Fantasy baseball advice? I'm your man

Need help deciding who to keep and who to drop for 2010?

Want to know how Cliff Lee will fare as a Mariner or if Johnny Damon is due for a decline in Detroit (if he lands there)?

Wondering if that Cole Hamels-for-Clayton Kershaw trade offer in your e-mail inbox can work to your advantage?

I'm the guy you want to talk to.

Feel free to pose your fantasy baseball question as a comment on this or any other of my blog posts. Or e-mail me directly at jbartolone@bradenton.com. I'm always more than happy to help out my fellow fantasy geek who's looking for advice. If your question's good enough, I'd love to turn it into a blog post - that way I feel like I'm meeting the needs of my audience rather than just pontificating about random topics that may interest only me.

I'm here for you, readers.

Phillies settle for Lee

The Phillies couldn't work out a long-rumored deal for Roy Halladay, so they settled for Cliff Lee, the second-best pitcher on the trade market. How does the move affect Lee's fantasy fortunes? Could this move mirror last year's deadline deal that sent CC Sabathia to Milwaukee? The Indians traded the reigning Cy Young winner to the National League in that one and it worked out pretty well for CC owners (11-2, 1.65 ERA down the stretch as a Brewer).

It's hard to say Lee will enjoy that kind of dominance, but he should get a boost from facing weaker NL lineups. Lee owns a 3.18 career ERA against the NL, compared to a 4.13 vs. the AL. He does move to a much more hitter-friendly stadium - Citizens Bank Park is in the top 10 in runs and homers allowed per game, while Progressive Field is in the bottom three in runs and dead last in homers surrendered. But also consider Lee is receiving some of the lowest run support in the AL (4.32 runs per nine innings), while three of Philly's starters - Jamie Moyer (6.75), Cole Hamels (6.41) and J.A. Happ (5.35) - rank in the top 20 in the NL in run support. In short, the Phillies' offense is much better than the Indians', which should only help Lee's stats in the next two months. Lee owners should be extremely pleased with this deal.

Photo by The Associated Press

OK seriously ... what's up with Webb?

I've already blogged about Brandon Webb's mysterious shoulder ailment and its fantasy implications. Even though Webb was placed on the DL after one unimpressive start to open 2009, it seemed like the Diamondbacks sinkerballer was making progress in some rehab work.

Now, a setback.

I get concerned when a manager calls an injury "confusing," as Bob Melvin did, or when he doesn't know what the next move will be. And while I appreciate the D'backs' patience in not rushing their ace back too quickly, I'm now extremely concerned about his status for this season.

If Webb is wasting away in your DL slot as you watch contemporaries Tim Lincecum (12 strikeouts Friday) and Johan Santana (10 Ks) light it up, it might be time to consider a major trade for an ace-level pitcher. Two underachieving guys to target: Cole Hamels (0-2, 9.69 ERA, various bumps and bruises) and CC Sabathia (1-1, 4.81), whose values will only rise from this point.

Hamels dodges a bullet

Sleep easy, Cole Hamels owners: The Phillies ace has no structural damage in his pitching elbow, only inflammation.

That's really the best news you could have hoped for after Hamels reported feeling stiffness and tightness. He's not out of the woods yet - the Phils will obviously take it slow with their 25-year-old World Series MVP, and there's some talk of him not being ready on Opening Day. But that's not going to scare me away at this point ... he's dealt with injuries before and is still clearly a top-10 fantasy starter. In fact, I currently have him ranked fifth, just a tick ahead of Roy Halladay. That might be a little controversial - Halladay's as steady as they come - but I believe the sky's the limit for a healthy Hamels, and he could finish the year as fantasy's No. 1 starter.

Photo by The Associated Press