Fantasy Friday

For some of you the trading deadline may have already passed, for others it's right around the corner. For those of you who still have some time to make a move, you know what to do. You can't hold out for the best possible deal when there is a week left to make a deal. At this point if you are getting categories that are going to help you, you have to make the move. In one year leagues it's tough to get ripped off for less than 2 months of production. Chances are if you need saves and are acquiring saves that it's a good deal for you, follow my drift?

There have been a lot of moves recently so let's see how some of them will factor fantasy wise.

Cliff Lee: The results of this trade have already paid off as Cliff Lee has pitched 16 innings in 2 starts, winning both of them only giving up 3 runs. Classic case of AL to NL, hop on board there is more to come.

Matt Holliday: He was starting to play better on Oakland before the trade, and he's carried that over to St. Louis. He was better than he showed on Oakland this year, and going back to the NL hitting behind Pujols will help prove that. I'd still buy him even after he's been on fire.

Victor Martinez: Classic case of moving from a shitty team to a great one. Not sure how you can say that will hurt V-Mart. The thing is how much will it help? He'll pick up a few more RBI here and there but it's not like moving to Fenway makes him a 330 30 home run guy, if someone thinks it does trade V-Mart and pickup 2 months of Miguel Montero.

Jake Peavy: Why trade for an injured Peavy that hasn't done anything outside of the NL when you can possibly get a healthy Halladay? Obviously Halladay costs more, but you'd rather pay more to get a sure thing something that Jake Peavy is not. I don't think Peavy to the Sox helps his value, but if someone thinks it does I'd pounce. If you are a good team in a keeper league looking to win a title, Jake Peavy is the perfect guy to trade to a bad team looking for keepers. Moving from the NL to AL is bad enough, moving from Petco to US Cellular is just horrible. Jake Peavy next year may seem like an ace in some teams minds, but there are 10-15 pitchers I'd prefer over him easily. Want me to name them off the top of my head? Johan Santana, Justin Verlander, Jon Lester, Dan Haren, Tim Lincecum, Josh Beckett, CC Sabathia, Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay, Josh Johnson, Matt Cain, Adam Wainwright, Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Yovani Gallardo. That's 15 pitchers and I didn't even extend myself.

Jarrod Washburn: Anyone who expects Washburn to benefit from this trade is insane. Sell Sell Sell if you can, except we know you can't, who wants Jarrod Washburn? You are better off holding on to him, and if you find yourself spot starting him, at this point in the season just drop him you're team will be better off.

Guys I like going forward:

Rich Harden: Rich Harden seems to be back. You can't rely on wins for anyone really, so take your chances with Harden and enjoy his amazing K rate.

Mark Teixeira: Just a hunch, but it seems like he's heating up.

Dustin Pedroia: He's not worth a top pick, but at this point he may be underrated. It's sexy to say how overrated Pedroia is, and there is truth to that. But even his owner may have bought into that, so try to pry him away. In one year leagues you can't expect to gain many points in average, but if average is a very volatile category then Pedroia is a guy that can help. In keeper leagues Pedroia is still a top 5 2b, so planning for next year if you can pick him up on the cheap why not?

Guys I don't like:
This list is your typical players who have been lucky and will stop being lucky at some point.
Mark Reynolds won't steal this many bases going forward hurting his value (he also may bat .240), Raul Ibanez still isn't this good, Adam Jones is a great player but he shouldn't have the same HR/FB% as a Prince Fielder. There are a ton of guys like this, you know who they are. If they are on your team stop rationalizing to yourself that they are this good and too good to trade, they aren't. It must be tough trading a Jones or a Zobrist because they are good players but there isn't much time left, do what needs to be done.