Between here at mlbfrontoffice.com, my site at fightingchancefantasy.com, and a few other places that I blog about fantasy sports, I get my fair share of emails which I really enjoy answering. Here is just a sampling of recent notes that I got that I want to share with you, as I have found if one person is having an issue, chances are they aren't the only one. These are edited some because chances are they weren't all in one email, usually I end up sending a few back and forth so I get enough info to make an informed suggestion.

Question: I have both Jon Rauch and Damaso Marte who were just traded and both will no longer be closing. What can I do? I discovered Kobayashi is also available so I could have any two between Rauch's replacement (Hanrahan), Kerry Wood and Kobayashi. What do you think. isringhausen and Gagne are also still there. Mike Gonzalez from Atlanta is there. Matt Capps is also available.

Answer: I think I would go with Wood and Hanrahan. Even though Wood is injured, I would guess the blister shouldn't keep him out for an extended period and he is clearly the best guy available. Hanrahan has great stuff, but in Washington won't get a ton of chances. Mike Gonzalez is a good option too, probably better than Hanrahan. It is tight between Gonzalez and Hanrahan. Atlanta is a place where saves just aren't recorded, as Gonzalez leads the team with four! K-Rod in Anaheim has over 40! Hanrahan hasn't saved one yet, but he was officially named closer. I think I would go with Gonzalez. Stay away from Izzy and Gagne in my opinion. Even if one of them gets a closer's job back, you can't count on them at all. Capps is hurt and still out a while.

Question: A couple of trades went down in my league between people that are completely out of the race, and those fighting for the last playoff spots, what do you think of these deals?

Trade 1:Player out of Picture gave: Oswalt, Harden, Beltre, and Mauer
Player tied for last playoff spot gave: Soto and Cueto

Trade 2:Player out of Picture gave: Hardy, DeJesus, Ryan Dempster
Player tied for last playoff spot gave: Travis Snider

So, basically the two teams that are tied for the last playoff spot got a bunch of impact now guys and gave up very little to get them. I mean, I can see that a team wants to rebuild and the other wants to contend but if you want impact now guys you have to pay for them. I feel that they didn't pay near enough in either trade. What do you think?

Answer: I agree, I would be very mad if that happened in my league too. I mean Soto is doing great, but Harden has been a top five pitcher, Oswalt still has talent even though he hasn't beeen doing well, Mauer I don't like but is a top 5 catcher, and Beltre gives you some pop. Cueto has been really inconsistent, as he's getting bombed again tonight. And in the second one, it isn't like they acquired Babe Ruth by any stretch, but Hardy, Dempster and DeJesus I'm sure all fill holes on that guy's roster. Travis Snider is a nice prospect, but that is ridiculous. Those are both garbage. Are these guys friends who might want to help each other? I'm guessing yes. Good luck to you, especially after that crap that just went down. We have a rule for trades in my keeper league where people all basically know each other. If the commissioner thinks there might be foul play involved, he will veto the trade, if not, no matter how bad it looks, he will put it through. In my opinion, these trades seem like veto material.

Question: I think Huston Street is going to get dealt at the deadline. Do you? And who will be the A's new closer? I'm hearing Devine, I guess he is doing a rehab stint and coming back this week.

Answer: Honestly I would be a little surprised if he was traded. He is still young and doesn't make a lot of money. Even more than that is he hasn't pitched all that great this year and has had some injury trouble in the past, so I'm not sure how much Billy Beane would be able to get in return. If he is traded I would think that Devine would get first shot, but I just read he had a setback in his rehab last week. If not him, Alan Embree got the job last year when Street was hurt, but he has really been awful this year with an ERA over 5.00. The last possibility is Santiago Casilla who looked like a no brainer at an earlier point of the season, but he got injured and has struggled mightily since his return. If Devine is healthy I think it would be him.

Question: This guy dealt both Teixeira and Ryan Howard in separate deals- for Johan and Pat Burrell respectively. So now his only first baseman is James Loney (who he acquired recently for Derek Lowe)…. I just offered him Huff for Harden. Any way I should offer more than that? Or should I offer Huff for Jurrjens?

Answer: I would try to take advantage of his position weakness, but my guess is he went into these trades knowing that he would have this problem. Go for Harden, that would be great even though I don't love him. I'm still not 100% sold on Jurrjens especially with young pitchers sometimes hitting the wall at the end of a long season. Harden is most likely way too high to shoot, but it never hurts to try. Huff is having a great year for him.

Question: (this was after an initial email in which it was discussed that the most needed category was batting average for this team) I have some answers to your questions. it is a yearly league, nobody ever trades with anybody, i've seen offers and people back out or it gets vetoed, no trades have been made at all this year, so it's waiver wire pick ups or free agents. Both catchers you mentioned are taken, so Cory Snyder will hang around for awhile.

You mentioned some players to take a look at, what if I would make these changes.. Kevin Kouzmanoff for Jay Bruce
James Loney for Jhonny Peralta
Josh Johnson for Justin Duchscherer --- hang on to Dempster till Price gets called up
Adam Lind for Raul Ibanez -- Ibanez is playing good ball right now as well, but do you feel Lind will be stronger by the end of the year..

Answer: I think the only move that I would definitely make tonight would be the Loney for Peralta. I know you expected more out of Bruce, but he is still young, and will have some ups and downs, but he is a great hitter. Kouzmanoff does have 14 hits in his last ten games, plus two homers and 13 RBI. That is a tough call. I think I would hold on to Ibanez at this point as well. Johnson and Duchscherer is interesting. I know Duch just burned you big time and he laid a big egg, but he has been great all year long, and although I don't expect it to continue, I don't think you should drop him for a guy who has only made a couple starts just off of Tommy John. You have to have patience sometimes too. So I would do Loney, wouldn't do Ibanez or Duch, and I am really on the fence with Kouz. Last year after the All-Star Break Kooz hit .317 with 11 homers and 37 RBI, as opposed to before when he hit .228 with 7 homers and 37 RBI, so it seems that he is a second half player. I want to say pick up Kooz, but Bruce's talent is very hard to give up.

If you have a question or a problem with your fantasy team, don't hesitate to email me at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I love to hear from my readers and try to solve their fantasy problems. Hope to hear from all of you soon!

Visit fightingchancefantasy.com for more great articles like this one. As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades, etc) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Don't forget to tune into The Fantasy Baseball Scouting Report Show on Blog Talk Radio every Tuesday night at 10 PM EST, hosted by yours truly and Eric Stashin from rotoprofessor.com. Follow this link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Fantasy-Gurus-Networ. Also, listen Wednesday night at 10pm to the Fantasy Baseball Gurus show on which I am now a cohost. Visit www.fantasygurusnetwork.com for information on both of these shows.