Fantasy Player's Edge

June 20, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Albert Pujols participated in pregame drills yesterday
including BP and taking grounders. He's eligible to be
activated on the 26th so hopefully he's sufficiently
recovered from a strained calf to return to the Cards
on cue.

Jeff Keppinger is not ready to return even though he's
hitting 9/21 in his rehab assignment. They're targeting
the 30th when the Reds return home against the Pirates
for Kepp's return.

Travis Hafner was advised by Dr. Andrews to continue
with his shoulder strengthening program. He'll be looked
at again in 7 to 10 days. Best case scenario would seem
to have big Pronk returning before the All Star break.

Ken Griffey sat for a 3rd consecutive game with flu-like
symptoms. He might have returned yesterday if the Reds
had faced a righty. He'll be back today.

The scalding hot Milton Bradley sat again with a sore quad.
He's day to day but check the Rangers box today before
using him.

Hideki Matsui was out with a sore knee and is expected to
be back today.

Hiroki Kuroda was placed on the DL but will only miss one
turn for the Dodgers.

Eric Gagne had a good bullpen session setting up a rehab
assignment beginning on Monday. He's likely to return to
a set up role with the Brewers around the 27th. If you're
holding him it would be wise to see what Yost does with
him before you make a decision on the roster spot.

Interleague play continues this week. Plan for it as DH's
for Baltimore, Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit, Seattle, Texas,
the Angels and the White Sox could miss some or all of the
weekend action. Thome owners and spot players Stairs,
Vidro, Huff and Matthews will be adversely impacted.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Paul Maholm- has no history vs. Toronto but has been
successful at home all season. 3-1, 3.42/1.19 in 55 innings
at PNC Park.

Edwin Jackson- has fared very well vs. the Astros. 2-0,
4.35/1.26 with 8 k's in 10 frames. The ERA portion of this
equation is a bit worrisome but if you need a W and K's he's
worth a gamble.


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

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

Cliff Floyd- strikes Oswalt authoritatively. 8/24, 4 extras, 2
bombs and 7 ribbies.

Omar Vizquel- mashes Meche. 5/11 with a homer and 0 k's.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Scott Rolen (start)- 2nd straight day on the "start" list
for Scotty. 5/8, with an extra base hit vs. Zach Duke

Nick Swisher (start)- finally hitting a little better and
has a solid matchup in Ted Lilly. 5/15 with 2 jacks.


Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only

Ken Griffey Jr. (sit)- should advise Baker that he's
still feeling the effects of flu-like symptoms and needs
one more day off. 7/45 with 13 k's against Mussina.

Howie Kendrick (sit)- struggles against Adam Eaton.
1/9 with 2 k's.


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

Gavin Floyd (stream)- W 5.2ip/1e/8w/6k

Doug Davis (stream)- ND 6ip/1e/5w/8k

David Eckstein (spot)- 0/2, run

Mike Cameron (spot)- DNP

Scott Rolen (start)- 0/4

Jeff Kent (start)- 1/5, run

Eric Chavez (sit)- 0/3

Jhonny Peralta (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 11: Friday


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

-------PE--16--4-14--2--.290/-1-5-43--4.91--1.41---5
-------OP--18--4-14--0--.288/-1-0-30--3.81--1.45---2

Offense: Lineups:

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

^B.Molina-----------^Napoli
^Teixeira-----------^Fielder
^Roberts-----------^Hudson
^Braun-------------^Beltre
^Escobar-----------^Peralta
^Griffey------------^Francoeur
^C. Young-----------Rowand
^Kemp------------ ^Hart
^Figgins-----------^Howard
--------------------^Markakis
---------------------Theriot


------PE------//-----OP
8/21-4-1-4-1 //6/25-5-1-5-0 (daily totals: H/AB,R,HR,RBI)

Pitching: Rotation-Closers

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

Harang-------------Verlander
Shields------------- Sabathia
Weaver------------^Bedard
^Cain---------------Marcum
^Harden------------Billingsley
^F. Cordero------- ^Lidge
^Saito-------------^Valverde
^Fuentes----------^Jones
^Wood------------ ^Rauch
Martinez------------O. Perez
^Morrow
Davis


-----PE--------//------OP
0W/2S, 20.1-10-31-22//0W/0S, 1-0-0-2 (W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(29/100) - OP (30/104)
Weekly Totals- ERA (22/(40.1/9) - OP ERA (12/(28.1/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (57/40.1) - OP WHIP (41/28.1) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---5-----OP----4

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

Daily Activity:

PE Gomez(drop)/Olson-Mon
PE Olson(drop)/Rasner-Tues
PE Rasner(drop)/Davis-Wed
PE Davis(drop)/Jurrjens-Fri

Strategy: Doug Davis was dropped for SP Jair Jurrjens
giving PE 2 SP's to add to the 5 closers for Saturday. PE
will send SP's Cain/Harden against OP Bedard today.
Jurrjens will be released for Jon Lester on Sunday which
will give PE a 2 start advantage for the remainder of the
week. OP has Bedard, Sabathia, Verlander and Billingsley
going through Sunday so K's, even with PE's 2 extra turns,
is still up for grabs. Both offenses should be at full strength
throughout the weekend. OP has elected to use Markakis
over Rowand today.

Game Keys: PE Harang was simply dreadful allowing 5
earned on 13 whip in 5 innings with only 2 k's. The only
saving grace in this performance was PE Kemp's 2 run
jack off of Harang before he departed. Fortunately for PE
two other SP's and 3 closers combined to allow 5 runs on
18 whip in 15.1 innings to offset Harang's implosion. PE
had 22 k's on the day and 2 saves but could not add a W.
OP has managed to pull even in RBI but PE has a .02 lead
in BA. PE leads Saves by 5 but OP still has 12 save chances
remaining in the game. Otherwise, every other category is
too close to call with PE leading on the turn by a 5-2 count.


Final Thoughts:

PE remains in 3rd place 4.5 points out of 1st and 1 out of
2nd place with the regular season half over.

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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