Fantasy Player's Edge

May 30, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Howie Kendrick has done it. He's played in back to back
games at Triple A Salt Lake and could be activated at
any point this weekend.

Chone Figgins will learn today if he's heading back to the
DL with a sore hamstring. If the Angels do opt to disable
Chone it will be retroactive to May 22nd and he would be
eligible to be activated on Friday June 6th. Stay tuned.

Rafael Furcal's condition has now become worrisome. He's
still not been cleared to return to baseball activities and
when/if he finally is he'll have to rehab before being
activated. His back will probably adversely affect his
base stealing for the rest of the year.

Eric Chavez was unexpectedly activated by the A's,
taking Frank Thomas' place on the roster. Thomas was
placed on the DL with a bad quad. Chavez has limited
value but if you're desperate for 3B, CI or a little extra
power at Util pick him up before he gets going. He went
0/4 yesterday.

Royals DH Billy Butler was demoted to Triple A Omaha
to regain his hitting stroke. Obviously he's not worth
waiting for so it's time to let him go and move on. Ben
Francisco, Mike Cameron, Troy Glaus or Scott Rolen
will give you more production than Butler.

Aaron Hill left the Blue Jays game with a head injury
after colliding with David Eckstein. He's probable for
today but will most likely sit as a precaution.

Ryan Zimmerman missed his 4th consecutive game with
a sore shoulder. He's pronounced himself day to day but
is being cautious to avoid a stint on the DL.

Jorge Posada will go all out on Saturday in an extended
spring training game. He'll throw to all bases and will be
tested as the opponent (Rays) has been asked to run on
him all game. He's likely to return to the Yankees early
next week.

Ryan Church may resume baseball activities today but
there is no timetable for his return.

Ron Gardenhire finally did what fantasy owners had
already done a few weeks ago, he benched Delmon
Young. The Rays brass has to feel pretty good about
getting Garza and Bartlett for this underachieving,
moody outfielder.

Troy Percival's MRI came back clean. The Rays, however,
have determined that a stint on the DL will be advisable
for their closer. The upside, of course, is that Percy's
injury is not considered serious. Dan Wheeler and Al
Reyes are in line to close but Maddon has not anointed
either so you may have to own both in the short term
to assure that you get Percival's saves.

Rafael Soriano pitched an uneventful major league inning
yesterday and pronounced himself healthy afterwards.
Well that's a relief. Smoltz is due back any day so Raffy's
value is limited.

Speaking of Smoltzy, he pitched 2 perfect innings in the
minors yesterday with no ill effects. He'll throw one more
inning on Saturday and will join the Braves on Monday.

Jason Schmidt will pitch on a normal 5 day cycle which
is part of getting back into a necessary routine. He's not
close just yet but he is tracking to make a return to the
Dodgers in July.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is headed to the DL with a slight
strain of the rotator cuff. Make your plans now to
cover his missed starts. Expect the Red Sox to call
up Masterson for one start and probably Buchholz
for the other 2.

Chris Young's fractured nose will require surgery
sidelining the Padres righthander until after the
All Star break at the minimum.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Scott Feldman- career reliever is opening eyes as a starter. He's
solid at home and against the A's. 1-1, 1.96/1.31 with 11 k's in 18
frames.

There are no other acceptable stream candidates for Saturday.


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

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

Ty Wigginton- looks to air out the Sheets with every visit to
Milwaukee. 10/23, 2 clouts, 7 rbi, a steal with only 3 k's
vs. Ben the Brewer.

Shannon Stewart- is no Lackey at the plate vs big John the
Angel. 14/41 with 4 extra base hits.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Jered Weaver (start)- not only is he pitching well but he has
one of those matchups that bode well for his continued success.
2-0, 2.31/1.29 against the Blue Jays with an added kicker of
a home game where he excels.

Mike Jacobs (start)- turns bad boy Myers over his knee.
7/18, 5 extras with a jack.


Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.

Grady Sizemore (sit)- Meche frequently chops him down
to Grady Sizeless. 4/22 with 5 k's.

Jason Bay (sit)- needs to take better vitamins in order to
get Well(emeyer) vs. the Cards flamethrower. 2/10 with
5 whiffs.


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

John Lannan (stream)- ND 6ip/2e/8w/5k

John Danks (stream)- W 6ip/1e/7w/8k

Scott Podsednik (spot)- 0/3

Randy Winn (spot)- 3/5, 2 solo homers

Aaron Rowand (start)- 2/4, run

Juan Pierre (start)- 1/4, steal

Brad Penny (sit)- L 4ip/5e/11w/2k

Brandon Phillips (sit)- Duke-DNP


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


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

Week 5: Friday


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

-------PE--13--2--20--0--.320/-2-3-37--2.85--1.20---7
-------OP--15--4--14--2--.297/-1-0-26--6.67--1.76---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
10/29-3-1-6-0 //10/26-5-2-5-1 (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
^Millwood


-----PE--------//------OP
0W/0S, 11-8-19-10//0W/0S, 1-0-1-0 (day: W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(39/122) - OP (33/111)
Weekly Totals- ERA (13/(41/9) - OP ERA (21/(28.1/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (49/41) - OP WHIP (50/28.1) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---6-----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
PE Lannan(drop)/Millwood-Thur
PE Millwood(drop)/Feldman-Fri


Strategy: PE dropped Millwood for Feldman. It's borderline
unimaginable to use 2 Rangers starters in a week but on
consecutive days is a fantasy death wish. PE likes Feldman
while Millwood was a concession to the paucity of solid
probables to stream today. PE will sit Wood and Fuentes, as
they oppose each other, to create roster spots for 5 SP's. OP
counters with Maddux but does have 4 SP's going on Sunday.
The worrisome aspect of this week is that OP will get the
final say on pitching leaving no room for adjustments or
counter plays. Both offenses should be at full strength
for the rest of the match.


Game Keys: PE heads into the turn with a 7-3 advantage
primarily because of a streaming strategy as roster stalwarts
like Harden and Harang have yet to produce a win. Harang
was dreadful pitching on 3 days rest against a favorable
opponent in Pittsburgh. The silly part is he could have just
as easily pitched today on normal rest with Volquez, who
pitched only an inning on Sunday as opposed to Harang's
4 or Belisle going yesterday instead. This shapes up to be
a day of reckoning/wreckoning as PE sends 5 SP's to the
mound vs. Maddux for OP. The opportunity for ERA/WHIP
destruction is great in these types of scenarios. OP offense
continues to scrap with 2 homers and a stolen base to further
the lead in both categories. OP also forged ahead in Runs and
has closed the gap precipitously in BA. The outcome of this
contest in every point, with the possible exception of Saves,
is very much in doubt.


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!

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