Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market - Falling

September 16, 2009 @ 10:40:00

By Bryce McRae
Edited by Tim Heaney

Also see: Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market - Rising

Fantasy baseball waivers and discarded fantasy baseball players can make or break a season. You may have adjusted your fantasy baseball cheat sheets over and over during spring training. If your team remains the same after opening day, though, you will probably have trouble competing in your rotisserie baseball league.

When is it time to give up on your fantasy baseball sleepers? Which players are worth retaining? KFFL.com's Diamond Market series gives you the fantasy baseball tips and advice you need to sort through the masses quickly.

Key

Discard - Drop player (in most circumstances)

Stash - Hold player if roster space is available; consider dropping if trend continues

Hold - Do not drop player (in most circumstances)

First basemen

Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins

Don't mourn Morneau this late

A stress fracture in Morneau's lower back will keep him out for the remainder of the season. The Canadian slugger won't need surgery, but he'll have to rest his back for three months.

Shallow mixed: Discard

Deep mixed: Discard

AL-only: Discard

Second basemen

Clint Barmes, Colorado Rockies

Barmes likely will be losing more playing time to Eric Young Jr. at second base. The versatile infielder has struggled for over two months with a .197-13-33 line since the beginning of July. The middle number there is promising, but he's likely submarining your other fantasy stats. He won't have that chance, though, if EY Jr. keeps playing. It's too late in the season to wait for Barmes to turn it around.

Shallow mixed: Discard

Deep mixed: Discard

NL-only: Stash

Starting pitchers

Jarrod Washburn, Detroit Tigers

Washburn's (knee) season might be over. An MRI on his right knee came back clean yesterday, but the irritation has reached a crescendo - it isn't like the veteran pitcher is helping his team on the mound, either. Since joining the Tigers, he has a 7.33 ERA, a 1.56 WHIP and just one win. Not exactly the pitcher Detroit was expecting when they acquired him near the trade deadline.

You shouldn't be pitching him right now. Even if he returns, his potential matchups against the Minnesota Twins (home and away) and Chicago White Sox (away) are merely average.

Shallow mixed: Discard

Deep mixed: Discard

AL-only: Stash

Brian Matusz, Baltimore Orioles

The O's shut down the young lefty. Feel free to drop him.

Shallow mixed: Discard

Deep mixed: Discard

AL-only: Discard

Also see: Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market - Rising

KFFLians are saying....

Comment

 

---

What do you think? We want to hear from you!

Name: E-mail: Please, enter the number that you see

Comment Guidelines

Bryce McRae
Bryce McRae is a Managing Editor with KFFL and has been involved in fantasy sports since 1999. He joined KFFL as a volunteer writer in March 2005 before becoming a Hot off the Wire Analyst in March 2006. He began working in his current capacity in September 2008. His work has appeared on fantasy sports sites such as Yahoo! and CBS Sportsline as well as in print. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2008 with a B.A. in History and U.S. Studies.

Talk Sports 24/7!
KFFL Sports Forums: Over 24,000 strong and growing!

One Day FREE Fantasy Contest - $350 in cash prizes (05/25)
Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market: Orioles locking up Adam Jones (05/25)
Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: Joel Hanrahan, Addison Reed, Aroldis Chapman (05/25)