Fantasy help needed

Freak

In a standard 5x5 H2H dynasty league, another manager has offered me 1B/OF Lance Berkman and SS Troy Tulowitzki for my 1B Mark Teixeira and RP Takashi Saito.

Now, I value Teixeira over Berkman (if only very slightly), but Saito is 38 years old and I could probably get Rafael Soriano off waivers to replace him.

Where it gets tricky is whether Tulowitzki as a pure hitter is worth going from Teixeira to Berkman. What I mean by "pure hitter" is that Tulowitzki would be slotted into my open UTIL spot, since I already have Hanley Ramirez at SS.

Some people are actually ranking Berkman above Teixeira, so maybe I'm over-thinking this and should just accept, but Teixeira was an absolute stud last year once he went over to the NL.

Help needed, thanks.

Danny Diamond

Founder/Admin

I would accept the trade as soon as I saw it. Like you said, Saito is very replaceable. (Kerry Wood was just named the closer of the Cubs for example) and while Berkman and Teixera are essentially washes, getting Tulo is getting a top 10 shortstop for essentially a replaceable player. Weighing the pros and cons of the deal I think you should hope the guy hasnt recinded the offer, because you are getting a great offer.

This is also assuming that you need a SS, UT or DH upgrade as well.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

First of all, the Braves lineup has taken a significant hit with Andruw Jones and Edgar Renteria leaving, and with Chipper getting older, it's safe to say he's going to be visiting the DL at some point this season.. Tex is going to be pitched around a lot more this year, which will help in walks and OBP, but he'll drop off in RBIs and Homers.

Berkman puts up the kind of numbers he does, every year.. and this year they've added a couple people including Tejada. At worst.. it's a wash.

Then you are getting Tulo who was on fire much of last season, is developing nicely, some call him the next Derek Jeter, and you know he's going to have a shitload of opportunities playing in Coors.

Freak

Thanks for the help, fellas. I accepted it.

As soon as I saw it, I did think it was too good to be true. But I also like Teixeira an awful lot, and he's a few years younger. Blade, you kind of sold me on it by pointing out the changes in Atlanta's lineup.

Anyway, now I'll probably be tempted to shop Hanley around, just to see... Ah, no way. I love Hanley.

Danny Diamond

Founder/Admin

If anything send off Tulo in another trade. Shit, Hanley is stud muffin material.

Package one of your starters and Tulo to the team with a weak SS for their best player and you can probably get any deal done.

Dr. Giganto

Is Rafael Soriano available in your league? Pick him up!!!

Also, if Jonathon Broxton is available, you should think about picking him up....if anything happens to Saito, Broxton will be the closer.

Tulo is a stud...i think you can try to move Hanley, since some people rate him VERY highly, and get a lot in return for him. Then move Tulo to SS and fill your Utility spot with a player that will give you whatever you need (power, speed, etc)

Freak

Problem with my league is the three other managers I'm most likely to trade with have Reyes, Rollins and Guillen at short, respectively.

I tried to dangle Hanley in front of the guy with Guillen, and he said he'd give me "Webb +".

So I told him to fuck off.

Dr. Giganto

Hey Hal, just to give you a sense of how good a deal you made, here are how the players ranked in the little system I have...

Basically, I take Baseball Prospectus's player projections and plug them into a spreadsheet. I like their projections because they're based on science/math, and not just some douchebag sitting in a room pulling numbers out of his ass.

Then, I take the average of each stat (runs, home runs, etc.) at each position and figure out how much above or below the average each player is. Add up the score for each stat, and you have a "fantasy value" for each player.

In my overall rankings (which take position scarcity into account), Berkman was #48 overall and Teixeira was #57 overall. Plus, Tulowitzki was #31 overall and Saito was #62. Thus, you gave up the #s 57 and 62 players and received #s 31 and 48.

Even if you don't take position into account, I have Berkman at the #26 overall hitter, Teixeira at #28, and Tulo at #32. Thus, you can easily plug Tulo into your Util slot and not lose anything. In fact, he'll probably be one of the best Util players in your league. His projections are 95 runs, 21 HRs, 91 RBIs, 10 SBs, and a .292 average.

Also, as I said, pick Rafael Soriano up if he's on waivers. My system has him ranked #64 overall, with basically the same "fantasy value" as Saito

Freak

I'm feeling better every day.

Our league's rosters weren't entered into the system until this past weekend, so anyone who wasn't on a team at the end of last year began this season on waivers. Anyway, I got Soriano, and I dropped Phil Hughes for Joba Chamberlain... though I'm not too sure what to think about that.

Dr. Giganto

Well, Joba is starting the year in the bullpen, and Hughes will be a starter all year (barring injury, of course).

The Yankees have said they are determined to keep Joba at a 140-inning limit, so even if someone gets hurt, Joba probably won't be moved to the starting rotation until about June.

However, if something should happen to Mariano Rivera, Joba steps into the closer role.

You probably made the right move...if Joba does assume a starter's position, he'll probably do better than Hughes from that point on