It's officially too late to say, "It's just early."
I usually spend the first month of every baseball season preaching patience to fantasy owners because we tend to freak out and reach for sweeping conclusions based on a few weeks' work.
The Cleveland Indians' C.C. Sabathia starts 0-3 with a 13.50 ERA? Dump him for 50 cents on the dollar!
Mark Reynolds of the Arizona Diamondbacks has five homers in the first seven games? He's going to hit 40!
As much as we tell ourselves not to be impulsive based on small sample sizes, it's hard. So patience is the gospel in April. That said, you can wait too long to fix flaws in your team. Now's the time to think about changes.
There are still plenty of players who will turn around their seasons. We'll talk about them in a minute. But if your fantasy team is last in the league in homers, stolen bases or strikeouts, it's probably not a fluke (rate statistics such as batting average and ERA are more fluid, so the holes aren't as deep in those areas). If you need to do better in a given category, seek a fix right now. The longer you wait, the harder it will get.
You won't maximize the value of a trade if you wait until July or August to make it.
With that warning in mind, here are my shopping lists.
I know I cautioned you against the Philadelphia Phillies' Ryan Howard before the season because he's a batting-average risk. But I didn't think I'd be this right. Howard's .183 average is so atrocious he's become a solid buying opportunity for teams seeking power. Even if he strikes out 230 times, the average will rise. He has batted .226 on balls in play, about 100 points lower than last season. However, he still has 10 home runs. Buy him now and you could easily get a .280 hitter with 35 to 40 homers the rest of the way.
David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox is in the same boat, though he has already started to row to shore. If you have a league mate who is still worried about Big Papi's knee, propose a deal. His .242 average on balls in play is the main difference from last year. His luck will improve, and his average and RBI totals will climb.
I would also look to buy the Chicago White Sox's Paul Konerko for the same reasons.
If you have the Florida Marlins' Dan Uggla, now's a great time to move him, especially if you have plenty of homers. He's an excellent power threat at second, but his .323 average is artificially propped up by good luck (.359 on balls in play). He's really more of a .260 hitter, and he will drag your average down at some point.
