Fantasy Player's Edge

June 5, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

John Smoltz will have shoulder surgery effectively ending
his season. Rafael Soriano should be the Braves primary
closer, if his elbow holds up. Acosta will vulture a few saves
along the way.

Jason Isringhausen could begin a rehab assignment next
week. If he's recalled it's unclear what role he would play
in the Cards pen. Franklin has been effective and young
gun Chris Perez has been patiently awaiting his opportunity
to close. Franklin owners stand to be the most negatively
impacted.

Pedro Martinez reported no problems after making his
6 inning, 108 pitch start against the Giants on Tuesday.
He was scheduled to throw 95 pitches so there was some
concern that there would be a residual effect from being
overextended on pitch count.

Jake Peavy threw a 45 pitch pain free bullpen session.
He's scheduled to throw a simulated game on Saturday
which sets Jake up to pitch against the Dodgers on
Thursday June 12th.

Curt Schilling was able to make 25 pitches, 22 for strikes,
from the bullpen mound at Fenway Park. He's making
progress although no timetables have been set for any
further pitching related activities.

Josh Beckett left his start after 92 pitches with a slight
foot sprain. The initial word is that this is a non-issue.

Jorge Posada was activated last night from the DL and
will probably start behind the plate this afternoon for
the Bronx Bombers.

David Ortiz will be in a cast for 2 or 3 weeks. There is
some optimism from GM Epstein that big Papi's wrist
could become completely healed by the time the cast
comes off. There seems to be a medical precedent for
the effectiveness of immobilization in healing this
particular type of wrist injury.

Vlad Guerrero and Scot Shields left the team in Seattle
to be examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles.
Vlad has a bum knee while Shields is dealing with a
sore oblique.

Chone Figgins is still not ready for a rehab assignment.
The right hamstring remains sore and Figgins wants to
be completely pain free before returning to action.

Carlos Pena was unexpectedly added to the DL with
a fractured left index finger. He was hit with a pitch
in the 1st inning of Tuesday night's game, stayed in,
hitting a homer and a double. Go figure.

Ken Griffey missed his 3rd consecutive game with
"general soreness" which is actually a sore knee. He's
seemingly day to day.

Albert Pujols sat yesterday and will probably rest
today with calf tightness. He is day to day. The Cards
play a twin-bill so check the box to be certain that
Albert is indeed being rested.

Rick Ankiel was treated, at the team hotel, for a staph
infection on his right knee. He injured the knee making
a diving catch in Sunday's game against the Pirates. He's
day to day.

Conor Jackson was once again held out of the D'back's
starting lineup. He's expected back on Friday vs. the
Pirates.

Jason Giambi is day to day with a sore foot, the result
of getting hit by a pitch.

Vernon Wells rehab is ahead of schedule and he may be
able to return by mid-June.

Jason Werth may return from the DL when eligible on
Saturday. He'll play a few games in the minors first to
test the strained oblique.

Corey Patterson was recalled by the Reds to replace Ryan
Freel who was put on the DL with a pulled hamstring. This
is C-Patt's last best chance to get his game together.

Moises Alou has become Hank Blalock. His return has been
pushed back yet again. The Edge will report Alou's return
when he's actually in the Mets starting lineup, which in
theory will be next Tuesday.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Jason Bergmann- has been fantastic since being called up by the
Nationals. He faces the Giants at home tomorrow. 1-1, 1.30/.90
with 30 k's in 28 innings since be recalled.

Randy Wolf- matches up with Johan the Great today at home.
9-5, 3.44/1.25 in 157 innings against the Mets. Wolf has pitched
well at Petco.


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

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

Maicer Izturis- is surprisingly tough on Blanton. 11/25, 3 extras,
a jack, 4 ribbies with only 1 k.

Mike Lamb- has been the epitome of a tough out for Vazquez.
5/14, 3 mults, a blast, 4 rbi and a single strikeout.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Orlando Cabrera (start)- hits Meche solidly. 8/23, 2 extras and a
homer.

Juan Pierre (start)- has had his way with Dempster. 5/9 with 2
steals.


Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.

Alex Rodriguez (sit)- A-Rod is ultra dangerous but the matchup
suggests that tonight will not be a good one for him. 1/14 with
5 k's vs. McGowan

Adam Dunn (sit)- adds to his considerable strikeout totals against
Hamels. 1/8 with 5 k's.

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

Ted Lilly (stream)- L 7.1ip/2e/9w/8k

Manny Parra (stream)- W 7ip/1e/6w/8k

Wes Helms (spot)- 1/4

J.D. Drew (spot)- 2/3, 2 runs, rbi

Jeff Kent (start)- DNP

Ken Griffey (start)- DNP -injured

Kevin Youkilis (sit)- 2/4, run, rbi

Carlos Pena (sit)- DNP -injured


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


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

Week 5: Thursday


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

-------PE--18--4--17--3--.309/-4-3-41--4.83--1.42---7
-------OP--14--2--11--4--.210/-2-0-15--3.81--1.08---3

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
^Gathright------- ^J. Guillen
--------------------Lugo
--------------------Sheffield (DL)



------PE------//-----OP
7/28-5-0-7-1 //8/33-7-1-5-3 (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
^Banks



-----PE--------//------OP
2W/1S, 25-12-35-15//0W/0S, .2-0-0-1 (W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(30/97) - OP (21/100)
Weekly Totals- ERA (34/(63.1/9) - OP ERA (11/(26/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (90/63.1) - OP WHIP (28/26) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---7-----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
PE Banks(drop)/Bergmann-Thur
PE Gathright(drop)/Wolf-Thur


Strategy: Joey Gathright and Josh Banks were dropped in
favor of Jason Bergmann and Randy Wolf to continue PE's
streaming strategy. The remaining strategy through
Saturday is set as PE's objective to capture points in W's
Saves and K's requires more of the same. OP has 6 SP's
through Saturday and those performances will illuminate
any additional moves that would be needed for Sunday.
Hopefully Griffey will return to the PE offense today.


Game Keys: PE sent 4 more SP's to the mound yesterday
gaining 2 wins to forge ahead in the category. A save by
Cordero allowed PE to extend that lead to 3. Both teams
will have 2 SP's on the hill today. PE sends 3 closers vs.
Marmol for OP. Phillips(2) and Ichiro allowed OP to take
a lead in steals by 1 while PE continues to hold modest
leads in Runs, HR, RBI and a decent advantage in BA. PE
still anticipates an explosion from a dormant but potent OP
offense. At the mid-point of this week's contest PE leads
7-3.


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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