Hey Yo! The Bad Guy himself is here to discuss a couple guys you might be able to acquire on the cheaper side before they start to blow up, and some others who you won’t mind watching continue to suck on some other dude’s team.

BUY LOW

Francisco Liriano SP Twins – Through his first four starts of the 2009 season, the ace of the Minnesota staff stands at 0-4 with a 7.06 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP, numbers that are most likely keeping his owners up at night thinking about who they could have drafted instead of Liriano. If you take a closer look at his numbers though, he has been pretty decent at home (3.46 ERA, .92 WHIP, 8:1 K:BB ratio) and has faced two very tough lineups on the road in the White Sox and the Red Sox, both of whom in general tend to destroy left handed pitching. His K/9 is down but Liriano should still be able to turn the page and be effective as the season progresses, and The Bad Guy strongly suggests buying low on him. (This was written before the Twins’ game last night, where closer Joe Nathan blew what would have been Liriano’s first win of the season)

Jose Reyes SS Mets – This one is kind of cheating, as Reyes was most likely a top five pick in your league and has not been bad enough to the point where his owner will be looking to get rid of him, but the All Star SS is again off to a slow and is currently ranked 171 in Yahoo! leagues. He only has four SB on the season (and has been thrown out twice already), and has almost as many RBI (7) as R (8) which is not a good sign, but if you look at his split stats from last season, you will see that he only had six SB through April (a stat that is reassuring for those who are somewhat concerned). Reyes should eventually turn on the heat and get back to his ridiculous base stealing ways, so now would be a great time to go out and get him.

STAY AWAY

Matt Holliday OF Athletics – Heading into the 2009 season, there was no player whose value fluctuated more between experts then that of Matt Holliday. Many thought that playing half his games at the Coliseum in Oakland as opposed to Coors Field would really diminish his value, while others thought that the three time All Star would have no problem adapting to his new home on the West Coast. As of today, we would probably crown those that doubted Holliday the winner of the debate, as his 2009 line is pretty weak – 4 R, 0 HR, 11 RBI, 0 SB, and a .242 average. While no one really expected him to come close to the 28 bases he stole last season, many still expected him to be at least somewhat of a threat on the base paths, and with zero SB attempts through 16 games, that expectation is slowly fading. Holliday is too good of a hitter to stay in the dumps for the entire season, but I would bet that when all is said and done, his stats dont look anything like they did when he was in Colorado.

David Ortiz 1B/DH Red Sox – Those of you that drafted Big Papi thinking he could regain his 2007 form have to be disappointed at this point, as it looks like you’re stuck with the Ortiz of 2008. His BA, OBP, and OPS are all significantly lower then his career averages, and he is also striking out a lot more and walking a lot less then usual- all signs that don’t normally indicate a turnaround. While Ortiz is currently on a seven game hitting streak which has raised his average from .196 to .237, he is still stuck on zero HRs and it seems safe to say that Ortiz’s big grin and sociable personality have outlasted his ability to be a fantasy stud.

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Tags: Fantasy Baseball