Fantasy Baseball | No need yet to push panic button

We've entered the third week of the baseball season, and many fantasy-leaguers are already starting to panic.

Of course, it's ridiculous to think your team is buried on April 18, but it becomes clear that is the case for many owners when I take a run through my leagues' message boards and find comments that reek of desperation and early-season disappointment.

It's one thing to have feelings of panic when looking at your out-of-the-gate performance, but it's a whole other, potentially damaging thing to announce to your league how you feel about your team.

Posting a comment like, "I need pitching, make me an offer" or "I'm looking to make a deal, any deal" does nothing but make you an easy mark for trade vultures who know the Red Sox's Manny Ramirez, Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks and other high-level players won't slump all season. In fact, players with such solid track records are almost certain to end the season with numbers that represent their past performance.

I'm not a big proponent of trading high-profile players this early in the season — right around Memorial Day seems like the right time to start — but if you must try to make a change, just keep it quiet.

Offer only specific deals and don't compromise too much just to get a deal done or else you'll be looking at your roster in August wondering why you vindictively dealt the Cardinals' Albert Pujols because his slow start corresponded with that of your squad.

On the flip side, you must try to fleece the desperate owners in your league if given the opportunity, as any chance to significantly improve your team has to be acted on. Just remember that you have the power to make only the deal you want to make, so use a take-it-or-leave-it attitude in negotiations and see what you can get done.

Here are some slow starters I wouldn't give up on if they were on my team and would trade for now if the right deal presented itself:

• 1B Mark Teixeira, Rangers: He's following up last season's bad first half (nine home runs pre-All-Star break) with another rough start, but he'll get it going and end about 40 longballs and 110-plus runs batted in. All the better if most of those come once you acquire him.

• OF Manny Ramirez: He's a future Hall of Famer hitting in a powerful lineup, and there's no doubt that a serious hot streak is on the way. Have him when it happens.

• OF Jason Bay, Pirates: April has been the ex-Gonzaga star's roughest month historically, but man does he come alive in May, posting a higher batting average (.304) and more home runs (24) than in any other month over his career. He has been very good in September, too, so he's surely worth having for the long term.

• SP Brett Myers, Phillies: His 9.39 earned-run average and 1.57 WHIP are hard on the eyes, but he was solid in his last start (three runs on four hits in 7-2/3 innings) and has 19 strikeouts in 15-1/3 innings. By the way, he has a career 2.87 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in May.

Got questions about fantasy baseball? Send them to Jerry Faull: jfaull@seattletimes.com, or Jerry Faull, Seattle Times Sports, 1120 John St., Seattle, WA 98109. His look at fantasy baseball will appear each Wednesday during the season.