Fantasy Player's Edge

July 6, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Johnny Damon is likely to have the 1st stint on the DL of
his long career due to shoulder issues.

Kaz Matsui's hamstring has healed and he will be activated
on Tuesday the 8th.

Troy Tulowitzki is back on the DL with an injured thumb
which is just as well for his fantasy owners as his 2008
campaign has been a complete bust.

Bobby Crosby is likely to be placed on the DL as well so
grab a SS before you leave the Edge to be certain you
get your man. Grab Hairston, if available, Garciaparra,
Barmes or Betancourt in that order.

Ryan Church had to leave last night's game with a bout
of dizzyness. It's likely that he's still feeling the effects
of a concussion he received earlier in the season.

Elijah Dukes had to be carted of the field with a sprained
or twisted knee after making a catch at the wall.

Josh Johnson was impressive on Friday night throwing 8
innings of shutout ball with 7 k's in Double A. That might
be enough for the Marlins to bring him back to the bigs.

Micah Owings threw 9 pitches in .2 innings of relief and
is scheduled to rejoin the D-Backs rotation on Wednesday.

Roy Oswalt will miss his rescheduled start on Tuesday and
has been sent back to Houston with a sore hip. The club
may opt to place him on the DL with the All Star break
looming on the 14th.

Brad Penny will be out until after the All Star break with
a sore shoulder.

John Maine left last night's game with a cramp in his non-
throwing left forearm. He should be okay for his next start.

There is growing concern that Erik Bedard is still suffering
from physical issues related to his hip and back. He may
have to be shutdown completely to regain his health.

Rafael Soriano has thrown 2 painfree bullpen sessions. We've
traveled this road time and again so wait and see is the best
course of action for fantasy owners needing saves.

Speaking of saves, Eric Gagne pitched another scoreless inning
to earn a win and is poised to regain the closer role in Brew town.
Stay tuned.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Adam Eaton- has the Mets "Eaton" out of his right hand. 5-0,
3.29/1.13 in 55 frames vs. the Metropolitans.

Matt Garza- will get off the schneid vs. the Royals at home
tomorrow. 0-3, 3.20/1.07 in 20 innings against K.C. and
5-1, 2.16/1.10 in 50 frames at the Trop this year.


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

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

Luis Rivas- will "Run(elvys)" right out of Pittsburgh. 6/13,
a homer and 2 rbi against Hernandez.

Luis Gonzalez- 2nd day running as a "spottie". 36/112, 16
extras, 10 jacks, 22 ribbies in the battle of relics vs. Maddox.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Andre Ethier (start)- hits Cain solidly. 8/14 with an rbi.

Ryan Church (start)- turns on Kyle Kendrick. 4/8 with
a jack.


Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only

Ryan Howard (sit)- a perfect day to rest the big fella.
1/16 with 9 k's against Oliver Perez.

Joe Crede (sit)- has his issues with Harden. 1/12, with
2 k's.


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

Gavin Floyd (stream)- W 7.1ip/0e/6w/6k

Kevin Slowey (stream)- W 6ip/5e/7w/6k

Mike Cameron (spot)- 1/3, solo homer

Freddy Sanchez (spot)- 1/4

Bill Hall (start)- 1/2

Carlos Delgado (start)- 2/5, run

Carlos Pena (sit)- 0/3

Torii Hunter (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 14: Sunday


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

-------PE--22--2--13-6--.262/-6-10--56--3.63--1.12---7
-------OP--24--8--26-2--.259/-3--4--35--4.86--1.43---3

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


------PE------//-----OP
15/35-5-0-2-2 //6/33-1-0-0-0 (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------------- ^C. J. Wilson
Fuentes------------^Stults
^Wood-------------^Kobayashi
Martinez
^Morrow



-----PE--------//------OP
1W/1S, 3.2-4-7-3//1W/1S, 7-5-7-9 (W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(49/187) - OP (52/201)
Weekly Totals- ERA (23/(57/9) - OP ERA (29/(53.2/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (64/57) - OP WHIP (77/53.2) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---3-----OP-----3

^ -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
OP Capps(drop)/Stults-Thurs
OP Slowey(drop)/Kobayashi-Sat

Strategy: PE will send Shields/Harden/Cain and all of
the closers except for Fuentes against OP Lee/Stults/
Wellemeyer and 3 closers for Sunday's finale. Fuentes
was benched to clear a spot for the 3rd SP. PE Hairston
will start once again for the sole purpose of steals and
with Roberts returning yesterday, after missing a game,
PE should be at full strength. OP dropped SP Slowey for
Kobayashi which is not likely to have a major impact on
this contest with Saves locked up. PE does not anticipate
any transactions today in response to the Week 15 OP.

Week 15 OP holds a 5-4 victory over PE in Week 4 and
features a solid well balanced offense that includes vets
Rollins, Adrian Gonzalez, Dye, Russ Martin and Aramis
Ramirez with potent young bloods Kendrick, Longoria,
Bruce and Votto. OP's rotation is anchored by Dempster
and Kazmir with Lester, Floyd and Galarraga. Nathan
and Wagner are studs with Franklin and Rockies set up
man Taylor Buchholz rounding out the bullpen. OP has
7 starts on the roster and 6 going on offense for Monday.


Game Keys: OP SP Slowey had a gritty performance
vs. the Indians, scored a win but allowed 5 earned in 6
innings. PE countered with a blown save, lucky win from
Cordero. PE had 2 steals, including one from Hairston, to
stretch the lead in the category to 6-2. Surprisingly PE
has taken a slim lead in BA due to a 15/35 surge while OP
opened the door by going 6/33. PE controls Saves and K's
while OP has salted away HR and RBI leaving 6 points still
in play. OP has started B.J. Upton and along with Reyes
poses a threat to PE's lead in SB. PE trails by only 2 runs
and could contest for the point with a lineup of speedsters.
PE has a bit of breathing room in ERA/WHIP but each side
has 3 SP's so there's a real chance for a reversal of fortunes
in those categories. PE holds a 7-3 lead heading into the
finale with the promise of a nerve wracking day of fantasy
foibles ahead.


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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