craigdailypress.com

Craig — I'd like to switch it up a bit this week and show people my best head-to-head fantasy baseball team this year. I have four teams all together and out of the four, this one is doing the best so far this year.

From the end of April to the beginning of July, this team was in first place in a competitive league on Yahoo. After a few off weeks, I now stand in fourth place with more than 50 transactions completed on the waiver wire.

• Catcher - Rod Barajas.

He doesn't get a lot of RBIs and home runs, but he does have a consistent batting average of .271.

• First Base - Casey Blake.

I picked Blake off the waiver wire for his batting average (.280) and RBIs. He's came through for me ever since.

• Second Base - Chase Utley.

He's been great in every category this season and I am very happy with my first-round pick. He has 24 home runs, 67 RBIs and a .294 batting average is what you want in first-rounder.

• Third Base - Ryan Braun.

Being my second round pick, I was hoping for a lot out of Braun and he's delivered; 21 home runs, 59 RBIs and a .284 batting average.

• Shortstop - Miguel Tejada.

He's slowed down this season and probably won't get 100 RBIs, but he might just creep over the 20 home run mark for me. He's still productive though, and I have no real complaints about him.

• Outfield - David DeJesus.

I've been through quite a few outfielders this season, and DeJesus is one of the few I've actually liked. Hopefully, he keeps it up in the second half.

• Outfield - Alex Rios.

I was hoping for a big year from this guy, but he's been a bust so far. The only good thing about having him in my lineup is for steals and batting average. I'm waiting patiently for him to turn it around in the second half.

• Outfield - David Murphy.

Murphy is probably the best pick up off the waiver wire for me this year. I plucked him off the wire when he had nearly 20 RBIs and was generating some buzz. Now, more than 30 RBIs later, my team is a lot better with him.

Not a lot going on for me in the pitching department, except for two notables:

• Scott Kazmir - I can't complain about 75 strikeouts, seven wins and a 2.62 ERA.

• Cole Hamels - I can't believe I got this ace in the fifth round of my draft. With nine wins and 110 strikeouts, it's hard to believe some people let him slide to the fifth round.