Matsuzaka?

[rsvp_nj]

Something for an Easter morning since it's slow on the boards...

It's hard to ignore two great starts back to back (last night with 9 K's no less) from Dice-K when you own a team with weak starting pitching. Not only that, the most obnoxious owner in the league got burned by cutting him recently. I'd love to burn him even more by adding him and getting a decent season out of him.

On the other hand, I know this week is probably too good to be true. Should I resist temptation?

Ten team mixed league. I'm looking bad in all pitching cats other than saves. My drop choices would be:

Madison Bumgarner
Ian Kennedy
Zach Britton
Chris Young
Jeremy Hellickson
Kyle Lohse

Bumgarner was my initial drop choice, but I'm concerned about him turning it around and becoming a star this summer. Seems each year I regret an April drop as the season goes along.

It's a limited (8 players) keeper league with increasing salary, max 3 years. You can tell by my pitchers that since I didn't land a true ace (I also own Tim Hudson and Ricky Romero) I opted for the catch lightning in a bottle theory. Where's the lightning in this group for 2011?

Thanks. Happy Holidays.

[Trav The Ump]

In my mind Britton and Lohse are replacement level, cut them for a roll of the 6 sided die on Dice-K and they could still be there if he blows up on you.

My two cents.

[da_big_kid_94]

To me, April in roto/fantasy is the epitome of the song "The Girls All Get Prettier At Closing Time". I would ask you one question - out of all the pitchers you listed - which one(s) do you think will be the best long term performer for you? I've owned Dice-K for years - and he was a major contributor to my Maalox budget. I don't believe he's suddenly found religion.
Tell you what - mosey (no pun intended) over to ESPN, select Dice-K off his roster and then look at his game logs for the past two years. Thena ask yourself about him again. I think you may change your mind.

In either case, good luck.

[rsvp_nj]

To me, April in roto/fantasy is the epitome of the song "The Girls All Get Prettier At Closing Time". I would ask you one question - out of all the pitchers you listed - which one(s) do you think will be the best long term performer for you? I've owned Dice-K for years - and he was a major contributor to my Maalox budget. I don't believe he's suddenly found religion.
Tell you what - mosey (no pun intended) over to ESPN, select Dice-K off his roster and then look at his game logs for the past two years. Thena ask yourself about him again. I think you may change your mind.

In either case, good luck.

Thanks for the advice. You're right, the odds of him this year becoming what he's supposed to have been are slim, and I wouldn't even be getting these past two starts. I'm leaning towards staying pat but appreciate any and all opinions.

[Captain Hook]

Something for an Easter morning since it's slow on the boards...

It's hard to ignore two great starts back to back (last night with 9 K's no less) from Dice-K when you own a team with weak starting pitching. Not only that, the most obnoxious owner in the league got burned by cutting him recently. I'd love to burn him even more by adding him and getting a decent season out of him.

On the other hand, I know this week is probably too good to be true. Should I resist temptation?

Ten team mixed league. I'm looking bad in all pitching cats other than saves. My drop choices would be:

Madison Bumgarner
Ian Kennedy
Zach Britton
Chris Young
Jeremy Hellickson
Kyle Lohse

Bumgarner was my initial drop choice, but I'm concerned about him turning it around and becoming a star this summer. Seems each year I regret an April drop as the season goes along.

It's a limited (8 players) keeper league with increasing salary, max 3 years. You can tell by my pitchers that since I didn't land a true ace (I also own Tim Hudson and Ricky Romero) I opted for the catch lightning in a bottle theory. Where's the lightning in this group for 2011?

Thanks. Happy Holidays.

I am going to have to disagree with kid - there are times where we have to recognize the changes in players and their approaches. DiceK is a totallly different pitcher in the last two starts than we have seen since his "rookie" year. He is throwing the fastball more - with good location. His approach is diffeerent and thus the results are.

That said the question for YOU is does he offer greater upside than any of the pitcher on your current staff - both short term and long term.

Personally I will take the short sample size here and say ADD him.
As to who you dump to do it, part is personal - who can YOU not stand to lose?; part is league based - who might survive a week on waivers?

I would add him and dump either Kennedy or Chris Young - my choice Young

[special k]

FWIW, Dice-K's last start was his best ever for Sox, per Game Score marks. His start before was top 10. Those are the best two back-to-back starts in his MLB career. He also finished strong in the spring. The start vs. the Rays looks like the outlier. And yes, it is Dice-K, and it is a gamble. How much do you need to gamble to win?

[rsvp_nj]

Thanks for the input. Ultimately I decided not to add him, figuring I'd already missed what probably was his best two starts of the season. I will keep my eye on him going forward. No one else in my league bit either. Meanwhile Britton has helped my team, and he's the guy I was leaning towards dropping at the time.

Chris Young is probably the pitcher I'd drop going forward. He's pitching well, but more than likely will have another DL stint or two in him this year.