Roster Doctor – 6/02/09

Player Pool: Mixed
No. of Teams: 14
Categories: Yahoo! 6×6 (R, HR, RBI, SB, Batting Avg., OPS) (W, SV, K, ERA, WHIP, K/9)
Scoring Type: Rotisserie
Misc.: Teams carry 2 UTIL spots on offense.

C – Bengie Molina
1B – Paul Konerko
2B – Felipe Lopez
SS – Troy Tulowitzki
3B – Mark Reynolds
OF – Jason Bay
OF – Adam Jones
OF – Bobby Abreu
UTIL – Lance Berkman
UTIL – Juan Pierre
BN – Luis Castillo
BN – Kendry Morales
BN – Pat Burrell

SP – Tim Lincecum
SP – Josh Outman
RP – Ryan Franklin
RP – John Grabow
RP – Dan Wheeler
RP – JP Howell
RP – Jason Isringhausen
BN – John Danks
BN – Kenshin Kawakami

DL – Jose Valverde
DL – Brandon Webb

Further notes about the team:

1. Dropped Gil Meche after suffering through the pitcher’s bad start.
2. Dropped Kelly Johnson to pick up Luis Castillo.
3. After hearing about Troy Percival, picked up every breathing soul in the Tampa Bay bullpen.
4. Has unsuccessfully tried to trade hitting for pitching.
5. Slowly slipping in the standards due to poor pitching.

I think you’re being a bit too rash. Of course, Gil Meche and Kelly Johnson haven’t lived up to expectations, but both have been the victims of very poor luck this season. I consider it likely that both will sport better numbers in the future, but I guess what’s done is done.

The real question is how to salvage the pitching. Right now, I see two legitimate starters in a 14-team league—Lincecum and Danks—and frankly, that’s not enough. Josh Outman has a surprising 3.06 ERA and a nice 40-21 strikeout-to-walk rate, but he’s too young and does not possess a solid enough body of work to be any more than a #4 or #5 in this kind of league.

I think you need at least two more starters. Who might be droppable?

Chasing saves is a necessary evil in many leagues and having a category that counts K/9 certainly raises the incentive towards carrying multiple relievers. That said, after Isringhausen’s flameout in his first save opportunity last week, we can’t see much reason to hold onto him.

We also don’t see much reason to hold Luis Castillo, especially in a league that counts OPS as a category.

Isringhausen and Castillo seem the most logical candidates to drop for starters off the waiver wire. Obviously, target starters with good strikeout rates.

Who are your best trade candidates?

Well, if you can get anything for Juan Pierre, go for it. He’s having a great season, but his value will be kept in check in an OPS league that hates his slugging ability. Since he’s batting near .400, and some teams are bound to need speed, maybe you can get something.

The other candidate I might look to trade, believe it or not, is Brandon Webb. Your team needs pitching help right away, and Webb carries a lot of injury risk. Many teams will be attracted to the prospect of having an ace-caliber pitcher like Webb, so he might at least return someone like Jon Lester. (Also, note that Lester’s been struggling, but posts a stronger strikeout rate than Webb and will offer you more wins than a pitcher who plays for a poor offense. You may be able to get Lester plus something else.) After you move Webb, you can then push Burrell to DL, clearing up another roster spot for use.