Rotisserie Update

For 4 consecutive weeks, I've posted the best numbers in my league. I attribute this to many work hours spent combing the Sportsline.com web page instead of doing real work, shrewd management of the team, and pure dumb luck. My 3 most crucial moves so far:

a. Picking Richie Sexson up off waivers. His last 3 healthy season he's averaged 30+ HR and 100+ RBI. He may hit .200 this season, but he'll hit 20 HR and knock in 80. And I'll take it. Replaced: Shea Hillenbrand.
b. Trading Jorge Posada, Milton Bradley, and Akinori Otsuka for C.C. Sabathia. I got Aki back via waivers, and the dude I traded Bradley to subsequently dropped him. Yes, Posada is leading the league in hitting, but my other catcher is Victor Martinez (who led the league in RBI until today); I had 6 wins through 4 weeks. Sabathia has 6 wins by himself for the club. I moved from last in wins to second in 3 weeks. Replaced: John Danks.
c. Adding Reggie Willits. He's only hit .325 and stolen 13 bases since Garret Anderson went on the DL. His SB prowess vaulted me into a dogfight for second in steals. I now also have a 20 steal margin on the 4th place team. Replaced: Garret Anderson.

There've been a couple of other events, like having Fausto Carmona on the roster (he's 5-0 for my team), sticking with Dustin Pedroia (hottest hitter in either league since 12 May), Mike Lowell's resurrection (who would have thought he'd be leading the Red Sox in HR and RBI on 1 June?), picking up Okajima to cover the saves Paplebon doesn't get, and so on. Actually Paplebon has been a bit of a disappointment - he only has 13 saves so far. Hell Al Reyes has 10.

I have two decisions upcoming: what to do with Jon Lester if he returns to the bigs (trade him? Drop Paul Byrd?), and what to do with Garret Anderson (which OF do I drop?). Anderson's the bigger question mark since I don't have a big bat in the OF HR and RBI-wise. All my outfielders are fast guys who hit for average (Casey Blake is eligible in the OF which is why he's positioned there). But right now I enjoy an 11 point lead. I'm hoping that, with the season a quarter gone, the rankings won't be as volatile as they were the first month, and I'll stay there for a while.

Now if only Papleboner can get some more saves.....