Talking Turkey

By Robby Wellington – Staff Writer

The trading deadline came and went with a flurry of activity that actually had a fairly insignificant impact on the fantasy landscape. That is unless you’re in one of those silly NL/AL only leagues, in which case Carlos Lee, Bobby Abreu and even Julio Lugo caused some major waves. I don’t exactly understand the whole “a guy switches leagues so his team loses him” concept. Why don’t you just let the league-switching player continue to be available in your fantasy league, or does that somehow ruin the integrity and purity of having NL/AL only. But I digress; onto the moves, or at least the major ones.

Bobby Abreu and Corey Lidle got shipped out to New York and, as previously noted on RotoScoop, the Yankee lineup should be ferocious come fall. That said, Sheffield and Godzilla are suffering from the same ailment as my main man Derrek Lee, and we all see how seamlessly he has recovered from that sore wrist (sorry, another quick tangent: I now have Lee, Sheffield and Harden on my team with only two DL spots, and I am seriously looking at dropping Lee. What a waste). Anyway, Abreu’s value will receive a very slight bump as he is in a better lineup, but not by much, as hitting between Chase Utley and Ryan Howard really was not too shabby. The park effects, short porch and all, seem to be negligible. Lidle should see a spike in his wins, so upgrade him a bit as well, but there is a long list of pitchers who simply crumbled under the pressure of throwing in the Bronx. Utley, Howard and company, though hot right now, will certainly miss Abreu and his remarkable .427 OBP in the lineup. Which brings me to another aspect of this trade. Since when did the Phillies become a small-market team? I understand that Abreu is owed a lot of money next year, but this is money that is essentially commensurate with his skill set, slightly eroding as it may be. Not to mention, Corey Lidle is a solid, if unspectacular pitcher. A bad team is going to win the NL wild card this year, and with the Phillies only a few games out and budding superstars Utley and Howard coming on strong, they seemed to have as good a chance as anyone. That was, of course, until they traded away Rheal Cormier to the amazingly talented Cincinnati bullpen. Yikes.

Carlos Lee’s big year should get even bigger, as he’ll benefit from the positive effects of hitting at friendly Ameriquest Field. Effects that many folks are still waiting for Mark Teixeira to feel (his OPS is 160 points lower at home than on the road this season, after being 300 points higher last year). Francisco Cordero should step right into the closer’s role in Milwaukee and hold it down the rest of the season, assuming he doesn’t return to his April meltdown form at any point. Happy trails Turnbow. Kevin Mench should enjoy a solid starting gig now in Milwaukee and continue to put up decent enough numbers to grab the final outfield spot on someone’s fantasy team. A move to the cleanup spot certainly can’t hurt.

Greg Maddux’ season fell by the fantasy wayside after a brilliant April, that is until he was dealt to the pitcher’s paradise that is the NL West. Unless Maddux is throwing at Arizona, go ahead and start him. The Dodgers also grabbed Julio Lugo, who should see a decrease in value for the same reasons Maddux’ value rises. The Dodgers paid a relatively steep price for Lugo’s services, especially with Jeff Kent coming back soon, but I like the move, assuming they can lock him up for a few more years. The sagging Dodgers really did give themselves some serious hope in what is still a wide-open division.


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9 responses to “Talking Turkey”

  1. Don Avatar
    Don

    Ya the Yankees lineup is going to be crazy if they ever get fully healthy. Even if they don’t it will still be one of the best. I agree the Phillies shouldn’t have sold Abreu 30 cents on the dollar when the wild card is still up for grabs.

  2. Eric Avatar
    Eric

    Im thinking Nomar or Kent has to be more hurt than LA is letting on or that trade doesnt make a whole lot of sense after getting Betemit too.

  3. Guru Avatar
    Guru

    Good call w/ the Reds bullpen, boy are they sure deep now!

  4. randy Avatar
    randy

    liei could get another keeper league team, that has eli manning, m bulger, steven jackson, corey dillion, chris perry , j addai, chris chamber, nate burleson, ashlie lelie, matt jones, demitrius williams, as its main players in a 14 team league, what do you think of this team and i guess what i really want to know what do you think of the running backs for this year and beyond———–thanks

  5. randy Avatar
    randy

    another ?————-is benson going to be big

  6. Robby Avatar
    Robby

    Eric – Good point, the Dodgers clearly aren’t expecting a healthy Kent/Nomar combo for very many games.

    Randy – Its hard to analyze a team in a 14-team keeper league but that one looks pretty awesome. Great QB combo, and I think that Addai and Jackson will be first round talent for a few years to come. Chris Chambers is a stud and Burleson and/or Matt Jones should emerge as a good fantasy weapon sooner rather than later. And yes, I think Benson is going to be pretty good, hopefully starting this year.

  7. randy Avatar
    randy

    what about chris perry, l. white,frank gore,delanglo williams, l. maroney, kevin jones for running backs and david carr, jason campbell, vince young for qb’s iam looking at these young players and wanted to know what you think of them————thanks

  8. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    Chris Perry – Love him but he CAN’T stay healthy. Still, he’s one of my favorite backups who people tend to ignore. If Rudi goes down, Perry could be huge. He is one of the best receiving backs in all of the NFL.

    L. White – While he reminds me too much of Mike Williams (former USC stud, yet fat, unmotivated and slow) I think he could be good as soon as this year. Chris Brown will be gone after this season (if not before) and T. Henry isn’t very good. L. White will be the starter by the middle of the year and then for years to come.

    Frank Gore – I’m reading really good reports out of 9er camp about him. Nolan likes him better than Barlow for sure. Again tho, like Perry, Gore has trouble staying on the field. And his upside is limited being a 49er. Definitely take him ahead of Barlow though.

    DeAngelo Williams/L. Maroney – Both play for good teams with veterans in front of them. Veterans that aren’t likely to last a full year without some sort of nagging injury. My theory on these young backs is to take which one presents the best value, as I really don’t see a huge difference at this point.

    Kevin Jones – Burnt me bad last year, so I have a personal problem with the guy. He left about half the games last year with some sort of injury, yet was always able to play the following week. He better improve his receiving skills w/ Martz as his OC now. At least RBBC lover Mooch is gone. I like him fine in the mid-third round. I’ll personally probably avoid him, but man did he look good two years ago.

  9. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    David Carr – I like him more than ever with Kubiak running things. He’ll give you consistent rushing yardage, especially with Kubiak’s propensity to call bootlegs. Their running game may struggle tho, with D. Davis’ knees in question. But with A. Johnson, Moulds, a semi-improved O-line, he should have his best year to date.

    Jason Campbell – I do not like Brunell this year, but word is at this point he’s way ahead of Campbell, who seems to be having trouble grasping the pro game. There are plenty of weapons in Wash to eventually succeed, but it may take awhile.

    Vince Young – Like Campbell, he’s definitely a few years away from being truly productive. While he may help in fantasy a bit more than in real football b/c of his ability to run, again, exercise patience.

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