A New Hope: Not the Money Grubbing Whore Kind
Well, the standings don't show it, but what happened this weekend is starting to give me some hope. Yes, still in last place (28 pts...) but Chipper and Jeff Kent had productive weekends, and Shawn Green clouted one as well. Russ Ortiz pitched a gem (8 2/3 innings of 1 run ball) and my TSN newsletter just told me - and when it's good news, I believe it implicitly - that Adrian Beltre and Kent are on the rise. If the offense starts up, I really can compete with anyone in the league, I think. My biggest hole is stolen bases - while Alex Sanchez has been great thus far, he has only swiped 3 bags, and I'm dead last by a LOT in the category. I just can't punt, my other stats aren't good enough to cover. So, I'm going to have to do something in that category. What's nice is that I'm second in the other traditional punt category - saves - and Izzy still isn't off the DL.
Potential Drop Candidates: At the draft, I thought picking up Eli Marrero was huge for $2 at catcher. Now, he'll be splitting time with the oft-injured J.D.Drew, and he's not doing much while platooning. Similarly, I have Tony Clark as Big Fat Mo insurance, but I can't really play them both so he's hogging the bench. Once Giles comes back - should be two or three weeks at most, please please please -- this will be less of an issue.