MLS Fantasy: Getting Ready for Week 18

This is a rapid fire series of weeks in Fantasy, with a transfer deadline tonight, Wednesday night, and again next Friday. With unlimited transfers between 18 and 19, it's going to be a big opportunity to move up or down in the standings. We'll get to the unlimited transfers, but for now it's Week 18, a weird "week" with 8 teams on bye.

I'm not going to be doing a separate preview of Week 18, mostly because I think for now it's helpful to think focus everything on getting ready for 18. And being ready means having 11 or 12 warm bodies in your lineup to generate points. Let's go through some options by position of people who have a game in 18 that you might want to pick up.

Goalkeeper:

Most of the better keepers are on bye in 18, so the pickings are slim. If you're clean sheet hunting, you can go with Robles ($6.3) or Ousted ($6.1) who have a pair of home matches in 17 and 18. Robles especially seems promising, facing a Portland attack that will be missing its key cog in Valeri and an Orlando team that's in disarray and may be missing Kaka as well. Another option that surprised me is Steve Clark ($5.7). Columbus's bad defense won't result in many clean sheets, but Clark has been posting very solid bonus point numbers. Clark hasn't has a score under 4 since Round 6, and kept a CS against Toronto in their last matchup. If you want consistent numbers, go Clark; if you're swinging for the fences, go Robles.

Defenders:

There's only six teams at home in 18, which is important when picking defenders. Harvey ($6.9) or Parker ($6.2) have the double home weeks in 17 and 18 if you're clean sheet hunting. For budget options, there's Glad of RSL ($5.1).  My pick though if you have the cash (and if he's healthy. He wasn't in the 18 on Saturday and I don't know why yet) is Drew Moor at $7.7. Columbus's defense is bad, and that gives him the opportunity to score goals, which is rare for a defender.

Midfielders:

Most of these guys will be familiar to you, although we may have changes for rotation and injury. Valeri is out for Sunday, not sure about availability for 18. Diaz is healthy, but based on Pareja's concern for Diaz, I'd be nervous about not having a backup for him for a midweek match on the turf in Seattle. Other than that, you'll want Sacha Kljestan. Yes he's had a rough patch recently but he's facing Orlando and based on what Diaz did to the Lions, you'll want Sacha too. I also really like Benny Feilhaber, who's a good option for 17 as he faces a tired NYCFC at home. Montreal is on the road for both 17 and 18, but with Drogba out, you could do worse than Piatti ($11.0) who's the second best midfielder in fantasy right now.

Rounding out your midfield, Alonso of Seattle at $9.0 isn't going to break your bank or wow you with a big score but will get you 5-7 points every week and he's at home in 17 and 18. If you want to take a swing at a bigger score at that price range, David Accam ($9.2) is your best bet, since what does compose the Chicago offense runs through him.

Forwards

The list starts with BWP, who's a must have for the same reasons Sacha's a must have. After that, the big question is Giovinco. He's struggled mightily recently, with scores of 3,4,1,4,8, and 4, not what you want when you spend $12.8. He's home against Chicago then on the road against Columbus, and Altidore is coming back soon. Still, there's real questions about who will provide Giovinco service with Will Johnson and Michael Bradley still out. Personally, I'm not picking up Giovinco. I'd rather spend the money on the midfielders then go boom or bust with Giovinco. To that end, Ola Kamara has been on fire and is only $8.5.

Remember, if you have any questions feel free to ask me on twitter @mikeDatTiger. Good luck!