Fantasy Baseball 2013: Trade Giancarlo Stanton, Pick Up Brandon Beachy, And Other Moves To Make Before May

I’m going to attempt to get my point across about this as respectfully as possible. It is time for you to either tuck Giancarlo Stanton away on your bench, or see if someone is willing enough to trade you for him. 

At this point, Stanton is still homerless, has fewer than five rbi’s, and his hash numbers (.200/.333/.255) aren’t providing any statistical value for your team, and it doesn’t appear they will given he’s the only threat in that lineup. I consider it the “Larry Fitzgerald” syndrome because while it may pain you to let a talent with so much left go, without a quarterback (or support in the Marlins lineup in the case of Stanton) it is better to sell early than miss out on others who will produce now and in the future.

Others to sell now: Evan Gattis, Paul Maholm, Sterling Marte, Will Middlebrooks, and Placido Polanco

Shifting gears a bit, there are some players returning from injury that you are going to want to monitor. Starting with Hanley Ramirez, he is scheduled to begin his rehab in triple A this week, and if all goes well he could be back in the lineup by Monday. Brian McCann of the Braves is set to continue his rehab in Gwinnett, GA with the Triple-A Braves and play catcher.  That is significant because the shoulder surgery he is recovering from sapped a significant amount of his power last season and his numbers reflected that.

Another Brave on the mend is Brandon Beachy. He is set to begin his “spring training” at the beginning of May and should all go as scheduled, could rejoin the Braves rotation by late May or early June. You will recall he was one of the best pitchers at the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012 before suffering the elbow injury. Pick these players up, wait for them to get adjusted, then reap the benefits.

Keep Buying These Guys:

1. Matt Harvey, New York Mets:  Sparkling April could lead to an even more impressive May.  Faces favorable match-ups against the Cubs and Pirates. Could also see strikeout success against the swing happy Braves and White Sox as well. 
2. Justin Upton, Atlanta Braves: Record-setting month of April looks to continue over into May. The Braves travel out west to play the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Giants. We all know what his numbers looked like in Arizona, imagine what he’ll accomplish with a chip on his shoulder?
3. Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies: Seems to be recovered from the myriad injuries that plagued himm the last couple seasons and I would consider him a lock to continue playing well through May barring anything unforeseen.