Stahl’s Bag
By: Kyle Stahl
Hey, hey, hey! Welcome to me and my first piece. So, the reason it may seem I’ve got such an uncreative piece up here for my first post is because people want my help. Fact. They just cannot keep themselves from seeking out my advice. In all aspects of life actually, not just fantasy sports! The actual reason is, of course, I’m completely unimaginative and couldn’t come up with a good idea for this first piece if my life depended on it. Now sit back, relax, watch me rant and rave and perhaps, perhaps answer some questions. So in we go!
I have a question. What do you think of my giving up Scott Downs for Stephen Drew?
Drew and Renteria would split work at SS with occasional appearances at UTL (SS and C are the only positions where I have only one player eligible. But I feel better with only McCann than with only Renteria).
Downs is my semi-stopper along with Borowski and Wilson, and he helps hold down my ERA and WHIP.
I’m weak in SBs and SVs, and so I know this seems counter-intuitive. But I like having a full infield and Drew seems like a strong player. And I am still pursuing a deal for a third real stopper.
Do you think the deal is a fair one?
(Forgot to mention this is a very deep mixed 5×5 roto league)
- ericjlyman, espn.com
An interesting start to things here. Asking whether it’s fair. Simply put, no. Not even in the ball park of fair. ERA and WHIP are nice, but Downs’ 60-80 innings pitched just aren’t gonna be enough to put a real significant dent into things. Not compared to what Drew can not only do for you now, but more so in the future (if this is a dynasty/keeper, which I’m assuming it is). Downs’ real value as a setup/middle reliever is in holds, which isn’t a scoring category in your league, and that really hurts his value. While I would not argue against having him on your team, especially if this is indeed a “very deep” league, I cannot see anything even resembling fair in trading him for Stephen Drew.
That being said, feel free to try your hardest to pull off such a thing. I mean, if you can nab Drew at such a “low” cost, even with Renteria already on your team, pull that trigger. In this case, Downs’ value is still slightly high, the days of his picking up the odd save while B.J. Ryan worked his way back to full strength may still be fresh in some minds. But Downs hasn’t picked up a save in over a month, while grabbing six holds over that period. So you may be able to present the “illusion of value.” That can be more important than actual value in fantasy sports (by the way, the number one contributor to “illusion of value,” name recognition. In case you were wondering).
Fair or not, you’ve always got to do what’s best for your team. So worry not what the trade will do for the other team, if it’s even value, or anything of the sort. Make your team better. First and foremost. What would make this trade fair would be if the other guy is confused enough to accept it. In which case, get it approved immediately and drive Scott Downs to the airport yourself if need be.
I should note, I’m gonna speak in absolute certainties here, as best I can, but it’ll always just be, “in my opinion.” I’ll just present as if my opinion were certain fact. This is the internet after all.
I’ll also take a moment to address one of my causes for 2008. A lot of people step in and give their opinions on this and that, and stump for a cause they find to be worthy. I have a few, but I’ll just start with one for now…
Edinson Volquez.
See, now my spell check thinks that’s wrong. YOU think I spelled it wrong. I did not. There’s a “n” in there. Look it up. If we all tell just two people each, by the time the break rolls around… two more people will know his name is EdiNson, and he is not named after Thomas Alva Edison.
On a related note, yes, Thomas Edison’s middle name is Alva, not Alba. And in turn no, Jessica Alba is not named after him. I could keep going all night. Back to the questions!
I’m in a 20 team H2H league with Melvin Mora being injured-ish at third. So I ask, Russell Branyan?
- James
A question you should be asking. The quick answer is yes. Most certainly. On two conditions. If you can make that move without dropping Mora (say a fringe RP or third 1B) I would absolutely grab Russell Branyan. And, if Chase Headley is unavailable (which I have to assume he isn’t, though if he is, this is where the conversation ends while you run to pick him up).
Branyan has been exceptional since his call up, keeping in mind we’re looking at a very small sample size. But, as Mora is someone who doesn’t look like he’ll be missing too much time, Branyan is a great pickup to ride for a week or so. In fact, outside of a trade, I think he is the best/quickest/easiest fix for those owning the likes of Zimmerman or Bill Hall (outside of Chase Headley. Check again!), two others I would still be holding onto (out of stupid blind faith?), but are completely useless right now and in the near future.
Branyan has moved into the starting job at third in Milwaukee, while Bill Hall demands a trade and also fills it at second while Weeks is out. He’s been playing almost every day since his promotion, and since May 25, less than a month, he’s hit .302 with 7 home runs and an OPS of 1.180. That’s “pretty solid,” I’d say. In fact, over the same period, Mora is hitting .210 with 5 home runs and an OPS of .693. Even with a “Mora-ish” player, I think I’d be very interested in riding the Branyan wave.
Bottom line, don’t expect Branyan to keep this pace up, but don’t look the other way while he’s finding himself very comfortable in his newfound starting job. Unless, you know, Headley. Did I mention, GRAB CHASE HEADLEY!
Well that’s all I’ve got this week. Enough to get my feet wet. Enough to make it look like I wrote something. Enough to get you all salivating over my future features! Huzzah! Everybody wins!
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at 11:21 am and is filed under Fantasy Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
