Fantasy Player's Edge

May 28, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Jay Bruce arrived in style going 3/3 with 2 runs, 2 rbi,
a steal and 2 walks. He's here to stay.

Chone Figgins may return to the DL after all. He's only
played in one game since being activated and could be
deactivated retroactively to allow him to be reactivated
on June 6th. Got it?

Eric Chavez is eligible to return to the A's but he's not
quite ready. He should return sometime during the first
week of June.

The D'backs have finally placed Eric Byrnes on the DL.
Byrnes has been playing on sore hamstrings for weeks.
Ben Francisco has been hitting well if you need a spot
play until Byrnes returns.

Gary Sheffield has been added to the DL once again this
time with a strained oblique.

Ryan Zimmerman missed a second game in a row with
shoulder problems. If he sits again tonight it would be
a precursor for a trip to the DL.

Pat Burrell was a late scratch with a stiff neck. He's day
to day.

Pirates SS Jack Wilson is active and returned to the lineup
yesterday going 3/5. He's serviceable if you need help at
the position.

Travis Hafner has a sore shoulder. He's missed 5 of the last
11 Indians games but it's more likely that his 2 year hiatus
from being a force at the plate had more to do with the
benching than the shoulder. Let's see if he hits the DL which
would corroborate the "shoulder's the problem" with Pronk
theory.

Ryan Church will visit a neurologist to try to get a diagnosis
for the dizziness that's kept him out of the Mets lineup. He
may finally end up on the DL.

Jorge Posada will have a major test of his injured shoulder
on Thursday when he's scheduled to throw to all bases in
an extended spring training game. He caught 6 innings and
went 3/6 yesterday in a rehab start. Barring a setback
Posada should return to the Yankees next week.

Joba Chamberlain will be joining the Yankees rotation after
this middle relief outing. How else would they stretch him
out? They want him to go 70 pitches after this outing which
would require at least 4 or 5 innings unless he's wild or getting
clobbered. He may even pick up a few 5 inning wins along the
way.

Pedro Martinez will pitch in a Class A game today in Florida
and if all goes well will rejoin the Mets in San Francisco for a
start against the Giants on Tuesday, June 3rd.

This might be the day Rafael Soriano is activated and is
crowned the Braves "closer for a day".

Daisuke Matsuzaka left his start last night with what is being
called shoulder fatigue. He's thrown a lot of pitches, year to
date, so this is not a surprise. Expect Dice-K to miss a turn.

Francisco Liriano struggled in Triple A yesterday allowing 6
runs on 8 whip in 6.2 innings. He was only able to fan 4. The
Twins are likely to keep him on the farm for the foreseeable
future.

Jake Peavy had a successful MRI on his elbow after throwing
40 pitches from flat ground. He hopes to throw off of a mound
over the weekend.

Jason Schmidt threw 45 pitches in a rehab start yesterday and
reported no issues after the outing. They'd like to see him use
about 60 pitches in his next start. He's still a long way off from
returning to the Dodgers but he is making progress.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

John Lannan- the 5th Beatle has no history against the
Padres. However he's 4-3, 2.60/1.35 in 62 innings on
the road over his career. He should pitch effectively at
Petco tomorrow.

John Danks- another road warrior heads south for a date
with the Rays. 2-0, 3.00/.92 with 11 k's in 12 frames vs.
Tampa.


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

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

Scott Podsednik- has a "Marquis" matchup at Wrigley Field.
7/17, with deuces wild. 2 extras, 2 steals and 2 k's vs. Jason.

Randy Winn- finds another D'Back hurler to his liking. This
time it's none other than the Big Unit. 7/20, 4 rbi and 4 steals.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Todd Helton (start)- "Eaton" as much as he's serving. 22/58
12 extras, 6 jacks and 13 rbi vs. the Phillies righthander.

Jim Thome (start)- hammers Westbrook regularly. 10/25,
4 extras, 3 homers and 10 ribbies.


Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.

Mike Jacobs (sit)- has had only one answer to 9 questions
posed by Oliver Perez. 1/9 with 5 k's.

Nick Swisher (sit)- returns to his reserved spot on the sit
list. 2/23 with 7 k's vs. Westbrook.


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

Aaron Laffey (stream)- W 6ip/1e/9w/0k

Brian Bannister (stream)- ND 5ip/3e/9w/3k

Ryan Garko (spot)- 1/3, 2 runs, rbi

Cliff Floyd (spot)- 2/2, homer, 3 runs, 2 rbi

Torii Hunter(start)- 0/3

Ken Griffey (start)- 0/2, run, rbi

Adam Dunn (sit)- 2/5, homer, 4 rbi

Ricky Weeks (sit)- 0/4


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--6--1--9--0--.279/-1-3-12--0.64--1.14---5
-------OP--5--2--7--1--.295/-1-0-26--6.84--1.75---4

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
10/36-3-1-5-0 //8/34-2-2-6-1 (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
^Garza


-----PE--------//------OP
1W/2S, 7.1-1-10-2//0W/0S, 18.2-16-39-17 (day: W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(17/61) - OP (18/61)
Weekly Totals- ERA (1/(14/9) - OP ERA (20/(26.1/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (16/14) - OP WHIP (46/26.1) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---8-----OP----5

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

Daily Activity:

PE Bergmann(drop)/Laffey-Mon
PE Laffey(drop)/Garza-Tues
PE Garza(drop)/Lannan-Wed


Strategy: PE added Lannan for Garza in an effort to keep pace
with K's and gain some ground in W's. OP's staff leads by 14 k's
with PE having an additional 3 starts left for the week. PE has
room for a substandard start or 2 due to high era/whip outings
from OP's staff. The strategy will be to continue to stream for
the remainder of the week with the possible exception of Friday
when PE has a full dance card of 3 SP's and 4 closers. If PE can
lock up saves by Thursday night then a late stream will be used
and a closer will sit on Friday. PE offense should be set for the
week.


Game Keys: OP was devastated by pitching. The combined OP
stat line was 0 wins, 0 saves, 16 runs and 39 whip in 18.2 innings.
The 17 k's were the only bright spot. PE Laffey got a high whip,
0 k win while PE closers recorded 2 saves. PE has a margin for
error in ERA/WHIP but it is too early in the contest to project
wins in either of those categories. Every offensive column is
extremely close as PE holds a 5-4 game lead currently.


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.