What should I do? Please help me get Griffey!

[Red Leader]

My team:

C- Varitek
1B- Klesko
2B- Durham
SS- Nomar
3B- Alfonzo
OF- S. Green
OF- B. Giles
OF- Jose Cruz, Jr.
UT- K. Millar
UT- C. Crawford
UT- A. Ramirez
BENCH- F. Thomas

SP1: Randy Johnson
SP2: Mark Prior
SP3: Jason Schmidt
SP4: Javier Vazquez
SP5: Kris Benson
RP1: Eddie Guardado
RP2: Keith Foulke
P1: Ramon Ortiz
P2: Ted Lilly
Bench: Jose Jimenez


Ok, here's my dillema. Someone in my league just dropped Johan Santana. I was thinking about picking him up, but don't want to drop anyone on my team to get him. I might just leave him on the waiver wire until I hear he has a shot at a rotation spot and then hope I'm the first one to get in on him.

Another big one: Someone also just dropped Ken Griffey, Jr. I would love to have him on my team. We have a DL spot, but I would have to drop someone to pick him up initially and then try and pick that player back up after he clears waivers. Not sure who to try and sneak through waivers to acquire Jr. Was thinking about Aramis Ramirez, since I have Alfonzo at 3B, and other 3B on the wire include: Jose Valentin, Robin Ventura, Mark Bellhorn. I could also try Frank Thomas. Thomas is off to a slow start, but I think because of "name value" he would get claimed on waivers. On the plus side, if I would lose Thomas, I could pick up: Steve Finley, Aubrey Huff, Josh Phelps, Karim Garcia, or Travis Hafner.

I guess the downside is that many of the players on my team have gotten off to good starts, so if I waive one, they most likely will be claimed. I'm just not sure who is the best player to waive that may not get claimed and I can acquire them after they clear free agency. What do you think.

[Red Leader]

O.K, I think I've made up my mind that I am going to waive Ramirez, and pick up Jr. I will then put Jr on my DL and pick up Jose Valentin to play Tuesday (Ramirez has an off day). Ramirez could get claimed off waivers. If he does, I've got Valentin to take his place. If he doesn't I'll pick Ramirez back up and drop Valentin. Does that sound like a good move?

[Sabo Fan]

I wouldn't release Ramirez if I were you. I think he's going to have a big year and I'm sure someone will give you good value at sometime during the season in a trade. I'd drop Jimenez, as you've already got two good closers. Plus you can add another saves guy when you DL Griffey. If Phelps, Huff, etc. are available, I would venture to guess that MacDougal might be too.

[Red Leader]

Sabo Fan,

Once again, you are on the same page as I am. It just takes me a little while to use my brain . Here's the scenario I just ran into. Someone in my league just dropped Jason Isringhausen. I could pick up Jr. and drop Jimenez, put Jr on the DL and pick up Isringhausen with the empty spot. I will have to keep Isringhausen on my active roster as we only have 1 DL spot, but he should be back within 10-14 days, 7-11 days after I pick him up off waivers. The only thing I'm worried about is my waiver priority. If I pick Griffey off waivers, I go to last in the order and probably won't be able to get Isringhausen. So, I'm gonna roll the dice and try to let Griffey clear waivers and pick him up via Free Agency and then try and claim Isringhausen off waivers.

[Red Leader]

Please help, Isringhausen and Griffey come off the wire tonight. What I'm thinking about doing is this....waive Jimenez for Isringhausen, put Izzy in the DL spot on my roster, then picking up Mike MacDougal as the extra player until Izzy comes off the DL. When Izzy comes off the DL, I will waive MacDougal and pick up Griffey to stick in my DL spot. Hopefully Griffey will last that long. Many teams in my league already have someone in their DL spot and can't pick him up unless they want to carry him on their active roster, which I can't see happening. Also, if someone grabs Griff, I could always pick up another player on the DL like J.D Drew, Eric Milton, Trevor Hoffman, etc.

How do you guys think Izzy will do this year? He is coming back from his 2nd shoulder surgery, and also has 3 elbow surgeries (I believe) under his belt. Do you think he will struggle, or will he be better than Jimenez? Like to hear your thoughts...

[Sabo Fan]

I would think that Isringhausen, even though he's an injury risk, is better than Jimenez because of where he plays (not Coors) and who he plays for. I'd go with the plan that you layed out before and have Isringhausen as your top priority and hope that Griffey slides through waivers and you can possibly pick him up later.

[Red Leader]

My plan didn't work as I had hoped. I was able to claim Isringhausen off waivers and drop Jimenez, but another team claimed Griffey. I stashed Isringhausen on my DL and picked up Mike MacDougal, RP, KC until Izzy is healthy. Kind of sad that I didn't get Griffey, but I wouldn't have gotten Izzy had I claimed Griffey. The team that claimed Griffey has Beltran on the DL, so he is going to have to have one of them on his active roster for awhile until Beltran comes off the DL.