All-Star Break = serious work to do

So here we are at the unofficial midway point of the baseball season and my fantasy team sits at the bottom. I have since changed my team name from Logjammin to Turd Sandwich. This is because it has been shitty. I am currently something like 35 games behind. The one ray of sunshine is that the next 4 or 5 teams ahead of me aren't doing much better. A major rebound in the 2nd half can possibly cause me to sneak in the playoffs. All I would need for that to happen is that I will have to have a complete reversal in luck and everyone on my team will become healthy and dominate. Sounds likely, right?

So my team stands as follows:

C-I am currently rocking Geovany Soto at catcher. At first I was extremely bitter about cutting Napoli only to see him go on and start hitting but Soto has really worked out so far. He's not exactly dominating but he posts a solid average and a fantastic OBP while occasionally chipping in runs, RBIs, and HRs every now and then. He doesn't hurt the team and sometimes that's all you can ask from your catcher. ESPN ranks him 10th among catchers for the 2nd half but my rankings (which include OBP and Ks where ESPN doesn't) have him at 6.

1B- About a month ago I traded away Jon Lester to get Mark Teixiera and it is finally starting to pay dividends. After a painfully slow start he is now picking up his average and hitting dingers so I am pretty happy with that. I also recently dealt away Paul Konerko (my 1st half MVP) for Dan Uggla. This leaves me with Lance Berkman as a backup. His days of dominance appear to be over but he also seems to be picking up the pace having gone through a couple hot streaks and he is no longer useless. I may move him to one of the couple of teams that lack a viable 1B but trying to trade this year has been impossible. Teixeira 4th/5th. Berkman 21st/19th.

2B- Well, this has been my most difficult position to fill ever since Gordon Beckham decided he was going to be the bust of the year (had to finally cut his ass, as much as it hurt). For a time I filled the void with Orlando Hudson. Then it was Neil Walker. Finally it was Carlos Guillen. None of them were very good. So, finding myself with extra 1Bs I tried like crazy to find someone who would trade and finally the aforementioned Konerko-Uggle deal was completed. So now I have Dan Uggla. I've owned him in the past and he can be one of the most frustrating players to own. He can also single handedly carry a team on one of his hot streaks. He has a little extra appeal right as it appears that Colorado is talking to Florida about trading for him and all I can say is that a slugger like Uggla batting up there in them mountains could be awesome. I also currently have Brian Roberts and Asdrubal Cabrera stashed away waiting for them to come back from injury. If I can wait out the DL time then I might have myself with some excellent trade bait on my hands with the absolute lack of decent middle infield options available this year. We'll see how that goes. Uggla 6th/6th. Roberts 24th/45th. Cabrera -/53rd

3B- So ARod is showing some signs of life lately but he is still serving as a disappointment. His BABIP is low right now so I'd have to think that he will bounce back. Not like there's really anything I can do about it, right? ARod 3rd/10th

SS- Same as with ARod. Jeter 2nd/10th. Cabrera -/43rd

OF- This is perhaps my most frustrating position as all 3 of my main picks have not contributed much. Ellsbury still resides on the DL and is now arguing with Red Sox Management about the way his injury was handled. Span has decided that he loves the new ballpark in Minnesota so much that he's just going to suck on the road. Abreu is... not sure what's wrong with Abreu. Both Span and Abreu were starting to heat up a bit before the break so there's positive signs. Abreu also has a big career split in his pre/post all star numbers so I expect him to be a new man. Luckily I was able to strike gold by picking up Corey Hart and he has been reborn this year as a great slugger topping 20 dingers at the break. I've also picked up a very temporary hot streak from Andre Torres though I believe he will quickly fall back to earth soon. To round out the squad of underachievers I also grabbed a recently dropped Adam Lind who looks like he might be turning things around. All told I now have 6 OFs of which I'd only really like to have 4 at most. I figure that Torres is an easy drop once he cools off but then I will have to find a way to deal away another unless Lind continues to suck. If I could find a willing trade partner to take Berkman and an OF off my hands that would be fantastic. Hart 24th/14th. Abreu 18th/36th . Span 26th/35th . Torres 75th/15th . Ellsbury 43rd/114th . Lind 41st/112th .

SP- Well the state of this lineup has changed so many times this year that it's a little hard for me to assess.
Liriano was my stud for most of the year. In the last month, however, he has started getting lit up. I have full confidence that he will right the ship again but I won't start him again until he pitches well. 14th/77th
Haren seems to be settling down a bit after probably his worst 1st half ever. He's giving up less home runs and is still showing the great streakout and control ability that he is known for. If he gets traded to a contender it would be good for me. 17th/100th
Nolasco can be very frustrating to own. Much like his teammate Dan Uggle. For a while he was pitching well, then he struggled and couldn't strike anyone out, and now he is back to dominating. 26th/43th
Vazquez is finally giving me a reason to feel good about trading for him. It will take some time for his ERA to come down but it has been in a free fall for a couple months now. 36th/37th
Beckett is still injured but should be coming back in a week or two. 40th/111th
Floyd is pitching like a Cy Young candidate right now. He seems to go through this every year where he starts off completely useless and then is lights out for the rest of the year. Another trade I am starting to feel good about. 43rd/24th
Lilly has been awful the last couple starts. He was the beneficiary of some great luck in his first few starts to I have to believe that he was due for some regression. I'm sure he will straighten it out soon. He better. 45th/110th

As for my relievers... they've been ok. Bailey,Franklin, and Axford haven't been getting a ton of save oppurtunities but they tend to get it done when I need them to. There is the occasional bump in the road they're ok. I just need to keep my eyes open as the trade deadline approaches to see if I can snag some guys about to get the job.

So that's my team. My main issue is that I have been saddled with so many underachieving stars that I have no room to make moves to pick up the surprise guys like Scott Rolen, Trevor Cahill, Carl Pavano, etc.

If these turds can pick it up in the second half I will be a very happy guy. Hopefully it all works out.