Fantasy Player's Edge

May 22, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Rafael Furcal was eligible to come off the DL yesterday but
remained in rehab. There's some talk of having him make
a start or two in Triple A before rejoining the Dodgers.
Stay tuned as he will be returning soon if he has no further
setbacks.

Ryan Church and Yunel Escobar collided on a game ending
double play on Tuesday. Church has a concussion and is
day to day. Escobar was helped off the field and had a huge
ice wrap around his knee in the clubhouse after the game.
When asked Yunel would only say "no DL". That can't be
good. Both players sat out last night's game.

Chipper Jones got plunked on the right shin. It was swollen
after the game but Chipper feels that it will not be an issue.
It's possible that he could sit out today as a precaution. Check
out the box at 6pm EST just to be sure that he's active.

Hank Blalock looks like he'll return on Friday as the Rangers
1B. His rehab is right on track and Hank seems good to go.

Moises Alou walked off in the bottom of the 3rd with a cramp
in his calf. Let's see if a drink of water has him back active
tonight.

Tony LaRussa speculates that Rick Ankiel will return on
Friday and after pinch hitting a 2 run homer in last night's
game he seems to be ready. Start him if you need him.

Erick Aybar is headed to the DL with a dislocated, badly
swollen right pinky. The Angels middle infield has been
hit unusually hard by injuries to Kendrick, Figgins and
now Aybar. Figgins was activated and took Aybar's
roster spot.

Bill Hall has been relegated to a platoon with Craig
Counsell. Hall's slow start has prompted the move.
Hall should be released for a full time 3B eligible
such as Blalock when he returns. Of course Billy
could be back in Yost's everyday lineup once Ned
realizes that Counsell is not an answer. Steer
clear of this nonsense.

Johnny Peralta returns to the Tribe lineup after being
exiled by Wedge for 3 days due to lack of concentration.
Wedge is quickly gaining on Charlie Manuel for this year's
Sigmund Freud award.

Andruw Jones is trying to avoid surgery that would keep
him sidelined for 4-6 weeks. Torre would rather Jones
have the surgery which would solve the same problem
for him that fantasy owners of Pierre, Ethier and Kemp
have as long as Jones is active.

Pedro Martinez went to the Dominican Republic to be
with his father who's taken a turn for the worse. No
word yet on when Pete will return to the Mets.

Chris Young was hit in the face by a Pujols line drive.
The Padres righthander will be evaluated today.

There's joy in Jobaland today. Obviously Girardi's
comments that Joba would remain Rivera's set up
man were a needless head fake as Chamberlain's
being stretched out. He went 2 innings, throwing
35 pitches last night. The Yankees need SP so
this makes perfect sense although at this pace it
will be a few weeks before he has his 1st start.

Bartolo Colon had an efficient return to the hill
for the BoSox. He went 5 innings allowing 2
earned on 8 whip with 4 k's while using 74 pitches
to earn the win. He's a good speculative pick up if
you're SP mediocre.

Dontrelle Willis is returning to the Tigers as a reliever.
Leyland says he wants to get him right and he'll go
from that point. Willis has absolutely no value and
should not be on any fantasy roster.

Joe Borowski threw again yesterday and is expected to
resume closing for the Indians on Friday. Owners need
to break out the hardhats as JoBo's demolition of the
9th inning is about to begin.

Troy Percival felt a bit of tightness in his hamstring but
was able to close out Oakland on Tuesday night. Percy
was given yesterday off after having pitched 2 days in
a row and with the Rays off today he has a bit of time to
relax the hammy. He should be back closing on Friday.

Eric Gagne complained of shoulder stiffness after allowing
2 runs on 4 whip in .2 inning stint. Thankfully for the
Brewers it was a mop up appearance in a 7-0 game. It's
time to get the Mota/Torres shuffle going again as Gagne
has been shutdown and is returning to Milwaukee. The
Edge likes Mota but fantasy players may have to own
both to gain a few saves from this mess.

This year, more than any other, the information being
provided by the ballclub's and reported by the media
outlet's has been inconsistent or patently misleading.
Bobby Cox now states that Smoltz should return to
the Braves within 2 weeks along with Soriano and
Gonzalez. Tuesday it was implied that Smoltz might
be delayed for an extended period by recurring
shoulder soreness after throwing.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Scott Olsen- next pitcher in line to defeat Zito. 1-1,
1.93/1.07 with 9 k's in 14 frames against the Giants.

Shawn Estes- never sees Reds when Cincinnati comes
calling. 7-2, 3.68/1.24 with 52 k's in 81 innings.


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

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

Luis Gonzalez- next hitter in line to abuse Zito. 7/15,
2 jacks and 6 rbi.

Andy Kennedy- enjoys a visit to Chan Ho Park while
in Los Angeles. 9/23, 3 extras and 4 rbi.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Adrian Beltre (start)- believes strongly in forming a lasting
Bond with opposing pitchers. 5/14, 2 mults, a blast and 4 rbi
against Bonderman.

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


Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.

Bill Hall (sit)- can't hit or spell Gorzelanny. 1/10 with 6 k's.

Torii Hunter (sit)- it's no Halladay for Torii when he's in
Toronto. 3/25 and 5 k's vs. Roy the boy.


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

Paul Byrd (stream)- L 5.1ip/5e/7w/1k

Sidney Ponson (stream)- W 9ip/1e/7w/5k

Marco Scutaro (spot)-1/4, run

Joey Cora (spot)- DNP

Xavier Nady (start)- 2/4, solo homer

Placido Polanco (start)- (faces Batista today)

Jermaine Dye (sit)- 2/2, 2 homers, 4 rbi

Travis Hafner (sit)- 1/4, 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: Thursday


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

-------PE-13--0-13--0--.419/-2-3-21--4.25--1.15---8
-------OP--9--2--9--3--.266/-1-0--9--5.30--1.29---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
11/32-5-0-5-0 //8/30-2-0-3-2 (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
^Gorzelanny

-----PE--------//------OP
0W/1S, 7.1-7-10-3//1W/0S, 11.2-7-14-6 (day: W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(39/93) - OP (21/79)
Weekly Totals- ERA (14/(29.2/9) - OP ERA (11/(18.2/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (34/29.2) - OP WHIP (24/18.2) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---7-----OP----5

^ -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
PE Gorzelanny(drop)/Figgins-Thurs


Strategy: Gorzelanny was dropped to create a roster spot
for Chone Figgins. Figgy will be available to PE on Friday.
OP lost Cook's Sunday start and had Saunders outing
pushed back a day or two due to illness leaving OP with
5 starts remaining for the week. PE has 7. Unless there
is a dramatic change in events PE will use a straight
forward strategy with pitching/offense going forward
and adjust if necessary. PE has 7 active today on offense
if Escobar returns and 2 SP's with a closer. OP has 6
starting on offense with no active pitching.


Game Keys: PE continues to lead OP 8-2 heading into the
mid-point of week 8. OP Eveland was brilliant against the
Rays throwing a complete game win allowing 1 run and 4
whip but Olson got throttled in the Bronx allowing 6 earned
and 10 whip in 2.2 innings. PE Fuentes blew a save and yielded
2 runs on 3 whip while streamer Byrd turned a no hitter thru
4 into 5 earned on 7 whip after 5.1 innings. That combination
has put ERA and WHIP in play but the points remain with PE.
PE offense continues to rake for average going 11/32 but still
is experiencing a power outage and a speed shortage. OP
controls both homers and steals with 2 and 3 respectively to
PE's zero in both categories.



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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