Buy Low/Sell High July 29th (Kevin Slowey/Chris Davis)

Buy Low: Kevin Slowey

Key Stats:

Pitcher:	BABIP	K/BB	PTO%	qERA	ERA Dif	P/IP	FIP
Hitter:	BABIP	P/PA	BB/SO	GB/FB	HR/FB
2008	0.275	4.310	29.0%	4.02	-0.018	15.28	4.05
2007	0.297	4.270	25.84%	4.40	0.334	17.06	5.45
2006	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A

Slowey has performed fairly well so far this year. His methods of limiting walks and homeruns is working well and giving him elite command. Both his FIP and his qERA are about the same which are also roughly equal to his ERA so I expect the production to continue.

Slowey, Kevin SP MIN for Pettitte, Andy SP NYY

Guzman, Cristian SS WAS and Slowey, Kevin SP MIN for Floyd, Gavin SP CHW

Slowey, Kevin SP MIN for Pierzynski, A.J. C CHW

Sell High: Chris Davis

Key Stats: 

Pitcher:	BABIP	K/BB	PTO%	qERA	ERA Dif	P/IP	FIP
Hitter:	BABIP	P/PA	BB/SO	GB/FB	HR/FB
2008	0.217	3.67	0.24	0.962	38.46%
2007	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
2006	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A

Yes he has tons of power, yes he’ll continue to play but there is no way that he can keep up hitting almost 39% of his FB for HR. Simply can’t. His BABIP may rise giving him a few more hits but his HR/FB will definitely drop. If you are in a keeper league, I would consider keeping him but for non-keeper leagues you might be able to get a decent haul for him.

Davis, Chris 3B TEX and Tejada, Miguel SS HOU and Winn, Randy RF SF for Braun, Ryan J. 3B MIL

Davis, Chris 3B TEX and Lester, Jon SP BOS for Cabrera, Miguel 3B DET and Tulowitzki, Troy SS COL

Davis, Chris 3B TEX and Ludwick, Ryan OF STL for Encarnacion, Edwin 3B CIN and Haren, Dan SP ARI

Buy Low/Sell High July 27th (Jeremy Hermida/Aubrey Huff)

Buy Low: Jeremy Hermida

Key Stats:

Pitcher:	BABIP	K/BB	PTO%	qERA	ERA Dif	P/IP	FIP
Hitter:	BABIP	P/PA	BB/SO	GB/FB	HR/FB
2008	0.245	4.01	0.37	1.357	17.86%
2007	0.275	4.00	0.45	1.674	20.22%
2006	0.253	3.99	0.47	1.778	7.94%

After disappointing way too many fantasy owners his first couple of years, he seems to have come into his own. I had him on my radar and was going to write about him today but he had to go out and hit 2 HR last night. Timing is everything they say. Anyways, it looks like what he is doing is legit this year. His discipline is at what they’re supposed to be and his BABIP is actually a little lower than normal. You might have been able to get him for a little cheaper but if you get him now you can still get him for a good price.

Hermida, Jeremy RF FLA for Floyd, Gavin SP CHW

Hermida, Jeremy RF FLA for Maddux, Greg SP SD

Hermida, Jeremy RF FLA for Wellemeyer, Todd SP STL

Sell High: Aubrey Huff

Key Stats: 

Pitcher:	BABIP	K/BB	PTO%	qERA	ERA Dif	P/IP	FIP
Hitter:	BABIP	P/PA	BB/SO	GB/FB	HR/FB
2008	0.276	3.80	0.66	1.379	19.42%
2007	0.277	3.66	0.55	1.535	10.56%
2006	0.249	3.73	0.78	1.589	18.75%

Aubrey has shown some surprising power so far this year and may have been a surprise for several owners. Everything seems to be about average above but there is still a large part of me that just doesn’t believe he can continue this. He’s hasn’t had an OPS over 800 in 3 years but this year in his age 32 season, he’s putting up an OPS of almost 900. HIS OPS+ (courtesy of baseball-reference) is 133+. He hasn’t been at that level since 2002 and 2003. His EQA (baseballprospectus) is .293 where he hasn’t been at this level since 2002. You can get a pretty decent haul for him right now.

Huff, Aubrey 1B BAL for Teixeira, Mark 1B ATL

Huff, Aubrey 1B BAL for Bay, Jason LF PIT

Huff, Aubrey 1B BAL for Hawpe, Brad RF COL and Pena, Carlos 1B TB

Buy Low/Sell High July 19th (Nick Blackburn/Richie Sexson)

Buy Low: Nick Blackburn

Key Stats:

Pitcher:	BABIP	K/BB	PTO%	qERA	ERA Dif	P/IP	FIP
Hitter:	BABIP	P/PA	BB/SO	GB/FB	HR/FB
2008	0.308	3.560	28.5%	4.37	-0.717	14.33	3.92
2007	0.405	4.000	27.47%	4.31	3.405	15.90	4.84
2006	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A

Nick’s numbers are slightly skewed by 2 bad outing where he gave up 7 ER and gave up 6 ERs. He’s very efficient with his pitches as evidenced by throwing less than 15 pitches per IP. This is generally the cut-off for being a good pitcher versus an average one. Same goes with his command being above 3, which is near elite levels. His FIP is higher than his ERA but his BABIP is right where it should be. You can probably get him pretty cheap and he’ll help you with WHIP as well as a decent amount of Ks.

Blackburn, Nick SP MIN for Bergmann, Jason SP WAS

Blackburn, Nick SP MIN for Olsen, Scott SP FLA

Blackburn, Nick SP MIN for Percival, Troy RP TB

Sell High: Richie Sexson

Key Stats: 

Pitcher:	BABIP	K/BB	PTO%	qERA	ERA Dif	P/IP	FIP
Hitter:	BABIP	P/PA	BB/SO	GB/FB	HR/FB
2008	0.194	4.03	0.49	1.796	22.45%
2007	0.175	3.73	0.51	1.670	21.65%
2006	0.232	3.95	0.42	1.386	24.29%

If you unfortunately stuck with Sexson through the thick and thin I would sell him as quickly as possible when he puts on the Yankee uniform. Many people will think he’s going to be better than what he is once he gets in a better lineup. He’s not. All of his numbers are within normal ranges for his last 3 years so it’s not like he’s been extremely unlucky. He is what he is, so get rid of him for anything possible.

Myers, Brett SP PHI and Sexson, Richie 1B SEA for Bruce, Jay CF CIN and Smith, Greg SP OAK

Sexson, Richie 1B SEA for Guillen, Jose RF KC

Sexson, Richie 1B SEA for Ross, Cody LF FLA