By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

The Minnesota Twins are off to an atrocious start. A new ballpark and bolstering their team by resigning mega contracts with their stars has thus far backfired. Joe Mauer is out for an extended length of time until mid-May, and Justin Morneau has struggled to regain his former self at the plate.

They were the studs that the lineup fed off of. Instead of timely hits being made by the rest of the Twins, they’ve all faltered. Their batters from the three to seven spot have lacked any type of consistency, even Cuddyer who has risen over the last few years. Pitching was supposed to ride on the arms of Francisco Liriano. Sure he had a no hitter, but besides that start he has been rocked. This is not the direction the Twins were expected to go with their big three. Are they stuck with the mega contracts of these players? It appears so. An overhaul with their farm system, or trades for other teams prospects is likely.

One pitcher that has been able to manage outings well is Scott Baker (2.97 ERA). Minnesota’s defensive efficiency has struggled, but not when Baker has been out there. Baker has had solid command, and is making owners satisfied for drafting him in later rounds. He is getting his bang for his buck, but you’d have to say his first six starts are a mirage. Baker has been known for getting hit around and having short outings on the mound on a regular basis.

You can pick your spots with Baker, but he definitely shouldn’t be starting each time he is due to pitch for your fantasy team. Depth at pitcher is vital but you also need to manage your innings pitched. Having a pitcher like Baker can make that easier. The outing where Baker lasts three innings and gets lit up was just a matter of time. Today against Detroit he lasted just four innings. Unable to command his pitches, which led to five walks and six hits. Giving up a total of five runs.

Likely if you were trying to sell Baker high, no other owner bought it. They’ll definitely not now. Use Baker as an occasional starter and you’ll be fine. Just don’t expect him to put together five to six solid outings like he started the year off with.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Jumping out the gates in April is always great. If you’re an owner that has shot to the front of your league, you can further yourself from the pack with proper moves. Deciding on the right players to deal out and capitalize off their hot start is the tricky part. Being in a competitive league, you almost have to nowadays play your leverage to further differentiate your team. If not, owners can capitalize off their waiver position and gain on you by August.

In every league there are going to be owners quick to make changes that are suffering out the gate. Making a sneaky proposal just to break the ice is the norm. A good percentage of the time no deal is going to be done after the first offer. If a guy has a major need and he continues to see your offered players do well, he will bend. Give it some time.

Here are some players that have started off very well, that you may be able to get high value for before they dip back down to reality.

Lance Berkman– Berkman seemed buried alive with the New York Yankees last year. The notion figured to be another overpaid big name turned bust. Age seemed to have caught up to Berkman. He went undrafted in many leagues and figured to be an after thought with the St. Louis Cardinals. While other big names on the Cardinals started off rocky, Berkman was the bat the produced. An owner with him is probably thinking when will he slow down? It’s going to happen, and his numbers will likely tail off drastically. Offering him up for desperate owners on the other side, may be the route to go.

Travis Hafner- Injury issues sometimes just never leave a player, until it causes the exit of his/her career. That seems to be the number one issue for Hafner. Health. Cleveland as a whole has exceeded April’s expectation with their start. Hafner is widely available in 46% of Yahoo leagues, which is a troubling number in itself. This is a guy that can produce and if he can sustain for another month, will be worth dealing to give yourself extra depth in a necessary area.

Ike Davis- Talk about a guy having a career year. When a young player has a start like this, it’s hard to project if he can sustain it. Often times though, it’s just a streaky run. Pitchers and managers will figure out Davis’s weaknesses and expose them. Once a rut begins, Davis could tail back off to his earthly averages of a year ago. Which were abysmal. Davis already has five home runs, when he only hit nineteen last year. Every statistical category he is on pace to crush exponentially. With Davis’s age, leveraging should figure better for the fantasy owner.

Ben Zobrist- The key with Zobrist now is that he is getting on base and the whole Rays lineup is delivering. With Evan Longoria returning to the lineup, numbers could continue to soar. On the contrary, Zobrist has never been a great hitter. A career .253 hitter. His power numbers have never jumped out at you either. There’s no questioning that he could be on the brink of a career year. Will he turn that corner completely, and shake off career averages?