Fantasy Baseball: What to Do When Your Team Falls Apart

Let me tell you a little story about my fantasy baseball season so far. My team started out as the best in the league. We simply obliterated the competition, and we looked unbeatable.

However, they seem to be hitting a wall. After dominating the first two weeks of the season, we barely snuck by during the third week. Really, I wasn't too concerned because I at least won.

The fourth week was when it changed. My pitching staff simply folded in on itself and we lost by 100 points. This week has been even worse so far.

However, panic is not the right response.

Just because Stephen Strasburg had a bad start the other night, there is no way I would be looking to do anything different with him. While it seems like all of my players are terrible and we can't afford to be losing by such huge amounts, no player is perfect all the time. There is natural variation in every player's performance. They will all have good weeks and bad weeks throughout the season. It is bound to happen.

However, did my team simply hit rock bottom all together and will bounce back, or is there a bigger, more systemic problem?

Let me present you with three questions to consider if your team is in this boat as well.

1. Are you still waiting for that late-round sleeper to wake up?

If so, it is time to seriously consider whether or not he will wake up soon enough to actually help you. You can't wait forever, and you really need people to contribute right now.

2. Are you simply looking at surface numbers?

For example, right now, A.J. Burnett appears to be a terrible investment with a very high ERA. However, upon deeper research, you will discover he had one bad start in between all of his other solid ones. Don't be swayed by outliers.

3. Is there another reason you want to keep the player?

You'd be surprised how much this comes up. However, in fantasy baseball there should not be any type of loyalty. Your favorite player will not be offended if he is not performing well and you drop him. This type of thing has been written a lot, but many people still struggle with this concept of worrying about performance and nothing else.

So, to finish the story, my team is not going to change very much even though we are in our second consecutive terrible week. I am not going to have bad weeks from Stephen Strasburg or Jered Weaver very often. Mike Napoli and Jose Reyes will be productive and, given their track record, there is no way I could possibly get rid of them.

Nevertheless, if your team is struggling and one of these three questions could be the reason, seriously think about fixing these things as fast as you can.

Whether you think I know everything or nothing about Major League Baseball, you should follow me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook and keep in touch. I love hearing what you all have to say!

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