Fantasy Player's Edge

July 3, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Matt Capps, a surprising add to the DL, will be shelved
for about 2 months with right shoulder bursitis. Damaso
Marte is the likely choice to fill the Pirates closer's role.

Future phenom Clayton Kershaw was sent down to
Double A Jacksonville to make room on the Dodgers
roster for Hiroki Kuroda, who was activated from the
DL.

Clay Buchholz was pulled from his start with the PawSox
after 5 innings. Speculation has him rejoining the BoSox
on Saturday to face the Yankees.

Jeff Francis was placed on the 15 day DL with a sore left
shoulder.

Michael Young couldn't finish last night's game due to a
groin strain. There are no details yet as to the severity
of the injury.

Rafael Furcal will undergo back surgery and will miss at
least 2 more months of a lost season for the Dodgers SS.
The earliest he could return would be after Labor Day.

Eric Byrnes may need season ending surgery to repair a
torn left hamstring. The decision will be made in a few
days.

David Ortiz took about 60 full swings off of a tee without
experiencing any discomfort. He's still weeks from a full
recovery.

Miguel Cabrera missed another start due to a sore hip.
Miggy could return today but he's in the late game vs.
the Mariners so you may want to wait until you see
his name in the box score before activating him.

Dan Uggla's self imposed timeline of Thursday to rejoin
the Marlins has been pushed out until Monday.

J.R. Towles has been recalled by Houston to fill in for
the injured Humberto Quintana at C. Towles was very
good at the end of last season but a total bust this year.
Keep an eye on him.

Kaz Matsui should be activated when eligible on the 8th.

Eric Chavez's shoulder problems persist and he was placed
on the DL. If he's on your roster drop him and choose one of
the Reds 3B eligibles, Hairston, Keppinger or Encanarcion.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Jonathan Sanchez- has been getting better all season long.
1-0, 3.72/1.34 with 7 k's in 10 innings vs. the Dodgers and
2-2, 2.90/1.27 with 51 k's in 50 innings at home this year.

Paul Byrd- has been relatively disappointing as a streamer
all season. This should be a sound start for him. 10-4, 3.79/
1.22 in 119 frames vs. the Twinkies and a stellar 6-1, 2.03/
.97 in 71 innings at the Metodome.


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

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

Dmitri Young- Meathook flattens Arroyo. 8/17, 3 extras,
a homer and 7 rbi.

Emil Brown- has his way with Buehrle. 16/36, 6 mults,
3 jacarandas, 9 ribeyes and 2 stolen bases with only 2 k's.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Kevin Youkilis (start)- happy to reacquaint himself with
Pettitte. 6/13 with a pair of extra base raps.

Placido Polanco (start)- light hitting 2B will help your BA
vs. Silva. 7/16 with 0 k's.

Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only

Ricky Weeks (sit)- no match for Webb. 1/11 with 6 k's.

Raul Ibanez (sit)- Verlander spells trouble for Raul.
3/18 with 3 k's.


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

Ricky Nolasco (stream)- W 7ip/2e/3w/8k

Ubaldo Jimenez (stream)- W 6.1ip/1e/6w/4k

Greg Norton (spot)- 1/1, pinch hit

Akinori Iwamura (spot)-1/5, run, rbi

Dustin Pedroia (start)- 4/5, 3 runs, homer, 2 rbi

Daniel Cabrera (start)- W 9ip/2e/7w/2k

Jim Thome (sit)- 0/4

Randy Winn (sit)- 1/3


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


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

Week 14: Thursday


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

-------PE--10--2--9-3--.247/-4-3--41--3.96--1.16---6
-------OP--18--7-15-1--.278/-1-2--22--4.89--1.58---4

Offense: Lineups:

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

^B.Molina------------^Pierzynski
^Teixeira------------ ^Berkman
^Roberts--------------B.J Upton
^Braun----------------Blake
^Escobar--------------O. Cabrera
^Griffey-------------- Bradley
^C. Young-----------^Fukodome
^Kemp---------------Nady
Figgins--------------^Reyes
^Hairston-----------^C. Jones
--------------------- ^Posada
--------------------- ^Cano
-----------------------Konerko (DL)


------PE------//-----OP
7/30-4-0-1-0 //12/37-8-4-9-1 (daily totals: H/AB,R,HR,RBI)

Pitching: Rotation-Closers

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

Harang--------------Lee
Shields--------------E. Santana
Weaver------------^Duchscherer
Cain-----------------Wellemeyer
Harden--------------Matsuzaka
^F. Cordero--------^Papelbon
^Saito------------- ^Capps
^Fuentes-----------^C.J. Wilson
^Wood-------------- Campillo
Martinez
^Morrow



-----PE--------//------OP
0W/2S, 7-5-9-6//0W/0S, 10-6-17-5 (W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(23/93) - OP (30/108)
Weekly Totals- ERA (17/(38.2/9) - OP ERA (21/(38.2/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (45/38.2) - OP WHIP (61/38.2) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---5-----OP----4

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

Daily Activity:

PE Helton(drop)/Hairston-Mon
OP Kershaw(drop)/Campillo-Tue
OP Campillo(drop)/Slowey-Wed

Strategy: OP added SP Slowey for Campillo. Slowey
pitches on Saturday so this is a roster add and not a
stream. PE has 5 starts remaining on the roster with
OP, including Slowey, having 4. PE leads in W/K's and
will continue to monitor the pitching points but elects
to stand pat at the moment. PE hopes that Hairston's
versatility will help close the 15 AB advantage currently
enjoyed by OP. Escobar did return yesterday for PE so
Hairston will fill in for Figgins whose Angels have an off
day. PE will potentially field 9 on offense to 7 for OP. SP
Duchscherer will join 1 closer on the bump for OP while
PE has no SP's today but does have all 5 closers in action.
As a side note OP lost Capps to the DL and surprisingly
has not added Damaso Marte, as of yet, to fill the roster
spot.


Game Keys: OP pitching continues to disappoint with
2 more SP's being unable to register a W. Coincidentally,
both pitching staffs have thrown 38.2 innings, week to
date, with PE leading in all 5 pitching categories thanks
to a pair of saves from PE closers. With that said every
pitching point is very much in play. OP offense cut loose
going 12/37 with 8 runs, 4 homers, 9 rbi and a steal. PE
was no match generating a substandard 7/30 with 4 runs
and only 1 rbi. OP has substantial leads in all of the hitting
categories with steals still in PE's column 3-1. The contest
heads into the midpoint with PE clinging to a 6-4 lead.


Final Thoughts:

PE is in 2nd place .5 point out of 1st heading into a Week
14 meeting with the 3rd place team.

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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