Fantasy Player's Edge

June 4, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Albert Pujols left in the 4th inning with tightness in his calf.
The extent of the injury should be available today.

Vlad Guerrero missed a 2nd consecutive start with a sore
knee. With the Angels off tomorrow it's likely that Vlad
will sit today as well. Check the box prior to gametime to
be certain either way.

Victor Martinez was rested, again, with a sore hamstring.
V-Mart has been unreliable of late and his availability
must be verified every game. Of course this would only
apply if you have a spot play on the roster.

Ryan Freel left with a strained hamstring. His only value
is steals so this would be a catastrophic injury for his owners.

Vernon Wells took BP for a 2nd day and reported no problems.
He could return by the end of this month.

2B's Luis Castillo and Aaron Hill sat out with nagging injuries.
Both keystoners are day to day.

Rafael Furcal now favors a 3 or 4 game rehab assignment
in Triple A. He did not, however, say when he would begin
that assignment.

Andruw Jones hopes to be back with the Dodgers in early
July, prior to the All Star break. He'll have no immediate
fantasy value upon his return to active status.

Conor Jackson should be in the D'Backs lineup today.
Check the box score around 1pm EST, as Arizona has
an afternoon game in Milwaukee, to be certain of his
availability.

Carl Crawford was rested last night after tweaking a
leg on a diving catch on Sunday. An MRI of the leg
came back clean so the Rays speedster is day to day.

Ken Griffey sat for a 2nd consecutive game due to
general soreness. He's has to be hurting as Kendrick
and Eaton were 2 extremely favorable righthanders
for Junior.

Eric Byrnes is scheduled to begin running on Friday.
He's purportedly doing well and if he can run without
issues they'll target June 11th to activate him from the
DL.

Jorge Posada could rejoin the Yankees today as a pinch
hitter and return behind the plate on Thursday.

The patience of Rafael Soriano owners may finally be
rewarded as the Braves have scheduled a conference
this morning at 11:30 EST to discuss John Smoltz's
future. He woke up this morning with extreme pain
in his throwing shoulder which may require season
ending surgery. Stay tuned.

Curt Schilling will throw from a mound on Friday.
This is a very early step in his recovery from biceps
degeneration. There's been no indication of a bullpen
session or rehab assignment in the near term.

The Joba Chamberlain era officially began auspiciously
last night against the Blue Jays. Joba went 2.1 innings
allowing 1 earned on 5 whip with 3 k's while throwing
62 pitches. It's a start.

455. That's the number of innings used that would
keep you on track to deploy maximum innings (1250)
over the course of the season in Rotisserie. A number
significantly above or below should be a call to action.

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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Josh Banks- is making a name for himself as a placeholder in the
rotation for Peavy, Young and Estes. He has a tough test at home
vs. the Mets but he's 2-0, 0.00/1.12 with 10 k's in 17 innings since
being brought up by the Padres.

Brandon Backe- normally can be streamed only at home but he's
being recommended on the road against one of his favorite patsies,
the Pirates. 4-1, 2.86/1.07 with 23 k's in 35 frames.


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

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

Joey Gathright- has a great "track" record against Contreras. 8/25
with 5 steals.

Aaron Hill- getting Hill out is a "mountain" that Wang he's been
unable to climb. 10/17 with 5 extra base knocks.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Jeff Kent (start)- Aaron gets his goose "Cook-ed" today. 11/19,
2 mults, a homer, 5 rbi with 0 k's.

Ken Griffey (start)- appears in the "start" for the 4th day running.
5/12, 2 extras and a blast against Brett Myers.


Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.

Kevin Youkilis (sit)- has a bad taste for the offerings served by
the Rays righty. 1/11 with 5 k's vs. Jackson

Carlos Pena (sit)- reminiscent of "Waiting for Godot" watching
Pena hit against Beckett. 2/12 with 6 k's.

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

Kevin Slowey (stream)- ND 6ip/4e/7w/2k

Gavin Floyd (stream)- W 7ip/2e/6w/4k

Freddy Sanchez (spot)- 1/4

Lastings Milledge (spot)- 1/4

Jermaine Dye (start)- 1/4, run

Ken Griffey (start)- DNP

Mike Cameron (sit)- 0/3, run

Paul Konerko (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: Wednesday


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

-------PE-13--4-10--2--.333/-2-2-26--5.17--1.43---7
-------OP--7--1--6--1--.194/-2-0-14--3.91--1.11---2

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
8/34-4-1-3-0 //3/32-2-0-3-1 (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
^Danks
^Parra


-----PE--------//------OP
2W/1S, 26-12-34-15//0W/0S, 1-0-0-0 (W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(23/69) - OP (13/67)
Weekly Totals- ERA (22/(38.1/9) - OP ERA (11/(25.1/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (55/38.1) - OP WHIP (28/25.1) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---9-----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
PE Danks(drop)/Banks-Wed
PE Parra(drop)/Gathright-Wed


Strategy: John Danks and Manny Parra were used to add
Joey Gathright and Josh Banks to the PE offense and pitching
for Thursday. The thought behind the Gathright spot play is
to pad the current lead enjoyed by PE in steals and runs. PE
will resume a 2 pitcher daily streaming strategy on Friday in
an effort to secure Wins and K's. Kemp got into a fight last night
and is certain to be suspended. PE is hoping for one game but
realistically it's probably going to be 3. It would be helpful if
he appeals and continues playing this week as there's a chance
that Figgins will return next week. Griffey has also been sitting
and his return would be welcomed.


Game Keys: PE pitching, the cornerstone of this week's battle
plan, was reasonably effective in registering 2 W's and a save
that allowed PE to tie W's and open up a bit of breathing room
in saves. ERA/WHIP reside with OP and unless there's a major
meltdown for an OP SP or 2 those points with follow OP. The
offensive battle continues to favor PE as OP had one of those
nights going 3/32. PE controls all 5 offensive categories and holds
a 7-2 overall lead but would be infinitely more confident if it were
Sunday morning as opposed to Wednesday. OP is not going to hit
.194 for the week.


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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