Fantasy Player's Edge

May 26, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Matt Holliday was placed on the DL with a strained right
hamstring. There's no way to replace this type of offense
so make the best of it. Try Bradley, Francisco or even
Guillen. You can use the best daily matchup if you decide
that a few reserves will be needed to fill his shoes. The
Roc's have really been hit hard by injuries to key players.

Chipper Jones was not in the starting lineup for the
Braves due to an isolated back spasm. He's not
expected to miss any games other than yesterday's.

Lance Berkman had a hand injury but stayed in
yesterday's contest. Sometimes issues arise the
next day with these types of injuries so be
certain he's active before committing a roster
spot.

Hank Blalock had another setback as his carpal
tunnel has not responded to medication. It's
supposed to be only a few days but at this point
when Blalock returns and is actually in a starting
lineup is when it will be reported.

Good grief. China Kendrick is rehabbing at Triple A Salt
Lake. The word is he should return in a week. A week!!!!
C'mon, this is now bordering on ridiculous.

Speaking of ridiculous, Rafael Furcal will not be playing or
joining the team during the Dodgers 7 game road trip. The
concern is that his back might be bothered by a long flight.
So, fielding, hitting, running, sliding and throwing will be
okay but an airplane ride might be devastating. Furcal is
probably going to be hindered by this back condition all
season.

Chone Figgins received another day off yesterday. Sooner
or later someone is going to have to fess up about something.

Vlad Guerrero was also "rested" last night against the ChiSox.

Troy Glaus was rushed to the hospital during the 9th
inning of Saturday night's game in Los Angeles. It
turns out it wasn't much, thankfully, as he was back
in the Cards lineup on Sunday

Ryan Zimmerman and Xavier Nady are said to be
getting a day off to nurse minor ailments today.
Check their respective lineup cards to be certain but
with teams traveling most fantasy rosters will have
open slots so you might keep them active should they
pinch hit.

Clayton Kershaw was terrific in his debut. He threw
101 pitches over 6 innings allowing 2 runs, 6 whip
with 7 k's. It's unfortunate that the Dodgers pen
could not save the win for him.

Clay Buchholz had a solid 4 inning stint for Triple A
Pawtucket allowing 1 earned on 5 whip with 3 k's.
He threw 63 pitches, 38 for strikes while hitting 96
mph on his heater. He'll toss another rehab on Friday.

Fausto Carmona is going to be sidelined for at least 4
weeks with a hip problem. He's good enough to stash
on the DL until he returns to active duty.

Wandy Rodriguez will be activated and pitch against
the Cards in St. Louis on Wednesday. He makes an
effective spot play at home on occasion.

A few week's ago several fantasy pundits evoked the
dreaded sophomore jinx to explain a slow start by
Ryan Braun. They went so far as to remind players that
they were warned not to overspend for Braun in the
1st round and his performance to date had substantiated
this claim. The Edge called for a bit of patience as he had
not had a full season in the bigs, in early May, when all this
nonsense was being espoused. Yesterday marked Braun's
one year anniversary in MLB. In 162 games he's hitting
.311 with 47 homers, 116 runs, 134 rbi and 16 steals. As
for this year he's hitting .284 with 13 homers and 37 rbi.
By comparison David Wright and Miguel Cabrera are
hitting .283 with 9 homers/36 rbi and .282 with 7
homers and 27 rbi respectively. At this stage Braun is
measuring up quite nicely with his contemporaries. Is
it possible that the top 8 picks used for Wright or Cabrera
were also inadvisable? Making a call in early May on the
validity of a draft pick is sheer folly. Braun's the real deal,
no worries on spending a 1st rounder on this guy. He'll hit
.300+ with 40 jacks and 125 rbi for his owners in 2008
and those are 1st round numbers!


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Aaron Laffey- this youngster is better at home and gets the
ChiSox coming in on Tuesday. 1-1, 4.26/1.18 with 10 k's in
12 innings.

Brian Bannister- has been dreadful of late but has one of
those matchups that can cover a multitude of poor starts.
3-0, 1.45/.84 in 31 frames vs. Minnesota.


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

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

Ryan Garko- has Buehrle's private number. 8/14 with 1 k.

Cliff Floyd- welcomes zany Padilla to the Tampa Bay area. No
fun in the sun for Vincente on Tuesday. 4/12 with 2 jacks.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Nick Swisher (start)- faces the only pitcher in MLB that he
owns. 8/23 with only 2 k's vs Byrd. This is it Swisherettes,
it's now and sit him forever.

Adrian Beltre (start)- is thrilled to see Colon back in action.
15/40, 10 extras, 4 homers and 12 ribeyes.


Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.

Travis Hafner (sit)- finds yet another moundsman that he
can't seem to handle. It's becoming a recurring theme with
big Pronk. 4/22 with 7 k's against Vasquez.

Michael Young (sit)- perennial 200 hit guy has not gotten
too many off of the Rays plucky lefthander. 1/8 with 3 k's
vs. Kazmir.


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

Jose Contreras (stream)- ND 8ip/2e/3w/10k

Mark Hendrickson (stream)- W 5ip/5e/11w/5k

Kevin Millar (spot)- 0/4

Omar Vizquel (spot)- 0/4

Garret Anderson (start)- 1/4

Carlos Pena (start)- 1/2, homer, 2 runs, 2 rbi

Nick Swisher (sit)- 0/3

Jim Thome (sit)- 0/3


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-31--5--34--4--.327/-5-4-48--3.63--1.28---7
-------OP-26--7--30--6--.297/-2-0-37--4.62--1.23---3

Offense: Lineups:

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

B.Molina---------- ^Johjima
^Teixeira---------- Pujols
^Roberts----------^Uggla
^Braun------------^DeRosa
^Escobar----------^Guillen
Griffey------------^J. Upton
^C. Young----------Dunn
^Kemp------------^Granderson
^Figgins---------- ^K. Johnson
Gomez------------- Helton
--------------------Swisher
-------------------^H. Matsui



------PE------//-----OP
15/39-10-1-8-2 //12/28-5-2-4-1 (daily totals: H/AB,R,HR,RBI)

Pitching: Rotation-Closers

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

Harang------------Hudson
Shields------------Jimenez
Weaver----------^Moyer
Cain---------------Snell
Harden------------Maddox
F. Cordero--------^Gregg
^Saito------------^Corpas
^Fuentes---------- Springer
^Wood-------------Peavy-DL
Lilly----------------Accardo-(DL)
Martinez-DL
^Bergmann

-----PE--------//------OP
0W/0S, 0-0-0-0//0W/0S, 13.2-6-18-11 (day: W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(72/220) - OP (57/192)
Weekly Totals- ERA (23/(57/9) - OP ERA (25/(48.2/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (73/57) - OP WHIP (60/48.2) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---0-----OP----0

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

Daily Activity:

PE Bergmann(drop)/Laffey-Mon


Strategy: Bergmann was dropped this morning for Aaron Laffey.
The objective for the first 3 days of this week will be to equalize
the number of starts by streaming through Wednesday. If Pedro
is activated by the Mets then he'll start on Wednesday. Lilly starts
on Friday and if necessary his spot will be used to pick up additional
pitching or offense. It would be useful if Figgins went back on the DL.
He's a dead roster spot at the moment as he's only played one game
since being activated. A trip to the DL would provide another flex
position for week 9. OP starts Moyer today with 1 closer/1 set up
and has 8 active on offense at the moment. PE counters with Jason
Bergmann, 3 closers, although Wood and Saito matchup and 7 hitters
if Figgins finally returns.


Game Keys: Bengie Molina singlehandedly assured both RBI and
BA would fall to PE. He was 6/7 with 5 rbi in a doubleheader vs.
the Marlins. PE offense, overall, was outstanding going 15/39 with
10 runs and 8 rbi enabling PE to take Runs as well. Contreras saved
WHIP for OP with a brilliant 8 inning, 3 whip outing offsetting the
15 whip, 5.2 inning Cabrera fiasco. In essence status quo prevailed
in all categories with PE offense capturing the tied points in Runs
and RBI turning a 5-3 lead into a 7-3 victory.


Final Thoughts:

PE is tied for 2nd place, 4.5 games out of 1st heading into week 9.
PE is 23-7 over last 3 weeks enabling the climb to the coveted 2nd
place position.

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!

Site Updated by 10:00 EST Daily.