Projo Fantasy Sports Blog

By David Ferris

A lot of your leaguemates are starting to turn the calendar over to football, so a keen eye on the diamond for the final quarter of the season will be rewarded. Cheat sheets are allowed, so have a look inside our notebook and apply this info toward your pennant chase.

Batters

BUY

Ty Wigginton, Utility, Astros: His lineup spot is secure now that Carlos Lee is out for the season, and Cecil Cooper is also giving Wigginton a much better batting slot of late (and that's everything in the NL, given the dead spot at the bottom). Wigginton has been manning left field this week, which means he'll have three to four positions of eligibility in most leagues for the stretch run.

SELL

Russell Martin, C, Dodgers: It's not unusual to see catchers wilt a bit on offense during the brutal days of August, and that's what's happened with Martin over the last two months, as Joe Torre has basically stuck with the crazy usage pattern subscribed to by the old regime. Martin might have snapped out of it with three hits Wednesday night (out of the No. 8 slot, no less), but if there's any player in the league who deserves a week off, here's the guy.

HOLD

Ian Stewart, 3B, Rockies: Don't write him off as a Colorado story, because his road OPS is just 24 points lower. The Rockies should able to audition the rookie the remainder of the year, as it looks doubtful that Todd Helton will play again this season.

Pitchers

BUY

Jonathan Broxton, RP, Dodgers: He's answered the bell emphatically in all but one of his chances since Takashi Saito went on the DL, and while the club hasn't officially ruled out Saito for the season, the elbow injury he's dealing with normally leads to a date under the surgeon's knife. Your opponents might be too nervous to count on Broxton for the rest of the year, but we see him as the NL's next big thing at closer: power, movement, and the makeup needed to handle the ups-and-downs of high-leverage situations.

SELL

Chris Young, SP, Padres: A strained forearm has him back on the disabled list, and with the Padres already out of the running, there's little incentive for the team to rush him back. Young's thin 2008 stats and roomy home park will probably make him surprisingly affordable next spring.

Braden Looper, SP, Cardinals: He's kept his rotation spot with five decent turns in a row, but let's not lose track of who Looper really is. He's got the profile of a soft-tosser (73 strikeouts over 148 innings), and too many of those tosses wind up over the fence (21 homers). Forget the short-term data here; the long-term profile takes a more accurate picture.

HOLD

Chris Perez, RP, Cardinals: He's arrived ahead of schedule as the team's closer of the future (three saves the last two weeks), which has the club rethinking its plans to close with Adam Wainwright later this year. Perez's shelf life in redraft leagues might be longer than you thought, especially if he keeps locating his improved slider.

Wandy Rodriguez, SP, Astros: He's made some adjustments on the road this year, but nonetheless the splits still mandate how we can trust Rodriguez - use him at Minute Maid (3.31 ERA, 1.20 WHIP), and steer away at all other times (4.53, 1.47). Rodriguez probably needs one more reliable pitch if he's going to fully jump into our circle of trust.

 Tags  baseball Braden Looper Chris Perez Chris Young David Ferris Ian Stewart Jonathan Broxton NL Stock Watch Russell Martin Ty Wigginton Wandy Rodriguez

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