Fantasy Player's Edge

May 19, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

The Yankees skipper Joe Girardi suggested that Joba
Chamberlain may not be joining the rotation this season
but will remain Rivera's set up man. Obviously, this would
impair Joba's fantasy value for this season. Certainly wait
for more details before deciding on a course of action.

Jake Peavy will miss his start on Monday with soreness
in his elbow. He'll undergo an MRI on Monday when the
team returns home. Peavy said that he's had this issue
for some time but wanted to try and pitch through the
pain.

Roy Halladay took one for the team by pitching 2.1
innings of flawless relief after a second long rain
delay yesterday. His Tuesday start is being pushed
back until Saturday costing his owners a 2 start week.
Obviously he took one for the wrong team.

Shawn Hill's next start on Wednesday will be skipped
to allow additional time for his elbow to respond to a
cortisone shot and the removal of fluid.

Roy Oswalt said his pitching coach insisted he go out
for the 7th inning even though Oswalt complained
about a hip issue when he came into the dugout after
the 6th. We'll have to wait and see if this one has a
happy ending. It's probably prudent to assume that
Roy will miss a turn at the minimum.

The Red Sox reversed course and have decided to call
up Bartolo Colon for a start on Wednesday. He'll be an
asset to most fantasy rosters if he's right as the Red Sox
offense will provide reasonable run support. If Colon is
effective the Red Sox might leave Buchholz in Triple A
for a few turns to get him going again.

Jason Schmidt had a 2nd rehab start in low A. His velocity
was lacking but Schmidt said he was concerned primarily
with location and is giving little thought to velocity. He's
a ways off from becoming a productive MLB pitcher again.

Dontelle Willis was wild in his 3rd start at Triple A Toledo,
including a wild pitch that went behind a batter. In essence
it seems that he's regained his prior major league form. He
should be back blowing up for the Tigers fairly soon.

Alex Rodriguez plans to return to active duty on Tuesday.

Matt Holliday owners are breathing a cumulative sigh of
relief as their stud played in both games over the weekend.
It's apparent that Holliday's back ailment was not a major
issue.

Speaking of Holliday, his name along with that of Garrett
Atkins and Brian Fuentes have been mentioned in trade
rumors with the Indians. From a fantasy perspective this
would have little or no impact on any of these players either
way.

Carlos Gomez missed his 2nd consecutive game nursing a
sore wrist that resulted from a collision with the wall in
centerfield chasing down a long out. He's still a possible
DL candidate over the next few days.

Rick Ankiel, also missed his 2nd game in a row as he battles
left shoulder problems. He's day to day at the moment.

Hank Blalock will be activated this week and will return as
the Rangers everyday 1B. This could have a negative impact
on Saltalamacchia who most thought would get some 1B time
due to his deficiencies behind the plate.

Nomar Garciaparra is going to have more tests on a nagging
calf injury ruining an opportunity for SS eligibility as a fill in
for Furcal. Rafael should rejoin the Dodgers on Friday.

Jorge Posada caught a bullpen session on Saturday. He's
making progress although no timetable for his return has
been set.

Jeff Clement has been returned to Triple A Tacoma to regain
his confidence. Clement hit .167 over 15 games.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Chris Sampson-gets a chance to let his hair down and flex his
muscles for the Cubs. 2-0, 1.25/.88 over 22 frames.

Tom Glavine- welcomes his old team for a visit to his older
team. 16-7, 2.86/1.29 in 233 innings vs. the Mets.


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

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

Kevin Millar- has been ailing this season but gets a dose of
Dr. Mussina's medicine tomorrow night. 16/38, 5 extras, 2
jacks, 8 ribeyes with only 2 k's.

Omar Vizquel- plans to make short order of this Colorado
Cook. 7/18, a homer and 0 k's.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Juan Pierre (start)- spoils Arroyo's night right from the git go.
9/23, 2 extras and 1 k.

Ryan Zimmerman (start)- plays Ben Grimm in this remake
of the Fantastic Four visits Brett Myers. It's clobberin' time!!
9/22, 5 extras, a homer and 12 rbi.


Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.

Miguel Tejada (sit)- detests flowers particularly the Lilly.
3/24 with 6 k's vs. Ted the Cub.

Ryan Howard (sit)- big boy is getting exhausted dragging
his lumber back to the dugout. No rest for the weary on
this day. 1/10 with 5 k's against Redding.


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

Mark Hendrickson (stream)- DNP

Kyle Kendrick (stream)- ND 1ip/0e/0w/0k (rain delay)

Richie Sexson (spot)- 1/3

Jorge Cantu (spot)- 1/4

Adrian Beltre (start)- 0/4

Jason Bay (start)- 0/3

Adam Dunn (sit)- 2/3, solo homer

Nick Swisher (sit)- 1/1, 3 rbi (pinch hit)



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


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

Week 5: Monday


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

-------PE--36--7-27--1--.262/-6-9-89--4.19--1.32---8
-------OP--24--4-23--2--.284/-2-1-37--4.22--1.39---2

Offense: Lineups:

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

^B.Molina-------- ^Soto
Teixeira----------^Morneau
Roberts----------^Matsui
Braun------------^Zimmerman
Escobar----------- empty
^Griffey--------- ^Holliday
C. Young-----------Sizemore
^Kemp------------ Quentin
Figgins-------------C. Jackson
^Gomez----------- McLouth
^Glaus-------------Hunter
-------------------- Bruce
-------------------- Tulowitzki (DL)


------PE------//-----OP
10/33-4-2-13-0 //14/37-8-2-5-0 (daily totals: H/AB,R,HR,RBI)

Pitching: Rotation-Closers

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

Harang-----------F. Hernandez
^Shields----------Carmona
Weaver---------- Cook
Cain--------------Scherzer
S.Hill-------------Rasner
^F. Cordero------Eveland
^Saito------------Volquez
^Fuentes---------G. Olson
^Wood----------- Saunders
^Lilly-------------Smoltz-DL
Harden

-----PE--------//------OP
1W/2S, 14.1-8-17-17//0W/0S, 9-9-14-4 (day: W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(54/206) - OP (63/222)
Weekly Totals- ERA (47/(101/9) - OP ERA (25/(53.1/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (133/101) - OP WHIP (74/53.1) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---0-----OP----0

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

Daily Activity:


Strategy: Week 8 begins with each team having the possibility
of 5 active players on offense. PE includes Gomez, who has
missed the last 2 games with a sore wrist, in that count. OP,
without a closer on his active roster has no SP's tonight with
Aaron Cook tomorrow and a trio of youngsters, Rasner, Olson
and Eveland on Wednesday. Rasner and Olson will square off
as the Orioles visit New York. PE has Shields and Lilly on the
bump Monday and all 4 closers. On Tuesday PE will possibly
stream Bergmann for Glaus and then drop the Nationals
righthander for another start on Wednesday. Shawn Hill, as
expected, has been skipped for his start on Wednesday with
right elbow concerns leaving PE with one less start than OP.
The roster issue at the moment centers around Carlos Gomez.
He's likely to be DLed in a day of two leaving an offensive slot
empty should Glaus be used for streaming. The ideal situation
would be for Figgins to return at some point this week and he
and Gomez could be swapped with Chone activated and Carlos
taking his spot on the DL. Any stream activity will be done this
evening with the hope of having a bit more clarity on the Figgins
/Gomez situations. Additionally, these moves will undoubtedly
set off a flurry of activity with this OP so it's best if PE moves
late in the hope that OP will leave SS vacant for at least another
day. PE has 2 extra sets of AB's tomorrow with Escobar and
Teixeira playing in a doubleheader.


Game Keys: Week 7 ended with PE surging for an 8-2 victory.
PE's offense amassed 13 rbi to seize the category while backing
into the ERA point. Cain and Weaver combined to allow 8 earned
in 12.1 innings. PE closers added 2 scoreless innings essentially
providing the advantage over OP, who had Wang and Bell allow
9 earned in 9 innings. PE took the point with a 4.19 era vs. 4.22
era for OP. Without PE closers 2 inning contribution the team era
would have been 4.27 thereby ceding the point to OP. This week
was more of a struggle than the final score indicates.


Final Thoughts:

PE is in 3rd place, 5 games out of 1st and 1 game behind the
2nd place team heading into week 8.

The Player's Edge participates in many leagues but elected to
follow a team in a Public League to better approximate what might
be faced by a wide majority of players that use the Edge daily. This
team plays in a standard 5x5 scoring format and drafted 7th of 12
teams in a 21 round on-line live event in late March. We'll follow this
team throughout the entire 2008 fantasy campaign.


All Done!

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