Trade my Jose Bautista for his Stephen Strasburg & Melvin Upton Jr. in a 16 -team redraft?
@Baxtersquad

Bautista for Strasburg is fair, and if someone is going to toss in Upton… why wouldn’t you do this?

It all depends on need of course, but here’s how I see it.

Strasburg is an elite arm – when healthy. There’s always a chance he breaks down, but as of this writing now he’s a top-10 starting pitcher who has punched out at least 10 batters in five of his last eight outings. Toss in the ratios – 2.79 ERA & 1.06 WHIP – and you’ve got an ace as right now.

Upton has hit just .167 the last seven days to drop his average down to .253, and it should be noted that his career mark is even lower at .244. It’s totally possible that Upton tanks the rest of the way after being pretty awful the last two seasons. Still, as a 5th outfielder type who is on pace to go 20/30, he’s an excellent sweetener here.

Bautista is on pace for 34 homers, 115 RBI and 95 runs scored. He too is an average danger, he’s hitting just .232, but he’s still getting on base at his usually impressive clip .376. Pretty much the same as always.

It’s fine to deal Bautista you need an arm, especially with the elder Upton brother tossed in.

12-team 5x5; Mark Trumbo or Brandon Belt and Kenta Maeda?
@daStockguy23

Trumbo has been great. However, has anyone noticed he’s batting .222 in May with a .276 OBP? He certainly has more power between he and Belt, but he’s not a better hitter. Belt is batting one point lower than Trumbo and has an OPS that is only .026 points lower than Trumbo right now. Belt has also scored only two fewer runs and has a massive OBO edge (.333 to .411). Add in Maeda and I can’t see why there is any reason not to take the duo (for more on Maeda see Some Good, Some Bad).

AL-only, I am near last in steals but 1st in other offensive cats. Would you trade my Nomar Mazara for their Billy Burns?
@wbaker0621

I don’t know all the particulars, but adding Burns should be a huge boost to your steals total and your teams spot in the standings (Burns stole 26 bases last season and has already swiped 12 this season). Alas, he’s a very limited option with a bat in his hands. Mazara has hit seven more homers, has 15 more RBIs, is batting .053 points higher and has a .215 points OPS advantage. To me, Mazara is just a much better hitter than Burns. I would ask for more if I owned him.

 I need your permission to drop Billy Hamilton for Rajai Davis. Do I have it?
@jmwaid

Let’s compare the guys since the start of last season.

 

AVG

HR

RBI

RUNS

SB

AB

Davis

.253

13

52

79

29

475

Hamilton

.227

5

33

74

65

529


How about per 162 games for their careers?

 

AVG

HR

RBI

RUNS

SB

Davis

.268

7

48

72

49

Hamilton

.241

6

42

79

68

 

Hamilton is a decade younger, is a better bet to lead in steals this season and Davis is coming off an insane week that has inflated his current numbers. I would hold BHam if it was my squad.

Cameron Maybin has been blazing hot since his return. Ben Revere is back to his old ways. Jonathan Villar is running wild on the base paths. CHECK OUT THE VIDEO.

What do I do with Dylan Bundy and Shelby Miller in a dynasty league with 40 roster spots and 6/1 keeper deadline coming up?
@TurksTake

Not sure why this is a question to be honest. If you’re in a dynasty league how could you not hold both of these guys? There’s just too much talent in both their right arms to bail on them at this time. Unless someone trades on their talent, which seems unlikely given where both sit today, I think you have to hold them.

A definition.

A dynasty leagues means you keep your entire roster. If you keep your entire roster you simply cannot give up on talent like this, especially if your rosters go as deep as 40-players. If you don’t keep your whole roster then you are in a keeper league (I don’t get why so many folks don’t understand this point).

I feel like this isn’t a “dynasty league” though. It seems likely that this is a keeper league. I say that because you said “6/1 keeper deadline.” There is no deadline in a dynasty league because you keep your whole roster.

If this is a keeper league, well, then we will have to revisit, but as always it’s about who you would add if you made a move.

12-team h2h points league, non-keeper. Give Jimmy Nelson to get Michael Wacha?
@WazzuCougs21

Let’s compare the duo.

 

ERA

WHIP

K/9

BB/9

GB/FB

SIERA

xFIP

Nelson

2.92

1.18

7.52

3.62

1.44

4.28

4.17

Wacha

5.04

1.57

7.81

3.58

1.69

4.21

3.94

 

As you can see there isn’t a tremendous amount of different between the two. I’m going to answer the question like this.

Wacha is more talented while Nelson is more stable.

I would go with Wacha if my pitching staff is strong that I would take the struggling Wacha and hope his talent emerges. If my staff was struggling I would likely go with Nelson who is stable without standing out in an elite way. Very close, tough call. Wacha is an arm I’m a big fan of, but boy is he a mess right now (10.00 ERA, 2.22 ERA, 1.60 K/BB ratio the last four starts).

Hi Ray. Is Martin Perez fantasy relevant in 12T H2H points league as backend starter?
@JASMD18

Simply put no, not if you want to win.

Perez has a 3.13 ERA and he owns a 57.1 percent ground ball rate this season.

So ends the positivity with Perez.

For his career he’s under .500 at 20-23.

Perez doesn’t even strike out 5.85 batters per nine for his career and the mark is 5.50 since the start of last season.

Perez is walking a whopping 4.48 batters per nine innings, more than a batter over his 3.19 career mark. This is extremely troubling.

The result is a 1.23 K/BB ratio that is ghastly and much worse than his horrible 1.83 career mark.

I wouldn’t roster him in any mixed league and would have an issue with even trying to add him in an AL-only league if I’m being honest.

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).