Fantasy Player's Edge

April 18, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Use the next 48 hours wisely. If you need wins or k's
you should consider streaming pitchers Saturday
and Sunday. The same holds true for roster players
like Jimmy Rollins. There's no reason to sit idle
waiting for your best player to return to the lineup,
try spot playing a Guzman or Stephen Drew. Be
aggressive but be smart.

The Braun-o-meter is up to 61 AB's without taking
a free pass.

Maybe you should jump on the Doug Brocail
bandwagon. Big Valverde served a gopher to
slugger Chris Coste allowing 2 runs on 2 hits in
an inning of mop up yesterday. I'm only half
kidding on Brocail.

Chad Cordero is another closer to fret over. He
has velocity issues but insists he's fine. Okay, time
to pick up Rauch again.

Things come in three's. Manny Corpas blew a save
in the 22 inning marathon in San Diego last night.
Brian Fuentes has been outstanding. Hurdle may
decide to give Corpas time to "clear" his head
opening the door for Daisy's boy. Break out the
handcuffs.

Tim Hudson's velocity on his fastball was lacking in
his last start. Is this the start of an epidemic?

Swingers Maddux and Young have swapped starts
with Greggy tonight and Mighty Joe going tomorrow.

A.J. Burnett, off that ill fated relief appearance, had
his next start moved back to Sunday.

John Lannan made the Beatles proud last night fanning
11 Mets over 6 innings. Worth a flyer if you need help
in your rotation.

Speaking of J-Roll it now looks like he'll return
on Sunday. There is some talk of bereavement
so check back for updates.

Another shortstop Michael Young was rested last
night due to a sore right calf. Monitor and adjust
if necessary by picking up a spot play for Saturday.

Another Ranger, Hank Blalock is headed to the DL.
This guy just can't catch a break.

Michael Cuddyer will not come of the DL on Sunday.
He still has major swelling in his injured finger. If he's
occupying a roster spot you need to drop him now.

Granderson should return early next week. Same-same
with J.J. Putz. (drop Lowe on Monday and speculate on
Fuentes or Rauch)

John Lackey's progressing and remains on course to return
early May.

Carpenter's going to throw BP on Monday. It's a
start. He's expected to return mid-July.

Guerrero sat out. Make sure you stay on top of this.
No need to give away atbats over the weekend.
Use your "flex" position to pick up a spot play in
the same time zone as Pedro otherwise you'll have
to make your move before you're certain that he's
out of the lineup.

Carlos Pena might sit a game or two with a sore hammy.
Grab Hatteberg for a spot start if necessary.

Carlos Beltran sat out yesterday with a sore neck. He
took BP so he should return today.

Who cares how old Tejada is?????


Streamers: (tomorrow's probable starters available as free agents)

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Shawn Hill- makes his annual pilgrimage to MLB
facing one of his favorite patsies, the Marlins. Expect
3 starts maximum before a trip to the DL for acne.
2-1, 2.54/1.09 with 25 k's in 28 innings.

Ian Kennedy- purely a speculative inverse play. The
Bomber's are pretty hard on Orioles starter Brian
Burres. 1-2, 4.64/1.36 plus Kennedy is better than
what he's shown and should be able to benefit from
a road game and the Orioles in no particular order.

Jamie Moyer- cryogenic replica of Rip Sewell (Twinman
offers successful thawing theory) pitches fairly well vs.
just about everyone. A serviceable start against the Mets.
6-3, 2.64/1.16. He's not the answer if you need a bushel of
k's.

Spotties: (tomorrow's position players available as free agents)

Use these players to fill in for injured players and on off days.

Matt Stairs- is to Bonderman what small town folks are to
Barack Obama. A real problem. 12/24, 6 extra base hits,
3 jacks, 8 rbi with only 4 k's.

Craig Monroe- finally finds an oasis after walking in sand
for an eternity. Gulps fanatically from the Westbrook.
10/30 with 3 blasts.

Scott Hatteberg- call him anything you want but don't
call him late for Suppan. 6/15, a homer and 0 k's.

Sean Casey- "the outlook wasn't brilliant for the Red
Sox nine that day", until Jason Jennings took the hill.
7/17 with an ever so rare homerun. This guy has to
be the biggest punch and judy hitter in MLB history!!!


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Jason Bay (start)- do you remember when this guy was
really good? So does Jason Marquis. 13/34, 9 extras,
4 clouts and 9 rbi.

Hideki Matsui (start)- if wildman Cabrera gets it over Matsui
will hit consistently. 11/30, a homer, 5 rbi.

Andruw Jones (start)- no really, but only if Glavine takes his
turn. If Tommy needs a reason to hang em' up, this is it.
16/43, 4 long balls, 8 rbi and only 4 whiffs.

Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.

Suzuki, David Wright, Carlos Pena, Gary Matthews, Bill Hall,
Rickie Weeks (sit)- 1/10, 1/11, 1/11, 1/12, 1/13, 1/13 respectively.
Take your pick!!!!

The Youngs (Delmon/Chris) (sit) -0/7, 0/10. Oh my gosh!!

Ian Snell (sit)- frequently clawed during Wrigley visits.
1-4, 5.36/1.33 with 26 k's over 44 innings.


Game Keys: (daily strategy tips)

Streaming, or dropping and adding starting pitchers
is a strategy used primarily in Head to Head competition.
It's used to gain an advantage over your opponent in wins
and strikeouts. Be prepared to experience pain when employing
a streaming strategy. Normally streamed pitchers are back of
the rotation types so do your homework to minimize the
negative impact this strategy can have on era/whip. Read
the Player's Edge daily.

Start/Sit is crucial to the success of your team. Every player
has matchups that are either overwhelmingly favorable or
unfavorable. Even superstars have tough opponents. The
advantage of playing start/sit is as follows. Player A is a
stud batting .330 on 198 hits over 600 official atbats. If
you can isolate his unfavorable matchups and sit him for
60 atbats where he hits .200 (12 hits) then Player A's
average for your fantasy team becomes .344 (186/540).
The converse is true for bench players. If you can maximize
their best swings during the season you will greatly enhance
the overall performance of your team. Read Player's Edge
daily.


Final Thoughts:

When an offensive starter is being given a day off remove
him from your active roster completely in Rotisserie formats
if you do not have a suitable replacement on your roster.
Although there is a possibility he may enter the game in the
late innings in some capacity you would using 1 of your 162
maximum games played at his position for what quite possibly
could result in 1 atbat. It's far better to preserve the "game"
for a spot play when that player's team has an off day.

In Head to Head leagues you must track weekly totals in
batting average, era and whip. All too frequently these
categories are extremely close on Sunday's and in many
cases you'll need to adjust your strategy to safeguard a
point. That may include but not be limited to benching
your entire pitching staff because you control wins, saves
and k's but are only marginally ahead on era and/or whip.
To calculate era: total innings/9 = divisor, total earned runs/
by divisor = era.

All Done!

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