Fantasy Player's Edge

April 27, 2008

A new section has been added to the Player's Edge.
It's called "How To" and tracks the daily activities of
a team managed by the Edge in a Head to Head league
against a weekly opponent. The rewards of successful
tactics will be revealed along with the consequences of
those moves that go awry.

Years ago when trying to learn the fundamentals of
playing this game I had searched for information,
unsuccessfully, that would provide insights on
"how to" play the game through real time daily
activity rather than "ex-post facto, I know
more than you do" commentary.

Please let us know if the new section is helpful as
the entire mission of the staff at the Edge is to be
entertaining and more importantly informative. If
you become a better player as a result of this site
then our mission will be accomplished. Most of all,
have fun, after all it's only a game albeit, a great one!!!!


Roster Shuffle:

Chipper Jones missed his start yesterday due an injured back
while dressing for the game against the Mets. The Braves
have reportedly hired a squire for Jones to assist this warrior
with his battle garb.

Mike Lowell survived the dangerous dressing game and looks
to be about ready to return to the Red Sox starting lineup on
Tuesday.

Mike Jacobs sat out after jamming a finger in his locker. Only
kidding, although he does have a jammed finger and is day to
day.

Casey Kotchman became more fantasy relevant as he's been
elevated to clean up in the Halo's order.

Big Papi took a breather yesterday and is expected to return
today.

Two ancients, Garciaparra and Alou had setbacks. Nomar is heading
back to the DL and Moises has a sore ankle delaying his return to
the Mets.

Carlos Gomez is day to day with a calf injury. If he's going to be out
for an extended period you may want to pick up Fred Lewis who
went 3/4 with 3 runs and an rbi yesterday. He's not going to be
available much longer.

Rich Harden was expected to throw a 50 pitched simulated game
yesterday. No word yet on the outcome but if all goes well expect
Waterford Rich back in time for the post season.

Jason Schmidt threw to hitters yesterday and they threw back.
Maybe June, only his therapist knows.

Justin Duchscherer returned with an acceptable 5 innings allowing
2 earned, 6 whip while fanning 2. He's worth keeping an eye on.

Brian Burres threw a gem at the Pale Hose going 8 shutout frames
allowing only 3 whip. He's 3-1. Before yesterday's game he was
winning because the Orioles provided lots of run support when he
pitched. No need to rush out and pick him up unless he goes stellar
back to back.

Promising Giants hurler Kevin Correia left after facing only 2 batters
with a back injury.

Hey sports fans it seems Charlie Manual's 2 day off, 3 atbats/3 k's
was exactly what Ryan Howard needed. The big fella blasted a
homer run in his first plate appearance in his return to the starting
lineup. He was 0/3 the rest of the way with 2 more whiffs.



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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

There are no suitable streaming candidates for Monday.


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

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

Ryan Ludwick- a little known fact is that Ryan is actually
Bronson's Cardfather. 4/7, 3 extras, a jack, 2 rbi and o k's.

Chris Gomez- rumor has it that if Johan knew that this guy
left Baltimore for Pittsburgh he'd have signed with the Red
Sox. 8/14 with 1 k.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Juan Pierre (start)- bonjour amigo. Fancies Francies pantzies.
Steals a glance at Jeff's mound ensemble as he whizzes by.
9/20, 5 sb's.

Conor Jackson (start)- showing no respect for the Padres ace
leaves Jake really Peaved. 8/22, 3 extras, a homer and 7 rbi.

Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.

C.C. Sabathia (sit)- look for the Yankees to be down right
rude when they visit El Grande's house today. 1-7, 7.13/1.75
over 42 miserable innings.

Kevin Youkilis (sit)- consistently falls on his Shields when
confronted by James. 0/10, 4 k's.



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

Justin Germano (stream)- ND 5ip/6r/8w/5k

Carlos Villanueva (stream)-ND 6ip/2r/6w/5k

Endy Chavez (spot)- 1/4, run

Nomar Garciaparra (spot)- DNP-injured

Orlando Cabrera (start)- 0/5

Tony Graffanino (start)- DNP

Troy Tulowitzki (sit)- 0/4

Adrian Gonzalez (sit)- 3/6, 3 rbi



How To: ( this section is devoted to the fundamentals of daily play)

Head To Head: Player's Edge(PE) vs. Opposition(OP):

Week 4: Sunday


Weekly Tot: R-H-RB-SB -BA/ W-SV-K ER-WH -SCORE

------PE---24--4-24--2--.282/-2--3-37-4.28-1.55---2
------OP--25--5-30--2--.320/-0--3-33-4.00-1.22---6

Offense: Lineups:

-----PE-----/----- OP

^B.Molina------^Martin
^Teixeira------^A. Gonzalez
^Roberts-------^J. Lopez
^Braun---------^A. Ramirez
Escobar--------^Crosby
^Griffey-------^Butler
^C. Young-----^Hermida
^Milledge------^Dye
^Figgins-------^Longoria
Jacobs----------Rollins- DL
^Betancourt----A. Soriano -DL
----------------H. Kendrick- DL

------PE------//-----OP
10/39-3-1-7-0 // 9/30-3-0-5-0 (daily totals: H/AB,R,HR,RBI)

Pitching: Rotation-Closers

-----PE----/------OP

Harang---------Haren
^Shields--------Greinke
Weaver--------Galarraga
Cain------------Dempster
S.Hill-----------Cueto
Hughes-------^Percival
^Saito--------^Nathan
^Fuentes-----^Wagner
^Wood--------^Broxton
^Acosta-------- Kazmir (DL)
R. Soriano-DL
Harden (DL)

-----PE--------//------OP
0W/0S, 0-0-0-0//0W/2S, 8-1-5-5 (daily tot: W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(55/195) - OP (55/172)
Weekly Totals- ERA (19/(40/9) - OP ERA (20/(45/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (62/40) - OP WHIP (55/45) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE--1-----OP--0

Daily Activity:

PE-Byrd(drop)/Jacobs-Sun
OP Wakefield(drop)/Galarraga-Mon
PE-Jacobs(drop)/Betancourt-Mon
OP-Damon(drop)/Crosby-Mon
PE-Betancourt(d)/Fuentes-Thurs
PE-Liriano(d)/Weaver-Thurs
PE-Corpas(d)/Looper-Thurs
PE-Looper(d)/Y. Betancourt-Fri
OP-L.Hernandez(d)/Percival-Fri
PE-Kuroda(d)/Hughes-Sat

Strategy: Not a heck of a lot of manuevering for today.
The PE has to start James Shields in an effort to win WHIP.
Next week's OP has a formidable rotation of Johan Santana,
Zambrano, Brett Myers, John Maine, Randy Johnson and
two others. He has 8 scheduled starts with Santana going
twice and a formidable stable of closers in Rodriguez, Jenks
and Sherrill. OP's offense features Red Sox sluggers Ortiz and
Ramirez with only 3 offensive players available on Monday.
Although the OP has made 4 roster changes to date it appears
that this OP was inactive last week. The PE has to prepare as
if this OP is going to utilize all of the available roster options next
week. This type of situation occurs all too frequently in Public
leagues. Always keep in mind that the other 11 OP's are also
going to face this OP so it's imperative that PE plays to win.
The PE has 8 scheduled starts as well and 5 offensive players
scheduled for Monday.

Game Keys: The PE trails entering Sunday's finale by a 6-2 count,
with steals and saves being tied. The PE doffs its cap to this OP for
dropping Hernandez for Percival who had a save last night. Ultimately
he had no use for him after Galarraga's outstanding start. The PE
starts Shields today against the Red Sox with nothing to lose and a
chance at WHIP if he shutdowns the BoSox over at least 6 innings.
A tall order but possible for the Rays ace. Runs and Homers are still
in play along with Steals, Saves and WHIP. Best case for this week
would seem to be a 5-5 split.

^ -designates an active player on today's roster.


Final Thoughts:

Millions of people in thousands of leagues on virtually
every continent play fantasy baseball on a daily basis.
No player should take advise from any source without
taking stock of their league's settings and a good working
knowledge of the basics of the game. With that said we
all play to different degrees based on time and interest.
Some people are fanatical, others are very serious and still
others are simply playing for casual enjoyment. The Player's
Edge welcomes all skill levels and the information provided
is not meant to be absolute. Simply said, when reviewing
the sections on streaming, spot plays and start/sit use those
players if you have a specific need. Be mindful of what specific
objective that you're trying to achieve, make your decisions
and move on. It's a 26 week long roller coaster ride so composure
and resiliency are the typical benchmarks of successful players.

To calculate era: total innings/9 = divisor, total earned runs/
by divisor = era. When using total innings use the fraction and
not the decimal to create the divisor. If your team has amassed
47.2 innings by Friday and allowed 9 runs the era would be
calculated as follows. 47.67/9 = 5.29667, 9/5.29667 = 1.70 era

Whip is calculated by adding the total hits and walks issued by
a pitcher or group of pitchers/total innings. Also use the fractional.
Ex: your team has pitched 34.1 innings so far this week and your
pitchers have allowed 46 combined runs and walks. Here's the
calculation 46/34.33 = 1.34 whip.

Batting average is total hits/total official atbats.