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Welcome
back to another week of Marry, Bury, Date — the childhood game I’ve hijacked
to provide the framework for my initial foray into providing expert fantasy
baseball advice.

 

The
premise of the game is simple.  Three names
are thrown out and the participants must pick which one they would Marry (ie
commit to long-term), Bury (get rid of forever), or Date (could be fun in the
short-term).  When considering trade offers or waiver wire
pick-ups, fantasy players are faced with these same three decisions all the
time, so in an effort to help aid these choices, I’ll name one player who I
like for the rest of the season, one player who I think could help in the
short-term, and one guy I wouldn’t touch in this space each week.

 

After
I’m done, if you want to whisper to the player that I “like ’em, like
’em” that’s up to you.  If you do, I
look forward to the awkwardness that ensues all the way through the Junior High
Prom.  Maybe I’ll get my courage up and ask them to
dance during Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.”

 

This
week’s picks are below.

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Marry

 

Edwin Jackson – Earlier this year in the expert league,
Edwin Jackson was actually dropped.  I
debated for two days whether I should burn my number one priority to pick him
up (literally, I set up podiums and everything. 
Got two sock puppet — one representing Lincoln, the other Douglas —
and hashed it out.  It got weird).  In the end, I passed, which was a bad choice.

 

After
74.1 innings pitched on the year, Jackson has a 1.04 WHIP and a 2.34 ERA.  Unless you are playing one-on-one fantasy,
there is no way these numbers belong on the waiver wire.  But somehow Jackson remains unowned in a
substantial number of leagues.  Make sure
he is not in yours.  Even if he is owned,
make an offer to the owner that just picked him up who might believe he’s
selling high.  He’s not, Jackson is
legit.

 

Bury

 

Daisuke Matsuzaka – How do you say “thank you Ricky Nolasco” in
Japanese?  If it wasn’t for the Marlins ace’s
struggles, everyone would be talking about how Dice-K is the biggest bust in
fantasy this year.  He’s always been a
WHIP killer, but his current number (2.33) is out of control.  It’s never good when a player’s WHIP is where
you wish a pitchers ERA was and his ERA would make an excellent K/9 (8.82).

 

It’s
not just that Matsuzaka has been bad, he’s been consistently bad and has shown
no real signs of turning it around.  Because
of all the hype surrounding his arrival and because he plays for the Red Sox,
Dice still has some name-brand recognition. 
If you own him, you should try to capitalize on it while you still
can.  May I suggest offering to trade him
for Edwin Jackson?  I’d much rather own
the Tigers young hurler for the rest of the year.

 

Date

 

Brett
Gardner – People discuss the Yankees center field position with such reverence,
you would think the pearly gates were located at the edge of the warning
track.  But lately it’s been more Indian burial
ground than hallowed ground as the Yanks have struggled to find a player worthy
of his predecessors.  I’m not convinced
Gardner is that guy, but he does have the gig for right now and is currently
tearing up the base paths.  As long as he’s
playing, he’ll provide you a solid boost in stolen bases without really hurting
you anywhere.  Since he’s free to pick up
in most leagues, he’s worth a flyer to see if he can continue to perform well
enough to keep his high-profile job.