Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market - Falling

September 2, 2009 @ 12:00:00

By Nicholas Minnix
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)

Outfielders

Adam L. Jones, Baltimore Orioles

Jonesing for his return

Jones (ankle) is out for at least two weeks, maybe three, and possibly for the rest of the year. He sustained a severely sprained left ankle Tuesday night. The kid is a gamer - perhaps a quick healer - and thinks he'll be back in there well before the season ends. It's hard to say, though, and there are only four and a half weeks remaining. If you have no place to stash him, you may be forced to make one of them thar tough decisions.

Shallow mixed: Stash

Deep mixed: Stash

AL -only: Hold

Designated hitters

Jim Thome, Los Angeles Dodgers

The Chicago White Sox bartered the burly veteran slugger to the Blue at the waiver trade deadline. Thome can't handle first base anymore; he played one game at the position in 2007, none since. In Hollywood, therefore, he'll serve as a quality left-handed bat off the bench. You know what that means.

Shallow mixed: Discard

Deep mixed: Discard

AL-only: Stash

NL-only: Stash

Starting pitchers

Jarrod Washburn, Detroit Tigers

Washburn washed up for '09?

Line with the Seattle Mariners: 8-6, 2.64 ERA, 1.07 WHIP. Line with Detroit: 1-2, 6.81 ERA, 1.41 WHIP. The Tigers have no plans to remove Washburn from the rotation, despite his struggles, which may be attributable to his sore knee; the Seattle Mariners scratched him from a start earlier in the season for a similar issue.

Manager Jim Leyland is giving his lefty a few days off. Will it help? The southpaw didn't struggle on the road, so Safeco Field was simply a haven for him. Washburn was a borderline fantasy commodity in deep leagues for the last couple of years as it was, though. His run in the Emerald City was nice, sure.

Shallow mixed: Discard

Deep mixed: Stash

AL-only: Hold

Also see: Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market - Rising

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Nicholas Minnix

KFFL's baseball editor plays in LABR and Tout Wars and won the FSWA Baseball Industry Insiders League in 2010.

The University of Delaware alum is a regular guest on Sirius/XM Fantasy Sports Radio and Baltimore's WNST AM 1570. Follow him on Twitter.

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