Fantadelphia: The Four Week Wait

  Fantasy-baseball

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It's the end of April, which can mean only one of three things:

  1. Your fantasy team is unstoppable, and you're already laughing your way to the bank.
  2. Your fantasy team is awful, and you are in all-out scramble mode to avoid being the laughingstock of your friends, family, and co-workers.
  3. You don't play fantasy, and you live a miserable existance. 

Whether you are playing with categories,  points, head to head or roto, we have four weeks of data to obsess over instead of building powerpoint presentations for the boss.  Now is the time that our inner Billy Beane kicks in, and we scour the waiver wire for the next big prospect, harass our friends to make a big splash, or turn off the lights and turn up Adele.  After four weeks, the leauge is starting to take shape.  You need to take a look for that move (or moves) tat can improve your team for the long haul.  What should you be looking for?

The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing conversation is heating up right now.  George Springer was brought up, and has somehow exceeded even the loftiest of expectations.  Every year we hear about this guy, and every year we are disappointed.  Mike Trout is by far the biggest fish (see what I did there?) to have ever been transferred to the big pond, and even he was awful in his first go round.  (Seriously, look it up)  After his trip back down to the minors, he figured something out and went bananas for the last month of the season.  You cannot count on this happening again, but there are a few big names to keep an eye out for.  Gregory "don't call me Placido" Polanco has been talked about as a better version of Andrew Mccutchen, somehow drawing comparisons to Jadevon Clowney.  Jon "get the h out" Singleton will absolutely be a monster, based solely on the fact that the Phillies dealt him away.  Oscar Tavares has seemingly been talked about since before Mike Trout, but has yet to set foot in St. Louis.  Unfortunately for you, they are probably already scooped up.  Now is the time I would try to make a move, dealing away anyone around the top 100 in the MLB for one of these guys.  It may be tough, but this is where you may have to pay the least.

The Underacheiver

Honestly, this is the least amount of fun.  Nobody wants to deal for a guy who is stumbling his way through a Major League Season.  These are the guys to take a look for now.  Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, Eric Hosmer, and Allen Craig have all stumbled out of the gate.  See if you can pry away one of these guys for half the price of draft day. Unfortunately, half the price of a metric buttload is still half a buttload.  We need to be realistic here, and try to get guys who will help us out, but won't cost us our posterior.  I hate the term "professional hitter."  Technically every non-pitcher in the MLB is a professional hitter, sooooooo, that's dumb.  Salvador Perez was one of those guys.  He makes great contact, has some power, and plays on a team of underacheivers.  With a few higher points of .OBP from the likes of Moustakas and Hosmer, and we will see his counting stats improve.  Zach Wheeler, despite his status as a dum Met, is a spectacular play.  Wil Myers had a beautiful rookie season, fulfilling the prophecy of the one true king.  Unfortunately, he has been more King Joffrey in 2014, haplessing swinging his sword pretending to be a threat.  He is going to be the kind of pickup you can get for cheap, yet has a phenomenal upside in both redraft and keeper leagues.

The Lame Horse

This year seems to have really saddled us with immense injuries.  More than 15 pitchers have gone under the knife, risking even their 2015 season.  (Hint: Don't target those guys)  We have also seen our fair share of star injuries, with torn thumb ligaments for both Josh Hamilton and Bryce Harper.  Jurickson Profar hasn't had a single at bat this year, and Manny Machado is progressing slower than we thought.  Start to  send some feelers, and see if you can pry away some talent that has a few weeks to go on the DL.

 

Take a few minutes this week and take a look around your league.  Most likely the bottom of your league has teams filled with guys who have spent some time on the DL.  These teams are most likely to make a deal, with hopes of turning their year around.  The prospects are a crapshoot, butsee what you can do to get one of them on your squad.  The underacheivers are going to be your best bet.  People get tired of watching their team flounder, and you will be able to get the best bang for your buck.   Keep an eye out for the best deals, and happy trading! 

Scott Anderson is a writer for Philliedelphia.com. Follow him on Twitter @therealscottya 

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