You can e-mail your Fantasy Baseball questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Dear Mr. Fantasy in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state.
Ah, selling high.
It's a wonderful thing when done properly. Not so much when done like this ...
In Fantasy leagues, should you trade away Grady Sizemore or hold on to him? What about Jeff Francoeur? -- Billy Newcombe
SW: Why on earth would you want to "trade away" Sizemore? I mean, I'd never label any player off limits, but you suggest trading him away, like his presence somehow contaminates the rest of your team. Do you mean you don't think he can sustain this near 40-40 pace? You wonder if you should sell high on him? Nah, I wouldn't. He turns 26 in a few days and always had a great pedigree coming up through the Indians system. His power breakthrough doesn't come as a complete surprise and should last, which is a completely different stance than I took this spring, but whatever. People change. As for Francoeur, depending on the depth of your league, I don't think you could find anyone who'd want to trade for him. I wouldn't hesitate to cut him in a 10- or 12-team mixed league.
I am in a 16-team keeper league and am the lucky owner of Joe Mauer, Geovany Soto and Ryan Doumit. I've been able to play all three of them mostly thanks to utility spots, but I need help at shortstop and third base. I'm thinking about dealing Mauer (he's been the most "asked about" of the three), hoping Soto is as good as advertised (I can't complain so far). Who should I deal, and what can I expect in return? -- Alfonso Peniche, Guadalajara, Mexico
SW: If everyone asks about Mauer, why not give the people what they want? I still rank Soto ahead of Mauer even if he has cooled a little since April, and his keeper value is second to none. I mean, he's a rookie, for gosh sakes, and he threatens Brian McCann and Russell Martin for the top spot at the position. As for who you can get in return, I wouldn't ask for someone like David Wright, but I wouldn't settle for much less in exchange for one of the top players at the weakest position in Fantasy. You could surely get Aramis Ramirez or Garrett Atkins and maybe even steal like Miguel Cabrera, considering how he underperformed in the first half.
I am in a 12-team keeper league with eight pitching and eight hitting categories. One of the owners refuses to play a catcher because Victor Martinez in on the DL. I say you must pick an active player. He says leaving Martinez gives him no advantage or disadvantage. Agree or disagree? -- Brad
SW: Well, the maneuver certainly has its advantages and disadvantages, and your friend might simply mean they cancel each other out. Nobody likes to play with an owner who doesn't pay attention to his team, but if this particular owner does pay attention and starts Martinez deliberately, as a measure of strategy, I wouldn't have a problem with it. Shoot, I did something similar in one of our office leagues when Chris Snyder went on the DL. I didn't want to pick up an extra catcher and didn't want to cut Snyder himself, so I just kept starting him. Snyder came back, and I stayed in first place -- no harm done. Now, if you want to prohibit him from starting Martinez not because you think it interferes with the competitive integrity of the league, but because you think an injury should force a Fantasy team to make a roster move just like it would a real team, you might have a point. I'd introduce the idea to the rest of the league before the start of next season and see what they think.
This is my second year in a Fantasy league. We have 11 teams in a mixed points format. I'm fairly rich in pitching but have a terrible hitting line. I'm willing to let either Johan Santana or Jonathan Papelbon go, but what should I expect back in the way of a quality hitter? One of the guys in our league is sitting on Lance Berkman, Chipper Jones and Chase Utley. -- Matt Robillard, Cary, Ill.
SW: Yeah, I suppose you could try targeting that guy, but since those three hitters all play different positions, I don't know that he'd seriously consider trading any. Before you look at anyone else's excess, look at everyone else's needs. You want to find someone so desperate for pitching he'll feel your offer is too good to be true. Because you should get an elite hitter for Santana or -- depending on how well your league rewards saves -- Papelbon. But in a year when serviceable pitching seems more plentiful, you might have a hard time convincing someone he needs Santana or Papelbon more than he needs an elite hitter. So just to make sure you don't sell yourself short, begin your negotiations based on the other person's need.
I have Cliff Lee in an 11-team keeper league, and I've been struggling to get out of 10th place. Do you think Lee will be a dominant pitcher next year to keep at $6, and for how long? Or should I try to trade him for better keepers? Thanks for all the information throughout the year. -- Jason Kamienski, Chalfont, Pa.
SW: I wouldn't call Lee a bad keeper at $6. If the season ended today, I'd expect him to go for even more money in auctions next year. But for him, this season has come as such a surprise with such little basis that I don't know whether I trust him for the rest of this season, much less next. I'd try trading him for something better, preferably a hitter so you won't have to worry so much about an injury derailing his career. Carlos Quentin, for example, might have a similar price tag to Lee, considering his lack of hype on Draft Day, and I'd much rather put my trust in him than Lee over the next few seasons.
Hey, Scotty. I saw what you wrote about Carlos Quentin, and I like him too. Should I make him my keeper or Nick Markakis? I play in a Head-to-Head league and can only have two keepers. I plan on keeping Ian Kinsler and one of those two. -- Matt McNealy
SW: You have to be a little more specific, Matt. I write about Quentin as often as I breathe. And I don't just like him; I love him. Now that I've thoroughly destroyed any illusion of objectivity, I will in fact say you should keep Quentin. I have nothing against Markakis. I like him plenty too, but Quentin has a longer history of a 1-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio -- always a great tiebreaker -- and seemingly more power. I trust power more than batting average to translate from year to year.
I currently have Joey Votto and Paul Konerko as my first basemen. I am looking to add or improve at the position. Jason Giambi is available in my league. Would you drop Votto or Konerko for him? -- Mike Wilson, Cleveland
SW: Yeah, I would -- and that's even with Richie Sexson now cutting into Giambi's at-bats. Look, Giambi has had some pretty poor seasons recently, but he has the best numbers of the three players you mentioned and the kind of plate discipline to make you think he'll sustain them. Between Votto and Konerko, I'd probably drop Konerko. I think he has some potential to rebound, but if no one in your league has Giambi yet, no one would pick up Konerko.
Should I drop out of the saves category in my 10-team Rotisserie league? I'm currently in second place overall. I am in eighth place in saves. Seventh place is 18 saves ahead, and ninth is 32 behind. Currently, I have Joakim Soria, C.J. Wilson and Mike Gonzalez. Troy Percival and Damaso Marte are available as free agents. If I drop closers, I don't think I will lose ground in saves. If I pick up starters, I think I can gain in wins (I am in fourth with 47, and first is 56). So do I pull the trigger or hold out and stick with the closers? -- Gavin, Columbus, Ind.
SW: As much as I hate trying to predict saves, Gavin, I hate trying to predict wins even more. In fact, if you read some my preseason stuff, you know I don't even try. That said, I think you have the right idea here. Why shoot for one extra Rotisserie point in the saves category when you can just as easily gain three in the wins category? Try trading your three closers, particularly Soria, for a trustworthy, four-category starting pitcher.
You can e-mail your Fantasy Baseball questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Dear Mr. Fantasy in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state.
