How Did I Get Here: Taking Stock a Third of the Way Through

In my Yahoo H2H keeper league, I find myself in second place, 1.5 games behind the Macafeys with nearly a third of the season in the books.  How did I get here and what do I do to stay competitive?  No matter how good your team looks at the end of the draft, there are always things that go right and things that go wrong.

What Went Wrong

1. Pitching

With my keepers and my first draft pick, I focused entirely on offense.  I figured that I'd build my offense and then fill in my pitching staff with a solid core of under-appreciated starters and closers.  The second and third starters I drafted were Rich Hill and Ian Snell, both of whom I was counting on taking the next step in their development.  Snell has taken a step backwards with 19 ER and 17 walks in the past month.  Hill's in AAA on the DL, trying to figure out what's wrong with his control.   Neither pitcher has performed even close to preseason expectations. 

I drafted Matt Garza in one of the final rounds of the draft, banking on his upside.  Though he has pitched well with an ERA of 2.52 this month, he pitched horribly in April.  With my starting rotation struggling to carry the underperforming Hill and Snell, I had to make cuts somewhere, so I dropped Garza before his recent resurgence.  The only reason I still feel glad about cutting Garza is the fact that up until his 10 K performance in his last game, he had a BB-to-K ratio of 20/19.  This last start is promising for him and his owners, but it did come against the Rangers who've struck out 4th most in the majors, so we need to see how Garza performs in his next start, which is against Boston, a team that's a bit more patient than Texas.  Garza's talented, but until he can consistently strikeout more guys than he walks, I don't believe in him for this year.

2. Hitting

I have a lot of hitters who've underperformed.  Mark Teixeira is behaving like his old self, waiting for the second half to unleash his talent.  Brian Roberts is running, but he's hitting more like he did in 2004, rather than he did the last few years.  Both Ryan Zimmerman and Jhonny Peralta are hitting for power, but neither is hitting close to the average that I had hoped.  Carlos Guillen has been hitting for good average, but he's not showing the power that I had hoped.  Kevin Kouzmanoff was horrible for a little over a month, but he does appear to be turning it around.  Josh Willingham was hitting great in all areas, but who knows when he'll be healthy to play.  I traded Xavier Nady for Austin Kearns before the season started in hopes that Kearns would thrive in the new stadium, but I had to cut him about a month into the season because he was doing so poorly.

What's Gone Right

1.  By working the waiver wire and not reaching for anyone, I was able to assemble a strong group of closers for very cheap.  I drafted Matt Capps and Brad Lidge as closers, and took a flier on Kerry Wood winning the closer's job in Chicago.  I picked up Jon Rauch off the waiver wire right before Chad Cordero went on the DL.  With four closers, I can usually win saves, and because we have a 9-start limit for pitchers each week, having a strong bullpen can help me in strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP.  I'm especially happy that I drafted Lidge, as he's performed far beyond where I drafted him.

2. Though my starting pitching has taken some hits, I've been able to stay competitive in the pitching categories by taking chances on pitchers that struggled early and were dropped.  I was able to grab Ted Lilly off the waiver wire after he was dropped for posting an ERA over 9 in his first four starts (I think I dropped Garza for him).  I also took a chance on Ervin Santana, remembering what he was able to do for my team a few years ago.  Both those pickups, along with the underrated Javier Vasquez (drafted) and Todd Wellemeyer and Justin Duchscherer (both off waivers) have helped me weather my early pitching problems.

3. After a poor start, Hunter Pence has been amazing, Brian McCann is looking more like the 2006 version, Carlos Lee is racking up RBI despite a low BA, Rick Ankiel is hitting better than I thought he would, and I was able to pick up Joe Crede for nothing during his hot streak.  

4. Of course in H2H, it's all about luck.  I haven't been dominating in any one category this season, except for HR and Saves.  But I've only lost one week so far and that was against one of the strongest teams in the league.  In H2H, you need consistency from your players, and for things to go right for you each week.  I've been lucky in that when some players on my team have struggled, other players have gotten hot just at the right time to help carry the load.

Where Do I Go From Here

I've been trying to move Brian Roberts because he's my only stolen base-threat and I'm near the bottom of the league in steals.  He's not going to help me win that category each week by himself.  My team just isn't built around speed.  If I can move him for a second baseman with some pop, I could better compete in the other four categories.  Yes, that does mean punting SB's, but I guess I was already doing that without meaning to.

I was thinking about moving one of my closers, someone like Wood or Capps while they still look better than they actually were.  Maybe moving Roberts and Wood for to a team that needed steals and saves for a good second baseman like Dan Uggla or Brandon Phillips.  But I think I'll hang onto Wood; there's no telling what could happen to any of my closers, and I may need all the saves that I can get as the year progresses.

Otherwise, I'm going to keep my eye on emerging players, especially hitters, and hope that Hill and Snell can figure things out.  Anyone got any tips?

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Why it's called "I Hate Matt Berry".

If you're stumbling across this blog for the first time, you may be wondering why I decided to title it "I Hate Matt Berry".

Short answer: I hate naming things and "I Hate Matt Berry" was one of the first things that popped into my head. (This does not bode well for any future children or pets I may or may not have; they'll most likely have names such as "It's too hot" or "I like pizza".) My thinking at the time was influenced by the spirit of the title of Dick Hyacinth's comic-related blog, "Dick Hates Your Blog".

Long answer: The spirit of my blog's title may be tongue-in-cheek, but while I have nothing against Matt Berry as a person, I can't stand his style of writing. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to fantasy sports, definitely more so than I do considering he's been playing fantasy sports since before I had internet, but I can't stand skimming through his ramblings to get to any serious nuggets of fantasy advice they might contain.

Now I know that his humor and his stories about his personal life work for some people (a lot of people in fact, considering it was the huge popularity of Berry's web site that got him the gig at ESPN.com), but reading tales about crazy girlfriends and discussing which Hollywood starlet is the hottest just doesn't work for me when I'm trying to get my fantasy fix. To strain a metaphor, I don't want all the garnish and fat that comes with my dinner, just the juicy steak that I crave.

I feel that there's a place for writing that takes into account the convergence between sports and pop culture, where we can discuss their similarities and relationship together; Bill Simmons does this very well for the same site. But as the Senior Director of Fantasy for ESPN.com, doesn't Matt Berry set the tone with the articles that he writes for the whole of the web site's fantasy content? When he contributes content that feels like more of a fit for Page 2, does that mean that Matt Berry is an odd fit for the Fantasy section at ESPN.com, or is this how ESPN.com feels that their Fantasy commentary should sound like?

Now the easy answer is that fantasy addicts like myself who prefer other writers to Matt Berry should just avoid his articles and take advantage of the wide variety of fantasy pundits featured on the site. And there are a lot of talented fantasy experts on ESPN.com, with a wide range of opinions. It's important for a premiere sports site such as ESPN.com to offer a variety in the opinions expressed because they are trying to reach the widest audience possible. Having writers like Matt Berry is important because they appeal to a large audience of fantasy-participants.

But it can be hard to ignore the effect that Matt Berry's personality has on the site, especially in the chats.  During his chats, Matt Berry tends to reward certain types of questions with his attention due to the chatters' ability to humor him or connect with his interests.  This tends to engender a chat where everyone is trying to sound like Matt Berry, to make jokes like Berry, to become a Berry clone.  It can make it frustrating for someone like myself, who just wants to read Matt Berry's answers to fantasy questions, to have to dig through running jokes about stalkers, Megan Fox vs. Anne Hathaway, or favorite TV shows.  It's all a lot of noise.  Sure it's entertaining to some, but not everyone.  

So the chatters who find themselves being rewarded for acting like Berry clones, they take it into other chats to try and make it work there.  They try to figure out what the chat host likes to talk about, they try to make jokes to get themselves noticed, and it can turn into a pathetic display of attention-seeking boorishness with everyone doing their best to be seen and heard.

This can be annoying if you are only interested in hearing a fantasy analyst's opinion about fantasy baseball.

Look, I don't want to excoriate Matt Berry for the style of writing that he's developed over the past decade.  I know how important it is to set yourself apart with a singular and unique voice, especially in the broad landscape of fantasy writing and analysis.  As The Talented Mr. Roto, Matt Berry has cultivated a brand that has helped him to rise to the elite levels of fantasy punditry.  This is ultimately not a bad thing, not in the grand scheme of things.

I just feel that so much of the fantasy analysis available on the web is flawed, not in the content per se, but in the presentation.  There is a lot of fluff out there, a lot of analysis that lacks depth, a lot of writers making their reputation by tearing down the opinions of other writers in order to build up their own.  I'm not accusing Matt Berry of any of these things; as far as I can tell, he is very professional.  But I wish that he would be more in-depth in his articles, and less broad.  I wish that when he makes grand and bold predictions, that he would take more time to back them up with solid reasoning other than just hunches.  Anyone can make predictions, but Matt Berry is supposed to be one of the best, so when he makes a prediction that differs with the opinions of others, I want to know why he feels he's right.  I wish he would take the time to write insightfully about 5 subjects, as opposed to generally about 50 subjects.

Again, I know that he's probably busy with his position as Senior Director of Fantasy, and he probably can't write the way that he wants to, but I'd like some fantasy analysis with a little more meat.  Less garnish and fat, more meat and potatoes.

So, I really don't hate Matt Berry, and I hope that he doesn't take my blog title personally because I know he gets a lot of flack from louder voices than mine.  It's just the kind of title you come up with when you're feeling cheeky and you don't think anyone's going to notice anyways, because who really reads this other than the 11 other guys in my fantasy league.  Who knew that it would lead to this?

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Flapjacks Power Rankings Week 5

Let's take a quick look at how the teams in my Yahoo H2H keeper league stack up. I'm pretty busy this week, and there's only a couple of teams changing spots, so no commentary right now. We do have a number one and two, so I'll probably have to add in some comments later.

4/22/08 Flapjacks Power Rankings
(Season record and last week's rankings in parentheses. )

1. Dinos (21-17-2) (2)
2. The Balls (27-12-1) (3)
3. Macafeys (23-16-1) (1)
4. Butt Admirals (25-10-5) (4)
5. Screaming Lemurs (18-18-4) (5)
6. Adrian's Revenge (26-14-0) (6)
7. Summer Fox (16-22-2) (7)
8. Tossers (17-20-3) (8)
9. Naterade (13-27-0) (9)
10. Val Kilmer's Asshole (17-20-3) (10)
11. Dissect Yourself (9-27-4) (11)
12. Self Indulgence (14-23-3) (12)

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Flapjacks Power Rankings Week 4

Here we are with another look at the teams in my Yahoo H2H keeper league. This week's power rankings will be somewhat brief. Feel free to provide your bonus commentary in the comments section.



4/22/08 Flapjacks Power Rankings
(Season record and last week's rankings in parentheses. )

1. Macafeys (21-9-0) (1)
Tim's hold on the top spot is starting to look a little tenous. He continues to dominate almost every category, and almost every batter on his roster is hitting over .300 for the past week. Reasons to worry: Jimmy Rollins will miss two weeks with an ankle injury, and the pitching staff has a thin margin of error with Roy Halladay, Carlos Zambrano, and Brett Myers the only established stars. Reasons to be hopeful: Despite hitting a combined .230 over the last week, Carlos Gomez and Michael Bourn are stealing every chance they get, with 10 SB's over the same period.


2. Dinos (18-10-2) (2)
I was this close to moving the Dinos into the top spot based on their incredible offensive performance last week. 18 HR and 67 RBI? I'd like some of that. Chase Utley is trying to complete the MVP-trio in Philly, with 6 HR in the past week. Old man Miguel Tejada is hitting like he's 31, and Joey Votto is really coming alive with 4 HR and 10 RBI in the last seven games. The rotation was almost as incredible, with 5 starters throwing shutouts for 31 innings. Why couldn't I rank the Dinos first? Their offense was amazing, but not as solid from top to bottom as Tim's was. And while the pitching staff has been very good, they share a lot of the same questions about depth with Tim, especially if Ben Sheets' triceps injury lingers throughout the season. Homer Bailey should be called up in a week or two; his arrival could answer those questions.


3. The Balls (20-9-1) (3)
The Balls' pitching staff took a hit when Erik Bedard joined Pedro Martinez on the DL, but Jake Peavy continues to amaze, and Adam Wainwright pitched like an ace in his last two starts with 12 K's in 14.2 innings. The bullpen should be okay, despite Eric Gagne's blowup over the weekend, though age could be catching up to Trevor Hoffman. Both Hanley Ramirez and Garrett Atkins are showing their power, with 3 HR each in the past week, and Carlos Quentin is making the case for more playing time, also hitting 3 HR. Gaining Mike Cameron back from suspension next week should add some much needed speed to the team.


4. Butt Admirals (18-7-5) (6)
With three straight weeks of winning records, the Admirals vault up two spots. Both the offense and the pitching have been solid; Edwin Encarnacion is surging, and Dustin Pedroia is showing some power with 6 extra-base hits and 8 RBI in seven games. Both the rotation and the bullpen continue to be dominant, though Bobby Jenks did blow a save pitching in his third game in a row. The bad news: Prince Fielder is still hitting less than his weight, and Grady Sizemore hasn't homered since Opening Day.


5. Screaming Lemurs (13-14-3) (5)
The Lemurs remain in the fifth spot after tying Adrian's Revenge (my team) 5-5 in last week's matchup. The matchup could have easily been 7-3 in the Lemurs favor, so they move above the Adrian's in the rankings. Even though Ryan Braun and Placido Polanco have performed below expectations, the offense has been productive, though they could use some power. Brandon Webb continues to be the ace of the staff, which is leading the league in overall K's. This team is continuing to punt saves, so they need solid production in WHIP and ERA in order to stay competitive.


6. Adrian's Revenge (20-10-0) (4)
My team underperformed last week, with five regulars hitting .200 or worse. Josh Willingham and Mark Teixeira have been bright spots, and Hunter Pence is finally starting to hit, but Brian Roberts, Ryan Zimmerman and Rick Ankiel have hit a combined .170 over the past week. Encouraging starts from the rotation: Rich Hill pitched well in his last start, Ervin Santana has proven to be a decent pickup, with 8 K's in his last start, and the bullpen hasn't allowed a run in 9.1 innings. Still waiting for Ted Lilly to come around.


7. Summer Fox (10-18-2) (8)
The Fox moves up a spot due to good pitching and a good bullpen. Both Todd Jones and Billy Wagner are perfect in save opportunities so far, and Jason Isringhausen is tied for the lead in saves. The rest of the rotation needs a resurgence, as only Fausto Carmona pitched well last week. Beyond Adrian Beltre and Aaron Rowand, the offense has been struggling, though Ichiro is starting to run, with 2 of his 3 steals coming in the last week.

8. The Tossers (10-18-2) (7)
The Tossers have started to come alive offensively, with good weeks by Conor Jackson and Alex Rodriguez. Brad Hawpe looks to be coming out of his early season slump; since his BA dropped below .200, he's had six hits in the past three games. The bad news: Gary Sheffield is still dealing with shoulder issues, and Travis Hafner has had only 6 extra-base hits all year. The good news: Kaz Matsui is hitting .313 with 5 runs since being activated from the DL. Get that guy in the lineup, Troost.

9. Naterade (9-21-0) (10)
Naterade's continues to get great offensive production from almost everyone on his roster. Russell Martin has started to heat up after a putrid start to the season, hitting 2 HR in the past week. Justin Morneau, Nick Markakis, and Edgar Renteria are hitting a combined .350 with 7 HR and 18 RBI in the last week. The injury to Rafael Soriano leaves Nate a bit shorthanded in the bullpen, but he was able to pick up Manny Acosta, who should see some save opportunities in Soriano's place.

10. Val Kilmer's Asshole (11-18-1) (9)
The Kilmer's offense is staying afloat, despite not being able to field a complete roster due to injuries. Jose Reyes and David Ortiz have finall come alive; Reyes hit his first two homers of the year last week, and Ortiz has 12 RBI in his last six games. Andruw Jones is still struggling, though he did hit his first home run of the year over the weekend. Scott Rolen could be back in a week, so at least Mark will be able to roster a full squad. The pitching staff had a horrible week, with almost everyone getting shelled. The good news is that it looks like B.J. Ryan will get the majority of save opportunitiesfor the Blue Jays as long as he can stay healthy.

11. Dissect Yourself (7-21-2) (11)
Micah's team had a decent last week, though they had the unfortunate task of facing the Macafeys. Manny Ramirez has been tearing it up, Xavier Nady continues to hit, and Juan Pierre is finding a way to steal bases despite limited at bats, but the infield is struggling. Losing Alfsono Soriano last week to a calf injury doesn't help, but the Cubs hope to have him back in a week. Even though he's not closing, Carlos Marmol has been very valuable to Micah's team, striking out nine in five innings with a 1.80 ERA. Trading for Roy Oswalt and Oliver Perez is paying off in dividends so far; they combined for 3 Wins, 17 K's and a 2.20 ERA. Add Yovani Gallardo coming off the DL and picking up where he left off last year, and two solid starts from Brad Penny, and this pitching staff looks like it's turning around.

12. Self Indulgence (10-18-2) (12)
Self Indulgence had a tough matchup against the Admirals that could have gone either way; the offense was very solid, but the team was let down by poor pitching. Chipper Jones has been on a tear, hitting .538 with 4 HR in the past week; hopefully his hot streak won't be hampered by a sore quadriceps. Despite a poor BA, the team is finding ways to score runs and knock guys in. For the most part, the bullpen has struggled recently, and the bullpen may be down a closer if Jeremy Accardo starts losing saves to B.J. Ryan. Chien-Ming Wang had a poor start, but at least Johan Santana is pitching well with 10 K's in seven innings.


Questions, comments, disagreements? Let me know in the commentary.

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Flapjacks Trade - Jim Thome and Clay Buchholz for Roy Oswalt and Oliver Perez

Let's take a look at the latest trade in my Yahoo H2H keeper league.

1. Dinos (Jonathan) trade Roy Oswalt and Oliver Perez to Dissect Yourself (Micah) for Jim Thome and Clay Buchholz.

The Dinos received Roy Oswalt two weeks ago in a 7-player trade with Naterade. Since then, Oswalt has gone 0-3 with an ERA of 9.00 in three starts. There hasn't been any news of injury regarding Oswalt, but has not been the same pitcher that had back-to-back 20-win seasons just a few years ago. Though his control is still elite, with only two walks issued in 16 innings, he's been more prone this year to giving up home runs and his K/9 rate is still little better than average.

Oliver Perez has always given fantasy owners fits with his inconsistency, but at least you know he'll give you lots of strikeouts to accompany a high WHIP. He's pitched well to start the season, but he's probably due for a letdown, as his percentage of runners stranded has been quite high for his normal range. He should be good for double-digit wins and 170 strikeouts with the Mets.

Jim Thome has long been a fantasy beast with nine seasons of 35 HR or more, including 77 HR in his last two seasons. Thome has started the season slow this year, hitting .176 with a .573 OPS through twelve games. He's had trouble hitting lefties the past couple of years, but this year it's the right-handers that have been giving him problems. I think he'll recover once he starts to hit righties again. One hopeful stat is his poor Batting Average on Balls In Play; his BABIP should rise to its historical levels over the course of the season. He has been hitting a greater percentage of groundballs than normal, so he might just need to make some corrections at the plate. I still think he's good for 25 more home runs during the season.

Clay Buchholz has been tantalizing fantasy owners since his no-hitter during his rookie season last year. He has the talent the succeed, but the Red Sox are in no hurry to push him too hard, and it appears that they will be carefull with his pitch count during games. Buchholz has labored in his first two starts, and he might not see that many wins if he can't pitch past the sixth inning. The more he builds his arm strength during the season, the more innings he'll pitch, but he needs to cut down on his walks (4.09 BB/9). Buchholz will struggle some, but his K/9 rate is good enough to give him value even if he has control problems.

On paper, I think Micah's team got the better end of the deal, even though I'm not a Roy Oswalt fan. Micah strengthens his pitching staff by adding Oswalt and Perez; they step in right behind C.C. Sabathia and Brad Penny, giving the rotation some much-needed depth. Oswalt doesn't strike out enough players anymore to be considered an elite pitcher, but he's got more talent than what he's shown so far and he should rebound, as long as his problems are with his mechanics and not injury related. Micah will probably miss Thome's bat later on in the season, but Thome wasn't contributing much of anything to begin with.

I'm not certain that this move helps Jonathan's team very much; his offense was already one of the best in the league and the subtractions of Oswalt and Perez thins out a rotation that has some question marks. I think it's good that he got rid of Oswalt, but I think he might have gotten better value due to Oswalt's reputation as an elite pitcher. If Ben Sheets and John Smoltz get injured and Buchholz struggles, Jonathan will miss Oswalt and Perez. Buchholz could be good all year, but he hasn't shown dominance as a pitcher yet, despite only giving up four runs in two starts. The most favorable projections give him 9 Wins, 124 K's, a 3.53 ERA, and a 1.23 WHIP. Good numbers, but Perez should match the wins and better the strikeouts by quite a few. If Jonathan's looking to buy low on Thome and trade him away later on during the season when he starts hitting, then more power to him, but I don't see how this trade makes his team better.

I'll have a poll up in a couple of days; let me know which team you think got the better end of the deal, or if they both came out looking good.

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Flapjacks Power Rankings Week 3

It's time for to take another look at the power rankings for my Yahoo H2H keeper league. This is probably only interesting for the 12 owners in the league, so feel free to move on to another article if this isn't something you want to read. We have a more movement this week than ever before, so click the link to read more.


4/14/08 Flapjacks Power Rankings
(Season record and last week's rankings in parentheses. )

1. Macafey (12-8-0) (1)
Tim retains the number one spot in the rankings with another strong offensive output this week. His team is leading the league in RBI, SB and Saves. Alex Gordon is really coming along, hitting .409 over the past week, and overall the offense is really clicking, but there are some issues with this team. The bullpen could be in trouble with Brian Wilson struggling and Jeremy Accardo giving up his closer role to a reactivated B.J. Ryan. Losing Rich Harden to injury hurts a pitching staff that lacks experience. Jimmy Rollins has missed a few games due to an injured ankle; hopefully this doesn't adversely affect his stolen base output for the year. Even with those problems, this team matches up well with almost everyone in the league.

2. Dinos (11-7-2) (2)
Another team that stayed put, the Dinos are leading the league in average, due to hot starts by Miguel Tejada, Chone Figgins, and Eric Byrnes. Once Miguel Cabrera and Ryan Howard start to produce like we know they can, this could be the best offense in the league, even with the recent injury to Jorge Posada. For the pitching staff Ben Sheets continues to pitch well, and Tim Lincecum dominated last week with 18 K's in two starts. On a down note, Chad Cordero did not pitch well his first appearance since being reactivated from the DL. And on a bright note, Joey Votto is making the case for more playing time with a .429 average in his last 14 at bats.

3. The Balls (11-8-1) (3)
The Balls' strength is in their pitching staff; they are leading the league in ERA and WHIP, and tied for first in Wins. Though the staff had some trouble last week, specifically the outings of Jake Peavy, Adam Wainwright, and Erik Bedard, they were helped out with strong outings by Greg Maddux and Zack Greinke. At the plate, Albert Pujols is looking like his old self, with three HR last week, and Hanley Ramirez is really hitting well. Losing Shane Victorino to the DL is not comforting, especially if his calf injury limits his ability to run; the Balls are second to last in SB.

4. Adrian's Revenge (15-5-0) (6)
Leading the league in HR and Runs, my team was paced by strong weeks from Raul Ibanez and Peralta. The offense is looking solid in every category but BA. I need better production from Ryan Zimmerman and Hunter Pence if I want to compete, but the pickup of Joe Crede could help a lot if he can stay healthy and produce like he did in 2006. A great pitching week by Javier Vasquez was overshadowed by the injury to Matt Garza (who could be out for a month), the Cubs skipping Rich Hill's next start due to his control issues, and the struggles of Jon Rauch to prove that he is worthy of the closer role. The addition of Ted Lilly could solidify the staff if he can overcome his rough start.

5. Screaming Lemurs (8-9-3) (4)
Other than Billy Butler, Ian Kinsler, and Rafael Furcal, the Lemurs really struggled for offense last week. Adding Mark Reynolds to the squad helps, but a lot of high draft picks are struggling to start the season, and Curtis Granderson has yet to swing a bat since he was injured during spring training. The Lemurs have been carried by their pitching staff, which is leading in K's and tied for the lead in Wins. Brandon Webb and Cole Hamels have anchored a very solid rotation, which is 6-3-1 in pitching categories over the first two weeks.

6. Butt Admirals (13-4-3) (8)
The Admirals' offense struggled a little on at the plate, but dominated on the basepaths last week with 12 SB's; they're second in the league with 20 SB's overall. Vladimir Guerrero is looking good, and Nate McLouth's hot start continues, but Prince Fielder has yet to perform like a first-round pick. The rotation's Big 3 of Josh Beckett, Dan Haren, and Aaron Harang combined for 4 Wins last week, and the pitching staff is 2nd in the league in WHIP.

7. The Tossers (5-13-2) (5)
The Tossers have lost their first two matchups due to a lack of production from some key figures, but none more notable than Alex Rodriguez who has yet to perform like the number-one overall player in fantasy baseball. Brad Hawpe, Michael Young, and Gary Sheffield have all underperformed as well, though Bengie Molina and Casey Kotchman have been bright spots so far. On the pitching side, Chris Young was expected to be an ace, but he was shelled last week by an underwhelming Dodgers' team. The lack of save opportunities for Takashi Saito must be frustrating for The Tossers. If Joe Saunders can continue his success, he could be a nice addition to a staff that is near the bottom of the league in terms of ERA and WHIP.

8. Summer Fox (8-10-2) (10)
Summer Fox had a solid offensive showing, which was aided by the waiver-wire pickup of Jason Kubel right before his 6-RBI game. Jason Bay is starting to show signs of life with 3 HR and 5 RBI in the past week, though the team still needs Kenji Johjima, Ichiro Suzuki, and Jose Guillen to step up. Despite having a decent rotation, the pitching staff is last in the league in K's. Having Randy Johnson back from the DL should help, as long as he can stay healthy.

9. Val Kilmer's Asshole (10-9-1) (7)
Mark's pitching staff was shelled last week, and AJ Burnett, Tom Gorzelanny, and Jeff Francis have not had good starts to the season, leading to a a league-worst ERA.. The staff should be better than it is, and it will help to have Scott Kazmir back in a week or two. Mark's gotten good offensive production, though the team is last in BA. Jeremy Hermida has hit well since comign off the DL.

10. Naterade (6-14-0) (12)
Rising from the league's cellar, Natarade has been sparked by Justin Upton (who Natarade received from me for Hunter Pence in a trade last year), who is hitting .400 for the season with five home runs, though he has yet to steal a base. This team needs Justin Morneau and Russell Martin to produce if they want to make the playoffs, though Andre Ethier has been a bright spot to begin the season. Injuries to Francisco Rodriguez and Dontrelle Willis weaken the rotation, but the addition of Tim Hudson helps a lot, and Johnny Cueto was a great pickup. Natarade will need more outings like the one Chad Billingsley had on Sunday and less outings like the one Francisco Liriano had.

11. Dissect Yourself (6-12-2) (11)
Dissect Yourself showed a lot of power last week with 11 HR, but his squad is second-to-last in BA. Matt Holliday is playing like an MVP, but Troy Tulowitzki appears to have forgotten how to hit. With C.C. Sabathia struggling and J.J. Putz on the DL, Micah's staff is near the bottom in almost every pitching category. Yovani Gallardo's return from the DL can't come quickly enough.

12. Self Indulgence (7-13-0) (9)
Self Indulgence also showed a lot of power, as Carlos Pena bashed four last week, but they have struggled to hit and steal bases. Derek Jeter missed six games due to injury, and Magglio Ordonez and Joe Mauer have both been pitiful at the plate. A lack of playing time for Matt Kemp is frustrating, because he hit .500 last week in 12 at bats. For the pitching staff, the two-headed attack of Chien-Ming Wang and Johan Santana has been lights-out (though Santana had an uncharacteristically bad start last week), but the bullpen hasn't been pretty. This can be a good team, if the offense can get it together.

Agree or disagree, let me hear you.

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Flapjacks Trade - Tim Hudson for Adam Jones/Hiroki Kuroda

As I like to do, let's look at the most recent trade in my Yahoo H2H keeper league.

1. Summer Fox (Rogstad) trades Tim Hudson to Naterade (Nate) for Adam Jones and Hiroki Kuroda.

Adam Jones was part of the haul that Baltimore received from Seattle for Erik Bedard. Jones is a highly-touted prospect who has been compared to Torii Hunter and Mike Cameron, both for his defense and his bat. Last year in AAA at the fairly young age of 21, Jones hit .314 with 25 HR and a .968 OPS. Fantasy projections for his first full year in the big leagues have him hitting any where from .255 to .284, 6 to 22 HR, and 6 to 12 SB. Jones is currently hitting .211 with no HR in eleven games.

Hiroki Kuroda is a groundball pitcher from Japan, playing his first season in the majors. He currently has a 1-1 record with a 2.13 ERA and is holding opponents to a .240 BA over 12.2 innings. He's been doing a good job of keeping the ball on the ground, with a 1.46 GB/FB ratio. Most projections have him finishing the season with an ERA around 4.00 with limited upside for strikeouts.

Tim Hudson was one of the league's better pitchers in his early days with Oakland, though he has had some struggles since coming over to Atlanta. He's more of a control pitcher these days, and with his declining K/9 rate, he's less likely to post solid strikeout numbers any more. He's been dominant in his first three starts this season, with only two walks and an opponents' batting average of .167. Hudson is a reliable pitcher, averaging 32 starts a year since 2000, and he should be a top-30 pitcher for the year.

Rogstad will have a decent pitching staff once John Lackey comes off the DL, anchored by a strong bullpen and by solid starters like Daisuke Matsuzaka and Fausto Carmona. By trading away Hudson, he gets a decent pitcher in Kuroda and a possible future All Star to build his team around in Jones. Though Hudson is the best player in the deal, it is extremely unlikely that Hudson can continue his current success in limiting hits; he has a below-average strikeout rate and his Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) of .203 is unsustainable. BABIP tends to revert to a mean of around .300; Hudson's career BABIP average is .289. Hudson will still finish the year as a top-30 pitcher, but he'll probably struggle a bit once batted balls start to find their way through the defense. For Nate, Tim Hudson helps bolster a pitching staff that could lack depth if young pitchers Francisco Liriano, Johnny Cueto, and Chad Billingsley struggle.

Though not as extreme of a groundball-pitcher as Hudson, Kuroda has been striking out batters at a slightly better rate. The fear with Japanese pitchers is that they will tire over the course of a longer season, such as Kaz Ishii, who had an impressive win streak with the Dodgers over the first half of the 2002 season before imploding over the last three months. Kuroda has limited upside; at his best, he should provide numbers slightly behind Hudson's.

The main appeal of this deal for Rogstad would be the upside of Jones. Most of Rogstad's established stars are starting to enter their declining years, and with Brandon Phillips the only All-Star on Rogstad's squad entering his prime, Rogstad is looking to acquire some young potential All-Stars to build around. Jones will not be that player this year - his walk rate is horribly low and he's been hitting the ball on the ground too often to take advantage of his power - but he could be very good in a couple of years once he learns how to be patient at the plate. Rogstad can afford to stash Jones on the bench for a while until he starts to figure things out.

In a year or two this trade could swing father into Rogstad's favor, but for right now I think it is a pretty fair trade. Both team's get something they want, with Rogstad playing for the future and Nate building pitching depth for this season.

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