Most Added & Dropped

We're two plus weeks into the season & reactionary fantasy owners across the land have made their mark. Below is CBS' top 5 list of players added & dropped the most this past week. As with any set of data, this information needs to be digested with a grain of salt. Especially because this list encompasses all CBS leagues in any format, meaning that any given league can place additional value to players not necessarily worth it, and vice versa. Also, we can't filter out the uninformed fantasy player's moves from this information. As we've mentioned in a few prior articles, this early in the season, stats for pitchers are more telling - and the results below are indicative of this as well.

MOST ADDED
1. Jackson, Edwin SP TB - 14% owned to 61%: Jackson's first 2 starts against the Yankees & Mariners were impressive, to say the least. He surrendered just 1 run in 14 innings while striking out 10. Jackson has always been on the verge of breaking through as a reliable fantasy option, so it is more than understandable if AL-only leaguers & mixed leaguers alike took a chance on him. However, Jackson's 2nd shot at the Yankees wasn't pretty & I would imagine we'll see him somewhere on the most dropped list in the near future.

2. Lee, Cliff SP CLE - 30% owned to 66%: Lee has shown glimpses of returning to his reliable fantasy starter form so far this season. His inability to stay healthy the past couple of years were a major deterrant on draft day, but he certainly looks worthy of a roster spot for now & even a spot in your starting lineup, if he can stay healthy.

3. Johnson, Randy SP ARI - 48% owned to 83%: Maybe people just wanted to see him actually pitch in a major league game before picking him up? There's really no way that RJ should have been a free agent in any league. When he does pitch, he is still one of the most effective pitchers in baseball and is worth a roster spot (especially in daily leagues or leagues with a DL slot).

4. Crede, Joe 3B CHW - 50% owned to 83%: Crede's terrible spring & Josh Fields' presence no doubt scared people away early on. However, he's been one of the hottest hitters in the AL and is worth riding until he cools off.

5. Ryan, B.J. RP TOR- 41% owned to 74%: Somewhat of a surpirse that people would give up on Ryan so quickly after another injury. The fact is though, when healthy, the saves in Toronto go through him.

MOST DROPPED
1. Harden, Rich SP OAK - 96% owned to 54%: Every year, people fall for Harden and his potential. And every year, Harden lands on the DL. After his first 2 starts against the Red Sox, he looked like he was ready to finally put together a string of healthy starts. Not the case as he landed back on the DL, frustrating owners everywhere. I still think if you have room to stash him away that Harden can be a positive contributor this year. Reports over the winter indicated that Oakland was not going to baby him as much with his injuries, but that doesn't seem to be happening.

2. Soriano, Rafael RP ATL - 89% owned to 47%: Similar to Harden, Soriano's injury history & the Braves peculiar handling of him in the past are no doubt behind this trend. It would be hard to fault owners in shallow leagues who have cut ties with Soriano already.

3. Lowell, Mike 3B BOS - 96% owned to 55%: The extent of Lowell's injury and exactly how much time he will miss have yet to be determined. However, it appears that most owners did not want to stash him away and wait this one out. I wasn't high on Lowell to begin with this year since he was coming off a career year fueled by aspirations of a new contract, so I can't blame anyone who let him go. Especially considering that he could be out for a couple of months.

4. Willis, Dontrelle SP DET - 94% owned to 58%: The D-Train (can we still call him that?) has been a disaster all around for Detroit. Combine that with his freak injury and all signs point to this being a completely lost season for him. I find it hard to believe that he's still owned on 58% of people's rosters.

5. Garza, Matt SP TB - 57% owned to 24%: The dreaded radial nerve irritation led half of Garza's owners to cut ties with him. He'll have to prove himself after he returns from the DL to be in consideration for another pickup.

Predictions for the next 2 weeks:
Most Added - Mike Cameron, Evan Longoria
Most Dropped - Joe Borowski, Barry Zito