Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market - NL

Fantasy baseball waivers and the acquisition of fantasy baseball free agents can make or break your season. Your fantasy baseball cheat sheets won't help you after spring training. If your team remains the same after opening day, you will have trouble competing in your rotisserie baseball league.

Do you need to replace your fantasy baseball busts? Which fantasy baseball players can you ignore? KFFL.com's Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market gives you fantasy baseball tips and insight to sort through the masses quickly.

Key

Outfielders

Delmon Young, OF, Minnesota Twins

We know Young has teased fantasy owners for years. We know his hot start won't change that. What we also know: You can't waste an opportunity to act pre-emptively on a talented 24-year-old bat that has shown flashes - especially recent skills booms, like Young's post-August run last year.

His batting eye is still raw, and Jim Thome's presence threatens Young's PT a bit. However, DY is polishing the rest of his baseball efforts: He lost more than 30 pounds this offseason and is said to be regaining focus. Take the last statement for what it's worth, but do you want him sitting on your league mate's bench when he explodes? We sure don't.

Shallow mixed: Watch

Deep mixed: Acquire

AL-only: Acquire

Starting pitchers

Dallas Braden, SP, Oakland Athletics

Breakout candidate: Forever Young

Soft-tosser mirage alert? Braden's 10-strikeout, one-walk gem Tuesday isn't his typical M.O. His flyball rate has been a problem, but it has been slowly decreasing in the last few seasons. Braden installed a cutter last season, and it gave him career-best numbers before he sustained nerve damage in his left foot.

Don't dip your toes too far into his stock, though. Even with his new pitch, his shaky dominance barely moved last year. After all, last night's game came against the Seattle Mariners, still a questionable offense.

He relies on control and batted balls. You can't tie yourself strongly to these types. If you have space in deeps, see if he can get hot, but be ready to ditch him if he experiences a prolonged downturn.

Shallow mixed: Pass

Deep mixed: Watch

AL-only: Acquire

Gil Meche, SP, Kansas City Royals

Many were scared away from Meche (shoulder) during deep drafts because of injury reports. He's recovering quickly and is on track to make his season debut Sunday.

If you have a choice, you shouldn't pitch him when he first comes back (against the Boston Red Sox). His control is a little shaky, but Meche has enough K/9 to make him a useful bench SP and matchup play. His '09 BABIP was inflated and he had made stellar progress in his groundball rate before shoulder issues ended an otherwise rough season.

Shallow mixed: Pass

Deep mixed: Watch

AL-only: Acquire

Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market - NL