Fantasy Player's Edge

April 20, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Are you ready for next week's opponent? This week
is over, make your moves and move on. It's essential
that you devise a strategy for the new opponent. How
many starts does he have next week, what kind of
bullpen, how many offensive starters for Monday's
abbreviated schedule, what kind of power/speed
does he have? How do you match up in starts,
saves, power and speed? Research the details of
this week's matchup as they may highlight a clear
path to an immediate advantage that you can exploit.

Matt Stairs is in at DH for the Blue Jays. This guy
is a professional hitter. Grab him if you're short on
stick.

Howie Kendrick is out. The oft injured Angels 2B
is making another trip to the DL. His teammates
refer to him as "China".

Pronk Hafner is probably going to take the day off.
With the Tribe on holiday tomorrow it'll give the
bruiser two days to rest a sore shoulder. As is
customary check lineups before 2pm EST just to
be certain.

Here's the latest on J-Roll. It seems that the ankle
is still about 75% so he's most likely sitting tonight
against the Mets.

David DeJesus continues to hit going 6/14 since his
return. Obviously he's blessed.

Derek Lee left after the 6th with a stiff neck. He
had this same problem last season and missed
a few games He's supposed to play today. Keep
an eye on this one.

Mike Lowell played T-ball yesterday and may
see minor league action next week. Best case
has him returning on the weekend. Don't bank
on this happening.

The Brewers are a mysterious bunch. Details
regarding new release "The Ben Sheets Chronicles"
(docu-drama) are being kept under wraps while the
soap "Days of our Rotation" has its audience in suspense
on whether Dave Bush will awake from his coma or
will Yovani Gallardo rush to the mound and save the
start. It's all about the ratings!!

Eric Bedard is targeting a return on the 24th. His
owners think it's about damn time!!

Wandy Rodriguez left after 4 with a groin pull.
They say his day to day. Trust me, if we're me
it would be immediate and extended bed rest.

Ervin Santana is looking more like Johan with
every start. After last night's gem against the
Mariners, he's 3-0 with a 2.67 era.

Kyle Farnsworth got a 3 game suspension for
throwing at Manny. The Yankees faithful were
hoping for life.

135. That's the number of innings used that would
keep you on track to deploy maximum innings (1250)
over the course of the season in Rotisserie. A number
significantly above or below should be a call to action.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Mark Hendrickson- Shiver me timbers crows this outsized Bucco
beater. 2-0, 2.76/1.29 with 10 k's over 16 innings.

Mark Redman- has been on the warpath of late. Last two starts
were okay, both resulting in wins. 4-2, 3.96/1.32 with 35k's in 35
frames against Phils.

Clay Buchholz-the no hit kid is on the skids right now. He's begging
for a win from a kindly opponent. No track record vs. Texas.


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

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

Mike Jacobs- considers Morris the Mona Lisa of moundsman.
Couldn't bear the drudgeries of playing ball without Matt's
graceful offerings. 5/9, 2 extras, a clout and 3 ribbies.

Wes Helms- another purveyor of the finer things considers
Morris more of a Donatello's David even though he's never
shared a shower with him. 8/23, a jacaranda and 3 rbi.

Ryan Freel- will never be Pennyless when Brad's around.
6/14, 3 extras and a swipe.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Ken Griffey (start)- a bird in hand is worth a lifetime of Bush.
8/18, 5 multiples, 3 jacks and 9 ribeyes. Yowzer!!

Xavier Nady (start)- once threw Dempster in a dumpster
in high school. Still bullying him. 4/11 with 2 homers.

Lastings Milledge (start)- Dr Jekyll or Mr. Olsen all too
frequently. Lastings is firstings when facing Scotty. 5/15.

Bill Hall (start)- puts gobs of whip cream on his Lemon
Harang. 16/41, 9 extra base hits, 3 roundtrippers, 9 rbi
and ticket to ride and he don't care.


Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.

David Wright (sit)- hasn't Eaton in a long, long time. No
soup for you today!!! 1/13 with 4 k's.

Vernon Wells (sit)- he might as Wells be playing horse with
Oscar in his prime. 3/18 with 4k's vs. Robertson.

Ian Kinsler (sit)- sucks at whiffle ball as well. 1/9 and 3 k's
against Wakefield.

Studs and Duds: ( a recap of yesterday's picks and pans)

Jamie Moyer (stream)- took the loss but pitched okay. 6 innings,
2 earned/8 whip.

Shawn Hill (stream)- acceptable first start. ND- 5 ip, 6 k's, 4e/8w.

Ian Kennedy (stream)-dreadful and should be dropped in all formats.

Matt Stairs (spot)-2/3, run.

Sean Casey (spot)- 1/3.

Craig Monroe (spot)- 2/3

Ken Griffey (start)- 0/4, rbi.

Carlos Delgado (start) - 0/4

Jason Bay (start)- 1/3

Pat Burrell (start)- 0/4, run.

Chone Figgins (sit)- 1/4, rbi

Dan Uggla (sit)- 2/4, run, rbi

Tom Gorzelanny (sit)- L, 2.2 ip, 7 e/10 w/3 k's.


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:

Study the free agent market in your league regularly and
game plan accordingly to assure that those coveted players
end up on your roster rather than on an opponent's team.
It's not uncommon to have to select free agents well before
you intend to use them on the active roster. An example of
this type of free agent would be John Lackey who returns in
a few weeks. If he's out there this would be the time to make
the move. In a couple of months it will be Chris Carpenter.

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. Whip is calculated by adding the total hits
and walks issued by a pitcher or group of pitchers/total innings
pitched. Batting average is total hits/total official atbats.

All Done!

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