Fantasy Player's Edge

August 2, 2008


Roster Shuffle:

Milton Bradley may be available to pinch hit tonight
for the Rangers which would make him day to day.

Josh Hamilton had to leave the game last night with
dizziness. He's listed as day to day but they're likely to
run some tests before allowing him to play again.

Elijah Dukes has returned to the Nationals OF going
2/4 with a run and 2 rbi.

Emilio Bonifacio, who came to Washington as part of
the Jon Rauch trade, was brought up to the team to take
Felipe Lopez's roster spot. He has great speed and could
be added as a source of steals for the stretch run. He had
1 last night.

Speculation has Andre Ethier as the odd man out in the
overcrowded Dodgers OF. Andruw Jones is the 5th OF
although he played CF last night and Juan Pierre sat.

Brian McCann has been cleared to pinch hit making his
return imminent. Check the Braves box daily until he is
penciled in.

Xavier Nady was out of the lineup with a strained quad.
His return to the Yankees batting order is uncertain.

Mike Lowell was removed from last night's game with a
hip strain. More details should be available today.

Aubrey Huff left the late game with some form of head
injury.

Jerry Hairston Jr. returned to action going 0/4.

Francisco Liriano has been recalled by the Twins. He's
taking Livan Hernandez's spot in the rotation. Hernandez
has been designated for assignment. Liriano will pitch on
Sunday vs. the Indians.

Chris Carpenter had no issues from his 1st start of the
season and is penciled in to take the ball on Tuesday vs.
the Dodgers.

Erik Bedard may play catch today but the rhetoric has
him returning September. The Edge is thinking that Erik
is done for the season but don't release him until that has
been verified.

Chien-Ming Wang is out for the season so it's okay to cut
him if he's been reserved on your roster.

Pedro Martinez returned to the Mets rotation last night
with a pedestrian outing of 5 innings with 3 earned, 7 whip
and 5 k's.

Jeff Francis is likely to return to the Rockies rotation on
Tuesday.

Occasional stream candidate Chuck James returned last
night against the Brewers. He was lit up lasting only 2.2
innings.

Matt Capps will throw a simulated game today and could
begin a rehab assignment next week. He's a solid closer
when the inept Pirates rotation gives him an opportunity.
If he's available and you need saves pick him up.

Kerry Wood pitched a simulated game and could return
late next week. His blister is now being characterized as
an open wound.


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

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Jason Johnson- has outstanding stuff and a favorable team
coming into Dodger Stadium. 1-2, 2.74/1.00 with 15 k's in 23
frames vs the Diamondbacks.

Greg Maddox- one of the last opportunities to use the Hall of
Famer this season. He faces the Giants at home. 2-3, 2.84/1.05
in 73 innings at Petco this year.

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

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

Jay Payton- hits the mother lode with Silva. 6/14 with a mult.

Kelly Johnson- hits Sheets solidly. 6/16 with an extra base hit.


Start/Sit: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Delmon Young (start)- flips the Byrd. 6/14 with a jack.

Kevin Kouzmanoff (start)- 2nd day in a row on the "start"
list. 5/12 and a homer vs. Zito.

Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only

Carlos Pena (sit)- can't bluff the Gambler. 2/16 with 9 k's
vs. Rogers.

Troy Glaus (sit)- couldn't hit Blanton when they were both
in the American League. 2/15 with 5 k's.


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

Nick Blackburn (stream)- W 7ip/1e/7w/2k

Chris Volstad (stream)- L 5ip/4e/11w/6k

Jay Payton (spot)- 2/5, run, 3 rbi

Ross Gload (spot)- 2/4

Gary Sheffield (start)- 0/3, rbi

Kevin Kouzmanoff (start)- 0/4, run

Brian Roberts (sit)- 2/4, run

Adam Dunn (sit)- 0/2


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


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

Week 18: Saturday

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

-------PE--26--3--17--8--.306/-4--4--49--3.07--1.11---9
-------OP--17--4--14--1--.287/-2--0--20--4.29--1.48---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
9/33-2-0-4-0 //9/30-3-0-2-1 (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
^Slowey


-----PE--------//------OP
1W/1S, 9-1-7-3//0W/0S, 1-0-0-2 (W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE (48/157) - OP (37/129)
Weekly Totals- ERA (20/(58.2/9) - OP ERA (10/(21/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (65/58.2) - OP WHIP (31/21) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---4-----OP-----2

^ -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
PE Sanchez(drop)/Blackburn-Thur
PE Blackburn(drop)/Slowey-Fri
PE Slowey(drop)/Liriano-Sat

Strategy: PE stream Slowey was used as a priority claim for
SP Francisco Liriano. Harang's return this week will give PE
7 starters, 6 closers and 9 offensive players. Wood is currently
on the DL so when he's activated PE will probably drop both
Seattle closers leaving Cordero, Broxton and Fuentes to join
Wood in the bullpen. The extra spot will become a flex play.
PE cannot afford any injuries on offense in the near term and
will have to play next week "straight" up as there will not be
any roster flexibility until Wood returns. Getting back to this
week PE will sit Slowey and Weaver because of Blackburn's
W last night. OP has Burnett and Mussina active today which
finishes the starts for the week. If they both register W's PE
will use Shields/Liriano tomorrow. PE will take a calculated
risk today in ERA/WHIP by leaving all closers active trying
to pick up a cheap W. The optimum strategy for tomorrow
would be to sit all pitchers.

Game Keys: PE offense continues to be inconsistent following
Thursday's performance with a 9/33 that included 2 runs, and
4 rbi. OP could only keep pace with a 9/30 with 3 runs and 2 rbi.
PE stream Blackburn shutdown the Tribe for a W with a solid 7
innings allowing 1 run with 7 whip. PE Fuentes had a save which
effectively closed out the category. Every point remained status
quo with PE heading down the river ahead 9-1.


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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