You’re almost there, folks. Almost. Just another month and a half of the regular season and a few hurdles like the August 31 waiver trade deadline and the rash of September call-ups to overcome and your mission is complete. Easy, right? Well, maybe not.

Like we said back in March, the six-month long fantasy baseball season is a grind. This game is not for the lazy or the faint of heart. You need to spend every day keeping tabs on the latest news, injuries and job changes. You got your rest during the All Star break and now it’s time to put your head down, your nose to the grindstone, your best effort forward or whatever stupid cliché you want to add in here. The bottom line is that you still have a job to do, so get it done. More seasons are won and lost during these last two months and you don’t want that to be you.

One of the hardest things you have to do at this time of year is make some of the toughest lineup changes you’ll have all year. Your success and failure this season could ride on your ability to make the tough cuts necessary to help your team. There is no more waiting on a player to see if he breaks out. He either does or he doesn’t, but you’re running out of time waiting to see. This is not the time to quibble over upside or potential. You need to get into a “What have you done for me lately” state of mind.

Xander Bogaerts has been a colossal disappointment this season. Colossal. But for some reason he’s still, not just on people’s rosters, but he’s still starting for them. What’s up with that? His six home runs and 11 stolen bases are garbage in comparison to what you paid for him on draft day and he’s never shown any consistent sign of life to warrant keeping him. For crying out loud, the dude is batting .181 with no homers and just two steals since the All Star break.

What has Miguel Cabrera done for you this season? The full-season stats – 13 home runs with a .256 average – are disgusting and he’s now batting .222 with two homers since the All Star break. How about Carlos Gonzalez? Who’s still clinging on to this guy? Yonder Alonso hasn’t been relevant since May, Kole Calhoun flat-out stinks and can we please stop looking at Seth Lugo like he’s some budding superstar of a pitcher?

I get it. It’s not easy letting some of these guys go. You don’t want to drop CarGo to see him go on some big, Coors Field-induced home run binge that helps your opponent. But what makes you think he will? He hasn’t done it for you all season. You think now, from out of the blue, he’s going to suddenly turn his entire season around once you drop him? Come on, people. You know it doesn’t work that way and you know these guys are doing more harm than good to your roster. You have to know when to cut bait, and frankly, you probably should have cut bait at least a month or two ago.

Keeper league owners have it a little different. That much I understand. But make sure you’re holding onto guys with legitimate value in the future. Your bargain price on Ryon Healy is not enough to make him a keeper. His stats are a dime a dozen. It doesn’t matter if Jeff Hoffman has upside ort Mike Fiers can get into a groove again. Right now they flat-out suck and if you truly believe they are worth keeping next year, you need to re-adjust your criteria, because they’re not. Not for $1 and not for a 20th-round pick. Sorry.

Part of being a good fantasy GM here at the end of the season is knowing how to ride the hot hand and understanding that sitting with a bunch of mopes on your roster who you think will start to come around soon is a detriment. Time is of the essence here and the longer you wait for one of these guys to come around, the further you’ll drift from winning a championship. Learn to make the tough cuts and you’ll find yourself in the winner’s circle come season’s end.