Roster doctor

Head-to-head fantasy league with R, HR, RBI, SB, OPS, W, SV, K, ERA, WHIP:

C – Russell Martin
1B – Kevin Youkilis
2B – Ben Zobrist
3B – Mark DeRosa
SS – Jason Bartlett
OF – Justin Upton
OF – Torii Hunter
OF – Matt Kemp
Util – Manny Ramirez (when he comes back from suspension)
BN – Juan Pierre
BN – James Loney
BN – Casey Blake
SP – Hiroki Kuroda
SP – Clayton Kershaw
SP – Roy Oswalt
SP – James Shields
SP – Vince Mazzaro
SP – Rick Porcello
SP – Luke Hochevar
RP – Jonathan Broxton
RP – Jonathan Papelbon
RP – David Aardsma

Available hitters: Rafael Furcal, Felipe Lopez, Freddy Sanchez, Mark Teahen, Jerry Hairston Jr., Miguel Olivo, John Baker, Yadier Molina, Rod Barajas, Kurt Suzuki and Ronny Paulino.

Available pitchers: Brandon Morrow, Ubaldo Jimenez, Jason Frasor, Alfredo Aceves, Dan Meyer, Sean West, Scott Richmond, Dallas Braden, Matt Maloney, Antonio Bastardo, LaTroy Hawkins, C.J. Wilson, Rafael Soriano, Brad Ziegler and Andrew Bailey.

Alec sent me a bunch of questions about upgrading various positions and gave me a list of free agents in his league. I would replace Hochevar with Ubaldo Jimenez. That’d be about it. I would also treat Mazzaro with a light hand, starting him when match-ups are in his favor. If Alec wanted to find a middle reliever that’ll help with strikeouts, WHIP and ERA and perhaps vulture a save in place of Mazzaro, I wouldn’t poo-poo it. I would not get rid of Martin in favor of any of the waiver wire catchers.

Instead, I think Alec may be able to find some help from his fellow competitors. Alec didn’t mention how many teams are in his league—based on his roster, I’d guess about twelve. Alec has a great middle infield, but he has too many middle infielders (assuming typical eligibility rules). He has a ton of players with position flexibility: Youkilis qualifies at first and third, DeRosa at everywhere but shortstop, and Zobrist at both middle infield positions as well as some others.

I would trade one of the middle infielders (DeRosa, Zobrist or Bartlett) for a better corner infielder. Alec should get the infield player with the best numbers irrespective of his position (which would likely be a first baseman, but depends on the needs of other competitors) and then move his roster around accordingly. Or, he can put Loney at first, Youkilis at third and trade one of the aforementioned for a pitcher. Seek out teams with injuries—perhaps the team with Jose Reyes has gotten by with a replacement level substitute but it now getting itchy. If I could get equal value for each, I would trade, in order, Bartlett first, then DeRosa.