What a Difference a Week Makes

OK, everybody who saw it coming that Manny would retire a week into the season, speak now.

[Crickets.]

That's what I thought. 

As one of my leaguemates put it:

One single: $27
Manny being Manny: priceless

Yes, he paid too much to begin with, but it was a classic high-risk, high-reward type move in the first place.  What's really interesting to me now is how this affects the Rays going forward.  Desmond Jennings is the heir apparent, of course, but he's still working on things in Triple-A Durham.  Plus, the cost-conscious Rays are loathe to start the clock ticking on his service time too soon.  So where does that leave the Rays?  With a decimated lineup... Like, one that you want to start targeting for your fantasy pitching staff. 

One positive is that it opens up the big door of opportunity potential playing time for aSam Fuld, all 5'8" 170 pounds of him. He's already made several sparkling plays in the field, where he plays with reckless abandon (his nicknames include "Wall-Magnet").  He has never been considered any kind of real prospect, no doubt due to his diminutive size. All the more reason to root for him in my book, being 5'7.75" myself. I always root for the little guy, be it Doug Flutie or Dustin Pedroia or Spud Webb. Even cooler, though, is that he's from Durham, NH, which is where I went to college (go Cats!) and a mere 8 miles from my home. 

Now, last week if you'll recall, I wanted to add Fuld.  But I overthought it.  Although I believe he can be a productive player in real life and in fantasy (namely, providing ever-elusive steals), I didn't figure Joe Maddon shared the same enthusiasm for Fuld that I did; thus, he wouldn't get enough ABs to be worth the even the dollar bid. So I made Fuld the backup move in replacing injured Franklin Gutierrez (who can't stop his bellyachin').  I added Travis Buck, who was a much safer bet to pick up some starts in the Oakland outfield. 

Let's review how that worked out for me: 

Buck: 1 for 11 with 1 run scored
Fuld:  5 for 19 with 5 steals!

D'oh!

So of course, I attempted to right my wrong this week, especially now that Manny's out of the way.  Unfortunately, I knew those 5 steals wouldn't go unnoticed in this savvy AL-only league. So I bumped my bid up 500% over last week, figuring that's what it would take to get him. Talk about inflation! So look how THAT worked out for me:

Moves 4/11 Posted Bids:

Fuld- Owls:6, Skwirls:5, China:4,Chaos:2, Highlanders:2

Grrrrrrrr!

In other news, I had 2 pitchers on the DL, so I attempted to scoop a potential saves guy in O's lefty Mike Gonzalez. I've owned him in previous years and have always loved his Ks (well over 9 per 9 innings). My strategy this season is to buy set-up guys with high Ks and/or low WHIPs, hoping to get lucky with an occasional save or, better yet, tapping a closer-in-waiting at a bargain price. But once again...

Gonzalez- Liefers:2, Skwirls:1

Grrrrrrrr! 

This final move, a ditto on the move above, did work out for me.  

Dotel- Skwirls:1, Bustinash:1 (Skwirls lower in standings)

See you in Week 3.