Today I found had a “happy” problem to deal with; I already had two quality players filling my 2B and 2B/SS roster spots in DJ LeMahieu and Matt Duffy, but an even hotter player, Rougned Odor, was sitting on the waiver wire.  In the last 30 days, Odor produced 98 points, compared to LeMahieu’s 52 points and Duffy’s 68 points.  Even though they were dwarfed by Odor’s sick production, the latter two’s stats were still pretty productive and it looks like they are batting in their team’s 2 or 3 slot, which is a good sign for sustained fantasy baseball production.  My Utility spot has been occupied by Albert Pujols, who obviously is not going anywhere.

At first, I thought I might have to choose to drop either LeMahiue or Duffy, or not pick up Odor – not a good situation since I prefer to hold on to players who are producing and have the potential to keep producing at a reasonable rate, and I definitely wanted Odor on my team.  Then, I realized I could do something else: drop under-performing Justin Boar, who was occupying my 1B/3B roster position but producing just 50 points in the last 30 days, and just 14 points in the last 15 days.  I picked him up as a temporary filler for Miguel Cabrera, so he was meant to be a temporary fix anyway.  No big loss.

Once I dropped Bour, I was able to move Pujols into the 1B/3B slot.  Pujols had been sitting in my Utility spot the entire season while I left Cabrera in the 1B/3B slot and Edwin Encarnacion in the 1B slot.  With a newly-freed Utility slot, I was able to find a place for Odor.  I don’t really expect to hold on to Mahieu, Duffy, and Odor for the rest of the season, but for now I can benefit from their production and make a decision to drop in another week or two.

While browsing the waiver wire can make you feel giddy when there is talent to be picked up, you should always remember that you have to put someone else back.  Sometimes this is an easy decision, but at other times it can be a dilemma.  By playing “musical chairs” with your roster spots, you can sometimes find creative solutions to situations that at first seemed unwinnable.