This article has been submitted by Erik Arnold. A day late, a buck short Erik. This is a weekly feature.

Fantasy baseball is a lot like the stock market. Success lies in finding value on draft day, on the waiver wire and through trades. Today I take a look at a few sources of value to be had through the trade market with my top candidates to buy low and sell high, focusing on hitters.

Buy Low
Jim Thome DH, Chicago (AL) (2 HR, 7 RBI, .156 BA) – After hitting 2 homeruns in the first game of the season, Thome has done nothing since. He’s not going to win a batting title, but a .270 average seems reasonable as he balances a high number of walks with his propensity to strikeout. Hitting in an incredibly hitter’s friendly park, there is tons of power to be had if you can get someone to sell on his cold-start.

Alex Rios, OF, Toronto (1 HR, 7 RBI, 4 SB, .289 BA) – This would have been easier if Rios didn’t hit that pinch-hit home-run last night. Rios has yet to show us the type of power that he displayed early last season, but he has complimented his game with plenty of speed on the base paths - It appears that he really does have the green light from Gibbons. He has been hitting the ball hard and taking more walks, the power will come. Not relevant for us Canadians, but I think he’s a guy who is often overlooked south of the border, making him a good candidate to steal in your public leagues.

Carl Crawford, OF, Tampa Bay (1 HR, 7 RBI, 4SB, .228 BA) – Another guy who has started to heat up a bit in the last few days, but the principle still applies. Carl Crawford is a consistent .300 hitter and has displayed this for several seasons in a row. The speed will always be there and his power is trending upwards. He’s still easily on the right side of 30 with room to grow so bid aggressively.

Sell High
Bill Hall, OF, Milwaukee (5 HR, 10 RBI, 1 SB, .220 BA) – His power production has been solid, but the obvious red-flag is his “Mendoza-line” batting average. So far this season Hall has 16 strikeouts to ONE WALK. Get somebody to commit to his power and save yourself the hassle.

Raul Ibanez, OF, Seattle (5 HR, 13 RBI, .302 BA) – He is a solid middle-of-the-road type of player with 20HR potential, but he’s already done 25% of that. Ibanez is now 34 and his splits against lefties are ugly so if you can get good return on a guy who hasn’t started as hot, take it.

Xavier Nady, OF, Pittsburgh (4 HR, 14 RBI, .346 BA) – Another decent ballplayer who just happens to be playing over his head. He is a notorious hot-starter and hit two thirds of his home-runs on the road last year. PNC park is not so friendly to right handed power hitters. If someone is drinking the kool-aid, offer them another glass.

Stay tuned, next week I’ll take a look at some early risers and fallers on the pitching side.

This article has been submitted by Erik Arnold and is a weekly feature.