The 2008 Fantasy Baseball season is a little over 1/4 finished, and some players are still not hitting their weight. Let's take a look at some guys to target in your trade efforts over the next week or two:
Nick Swisher, OF, CHW
Moving to a new team and hitter's park hasn't helped Swish one bit. Not only is his batting average terrible at .213, but his power numbers are way down. There's no way that a guy as young as he is with his great batting eye will continue to struggle. See if you can parlay those struggles and maybe injury fears into getting a cheap deal on him.
Travis Hafner, 1B/DH, CLE
Pronk is off to a slow start (.228 avg, 20 RBI), but don't let that fool you. When he gets going, he can carry a team (see David Ortiz the last two weeks). If you have an open DH slot, Hafner is the perfect guy to trade for right now.
Jhonny Peralta, SS, CLE
Another Indians hitter whose average is down in the dumps, Peralta is a talented player who is in no danger of losing his starting gig. He does have 8 HR to go along with his .225 batting average, so you might not be able to pry him away from another owner for cheap. Expect .280 with good power the rest of the way.
Evan Longoria, 3B, TAM
Longoria may always hit for a low average. However, he has not yet scratched the surface on his tremendous power yet in the bigs. He will definitely put up 40+ home runs someday, and you want him on your team when he does.
G. Matthews Jr, OF, LAA
Whispers of alleged past steroid use will dog Matthews whenever he slumps. He's hitting .223 so far this year, and some might feel that his past performance was illegally enhanced. It's far more likely that he's just off to a slow start, and will start producing very soon.
K. Johjima, C, SEA
Having lost his hitting touch early in 2008, Johjima has started to look better at the dish. He should be one of the better hitting AL catchers the rest of the way.
