Phanatic Phantasy Update

By Michael Rushton
Phanatic Magazine

Buy low and sell high. It's a concept fantasy owners hear over and over again. Pounce on players who's value is currently low, and unload your overachieving players on some other sucker.

Now that we are into the third month of the season, it may be time to unload some of your first-half surprises, and grab those slumping sure things.

Who to trade:

Brad Penny, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers: Penny might be a guy you hold onto for a few more starts before unloading. He is currently 7-1 with a 2.37 ERA. Remember, though, he was 10-2 with a 2.91 ERA before the All-Star break last year and 6-7 after with a 6.25 ERA.

Manny Ramirez, OF, Boston Red Sox: Age isn't on Ramirez's side any more and he has only eight homers through 215 at-bats. And not to beat a dead horse, but his questionable work ethic and a big division lead for Boston doesn't add up to a lot of hustle in the second half of the season.

J.J. Hardy, SS, Milwaukee Brewers: Hardy's 16 homers are already seven above his career high, and his inexperience in addition to injury history doesn't assure he will keep it up all year. Trade him now for a couple of key pieces.

Who to acquire:

Jermaine Dye, OF, Chicago White Sox: Sure, a .224 batting average is hard to swallow, but his power is still there, as is a potential trade to the Yankees. Capitalize on your stressed-out opponent.

Felix Hernandez, SP, Seattle Mariners: He only has three wins, has an ERA above four, and has already battled injury this year. However, the rest he got while on the DL will prevent him from wearing down in the second half. They don't call him King Felix for nothing.

Ryan Howard, 1B, Philadelphia Phillies: Call it a homer pick if you want, but Howard has been better since returning from the DL and is still the reigning NL MVP. You might be able to get him cheap if a non-Phillies fan has him.

Who you are stuck with:

Carlos Delgado, 1B, New York Mets: His eight homers are lower than what one expected when drafting him, and a .222 average is nothing to write home about. His age and wrist will make it tough for anyone to take a chance on him.

Carlos Zambrano, SP, Chicago Cubs: Zambrano isn't living up to the "Wiley contract year" theory, and has already shown this year that his poor season so far is affecting him mentally. If you have him, you're going to be forced to ride out the storm.

Robinson Cano, 2B, New York Yankees - He was supposed to be a top three fantasy second baseman this year, but Cano has mirrored the Yankees struggles this year. A poor work ethic and sub par numbers make it tough to trade him, but you can't just give up on such a high pick either.