play more. I would lean towards dropping Giambi, if you must. He is part of the BoSox logjam at 1B/DH/3B/OF that is going to relegate several good players to part-time.

Maybe you can shop Durazo around to see what kind of value you can get for him; maybe get that pitcher depth you're looking for...? Plus, he is almost certain to be injured at some point this year but people still value him pretty highly because he could still "breakout".....

Your rotation is pretty darn good, with two aces (Oswalt/Halladay), a possible ace-wildcard in Garcia and three really solid back-of-the-rotation starters in Benson, Williams and Wakefield. F-Rod and Rhodes are very good set-up men, but they will not get you very many wins or saves....?

I would try to improve that 3B/SS combo.....it's a bit shaky!

[Mordraken]

Thanks. Yeah, I'm punting Saves. I figured it was better to focus on solid starters (giving me WHIP, ERA, Wins, K's) than closers (giving me WHIP, ERA, Saves). Last year, JC Romero & Octavio Dotel got me the best record in the league & all the way to the league championship. 'couse I also had Hudson, Morris, Halladay & Oswalt....

I just looked into Giambi, and yes, it is a logjam there... 6 players for 3 spots (Giambi, Millar, Nixon, Oritz, Hillenbrand, Mueler), but Giambi's numbers last year projected over a season... >.900 OPS, 90 RBIs, 110 runs, 40 homers... wow.