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Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" as the ark is being driven away: "I'm going after that truck."

Sallah: "How?"

"I don't know … I'm making this up as I go."

In essence, that's what fantasy owners must do regarding a trade. And when it came to our June re-rankings, that's what I did. I wiped out the May and preseason rankings and made them up as I went. Sure, I used season stats, previous season stats and, of course, my often-predetermined opinions of players, but I tried very hard not to incorporate previous rankings and hold on to previous beliefs. Too many fantasy Web sites do that as it is. Everything is stale, and things don't change as much as they should. They don't make it up -- they start with a list and just tweak it.

So I liked Alex Gordon to begin the season. No longer -- I dropped him down. And I was a big fan of Nick Markakis. Down. Because when you are evaluating a trade, you can't harp on what a guy did in his past or was supposed to do this season; all that matters is how he will do. And that's what my colleagues and I tried to determine when we updated the Top 340 this week.

Here are the highlights among the hitters:

The five big risers I'm on board with

David Murphy, OF, Rangers (May rank: NR; June rank: 236): See, told ya I started over. I put Murphy all the way up at 160, and Jason Grey had him in his top 100. He hits for a decent average, steals some, has a little power, has a great ballpark … what's not to like?
Jason Giambi, 1B, Yankees (May: 301; June: 196): He has remained healthy and is on pace for 32 homers. Hopefully the foot injury that knocked him out of Tuesday's game isn't serious.
Carlos Quentin, OF, White Sox (May: 161; June: 80): I've seen what I need to see -- I ranked him 35th overall.
Ryan Church, OF, Mets (May: 207; June: 136): All he needed was a change of scenery, and I'm not talking about what he saw after that recent slobber-knocker he took sliding into second base. I ranked him No. 114.
Josh Hamilton, OF, Rangers (May: 50; June: 15): I proudly put him just outside my top 10 and had to restrain myself from putting him somewhere around No. 7 or 8.

The five big risers I'm not on board with

Milton Bradley, OF, Rangers (May: 193; June: 155): Perhaps my colleagues have forgotten this guy's troubles with consistency and durability. The most games he has played in a season since 2004: 96. Number of games he has played in 2008: 51.
Randy Winn, OF, Giants (May: 242; June: 203): So he's running more this season. So what? Isn't everybody?
Scott Rolen, 3B, Blue Jays (May: 247; June: 210): We put him above Clayton Kershaw, Carlos Marmol and Joe Crede. No way.
Ryan Theriot, IF, Cubs (May: 173; June: 154): Shouldn't a guy be able to hit an occasional homer and not get thrown out trying to steal almost as many times as he's successful before we rank him above Huston Street?
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, Padres (May: 58; June: 40): He's tearing it up, but he also started fast last season and slipped after June began.

The five big fallers I'm on board with

Travis Hafner, DH, Indians (May: 89; June: 159): He's darned near dead to me (and apparently my fellow rankers).
David Ortiz, DH, Red Sox (May: 30; June: 87): I put him right there at No. 87. That seemed right. I foresee Papi being out until the All-Star break, then rebounding to have a nice second half.
Nick Swisher, OF, White Sox (May: 139; June: 176): Speaking of a guy who's dead to me.
Khalil Greene, SS, Padres (May: 229; June: 262): I just haven't seen any sign of a turnaround. He barely made my top 300.
Chone Figgins, 3B, Angels (May: 45; June: 74): Here we go again with Figgins, our office lightning rod. Now I think we have him ranked too high, considering his legs have sidelined him for an extended period and they're the only reason we like him in the first place. I ranked him No. 97.

The five big fallers I'm not on board with

Michael Bourn, OF, Astros (May: 114; June: 133): I understand my colleagues' concern with his batting average, but his playing time doesn't appear threatened, and he's on pace for 67 steals. That's 67.
Michael Cuddyer, OF, Twins (May: 180; June: 200): Explanation below.
Orlando Cabrera, SS, White Sox (May: 128; June: 161): We were a little too hard on this typical slow starter. In fact, June was his best month last season, and he's hitting .323 in his past seven games.
Ryan Doumit, C, Pirates (May: 190; June: 247): So the guy hits .350, then breaks his thumb, and we put him just above Kenji Johjima and Ramon Hernandez in the catcher rankings. Doumit should be ready to return in a few days.
Michael Young, SS, Rangers (May: 65; June: 73): His consistency and the law of averages are just starting to take effect and erase a slow start. There was no reason for us to drop him.

Michael Cuddyer, OF, Twins: Here it is June, and Cuddyer has a .245 average and just two homers. In his case, I don't see that as subpar; I consider that opportunity. Cuddyer, still in his prime at age 29, had settled in as a .280-18-90 type of player before dislocating his finger and heading to the DL the opening week of the season. He has struggled since his return, but he's just now starting to pick it up, hitting .354 in his past 11 games. Now is a good time to get him via trade, focusing on his season stats to help you make it.

Manny Ramirez, OF, Red Sox: Manny is not the type of player who is bothered by pressure, per se, but I think this whole 500-homer thing got to him. The special ball they were using, the piped-in TV coverage, the flash bulbs popping … it's tough for anybody, even Manny, to hit a baseball 400 feet when everyone is holding their breath, waiting. He hit No. 498 on May 12, then went 45 at-bats before hitting No. 499 on May 27. But now that he has No. 500, it's go time. Look for him to continue this homer binge and, assuming durability in a contract year, return to his 35-homer ways (i.e., not 2007).

Ken Griffey Jr., OF, Reds: General soreness. I often have that, don't you? Well, that's the reason the Reds gave the media for Griffey not starting Monday or Tuesday night. Look, when a hard-nosed, run-into-fences type of guy like Aaron Rowand or Ryan Freel is out of the lineup, I give him a pass. But when it's a lumbering 38-year-old corner outfielder with an extensive injury history, I think there's something else going on. What that is, I can't tell, although I suspect he has had it longer than the past two days. Heck, maybe it explains Junior's lack of power this season. I (and others) sure would appreciate that.

Bill Hall, 3B, Brewers: According to his agent, Hall wants out of Milwaukee after losing at least a share of his everyday job. In situations like this, fantasy owners must take the next step to determine what might become of the player. In this case, it means assessing Hall's major league trade value. We bag on the guy -- so have the Brewers -- for his high K totals and struggles versus righties, but everything I've heard about him is that he's a good teammate, he hustles day in and day out, and he works hard to improve. Those are key intangibles that might make him a target for a team desperate for a third baseman.

But here's the deal: There aren't any teams desperate for a third baseman. I did a sweep around baseball and couldn't find a fit for a guy who wants to play every day, bats right-handed and is better versus lefties. At least not a team that didn't already have a player like that. Maybe the Giants, but I doubt they want to take on a $6 million-a-year underperformer right now. The Twins, maybe, but same deal with them. Pittsburgh has Jose Bautista, and the Marlins have Jorge Cantu. The Rangers, Angels and Nationals likely view Hall as too expensive for a short-term replacement for their injured stars. There just isn't a fit, making Hall a questionable guy to own (read: don't do it) in mixed leagues.

Elijah Dukes, OF, Nationals: His average is down to .148, and he has zero homers in 54 at-bats. This Dukes looks nothing like the Dukes we saw early last season. But don't lose hope. He had an eventful offseason (off the field, of course), followed by a bad hamstring injury, followed by just 38 (mostly unsuccessful) minor league at-bats, and now he's struggling. No wonder. But he's 23 and immensely talented. He'll figure it out. It might take a trip back to the minors to clear his head, but he'll figure it out.

Mixed leagues: Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C/1B, Rangers: What has happened to us? This guy was all the rage in drafts this spring, being drafted 10 spots higher than Mike Napoli (the 12th overall catcher), according to our Live Draft results. But surprisingly, he got sent down to begin the season. Now he is back up, should play more regularly as the season goes on and is owned in only 3 percent of leagues? Surely you Kurt Suzuki and Jason Kendall owners (both have higher ownership percentages) would rather have this guy's upside, especially during a homestand.

AL-only: Chris Carter, 1B, Red Sox: Carter, who reportedly will be called up by the Sox this week, is an Erubiel Durazo-type, in that he can hit a ton but can't field a lick. Hey, kinda like Big Papi, the man he'll be in the mix to replace. Carter might not be here long, but the big lefty is sure to get some at-bats in the next week or so to see how he does.

NL-only: Kory Casto, 3B, Nationals: Aaron Boone will continue to start most games in place of the DL-ed Ryan Zimmerman, but Casto will get some playing time, too. The "former" prospect was hitting .315 in Triple-A after recovering from a broken hamate (hand/wrist) bone.

Shallow daily transaction owners take note: Ryan Church has homered each of the past three Sundays in which he was in the starting lineup.

Justin Upton's recent slump coincided with a road trip, which has been his shtick this season: He's batting .358 at home and .167 on the road. In fact, in the team's seven-game swing that ended last week, Upton was 0-for-20. For the record, the D-backs began a 10-game road trip Monday in Milwaukee and have a nine-game road swing later this month.

So much for thinking your Colorado pitchers were safer away from Coors Field. The Rockies have a 4.74 team ERA at home and 5.34 mark away from it.

The perception is that home run hitters also are big RBI producers, but this is not always the case if the slugger also hits for a low average. I call it the Jeromy Burnitz rule. For years, that guy would hit 20-plus home runs but not drive in 100 runs unless he was able to get his average up to the .270 mark (he was a career .253 hitter). In 2003, he hit 31 homers but drove in just 77 runs. Anyway, the early leader for this year's Burnitz award is Jhonny Peralta, who has 11 homers and just 20 RBIs. In fact, he has just five RBIs this season that weren't as a result of a homer, and it doesn't help that he has nine solo homers.

In 5x5 leagues, replace your injured stars with players of a different ilk to balance out categories while you can. For instance, I have David Ortiz in a league in which I am strong in homers and RBIs. When replacing him in the lineup this week, I intentionally chose a base-stealer (in this case, Joey Gathright) who can rack up as many steals and runs as possible while Big Papi is away. Then, when Ortiz returns, my lineup naturally will be slanted back toward power, but I've helped the balance. The inclination is to replace a power hitter with another power hitter, but in fact, you should do just the opposite if the category standings call for it.

Brendan Roberts is a contributing writer and editor for ESPN Fantasy.