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Dear RotoRob: Roster Ruminations

July 11, 2010 | By Tim McLeod | comment on this post
Troy Glaus is having a productive season for the Atlanta Braves.
Troy Glaus is driving in plenty of runs as the clean-up hitter for the Braves.

Dear RotoRob,

Re: A few roster questions

I’m in a 10-team, H2H league with a maximum roster of 25.

Is Michael Bourn sellable again? Or would I be best served to hold on to him? Obviously, dropping him outright is the worst of the three options.

I have both Troy Glaus and Mike Napoli on my bench, have a solid catcher and have Prince Fielder at 1B. With Glaus’s health issues, should I be looking for another bat on the wire?

Gaby Sanchez, Russell Branyan, Omar Infante, Gordon Beckham, Carlos Guillen, Chipper Jones and Jose Lopez are on the wire for infield depth.

Scott Podsednik, Tyler Colvin, Drew Stubbs, Cody Ross, Roger Bernadina, Trevor Crowe, Coco Crisp, Andres Torres and Sean Rodriguez are waiver wire OF options.

I have Edinson Volquez on the DL. What would my best move be? Try to sell or hold on? If I hold on, I have to drop someone.

My current rotation is: Matt Cain, Adam Wainwright, Yovani Gallardo, Felix Hernandez, Gavin Floyd, Anibal Sanchez, Mat Latos and Trevor Cahill.

Jay

Hi Jay,

There is a lot here so let’s start at the beginning and see if we can provide you with some help in straightening out your roster.
 
Bourn is what he is and his value hasn’t changed substantially this season. He currently has 28 thefts, has scored 51 runs and is sporting a .262 BA. If you have the need for speed, he is a solid player.
 
Glaus is a bit nicked up right now, but he is batting in the fourth slot in the Braves order and producing great RBI numbers. The All-Star break will provide him with some healing time and his power numbers should be solid over the balance of 2010.
 
Napoli is a great insurance policy at the catcher position. You really don’t want to be running out Jason Kendall on a day-to-day basis so I’d be holding onto Napoli in the event of injury to your starter.
 
The two bats that most intrigue me from your list are Beckham and Lopez. Both have struggled so far this season, but have the potential to be assets should they heat up and turn it around. Follow them very closely and should things turn for the better make a move, but at this time I don’t see either as being something that you have to address right now.
 
You do have plenty of depth at starting pitcher and should be able to move one for an offensive upgrade. I’d be targeting Latos simply because he’s currently at 99 2/3 IP and the Padres will probably shut him down in the 150 range. That gives you probably another 10 starts, albeit 10 potentially very good starts.
 
Trading is a lot of work, but the key is always finding a team that has the needs where you have excess. Scour the rosters of your fellow league owners, find one that could use a pitching upgrade, and open up a dialogue starting with Latos. Until you ask, you will never know and you have to get the ball rolling quickly as Volquez is scheduled to return right after the break. In the event that you can’t complete a deal, this brings you to an interesting conundrum. Looking at your rotation you might have to simply cut Volquez. The potential is there for him to be successful, but do remember he is coming off Tommy John surgery so temper your expectations. Yes, Volquez could do well, but at the same time will he produce better results than your current group of starting pitchers? Given that he’s coming off serious surgery, I’m not convinced that he will.


Dear RotoRob,

Re: Domonic Brown or ?

I have Jeff Francoeur, Domonic Brown and Alex Gordon on reserve with Brian Matusz and Derek Holland as reserve pitchers. It’s a deep mixed (can hold over only four) keeper league.

I only have Clint Barmes in the middle so am a little thin there.

Should I drop one of the reserves and go for either Cliff Pennington, J.J. Hardy or Starlin Castro?

When Troy Tulowitzki gets back, Barmes may sit more, correct?

Paul

Hi Paul,

You’re very correct in that once Tulo returns, playing time is going to get a bit tricky in the Mile High City. You do have a month or so to make some decisions, but with Barmes, Jonathan Herrera, and possibly even Eric Young, Jr., in the mix, balancing the playing time is going to be challenging.
 
I think that Pennington is currently your best bet as a pickup, but you do have around a month, so I’d be monitoring Hardy closely. He does have the best upside from a power perspective if he should ever get it going — something he hasn’t managed to do in a while. As far as a cut is concerned I think your best option is Gordon. I’ve given up on him and believe we have a situation where we have a Quad-A type that simply won’t ever achieve the status that so many anticipated he’d attain. He’d been playing good ball in Triple-A up until July and since then he’s scraped together a .143 BA and seems to have totally fallen off the map. The Royals have moved him to the outfield, but will he out produce Francoeur or Brown when he gets the call? I’m not a Gordon believer. Brown hasn’t skipped a beat since his recent promotion to Triple-A and I expect big things from the kid in the not too distant future. 


 
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