Fantasy Panic Mode
Apr 3rd, 2008 by DoctorD
This is a funny time in the fantasy year.
The season is getting underway and we’re already terrified the wheels are coming off. No sooner had Opening Day come than the wires lit up with owners panicking, desperate to make trades, ditch cold hitters, and shore up weaknesses. I’d been bitching about my lack of Shortstop, what with JJ Hardy still coming off losing 10 pounds to a tapeworm and my backup being Mark Loretta, and was offered Michael Young and Clay Bucholtz for Jake Peavy. Trading the Cy Young winner for a decent shortstop and a guy with a total of 22 IPs? I’m not completely insane, but everyone else seems to be.
Everyone is in a weird frame of mind. This is the time of year where you’re looking at Casey Blake or Jhonny Peralta and going, “You know, even though he can’t spell his own name right, Peralta does fill a need on my team…” You can talk yourself into funny things in this frame of mind. It’s the fantasy equivalent of psyching yourself into taking home the Big Fat Friend at the end of the night, only in this case, the end of the night is the first five games of the season.
Let’s have a reality check here: Xavier Nady is one of the best hitters in our league right now. Has Xavier Nady ever been the best at anything when it comes down to it? No. Xavier Nady routinely gets beaten by the CPU in Wii Sports. Dropping someone good because they’ve gone 0-for-10 in two or three games is completely insane, especially as the big hitters tend to be slow starters anyway. Should you be concerned that a guy is having a slow start? Of course. Especially if he’d old. But let them get past 10 At Bats before you even consider bringing down the axe.
This is also the time to cruise the fantasy waters like the sharks that we are. While everyone panics, there’s some nice fat fish in the water in most leagues, and there will be more. Watch the wires for great catches.