Playoff push

[klawz90]

Was offered j.upton for c.lee and am really on the fence with this one. In evaluating pitcher for hitter trades, I like to look at the whole picture so here's the background. I'm in fifth place in my league and should be making the playoffs barring any severe injuries. My OF is pretty thin right now, especially with rasmus slumping, and upton would obviously help in that regard, however I have Kubel and Tabata waiting to come off the DL. Will at least one of these two produce significantly enough for the ROS to round out my OF or should I sacrifice my pitching for the boost in offence?

[larryp]

Personally, the OF is not a position I would trade a top tier SP for.
If you were trying to upgrade a single-position (C/2B/SS), it might be an OK idea.

With your OF, it is sort of nice flexibility.
You should set up your OF so you have a speed-demon (SB), a slugger (HR/RBI), and a lead-off hitter (AVG, R, maybe SB).

If you can still ADD/DROP players during your H2H playoffs... you may not even need a speed guy (like R.Davis) because you may be able to pluck a guy off the waiver wires to get you 1-2 SBs at the end of the week. (ESPN has great match-up info for every day, including SB rankings where bad SP-C combos can't throw guys out).

Summary:
OF should be one of the last positions you should be concerned about... because there are a lot of options on the waiver wire to win a category at end of week.

Keep Cliff Lee.

[GoldenSeals]

Be very careful with roto what you're looking to trade away and trade for. Will Upton's bat alone help you gain categories in HR/RBI/SB? If you can creep up 4-5 points, then this is something you want to look at if you have a significant lead in K's/W's.

You also have to remember that Cliff Lee is generally a better second half pitcher, so something to consider.

It's a somewhat of a fair trade I suppose in keeper leagues, but in one year roto leagues, you want a consistent power bat.

[klawz90]

This is for a H2H league (details in sig), so unfortunately your analysis does not help here.

[tandrpaving]

Was offered j.upton for c.lee and am really on the fence with this one. In evaluating pitcher for hitter trades, I like to look at the whole picture so here's the background. I'm in fifth place in my league and should be making the playoffs barring any severe injuries. My OF is pretty thin right now, especially with rasmus slumping, and upton would obviously help in that regard, however I have Kubel and Tabata waiting to come off the DL. Will at least one of these two produce significantly enough for the ROS to round out my OF or should I sacrifice my pitching for the boost in offence?

I really like this deal for you because Upton is gold in any keeper league. Sure, Lee is great but he's a lot older than Upton and it looks like you need a boost in terms of an outfielder on your team. Usually when I make a deal like this I would be looking to acquire a pitcher in a trade right after the Upton deal goes through, maybe go for a guy like Daniel Hudson or Max Scherzer. Their value isn't as high as it should be right now and Hudson is off to a great start in the second half.

[klawz90]

I really like this deal for you because Upton is gold in any keeper league. Sure, Lee is great but he's a lot older than Upton and it looks like you need a boost in terms of an outfielder on your team. Usually when I make a deal like this I would be looking to acquire a pitcher in a trade right after the Upton deal goes through, maybe go for a guy like Daniel Hudson or Max Scherzer. Their value isn't as high as it should be right now and Hudson is off to a great start in the second half.

One-year league :S

[goldfish47]

I'd pass in a one-year league. It's easier to pick up a good OF than a top flight SP.

[johnnymapman]

Where are you struggling this year? If you are looking for a boost in SBs (which you will get with Upton...but not a ton) it might be an OK move. Tabata is not guaranteed playing time once he comes off the DL with the dude in front of him raking right now. Kubel is blah. The MIN offense is brutal.
I like your pitching and you can easily stream guys off the WW in weeks where your big dogs dont show up.
I guess it all really depends where you are struggling stat wise.

[tandrpaving]

One-year league :S

Then you should keep Lee, its as simple as that.