Fantasy Player's Edge

May 21, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Pedro Martinez wants to return next week and Randolph
has verified that he's expected to join the team on the 29th
for the series at home against the Dodgers. If you have a
slot and he's in free agency you may want to speculate in
advance.

Roy Oswalt is going to pitch through hip discomfort and
make his scheduled start vs. the Phillies on Thursday.

John Smoltz, angry with media, will not be giving any
additional updates on his shoulder problems. He stated
that when he returns to the mound we'll all be able to
track his progress. Obviously he's not aware of what
fantasy owners are going through.

Rafael Soriano is off to Double A Mississippi for a rehab
assignment today. If all goes well he should be able to
pitch again on Friday and rejoin the Braves on Monday.
With Soriano, things going well are always a big "if".

Doug Davis is ready to return to the D'Backs after a
successful recovery from thyroid cancer. He's due
back on Friday. Whether Max Scherzer will stay
in the rotation, work out of the bullpen or return
to Triple A has not been revealed.

Francisco Liriano went 7 innings yesterday for Triple
A Rochester vs. Syracuse. He allowed only 2 runs but
yielded 9 whip while fanning a paltry 3. He's pitching
well but is by no means dominating Triple A hitters.
There's no word on when he may return to Minnesota's
rotation.

Carlos Villanueva has been demoted to the bullpen
with Seth McClung taking his place in the Brewers
rotation. Neither pitcher has any fantasy relevance
at this point.

Chone Figgins should be activated from the DL today.

Derek Jeter was hit on the hand by a Daniel Cabrera
fastball and had to leave the game. He's listed as day
to day.

Erick Aybar dislocated the pinky on his right hand
making a diving stop of an Alex Rios ground ball.
No word on the severity of the Halo's SS injury
has been disclosed.

Troy Tulowitzki took BP yesterday and swatted a
few long balls. He's due back around the All-Star
break but his appearance in the batting cage will
certainly give his owners hope that he may return
earlier than expected.

Jorge Posada is said to be returning to the Yankees on
or about June 1st.

Rick Ankiel is expected to return to the Cards lineup
today. Be safe and check the box at 9:05 EST before
you activate him or simply keep him on your bench
until he actually starts in a game.

Brad Hawpe was benched on Monday in an effort to
get him going. He's been awful, batting .236 with 3
homers and 16 rbi in 41 games. You may want to
give him a little more rope as he has spot play value
when he's right. He returned last night going 0/3
with an rbi.

Moises Alou was in LF for the Mets in the 1st game
of yesterday's twin bill with the Braves. He DHed
over the weekend vs. the Yankees. Alou can hit and
bears watching as it appears that he will get enough
AB's to be useful either as a 3 OF or Utility. He had
a pinch single in game 2.

Josh Willingham will be sidelined at least another
month with a herniated disc problem. Stay tuned
as it could be longer which would warrant his
release.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Tom Gorzelanny- the stars will be perfectly aligned in the
Pittsburgh sky over the stadium at 7:05 EST tomorrow
night. 2-0, 3.06/1.24 with 23 k's in 33 innings vs. the
unfortunate Brewers.

Andrew Miller- has quietly put together 3 terrific starts
vs San Diego, Washington and Kansas City. He faces a
much tougher task against the D'Backs but the 2-1, 2.00
/.94 and 17 k's in 18 frames is still quite impressive.


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

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

Ryan Garko- if he could face Buehrle twice a week he'd be
on his way to Cooperstown. 8/12 with 1 k.

Moises Alou- hits Hudson with authority. 7/17, 3 extras,
a jack, 3 rbi and only 1 k.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Xavier Nady (start)- airs out the Sheets during every trip
to Milwaukee. 7/13, 4 mults, 2 homers, 8 ribbies and 1 k.

Placido Polanco (start)- last great tenor in MLB will croon
a tune for Batista. 8/21 with a couple of extra base hits.


Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.

Jermaine Dye (sit)- can't even hit "fowl" balls consistently
versus this guy. 4/24 with 6 k's against Byrd.

Travis Hafner (sit)- Pronk's woes continue. 3/19, 6k's
vs. Vasquez.


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

Chris Sampson (stream)- W 6.2ip/2e/8w/4k

Tom Glavine (stream)- W 6ip/1e/4w/4k

Kevin Millar (spot)- 2/4, homer, 3 runs, rbi

Omar Vizquel (spot)- 0/3, rbi

Bill Hall (start)- 2/3, run, rbi

Justin Verlander (start)- W 6ip/1e/5w/7k

Ryan Church (sit)- 1/4

Adrian Beltre (sit)- 2/5, homer, 2 runs, 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 5: Wednesday


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

-------PE--8--0-8--0--.459/-2-2-18--2.82--1.07---8
-------OP--7--2-6--1--.265/-0-0--3--5.14--1.43---2

Offense: Lineups:

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

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


------PE------//-----OP
18/43-7-0-7-0 //7/31-5-1-3-0 (daily totals: H/AB,R,HR,RBI)

Pitching: Rotation-Closers

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

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

-----PE--------//------OP
0W/1S, 7.1-0-8-6//0W/0S, 7-4-10-3 (day: W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(28/61) - OP (13/49)
Weekly Totals- ERA (7/(22.1/9) - OP ERA (4/(7/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (24/22.1) - OP WHIP (10/7) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---8-----OP----8

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

Daily Activity:

PE Glaus(drop)/Bergmann-Mon
OP Rasner(drop)/Jackson-Tues
PE Bergmann(drop)/Byrd-Tues
OP Jackson(drop)/Contreras-Tues
PE Byrd(drop)/Gorzelanny-Wed


Strategy: PE withdrew the priority waiver for Hafner.
Hafner was not claimed and is available as a free agent.
OP dropped Jackson for Contreras, who's pitching well.
OP has 8 starts remaining this week as Contreras replaces
Jackson on Sunday. PE dropped Byrd for Gorzelanny on
Thursday which will give PE 8 starts remaining for the
week. Figgins will be activated today and PE will wait
for some results of this evening's games before deciding
on dropping Gorzelanny and activating Figgins. If PE
offense is holding off OP then PE will wait an additional
day, take Gorzelanny's start and have Figgins available
on Friday.

Game Keys: The additional AB's from Teixeira and Escobar
in the 1st game of the doubleheader resulted in a combined
5/7 with a run and 2 rbi. Their performances were a precursor
to PE's solid 18/43 day. On the downside PE is not hitting for
power or showing any speed as they have 0's in both categories.
Streamer Bergmann was solid throwing 7 shutout innings but
did not figure in the decision. OP's Cook was fair allowing 4
earned with 10 whip over 7 frames while taking the loss.
OP sends 2 youngsters today in Eveland and Garrett Olson
while PE will counter with streamer Byrd. OP is still playing
without a SS this week. PE has the early lead, 8-2.


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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