Pitcher Pickups

[Guest]

Hello,

I'm currently 2nd in a 4x4 10 team league. My pitching is pretty strong, but I'm looking for a 6th starter. I currently have Jon Lieber, but was wondering if other guys available on FA are worth replacing.

Rankings:
2nd - ERA: 3.50
2nd - Wins: 60
2nd - K: 691
6th - Saves 56

Here's my pitching lineup:

Padilla, Vicente PHI P
Perez, Odalis LA P
Lieber, Jon CHC P
Halladay, Roy TOR P
Julio, Jorge BAL P
Wickman, Bob CLE P
Stewart, Scott E. MON P
Prior, Mark CHC P
Johnson, Randy ARI P

IR
Gordon, Tom

The available players for pickup are:

Tom Ohka
Ted Lilly
Josh Fogg
Paul Byrd
Ryan Dempster
Escobar, Kelvim
Octavio Dotel
Embree, Alan

[Arlo]

I'd rank Padilla a bit below Lieber right now... That's a very good group of available pitchers; Lilly is tempting, but I'm not yet on that bandwagon. Escobar might be the real prize if you need saves, though.

If I were in your shoes, I'd try to trade a package for a stud. Might be difficult with those guys on the wire, but it's worth a shot.

[Guest]

What trade would you recommend?

Should I try and trade Randy Johnson?

Currently:
6th - BA .271
2nd - HR 184
2nd - RBI 623
4th - SB 85

Here is my batting lineup:

Rodriguez, Ivan C TEX
Marrero, Eli C STL
Bagwell, Jeff 1B HOU
Spivey, Junior 2B ARI
Chavez, Eric 3B OAK
Rodriguez, Alex SS TEX
Anderson, Garret OF ANA
Berkman, Lance OF HOU
Sanchez, Alex OF MIL
Guerrero, Vladimir OF MON
Salmon, Tim OF ANA
Hinske, Eric U TOR
Eckstein, David

[Arlo]

I'd try it the other way around: trade someone like Padilla plus another player for an upgrade at that other player's position, then pick up a starter (Lilly?) off the free agent list...

[ntremain23]

Here's my opinions on your lineup:
-Padilla will drop off and end up with 15 wins tops.
-Odalis Perez will become tired and won't get half as many innings or get hurt in the second half.
-Jon Lieber will pick it up and have an awesome second half
-Roy Halladay will continue and end up with about 17-19 wins
-Jorge Julio will still perform in second half but playing on the Orioles will set in
-Tom Ohka will drop off but end up with solid numbers
-Ted Lilly will perform amazingly in second half and end up with 11+ wins
-Josh Fogg will have a few good and a few bad outings and end up with 12-15 wins
-Paul Byrd,well I have thought he will drop off the whole season,but he's proved me wrong.
-Ryan Dempster will suffer from lack of run support but will pitch solidly,his fate lies in the hands of the Reds bats
-Kelvim Escobar will pick it up in the second half and end up with 25-30 saves
-Octavio Dotel will end up with substandard numbers with about 5-7 wins and 5-10 saves
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Once again,those are just my opinions.Arlo can you help me out a bit,are those good projections?Can you tell me if you think i'm wrong on any or right on the dot on others?Thanks alot man.

[dannahann]

I pretty much agree with ntremain's assessment of these pitchers. The better 2nd half performers should be Dempster, Halladay, Lieber, and posssibly Lilly. I do however think that Perez will also post decent numbers. As for Escobar, I'd be more cautious. He might end up with 25 SVs but ONLY IF he isn't dealt. Keep an eye on him until the deadline, if he's traded he'll become a setup man. Padilla had a nice game yesterday and his numbers still look good-TRADE HIM before he blows up.

[Arlo]

I basically also agree, although I think the prediction for Lilly is risky. He has the potential to be solid, but I'm not convinced he's quite there yet. One great outing against the Rays is encouraging, but not very conclusive yet.

Escobar owners should indeed be a bit uneasy - a trade would almost certainly leave him setting up. How likely is such a trade? It's hard to tell, but it's one of the more probably rumors among those circulating now.

One point where I differ is on Dempster. He's looked pretty awful recently. While a change of scenery might do him good, I don't really see any indications that he'll return to his level of two years ago.

We'll see - it's always fun to speculate.

[Guest]

I was just offered a trade:

Andruw Jones
Ugueth Urbina

for

Vladimir Guerrero


I don't think I want to do this, but it would be nice to have Ugueth Urbina to boost my saves.

With all of your pitching predictions who do you think I should drop and pickup. Here are my current statistics:

2nd in ERA (3.507)
2nd in K (704)
2nd in W (61)
6th in S (56)

Do you think it would be fair to trade:

Lance Berkman

for

Jones and Urbina

My batting is:

7th in BA (.257)
2nd in HR (185)
2nd in RBI (625)
4th in SB (86)