BBC Preview Week 2: Dodgers staff strong, Murphy a bargain

For even more statistics and advice to help you set your Baseball Challenge lineup, check out Tristan's Week 2 Fantasy Forecaster!

I love Week 2 of the Baseball Challenge.

It's as simple as this: Without a full, seven-day week of statistics in the books, salaries go unchanged, at least until lineups lock Monday at 2:59 a.m. ET. In essence, you're getting a second chance to lock in your studs for cheap -- one on Opening Day, one now. Consider it a "safety net" of sorts if you mucked up your first-week lineup and missed out on a bargain you liked, because at no other point all season will you get such an opportunity.

How I'm choosing to play this second chance is loading up on studs, while selecting one dirt-cheap sleeper to help keep me under the cap. The reasoning is simple: With a salary cap of $50.0, you're allowed effectively an average of $5.0 per position (counting the pitching staff). Right now, the top hitters by position cost exactly that average, $5.0, but only three pitching staffs cost that little: the Orioles, Pirates and Rangers. Bleagh.

So, in order to afford a top pitching staff -- the Dodgers, as you'll read why below -- I'm shedding $1.5 in salary at one other selected position. This early in the season, it shouldn't be tough to find a bargain priced $3.5 or cheaper. It's later in the year that such dirt-cheap bargains will be as rare as a Corky Miller single.

In future weeks, my strategy would require cutting two or three of those high-priced performers in order to wedge enough talent into my weekly lineup. But if there's any player we should trust to perform at an elite level in the early stages of the season, it's an expensive, proven player. The good ones will only increase in price from $5.0, to the point they're no longer affordable, and if their numbers aren't up to snuff, you can let 'em go. Better to lock them in now than to put yourself at the risk of having to be pitch-perfect picking the right bargains for your lineups in future weeks.

With my "stars-'n'-scrubs" style strategy in mind, here are eight players I'd consider candidates for owners interested in adopting the same approach:

Josh Fields, 3B, White Sox (3.1 price tag): He's a No. 9 hitter, which will suppress his value, but was a 33-homer hitter two years ago (combined between the majors and minors), and he's a slugger who calls a homer-friendly ballpark his home.

Mike Fontenot, 2B, Cubs (3.4): Lou Piniella is currently treating him like an everyday player despite his righty-mashing tendencies (.302 BA, .858 OPS against them compared to .237 and .658 versus lefties), and Wrigley Field should help boost his offensive numbers. A .300-15 season would not shock me.

Khalil Greene, SS, Cardinals (3.5): The primary concern I have is he has been such the matchups type throughout his career, and those are high-risk propositions in points-based scoring formats. Greene has been horrible at most pitcher-friendly parks (Petco Park, Dodger Stadium, Safeco Field) and great at most hitter-friendly venues (Coors Field, Chase Field, Great American Ball Park). That paints the picture of a very up-and-down BBC performer, but I think escaping Petco will help him.

Jeremy Hermida, LF, Marlins (3.3): I know, I'm a sucker for Jeremy Hermida, and he's a No. 6 hitter, which isn't exciting. But he batted .297 and hit five home runs in 74 spring at-bats, and he's 25 years old, so I'll just call this his last chance to "wow" me.

Aaron Hill, 2B, Blue Jays (3.3): A mulligan to Hill for his miserable 2008, because injuries were largely to blame for it. More important is that he was a .291-17 hitter two short seasons ago, and that he belted two home runs in Toronto's season-opening series.

Jason Kubel, DH, Twins (3.4): I'd liked to have seen how great a player he might have become if not for reconstructive knee surgery during the 2004-05 offseason, but even with that career setback, Kubel has made some nice gains as a hitter in each of the past two years. If there's anything not to like about him, it's just that the Twins' outfield is packed, which might mean some lost games against left-handers.

Daniel Murphy, LF, Mets (3.1): As you'll see below, he's the bargain-bin pick I went with in Week 2, and it's because he's a capable batsman and the No. 2 hitter in a lineup in which he's sandwiched by Jose Reyes and David Wright, two top-five-overall fantasy talents. That's a dream circumstance for a contact-hitting, .375-on-base percentage candidate.

Ryan Spilborghs, CF, Rockies (3.2): Let's get the one knock on him out of the way, and it's that he's due for a five-game Week 2, and I almost never advise players getting that few games in a week. That aside, if you've been paying attention to my chats, you know I think Spilborghs is a bona fide .300-hitting, 20/15 candidate who shouldn't have any problem hanging in the top third of the Colorado order.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (SF-3, COL-3 -- two-start pitcher Chad Billingsley), 6.5 price tag: The specific statistics are in the Fantasy Forecaster, but the Dodgers were easily baseball's best pitching staff at home in 2008, and I see little reason to expect that to change. Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw are quickly developing into what should be one of baseball's most formidable one-two punches for the next decade, and Opening Day starter Hiroki Kuroda and Randy Wolf are no slouches, either. (Well, at least Kuroda is when he's healthy; he landed on the DL late Friday night. My stance on the Dodgers, however, goes unchanged.) Closer Jonathan Broxton has been lights-out thus far, and these are six games the Dodgers can easily win. Remember that wins are worth that tasty five-point BBC bonus!

2. Minnesota Twins (TOR-4, LAA-3 -- two-start pitchers Kevin Slowey and Glen Perkins), 5.9 price tag: Oh, if only Francisco Liriano was the Twins' second two-start pitcher (instead of Perkins), I'd have been all over this one as my No. 1 value pick. (Having a healthy Scott Baker in the rotation instead of R.A. Dickey will help matters, though, and it appears there's a good chance he'll be back on Wednesday.) To be fair to Perkins, he was 7-3 with a 3.84 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in 14 starts at the Metrodome last season, and the Twins do carry a big home-field advantage.

3. New York Mets (SD-3, MIL-3 -- two-start pitcher Mike Pelfrey), 6.0 price tag: This one is entirely a hunch, as I've heard chatter that Citi Field should lean toward being a pitcher-friendly ballpark, and three games against the Padres to open the venue almost assuredly will make it look that way. But the main reason to gamble on the Mets is they'll come to their new ballpark charged up to impress the fans in its opening week, and have favorable matchups in five of six games (Yovani Gallardo versus Pelfrey on Sunday is the toughie). Speaking of Pelfrey, he had a 3.02 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 18 starts at home last season, so he shouldn't scare you off.

Want to talk smack? Feel free: E-mail me.

Boz of Colorado Springs, Colo., says: "It's early but I am impressed by the Yankees' balance. They can't hit and they can't pitch."

OK, blew that one, though we're only three games into their week. Besides, even accounting for their disappointing performance in Baltimore, the Yankees scored the fourth-most runs of any team in their season-opening series (21), so it couldn't have been all bad. I think I'm more surprised that CC Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang combined for zero strikeouts than that either one had a disappointing 2009 debut. I'll say it now: There is nothing tougher to predict in baseball than a player's performance in a solitary game, which is why you need to go with your gut more often than not.

Monday, April 13 -- Jermaine Dye, RF, White Sox (versus Zach Miner), 4.8 price tag: He's 5-for-12 with two home runs lifetime against Miner, and is a .302 hitter with 14 homers, 44 RBIs and a .965 OPS in 53 career games at Detroit's Comerica Park.

Tuesday, April 14 -- Hank Blalock, DH, Rangers (versus Alfredo Simon), 3.7: He's a great start in any home game against a mediocre right-hander; he's a lifetime .292 hitter with an .858 OPS against righties, and .307/.908 in home games.

Wednesday, April 15 -- David Wright, 3B, Mets (versus Kevin Correia), 5.0: Open the wallet for Wright, as he has owned Correia in their careers, going 5-for-6 with two home runs against the right-hander. There aren't many Mets I wouldn't recommend on this day.

Thursday, April 16 -- Jayson Werth, RF, Phillies (versus John Lannan), 4.7: He was 3-for-8 with two home runs against Lannan in 2008.

Friday, April 17 -- Conor Jackson, LF, Diamondbacks (versus Jonathan Sanchez), 4.8: He was 5-for-7 with two home runs against Sanchez in 2008, and is a .315 hitter with a .924 OPS in 28 career games at San Francisco's AT&T Park.

Saturday, April 18 -- Rickie Weeks, 2B, Brewers (versus Johan Santana), 4.6: Of all pitchers Weeks can hit, he sure can handle Santana; he's 4-for-7 (.571 BA) with two home runs and three walks in his career against the left-hander.

Sunday, April 19 -- Carlos Guillen, LF, Tigers (versus Carlos Silva), 4.5: He's a lifetime .486 hitter (17-for-35) with three home runs against Silva.

Through four days (and the Sunday night opener), my team has amassed 174 BBC points. The good news: That puts me in the 94th percentile, exactly where I was at the same stage in 2008, when I finished the year 19th overall. The bad news: I currently trail 2,232 players, a staggering number. Hopefully my Week 2 strategy will help slash that number in half (or better). Follow along if you'd like -- join the ESPN Fantasy Editorial Weekly group!

C -- Victor Martinez, Indians (@KC-3, @NYY-4), 4.8 price tag.
1B -- Miguel Cabrera, Tigers (CHW-3, @SEA-3), 5.0: He's already up to three home runs and 10 RBIs, and we're not even 1/30th through the season.
2B -- Ian Kinsler, Rangers (BAL-3, KC-3), 5.0: .928 career OPS in April.
3B -- David Wright, Mets (SD-3, MIL-3), 5.0: He was a .336 hitter with 21 homers and a 1.055 OPS at home last year, and remember, Shea was a pitchers' park.
SS -- Hanley Ramirez, Marlins (@ATL-3, @WAS-3), 5.0: I like his level of improvement with men on base thus far this season.
LF -- Daniel Murphy, Mets (SD-3, MIL-3), 3.1.
CF -- Josh Hamilton, Rangers (BAL-3, KC-3), 5.0: He has a 1.016 OPS at Rangers Ballpark and a .967 OPS in the month of April in his career.
RF -- Nick Markakis, Orioles (@TEX-3, @BOS-3), 5.0: I still say the power is coming, and few things help more in that area than a trip to Texas.
DH -- Jim Thome, White Sox (@DET-3, @TB-4), 4.7: Six more games against right-handers, and I feel better about him right now than I do David Ortiz.
Pitching staff -- Dodgers (SF-3, COL-3), 6.5.

Tristan H. Cockcroft is a fantasy baseball analyst for ESPN.com and a two-time champion of the League of Alternative Baseball Reality (LABR) experts league. You can e-mail him here.