[Lefty Noob]

I could use some advice. I need at least a pair of relief pitchers to start, but the way the draft worked out, I wound up with Gonzalez of the Pirates and Gordon of the Phillies. I'm not particularly thrilled with either, but especially not with Gordon.

My starters, meanwhile, are Carpenter, Santana, Garcia, Garland, Blanton, C. Young of San Diego and E. Loaiza of Oakland. Should I try to deal one of these guys for a better reliever, or maybe cut Young or Loaiza and look at one of the guys on the waiver wire?

The top guys still out there are: D. Hermanson; S. Shields; B. Howry; J. Rincón; M. Timlin; C. Politte; R. Seánez; K. Escobar and B. Looper.

[EmpireWF]

None of the guys on the waiver wire look like anything special right now. Your starting pitching looks pretty strong to the point where you can sacrifice a guy or two to help your pen.

I'd look to deal Garcia or Garland and see whats out there.

[Lefty Noob]

Thanks for the advice. I went ahead and offered up Gordon and Garcia for Bobby Jenks and Rick Dempster. Ratings wise, it looks like I'm losing out, but it would give me depth among my RP corps.

[Calder]

I like Gonzalez A LOT. He should receive plenty of save chances now that Joes Mesa is pitching for the Rockies. Mesa wore out his welcome by blowing his last four save opportunities with the Pirates, and Gonzalez picked up some of Mesa’s workload in the last month of the season. In his last 12 appearances, Gonzalez allowed a measly five hits with a 0.00 ERA. He also struck out 21 batters in 14.1 innings pitched, so to say that he has closer’s stuff would seem to be accurate. The only downside with him is that he tends to walk a few batters here and there, and that may affect your WHIP category. But at 27 years old, he is finally getting the chance to become the full-time closer, and he’ll most likely take advantage of the situation.

[Lefty Noob]

Hi, calder. Welcome to GoTeamsGo and thanks for the advice! Gonzalez is growing on me but I'm a little uncomfortable with Gordon. Any up-and-coming prospects that I maybe should keep an eye out for in the free agent market?

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

I could use some advice. I need at least a pair of relief pitchers to start, but the way the draft worked out, I wound up with Gonzalez of the Pirates and Gordon of the Phillies. I'm not particularly thrilled with either, but especially not with Gordon.

My starters, meanwhile, are Carpenter, Santana, Garcia, Garland, Blanton, C. Young of San Diego and E. Loaiza of Oakland. Should I try to deal one of these guys for a better reliever, or maybe cut Young or Loaiza and look at one of the guys on the waiver wire?

The top guys still out there are: D. Hermanson; S. Shields; B. Howry; J. Rincón; M. Timlin; C. Politte; R. Seánez; K. Escobar and B. Looper.

Lefty its a crap shoot...my rule of thumb every year after the draft is to not get married with the idea of anyone I drafted...especially this early on ...If you didn't get what you wanted, keep an eye on the 1st two weeks of the season and adjust...don't make trades for the sake of making them this early...but throw crap out there, sometimes it sticks...Tooo early to shuffle man...go with your gut...you picked them...give them a few spring games...

(on a side note...Shields and Escobar have done well for me in head to head leagues..)

[Lefty Noob]

Shields has a low total board rating, but oddly enough was a top 100 pitcher last season. So I went ahead, rolled the dice, cut a position player and picked him up. Here's hoping he can repeat last season's performance!

[Calder]

What about Jose Valverde of the Diamondbacks, is he still out there? What about Todd Jones? The guy has somewhat of a resurgence last season in Florida. Keep an eye out for closer situations that aren't set in stone. Teams like the Orioles, Braves, Marlins, and Reds all have the potential for closer-by-committee type scenarios, but Atlanta will most likely go with Reitsma for the time being. I am always on the lookout for closer injuries, because the set-up men on the team usually take over that role and get come courtesy save opportunities under their belt.