This article is part of our Rounding Third series.
Week 10 Primer
Usually one trade isn't going to cure what you're lacking, nor is one free agent. Now that you've established a baseline, you should be churning more frequently to address your team's shortcomings. The best players that I see are frequent traders and heavily involved in the free agent market. Players like Chris Liss, Fred Zinkie and Scott Pianowski often do well not because they turn a huge profit on one transaction, but rather because they often profit from their transactions and do more of them than the competition. Each little trade adds up over time. So get out there and be one of the most active players in your league. Not only will you profit more often than not by participating, but you'll get a better feel for player value each time you go through the process.
Week 10 Noteworthy Schedules
Just one team has five games this week, the Braves. Even with the two off-days, all five starting pitchers will get their turn in the rotation this week, however.
The following teams play seven games this week: Royals, Marlins, Brewers, Twins, Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Cardinals and Rays.
Here are the interleague matchups, with the home team listed first.
- Braves-Mariners (Tue-Wed) - This is twice now that the Mariners have had to traverse the country for an interleague series. They also had to travel to Miami to play the Marlins. At least they got the extra travel day to deal the standard delays that Delta (Don't
Week 10 Primer
Usually one trade isn't going to cure what you're lacking, nor is one free agent. Now that you've established a baseline, you should be churning more frequently to address your team's shortcomings. The best players that I see are frequent traders and heavily involved in the free agent market. Players like Chris Liss, Fred Zinkie and Scott Pianowski often do well not because they turn a huge profit on one transaction, but rather because they often profit from their transactions and do more of them than the competition. Each little trade adds up over time. So get out there and be one of the most active players in your league. Not only will you profit more often than not by participating, but you'll get a better feel for player value each time you go through the process.
Week 10 Noteworthy Schedules
Just one team has five games this week, the Braves. Even with the two off-days, all five starting pitchers will get their turn in the rotation this week, however.
The following teams play seven games this week: Royals, Marlins, Brewers, Twins, Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Cardinals and Rays.
Here are the interleague matchups, with the home team listed first.
- Braves-Mariners (Tue-Wed) - This is twice now that the Mariners have had to traverse the country for an interleague series. They also had to travel to Miami to play the Marlins. At least they got the extra travel day to deal the standard delays that Delta (Don't Ever Leave The Airport) usually provides.
- Dodgers-White Sox (Mon-Wed) - The last time that the White Sox went on the road for interleague play, Adam Dunn saw action in the outfield. With Jose Abreu coming off the DL on Monday, that is likely to happen again, though not on Monday against Clayton Kershaw.
- Cardinals-Royals (Mon-Thur) - The Cardinals host the first two games before playing the next two in Kansas City. The latter two games will help the Cardinals figure out the crowded playing time situation with Oscar Taveras now up - it'll be the first two of seven consecutive games in AL parks for the Cards.
- Marlins-Rays (Mon-Thur) - How much do you trust starting left-handers against the Rays? Because Randy Wolf might provide the ultimate test of faith Monday night.
- Brewers-Twins (Mon-Thur) - No pithy remarks here.
- Blue Jays-Cardinals (Fri-Sun) - Can Mark Buehrle continue his remarkable run to begin the season? The Cardinals should provide a stiffer test than their in-state brethren did Sunday.
For more on the pitching matchups, please check out our indispensable Projected Starters Grid. I use that frequently to aid my free agent bidding and my lineups, both for two-start starters and for matchups. And then refer to Paul Sporer's excellent Pitcher Value Meter to settle any ties in your starting pitching matchups.
FREE AGENT RESULTS
In this section I'll try to list as many of the free agent results as I can from my Sunday deadline leagues. Due to time constraints, the commentary will frequently be short.
NFBC - RotoWire Online Championship
| Team | Player | Bid | Runner-Up |
| Wheelin Down Huston Street | Josh Collmenter (MR) | 51 | |
| ChrisLiss4President | Stephen Drew (SS) | 37 | |
| Glenneration X | Grady Sizemore (CF) | 16 | |
| PANAMA RED | Mike Aviles (3B) | 11 | |
| Big Stick Ballerinas | Garrett Jones (1B) | 9 | |
| Big Stick Ballerinas | Kendrys Morales (1B) | 7 | |
| Big Stick Ballerinas | Dellin Betances (MR) | 6 | |
| High Hopes | Jake Arrieta (SP) | 5 | |
| Big Stick Ballerinas | Chris Iannetta (C) | 4 | |
| Glenneration X | Carlos Quentin (LF) | 2 | |
| Release the Kraken | Derek Dietrich (2B) | 1 | |
| Tiger Slappy OC2 | Jaime Garcia (SP) | 1 |
NFBC Main Event
| Team | Player | Bid | Runner-Up |
| Team Taylor | Rubby De La Rosa (MR) | 103 | 87 |
| Spartacus | Josh Harrison (3B) | 36 | 14 |
| Spartacus | Grady Sizemore (CF) | 32 | |
| Dead Moneyball | Drew Stubbs (CF) | 29 | 27 |
| Dead Moneyball | Travis d'Arnaud (C) | 28 | 2 |
| MORONS | Tommy Medica (1B) | 22 | 1 |
| Dead Moneyball | Nate McLouth (CF) | 19 | 1 |
| El Scorchos | Kelly Johnson (3B) | 15 | 1 |
| El Scorchos | Joba Chamberlain (MR) | 15 | |
| Team Taylor | Craig Gentry (CF) | 14 | |
| BN Bears | Jake Odorizzi (SP) | 13 | 5 |
| Cocktails and Dreams | Tim Stauffer (MR) | 11 | 6 |
| Cocktails and Dreams | Jonny Gomes (LF) | 9 | 1 |
| Team Simonian | Sean Rodriguez (LF) | 8 | |
| Dead Moneyball | Dan Straily (SP) | 8 | |
| Team Simonian | Brock Holt (3B) | 7 | |
| Team Simonian | Vidal Nuno (SP) | 2 | |
| Diamondking | Alex Guerrero (2B) | 1 | |
| Diamondking | Juan Uribe (3B) | 1 | |
| Oakland Eh's | Nate Schierholtz (RF) | 1 | |
| El Scorchos | Edwin Jackson (SP) | 1 | |
| VF's FusterCluck | Tommy La Stella (2B) | 1 |
Tyler Moore wasn't getting it done as the temporary Joey Votto fill-in, so I went with Johnson instead. Clearly I overpaid for he and Joba Chamberlain, something I can afford to do less of with my FAAB budget running low. I have but one closer in the Main Event, so Joba was the best speculative play out there. It's not that Joe Nathan is in immediate danger, but what if he's been hiding an injury all-along and needs a DL trip? Better to speculate now instead of waiting until I have to bid over $100 in FAAB. I just wish I would have gone $1 instead - every marginal dollar now counts for me.
RotoWire Staff Keeper League
Uggla's Decaying Remains: Pick up Gregor Blanco ($1), drop Eduardo Nunez
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
Jakarta Raiders: Pick up Brad Boxberger ($1), drop Felipe Paulino
(Jakarta Raiders: $1)
Schin Kickers: Pick up Joba Chamberlain ($4), drop Gonzalez Germen
(Jakarta Raiders: $1)
(Jakarta Raiders: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
East Coast Bias: Pick up Robinson Chirinos ($1), drop Alex Gonzalez
East Coast Bias: Pick up Rubby De La Rosa ($18), drop Matt Albers
(The Bros McKeown: $9)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $8)
(Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: $6)
(Jakarta Raiders: $6)
(Browns: $4)
(Casale Industries: $1)
Frozen Ropes: Pick up Lucas Duda ($8), drop Rafael Furcal
(Erickson: $3)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
Jakarta Raiders: Pick up Robbie Grossman ($11), drop Sam Fuld
(Frozen Ropes: $4)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $3)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $3)
(Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: $1)
Erickson: Pick up Brock Holt ($2), drop Joe Kelly
(Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: $2)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
Uggla's Decaying Remains: Pick up Ender Inciarte ($1), drop Eric Chavez
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: Pick up Ed Lucas ($1), drop Danny Valencia
Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: Pick up Daisuke Matsuzaka ($1), drop Joel Peralta
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
The Bros McKeown: Pick up Tommy Medica ($11), drop Matt Lindstrom
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(High-A West Madison: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
East Coast Bias: Pick up Andrew Miller ($1), drop Chris Colabello
Uggla's Decaying Remains: Pick up David Peralta ($1), drop Dan Uggla
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
(Uggla's Decaying Remains: $1)
High-A West Madison: Pick up Jerry Sands ($3), drop Chris Parmelee
(Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: $1)
McLovin's Spoonful: Pick up Josh Tomlin ($3), drop Anthony Recker
Jakarta Raiders: Pick up Nick Vincent ($2), drop Jim Henderson
(Jakarta Raiders: $2)
Mixed LABR
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Rubby De La Rosa awarded to RotoExperts for $7.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Failed bids for Rubby De La Rosa: $7, $2, $3, $2.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Tommy La Stella awarded to ESPN.com for $5.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Failed bids for Tommy La Stella: $2.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Tyler Flowers awarded to RotoExperts for $4.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Failed bids for Tyler Flowers: $2.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Chase Whitley awarded to Fangraphs for $4.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Yonder Alonso awarded to KFFL.com for $3.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Failed bids for Yonder Alonso: $3.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Joba Chamberlain awarded to USA TODAY Sports for $2.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Josh Harrison awarded to Towers of Power Baseball Hour for $2.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Failed bids for Josh Harrison: $1.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Tommy Medica awarded to ESPN.com for $2.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Brandon Workman awarded to Baseball HQ for $1.
Mon Jun 02 12:01 AM ET: Brad Peacock awarded to MLB.com for $1.
AL Tout
Chris Liss: pur Rubby De La Rosa Bos 37
Chris Liss: pur Robbie Grossman Hou 22
Jason Collette: pur Jerry Sands TB 9
Rob Leibowitz: pur Brandon Workman Bos 3
Mike Podhorzer: pur Johan Santana Bal 1
Lawr Michaels: pur Robinson Chirinos Tex 1
Ron Shandler: pur George Kottaras Cle 0
Ron Shandler: pur Marwin Gonzalez Hou 3
Ron Shandler: pur T.J. House Cle 1
Jason Collette: pur Dustin McGowan Tor 1
Larry Schechter: pur David Ross Bos 1
Jeff Erickson: pur Carlos Corporan Hou 0
Lawr Michaels: pur Steve Pearce Bal 6
Rick Wolf/Glenn Colton: pur Alex Hassan Bos 0
I made my first Tout Wars deal of the year, trading away Gordon Beckham for Hiroki Kuroda with Andy Behrens. Andy is desperate for playing time, and I have tragic starting pitching. I doubt that I'll be able to find too many aces out there yet without paying a heavy batting price, so I went for a mid-level guy off to a slow start but on a good team. I'm just hoping that Kuroda's mediocre numbers this year aren't a continuation of last year's poor finish. Still, this was the rare "buy low, sell high" equation that you don't often see in expert leagues - I paid $5 to get Beckham at the auction and he's improved his value since then, and Andy bought Kuroda for $15 at the auction. I think that their respective values have converged somewhere to around $10 apiece the rest of the way.
