Fantasy Player's Edge

June 3, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Homer Bailey will be returning to the Reds rotation on
Thursday against the Phillies. The once highly regarded
prospect has yet to approximate the hype that followed
him to the mound last season.

Francisco Liriano has his best outing for Triple A Rochester
on Saturday. He went 6.1 innings allowing 1 run and 4 whip
while fanning 7. His velocity and location are improving with
each start.

John Smoltz returned to the Braves last night immediately
reprising his successful role from a few years earlier as their
closer. If he holds up he will become, once again, one of the
best closers in baseball. Cox has advised that he'll rotate
Smoltz, Soriano and Acosta initially until he's comfortable
that the Braves icon can handle the load. Smoltz blew a
save and a win for Soriano last night in a game that the
Braves ultimately won.

Brian Fuentes owners beware as the Yankees are believed
to be interested in acquiring the lefthander to assume the
set up role vacated by Joba Chamberlain. Manny Corpas or
Taylor Buchholz would be the logical choices for the Rockies
closer position should Fuentes be dealt away. Fuentes value
would be minimal with the Yankees.

Nick Blackburn expects to make his next start vs. the White
Sox on Friday. He was struck in the face by a line drive off
the bat of Bobby Abreu on Sunday.

Eric Gagne will not be activated this week as Saloman Torres
registered another save for the Brewers. Yost has a tough
decision to make when Gagne is finally activated.

Jason Schmidt will probably remain in the minors for at
least another month as he is said to have a calf injury that
will allow the Dodgers to reset his rehabilitation clock for
another 3o days. Some media outlets are intimating that
the injury was contrived to buy Schmidt and the club more
time before having to make a decision on whether to activate
Jason.

Very bad new for David Ortiz and his owners. Big Papi will
be sidelined at least a month and could face possible season
ending surgery with a tear in his left wrist.

Ryan Zimmerman has a small labral tear in his left shoulder
and will be visiting Dr. Andrews in Birmingham to get a 2nd
opinion. He'll probably have to go on the DL as the preliminary
diagnosis calls for a treatment of rest with anti-inflammatory's.

Vlad Guerrero jammed his knee sliding into 2nd base in the
9th inning of Sunday's game. He was evaluated yesterday
and rested last night. He's day to day.

Ken Griffey had his quest for 600 homers delayed by a seat
on the bench due to "general soreness". He should be back
today.

No news on Rafael Furcal is not good news. Raffy purportedly
visited a back specialist last week.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Ted Lilly- hot and cold season heats up again for the Cubs southpaw.
4-0, 2.93/.98 with 33 k's in 31 frames vs. the Padres.

Manny Parra- his last outing against Houston was solid. Parra has no
history vs. the D'Backs but is 2-0, 3.24/1.44 with 26 k's in 33 innings
at home this season.


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

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

Wes Helms- is certain to get a starting gig against Glavine tomorrow
night. 9/22, 2 jacks, 5 ribbies vs. Tommy Terrific.

J.D. Drew- if he can crack the Red Sox outfield he's likely to crack
Edwin Jackson as well. 5/12 with 3 extras and a couple of rbi.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Jermaine Dye (start)- Greinke will be very, very "creinke" once
Dye is done with him. 8/23, 4 mults, 2 jacks and 5 rbi.

Ken Griffey (start)- appears in the "start" for the 3rd day running.
3/7, 2 blasts with 5 ribbies against Adam Eaton.


Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.

Mike Cameron (sit)- it would be shocking if Yost plays him
against the Big Unit. 2/27 with 16 k's vs. Johnson.

Paul Konerko (sit)- "Cashews" is out of his league against the
Royals righthander. 3/28, 9 k's against Greinke.

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

Aaron Laffey (stream)- ND 5ip/8e/13w/2k

JoJo Reyes (stream)- ND 6ip/3e/6w/4k

Kevin Millar (spot)- 1/3, 2 rbi

Jack Wilson (spot)- 1/3

Todd Helton (start)- 3/4, rbi

Ken Griffey (start)- DNP

Khalil Greene (sit)- 0/3

Johnny Damon (sit)- 2/5, 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: Tuesday


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

-------PE--9--3--7--2--.429/-0-1-11--7.30--1.70---6
-------OP--5--1--3--0--.286/-2-0-14--4.07--1.15---4

Offense: Lineups:

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

^B.Molina--------- ^McCann
^Teixeira----------^D. Lee
^Roberts---------- ^Phillips
^Braun------------^A. Rodriguez
^Escobar----------^Young
^Griffey---------- ^Ichiro
^C. Young-------- ^Abreu
^Kemp----------- ^Ankiel
^Gomez---------- ^Thome
Figgins (DL)------- Gordon
--------------------J. Guillen
--------------------Lugo
--------------------Sheffield (DL)



------PE------//-----OP
15/35-9-3-7-2 //10/35-5-1-3-0 (daily totals: H/AB,R,HR,RBI)

Pitching: Rotation-Closers

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

^Harang----------- Wainwright
Shields-------------Lowe
Weaver------------ Meche
Cain----------------McGowan
Harden-------------Guthrie
^F. Cordero-------^Street
^Saito-------------^Marmol
^Fuentes----------^S. Shields
^Wood------------- G. Smith
^Martinez
^Slowey
^Floyd


-----PE--------//------OP
0W/1S, 12.1-10-21-11//2W/0S, 24.1-11-28-14 (W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(15/35) - OP (10/35)
Weekly Totals- ERA (10/(12.1/9) - OP ERA (11/(24.1/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (21/12.1) - OP WHIP (28/24.1) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---12-----OP----6

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

Daily Activity:

PE Laffey(drop)/Slowey-Mon
PE Reyes(drop)/Floyd-Mon
PE Slowey(drop)/Danks-Tues
PE Floyd(drop)/Parra-Tues


Strategy: Kevin Slowey and Gavin Floyd were used to add John
Danks and Manny Parra to the PE rotation for Wednesday. The
decision to stream aggressively was effectively reached after
Laffey blew up allowing 8 earned in 5 innings as OP opened up
with 2 W's, thanks to a win from Street, to 0 W's for PE. Strategy
mandates that PE play for W's, Saves and K's this week as OP's
offense is too dynamic for PE not to play for 3 pitching points. PE
has 4 SP's available tonight and tomorrow vs. none for OP. PE will
sit Fuentes on both days as the Rockies are facing the Dodgers and
Saito in Los Angeles, to accomodate the additional SP on each day.


Game Keys: this contest is scoring exactly opposite of what was
expected. PE controls all of the offensive points while OP has the
lead in 4 of the 5 pitching categories heading into Tuesday's full
slate of games. PE offense was a robust 15/35 with 9 runs, 3 HR's,
7 rbi and 2 steals. OP pitching registered 2 W's with a 4.07/1.15,
14 k combined performance over 24.1 innings. PE managed the
only save of the night. The match is 6-4 in favor of PE.

Final Thoughts:

Even with an 8-2 victory in week 9 PE fell to 3rd place 4
games out of 1st and 1.5 out of second place heading into
week 10. PE is 31-9 over last 4 weeks.

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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