The Fantasy Baseball Sherpa

One of the more challenging (and entertaining) aspects of managing a fantasy baseball roster is the ongoing need to juggle your roster. Perhaps you’re frantically scanning your league’s free agent/waiver wire for a short-term fill-in for your star player who just landed on the DL. Maybe you’re just looking to upgrade the fringes of your roster, or you’re seeking a player to fill a potential hole in your line-up that will be created if you pull the trigger on that trade you’re considering. Regardless of your motivation, the following is The Sherpa’s list of players who may still be available in your league.

I’m assuming that you’ve already missed out on the following list of players who may not have been on a roster at the beginning of the season: (NL) Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez, Nate McLouth, Jeff Keppinger; (AL) Brian Bannister, Zack Greinke, Carlos Gomez, Rafael Betancourt, and Evan Longoria. If any of these players are still available in your league, stop reading this NOW, open a new browser session, go to your league’s website, and put in a claim for one or more of them . . . Done? Good, now feel free to review the names below, which are listed first by position, then by league (for the benefit of those of you who play in NL-only or AL-only leagues):

Catchers
AL: Shawn Riggans, Miguel Olivo, Kelly Shoppach, Jeff Matthis, Gregg Zaun.

NL: Brian Schneider, Chris Iannetta, Ronny Paulino.

First Basemen
AL: Ben Broussard, Ross Gload, Kevin Millar, Eric Hinske, Sean Casey.

NL: Joey Votto, Dan Ortmeier.

Second Basemen
AL: Brendon Harris, Asdrubal Cabrera, Mark Grudzielanek, Jose Lopez.

NL: Eugenio Velez, Jayson Nix, Tad Iguchi, Ray Durham, Adam Kennedy.

Shortstops
AL: David Eckstein, Bobby Crosby, Yuniesky Betancourt, Erick Aybar.

NL: Cristian Guzman, Clint Barmes.

Third Basemen
AL: Mike Lamb, Jack Hannahan, Marco Scutaro.

NL: Jorge Cantu, Nomar Garciaparra, Jose Castillo.

Outfielders
AL: Carlos Quentin, Franklin Gutierrez, Jose Guillen, Jonny Gomes, Jack Cust (only in leagues that use OBP instead of AVG!), David Murphy, Ryan Sweeney, Travis Buck, Justin Ruggiano, Emil Brown, David DeJesus.

NL: Ryan Church, Angel Pagan, Fred Lewis, Matt Diaz, Scott Hairston, Skip Schumaker, Ryan Ludwick, Jayson Werth, Jim Edmonds, John Bowker.

Designated Hitters
AL: Mike Sweeney

Starting Pitchers
AL: John Danks, Edwin Jackson, Dana Eveland, Jeff Niemann, Kevin Slowey, Chad Gaudin, Jason Hammel.

NL: Micah Owings, Mike Pelfrey, Scott Olsen, Tom Glavine, Wandy Rodriguez, Shawn Hill, Jonathan Sanchez, Kevin Correia, Justin Germano, Zach Duke, Jamie Moyer, Nelson Figueroa.

Relief Pitchers
AL: Scot Shields, Jeremy Accardo, Rafael Perez, Santiago Cassilla (the Pitcher formerly known as Jairo Garcia), Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, Mark Lowe.

NL: Heath Bell, Manny Acosta, Tony Pena, Duaner Sanchez, Jonathan Broxton, Brian Fuentes, Jared Burton, Matt Lindstrom, Will Ohman, Royce Ring.

Some of these players have a bright future ahead of them, while some are no more than band-aids to be used for as short a time as possible, then discarded. The key point is that unless your league uses average-based stats only, you can’t afford to go any length of time, especially this early in the season, without accumulating At-Bats and Innings Pitched.

Finally, I’ve omitted the names of injured players who may be helpful in the near future, such as Al Reyes, who is quite likely the only Pitcher in MLB history to get tasered one day, then record a victory the next. He subsequently went on the Disabled List with an injury that’s apparently unrelated to his being tasered. Rumor has it the Cincinnati Bengals have already called to inquire about Reyes’ availability.

Until next time,

The Sherpa

Tags: Adam Kennedy, Al Reyes, Angel Pagan, Asdrubal Cabrera, Ben Broussard, Bobby Crosby, Brendon Harris, Brian Bannister, Brian Fuentes, Brian Schneider, Carlos Gomez, Carlos Quentin, Chad Gaudin, Chris Iannetta, Cincinnati Bengals, Clint Barmes, Cristian Guzman, Dan Ortmeier, Dana Eveland, David DeJesus, David Eckstein, David Murphy, Duaner Sanchez, Edinson Volquez, Edwin Jackson, Emil Brown, Eric Hinske, Erick Aybar, Eugenio Velez, Evan Longoria, Franklin Gutierrez, Fred Lewis, Gregg Zaun, Heath Bell, Hideki Okajima, Jack Cust, Jack Hannahan, Jamie Moyer, Jared Burton, Jason Hammel, Jayson Nix, Jayson Werth, Jeff Keppinger, Jeff Matthis, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Accardo, Jim Edmonds, Joey Votto, John Bowker, John Danks, Johnny Cueto, Jonathan Broxton, Jonathan Sanchez, Jonny Gomes, Jorge Cantu, Jose Castillo, Jose Guillen, Jose Lopez, Justin Germano, Justin Ruggiano, Kelly Shoppach, Kevin Correia, Kevin Millar, Kevin Slowey, Manny Acosta, Manny Delcarmen, Marco Scutaro, Mark Grudzielanek, Mark Lowe, Matt Diaz, Matt Lindstrom, Micah Owings, Miguel Olivo, Mike Lamb, Mike Pelfrey, Mike Sweeney, Nate McLouth, Nelson Figueroa, Nomar Garciaparra, Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez, Ray Durham, Ronny Paulino, Ross Gload, Royce Ring, Ryan Church, Ryan Ludwick, Ryan Sweeney, Santiago Cassilla, Scot Shields, Scott Hairston, Scott Olsen, Sean Casey, Shawn Hill, Shawn Riggans, Skip Schumaker, Tad Iguchi, The Sherpa, Tom Glavine, Tony Pena, Travis Buck, Wandy Rodriguez, Will Ohman, Yuniesky Betancourt, Zach Duke, Zack Greinke

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 2:00 pm and is filed under fantasy baseball, fantasy baseball projections, fantasy baseball sherpa, fantasy baseball strategy, fantasy baseball strategy blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.