Fantasy Player's Edge

July 23, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Billy Wagner's MRI showed that the tightness he felt
in his shoulder was caused by a muscle spasm. He's
day to day. Duaner Sanchez closed for the Mets last
night and promptly blew a save.

Nationals closer Jon Rauch was traded to the D-Backs.
It remains to be seen if Arizona sticks with Brandon
Lyon, who has been terrible of late, or gives Rauch the
opportunity to win the gig.

Speaking of the Nationals, rookie Steve Shell is the only
pitcher on the roster with a save so if you need saves
pay close attention to who Acta uses in the 9th inning
and grab that player immediately. If you must take a
guess to beat the crowd go with Joel Hanrahan.

Pedro Martinez will start either Friday or Saturday vs.
the Cardinals. He threw a 50+ pitch bullpen session with
out any issues related to his shoulder or groin.

Erik Bedard had an MRI on his shoulder which confirmed
the original diagnosis of a shoulder impingement. There's
no word on whether he'll be able to return in August.

Adam Wainwright is progressing. He threw 40 pitches
in a bullpen session and is projected to return in about
3 weeks.

Francisco Liriano had another "monster" start in Triple
A going 7 innings allowing 0 earned on 4 whip with 10 k's.
He has allowed 1 earned run in his last 35 frames with 42
k's.

Jered Weaver left the game last night after 3 innings with
tightness in his back. He's day to day.

Clayton Kershaw got destroyed allowing 5 runs on 13 whip
in 3 innings. He's likely to optioned again for Eric Stults.

Shaun Marcum's return was rocky as he allowed 6 earned
with 11 whip in 4.2 innings. Chalk it up to rust.

Alphonso Soriano fared well in a rehab assignment and
may be activated today.

Torii Hunter was placed on bereavement leave to be
with his ailing grandmother. He may not return until
the weekend. Adjust accordingly.

Juan Pierre will rehab at Triple A Las Vegas beginning
today and could be activated Saturday if all goes well.
The Dodgers OF is going to be overcrowded again so it'll
be interesting to see how Torre manages the situation.

Todd Helton is still not participating in baseball related
activities. There's no timetable in place for his return.

Yunel Escobar returned from a 7 game hiatus rejoining
the Braves lineup going 0/4.

Jermaine Dye sore knee was sufficiently healed to allow
him to start last night. He went 3/4.

Ryan Zimmerman was activated and went 1/3. He could
be a useful source of power at 3B, CI or Util but you will
have to move quickly.

Joe Crede was a late scratch with lower back stiffness.

Orlando Hudson had to leave last night's game after being
hit by a pitch just above his right ankle.

Jeff Clement was replaced by Kenji Johjima after injuring
his right thumb.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Matt Garza- normally a better play at home travels to Kansas
City for a play date. 0-3, 3.42/1.22 with 24 k's in 26 innings
vs. the Royals and 0-1, 1.35/.60 in a 7 inning effort at Kauffman.

Jamie Moyer- has pitched well vs. the Mets and is comfortable
at Shea Stadium. 6-4, 2.77/1.19 in 94 innings against New York.

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

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

Melvin Mora- is Doc Halladay's huckleberry. 18/59, 4 extras, 2
blasts, 7 ribbies and 2 stolen bases.

David DeJesus- a nemesis for Garza. 5/14 with an extra base hit.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Troy Glaus (start)- hit Sabathia well in the American League.
8/23, 4 extras, 2 jacks and 6 rbi.

Nick Swisher (start)- clobbers Kevin Millwood. 10/24, 5 mults,
3 bombs, 7 ribeyes with only 2 k's.

Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only

Josh Willingham (sit)- flails against Tim Hudson. 1/15 with 5 k's.

Aubrey Huff (sit)- typically overmatched vs. A.J. Burnett. 5/43
with 11 k's.


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

Joe Blanton (stream)- ND 6ip/5e/11w/1k

Darrell Rasner (stream)- ND 5.2ip/2e/8w/2k

Craig Counsell (spot)- DNP

Mark Grudzielanek (spot)- 3/4, rbi

Troy Glaus (start)- 0/3, run

Garret Anderson (start)- 0/3

Adam Dunn (sit)- 1/4, run

Cristian Guzman (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 17: Wednesday

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

-------PE--8--4---8--0--.234/-0--0--18--4.86--1.32---3
-------OP--7--2--14--0--.364/-1--0--3--1.23--0.82---5

Offense: Lineups:

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

^B.Molina-------------^Varitek
^Teixeira-------------^Pena
^Roberts-------------^Kent
^Braun---------------^Wright
^Escobar-------------^Guzman
^Griffey--------------^Beltran
^C. Young------------^Bay
^Kemp---------------^Ordonez
^Figgins------------- ^Glaus
Garciaparra----------- Jacobs

------PE------//-----OP
7/33-4-3-4-0 //9/35-2-0-6-0 (daily totals: H/AB,R,HR,RBI)

Pitching: Rotation-Closers

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

Harang-DL------------Buehrle
^Shields---------------Beckett
Weaver--------------- Sheets
Cain-------------------O. Perez
Harden----------------A. Miller- DL
^F. Cordero----------^Lyon
^Broxton------------ ^Park
^Fuentes
Wood
^Putz
^Morrow
^Correia

-----PE--------//------OP
0W/0S, 3-2-5-4//1W/0S, 7.1-1-6-3 (W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE (15/64) - OP (20/55)
Weekly Totals- ERA (9/(16.2/9) - OP ERA (1/(7.1/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (22/16.2) - OP WHIP (6/7.1) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---5-----OP-----4

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

Daily Activity:

PE Baek(drop)/Garciaparra-Sun
PE Pelfrey(drop)/Volstad-Sun
PE Volstad(drop)/Correia-Tue
PE Correia(drop)/Werth-Wed
PE Garciaparra(drop)/Rowand-Wed

Strategy: PE stream Kevin Correia and spot play Garciaparra
were used for offensive spot plays Aaron Rowand and Jayson
Werth to give PE 5 potential active batters on Thursday. OP
is scheduled to send 6 to the plate as a counter. One of the
spot plays will be used tomorrow for a speculative future play
Chris Carpenter. PE has to hope that Carpenter remains a free
agent for one more day. Harang and Carpenter will swap the
DL tag on an educated guess that Harang will be returning to
active duty next week. The other spot play will be used to
steam for the remainder of the weekend.

Game Keys: PE offense continues to tread water going 7/33
with 4 runs, 3 homers, 4 rbi and 0 steals. This paltry output
was just enough to forge a lead of 1 in Runs and 2 in HR. OP
has solid leads in RBI/BA with SB tied at 0. OP Buehrle had an
outstanding low ERA/WHIP start while gaining a W. OP leads
in those 3 categories with neither side having a Save so far this
week. PE has a 15 K lead. PE has 2 SP's and 4 closers on the
bump vs. closer Lyon and reserve reliever Park for OP today.


Final Thoughts:

PE increased the 1st place lead to 5.5 points over the 2nd place
club and 8 ahead of the 3rd place team after a shortened Week
16 took it's toll on all the top teams.

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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