Fantasy Tip of the WeekBy Chris GoudeyWagerWeb.com Contributing Writer OK, so you're almost halfway through your fantasy baseball season, and you are contending for the lead but there are just one or two categories that are keeping you from being the top dog. You've tried to make some trades to shore up those holes, but your competition just doesn't want to deal, so your only shot is to grab some guys off the waiver wire and hope they can help propel you to the top. In a standard 5x5 rotisserie league, it is much easier to make up ground in certain categories. If you are currently lagging in saves, strikeouts or stolen bases, you have some hope. If you trail in batting average, ERA, or WHIP, you will have a harder time catching up. The best thing you can do to get that nudge toward the top is to evaluate each category separately and determine how many points you need to move up a couple of spots within each category. Once you've done that, then you can target players on the waiver wire who will help you. Are you ready to win some cash? WagerWeb.com has built a solid reputation by offering their customers quick easy deposits, the best customer service in the industry, fast payouts and great bonuses. They specialize in the European Market for all sports including one of the best Football/Soccer divisions with lines for all the Major Conferences from around the Globe! Visit WagerWeb.com Today and start Winning! If you need help in saves, the easiest thing to do is to evaluate each team's closer. Are they in danger of losing their job? There probably won't be many players currently on waivers who have a lot of saves, but by knowing who could lose their job, you can pick up their replacement. Usually players to target here are the guys who pitch in the 7th-8th innings for their teams and have good ERA/WHIP, so check the box scores and the daily papers (online) to see which closers are in trouble. If you need help in strikeouts, ERA or WHIP, you might need to revamp your pitching staff. If you are doing well in wins and are lagging in ERA/WHIP, then instead of holding mediocre starting pitchers, target the top middle relievers in the game. Some middle relievers get almost as many innings pitched as the lower-end starters, so those guys will be much more valuable to you. Middle relievers are also the one group of players where the best in the game might be available on waivers. Do a sort on your league stats by ERA and WHIP, and you will see there are plenty of guys out there who get a lot of relief innings and have very good numbers. Click here for the 2008 World Series betting odds and the 2008 baseball World Series predictions by Tom Morgan! Some of these middle relievers might also get you as many wins as your starters. For a long time this year, the league leader in wins was Oscar Villarreal, a middle reliever for the Braves. The best way to get help in strikeouts is to look at the ratio of strikeouts per inning pitched for each available pitcher, and then research how many innings they will give you. Again in this category, a dominant middle reliever might get you just as many strikeouts as a fifth starter, with much better ERA/WHIP numbers. For hitting, stolen bases are the easiest category to gain ground quickly since there are relatively few guys who get a lot of them. The key is to know when a guy who has a lot of speed suddenly gets an increase in playing time. Following daily player news and watching box scores should help you there as well. To know who the speed merchants are, look at a player's stolen bases vs. how many games he has played and then when those players with a good ratio get more time, jump on them. The power categories (homers, runs, RBIs) are usually plentiful on the waiver wire. You are not going to find the guys who will hit 40 HRs a year, but there are almost always guys who can fill in and give you 15-20. Usually these guys will have a low batting average to go with the power (that's why they aren't already on someone's team) but if you can withstand the hit to your average, load up on the taters and RBIs. Batting average is the hardest category to make up ground because almost all the players who have good averages are taken. There might be players out there who will hit .320 or .330 in a part-time role, but because they only play part-time they will hurt you in the other categories. They end up hurting you overall. If you are already low in batting average, the best strategy might be to just tank the category and focus on getting as many power and speed guys as you can and make up the points that way. Here are a handful of players in each category that may be available to help you down the line: Saves: Jeremy Accardo, Mike MacDougal, Fernando Rodney, Joel Zumaya, Jose Valverde, Todd Coffey, Francisco Cordero, Eddie Guardado, Taylor Tankersley, Shawn Camp, Logan Kensing. Middle Relievers/Sleeper Starters (good for ERA/WHIP/Ks): Chad Billinglsey, Scott Linebrink, Josh Hancock, Pedro Feliciano, Carlos Marmol, Rafael Soriano, Alay Soler, Juan Rincon, Bob Howry, Luis Vizcaino, Jonathan Broxton, Jon Rauch, Elizardo Ramirez, Juan Cruz Stolen Bases: Kenny Lofton, Chris Burke, Craig Counsell, Josh Barfield, So Taguchi, Freddie Bynum, Pablo Ozuna HR/R/RBIs: Brandon Inge, Phil Nevin, Jacque Jones, Adam LaRoche, Eric Byrnes, Kevin Mench, Dave Ross, Ryan Zimmerman, Craig Monroe, Mike Jacobs, Joe Crede, Juan Encarnacion, Mike Cuddyer, Adrian Gonzalez Batting Average: Reed Johnson, Matt Diaz, Freddy Sanchez, Ben Broussard, Mark DeRosa, Jamey Carroll, Eduardo Perez, Marcus Thames 
--- by Chris Goudey at WagerWeb.com on June 27, 2006
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