Fantasy Player's Edge

July 30, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Aaron Harang will face hitters today and if all goes
well he'll head out for a rehab assignment. Best case
he could return to the Reds rotation on August 8th.

Adam Wainwright is scheduled for a rehab start
on Friday. Although Jason Isringhausen has been
anointed the Cards closer there is talk about the big
righthander returning as the Cards closer.

Occasional stream candidate Jose Contreras will
have a rehab assignment on Sunday and should be
back in the ChiSox rotation by the end of next week.

Micah Owings has been optioned to Triple A Tucson
after allowing 8 runs to the light hitting Padres. Micah
will be replaced in the D-Backs rotation by Yusmeiro
Petit who has pitched very well this season.

Chris Carpenter returns tonight against the Braves.
He'll be on an 80-85 pitch count but will be pulled if
he struggles physically in anyway.

John Maine's MRI revealed a slightly strained rotator
cuff. It's unclear how much time he will miss, if any.

Jeff Samardzija may vulture a few saves during the
next week until Kerry Wood returns.

Mark Teixeira and Casey Kotchman were swapped
as their owners lost AB's last night as they traveled to
catch up with their new teams. This deal should not
have an affect on either player's fantasy value.

Michael Young has already returned to the Rangers
lineup from a fractured ring finger.

Cristian Guzman is having a precautionary MRI on
his right thumb. He is not expected to go on the DL
and may return to the Nationals starting lineup today.

Milton Bradley left last night's game with a strained
quad. The extent of the injury should be known today.

Alexi Casilla is likely out for the season with a torn
tendon in his right thumb.

Speedster Michael Bourn will remain sidelined until
Friday. He's nursing a sore ankle.

Kenji Johjima suffered a knee injury after being hit by
a pitch below the left knee.

Victor Martinez caught a bullpen session yesterday
to keep his legs in shape. He did not return any throws.
He's still tracking for a mid-August return.

Jerry Hairston Jr. began a rehab assignment and is
due to be called up imminently. The Reds are a better
team when Hairston plays.

Ryan Church could return to the Mets next week. He
is well enough to begin a minor league stint towards the
end of the week which should lead back to the big club.

Fernando Tatis has been named, by Jerry Manuel,
the Mets everyday leftfielder. He's hitting .322 with
power and speed so he might be worth riding until he
cools off.

Hank Blalock's upset stomach turned out to be a
sore shoulder and ended up on the DL.

Torii Hunter will miss games on Saturday and Sunday
as he attends the funeral for his grandmother. Adjust
your roster in advance.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Anibal Sanchez- returns to action vs the Rockies. He has
no history vs. Colorado but has been awesome at Dolphins
Stadium over the course of his career. 8-1, 2.86/1.15 with
48 k's in 69 innings at home.

Kyle Kendrick- faces this year's patsies, the Nationals. 0-1,
3.63/1.27 in 17 frames vs. Washington.

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

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

Mark Kotsay- has had success vs. Pineiro. 12/34 with 2
extras and 6 rbi.

Franklin Gutierrez- hits Verlander very well. 5/13 with
3 mults, a jack and 3 rbi.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Ken Griffey (start)- old man river just keeps rolling along.
9/12 with 2 bombs vs. Wandy Rodriguez.

Delmon Young (start)- has solid AB's against Gavin Floyd.
3/8 with 2 stolen bases.

Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only

Alex Rios (sit)- has trouble with everything that Edwin
Jackson delivers. 3/18 with 6 k's.

Ryan Howard (sit)- the big fella needs a day off. 1/13
with 6 k's against Tim Redding.


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

Glen Perkins (stream)- W 6ip/4e/9w/4k

Doug Davis (stream)- W 7.2ip/0e/4w/8k

Cody Ross (spot)- 0/4

Mark Loretta (spot)- DNP

Ryan Zimmerman (start)- 0/3

Hank Blalock (start)- DNP

Chris Young (sit)- 0/4

Ian Kinsler (sit)- 0/5


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


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

Week 18: Wednesday

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

-------PE--11--2--6--3--.281/-1--2--29--3.99--1.09---7
-------OP---7--2--5--0--.246/-1--0--15--3.86--1.57---1

Offense: Lineups:

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

^B.Molina-------------V. Martinez - DL
^Teixeira-------------^Atkins
^Roberts-------------^Pedroia
^Braun---------------^M. Cabrera
^Escobar-------------^Tejada
^Griffey--------------^Crawford
^C. Young------------^Rios
^Kemp---------------^Pence
^Figgins------------- ^Sexson
-----------------------Wells - DL
-----------------------Willingham

------PE------//-----OP
5/28-2-0-1-2 //9/27-6-2-4-0 (daily totals: H/AB,R,HR,RBI)

Pitching: Rotation-Closers

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

Harang-DL-------------A.J. Burnett
Shields-----------------Garland
Weaver----------------Mussina
Cain-------------------Penny- DL
Harden-----------------Wang- DL
^F. Cordero-----------^Gagne
^Broxton------------- ^Bell
^Fuentes---------------Borowski
Wood -(DL)------------Vazquez
^Putz------------------Lackey
^Morrow-------------- Schmidt -(DL)
^Carpenter
^Johnson


-----PE--------//------OP
1W/1S, 16.1-3-15-19//0W/0S, 0-0-0-0 (W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE (18/64) - OP (14/57)
Weekly Totals- ERA (13/(29.1/9) - OP ERA (6/(14/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (32/29.1) - OP WHIP (22/14) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---5-----OP-----3

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

Daily Activity:

PE Blackburn(drop)/Kuroda-Sun
PE Kuroda(drop)/Davis-Mon
PE Davis(drop)/Johnson-Tue
PE Johnson(drop)/Sanchez-Wed

Strategy: PE stream Josh Johnson was dropped for Anibal
Sanchez for a Thursday start. Johnson will join Carpenter in
PE's rotation today while OP has only Gagne and Bell active.
PE will continue to deploy 5 closers including Morrow/Putz.
PE seeks W's as K's are almost out of reach for OP. Putz was
give the save chance last night and blew it. Obviously this
will cause the Mariners to prolong the decision on the closer
spot.

Game Keys: PE offense reverted to the mean going 5/28
with 2 runs, 0 homers, 1 rbi and 2 steals allowing OP offense
to get back in the match with 6 runs, 2 homers and 4 rbi on
a 9/27 performance. PE stream Davis was outstanding in a
7.2 inning outing while earning a W. He combined with Cain
and 2 relievers to throw 16.1 frames yielding only 3 earned
on 15 whip with 19 k's. PE has 2 SP's today vs. 0 for OP with
PE having 9 active on offense compared to 8 hitters for OP.
All the game points with the exception of Saves and K's are
very much in play.


Final Thoughts:

PE increased the 1st place lead to 9.5 points over the 2nd place
club and 11.5 ahead of the 3rd place team heading into Week 18.
There are only 50 points (5 weeks) left in the season so PE needs
to capitalize on this week's inactive opponent to further the effort
to secure a first round bye in the playoffs.

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 will
follow this team throughout the entire 2008 fantasy campaign.


All Done!

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