Today's Fantasy Rx

First, I wanted to apologize for not posting a new Chicago Sports yesterday. We just ran out of time. Instead of a draft preview, we'll include post-draft analysis with our coverage of all the teams in the middle of next week.

Colorado: 6 games: 3 Home vs. Philadelphia; 3 Road at Cincinnati.
Houston: 6 Road games: 3 at Florida; 3 at Atlanta.

Atlanta: 7 Home games: 1 vs. Florida; 3 vs. Arizona; 3 vs. Houston.

Florida: 7 games: 1 at Atlanta; 3 vs. Houston; 3 vs. Arizona.

Cleveland: 7 games: 4 vs. Chicago White Sox; 3 at Texas.

Chicago White Sox: 7 Road games: 4 at Cleveland; 3 at Oakland.

All other teams play six games.

Pitchers of interest with two starts:
Curt Schilling: Tue:@ATL(Marquis); Sun:@FLO(Beckett)
Kevin Millwood: Mon:FLO(Penny); Sat:HOU(Mlicki?)
Jason Marquis: Tue:ARI(Schilling); Sun:HOU(C.Hernandez?)
Frank Castillo: Tue:@BAL(Towers); Sun:TB(Kennedy)
Mark Buehrle: Mon:@CLE(Baez); Sat:@OAK(Mulder)
Todd Ritchie: Tue:@CLE(Colon); Sun:@OAK(Hudson)
Jason Bere: Tue:SF(Rueter); Sun:LA(Ishii)
Danys Baez: Mon:CHW(Buehrle); Sat:@TEX(Rob Bell?)
Bartolo Colon: Tue:CHW(Ritchie); Sun:@TEX(Valdes)
Brad Penny: Mon:@ATL(Millwood); Sat:ARI(B.Anderson)
Josh Beckett: Tue:HOU(C.Hernandez?); Sun:ARI(Schilling)
Paul Byrd: Mon:DET(Redman); Sun:BAL(Towers)
Kazuhisa Ishii: Tue:@PIT(J.Anderson); Sun:@CHC(Bere)
Ben Sheets: Tue:@MON(Ohka); Sun:@NYM(D'Amico)
Brad Radke: Tue:@TB(Kennedy); Sun:@DET(Redman)
Jeff D'Amico: Tue:STL(Morris); Sun:MIL(Sheets)
Orlando Hernandez: Tue:@OAK(Hudson); Sun:@SEA()
Tim Hudson: Tue:NYY(O.Hernandez); Sun: CHW(Ritchie)
Randy Wolf: Tue:SD(Tollberg); Sun:@COL(Jennings)
Brian Tollberg: Tue:@PHI(Wolf); Sun:@PIT(J.Anderson)
Matt Morris: Tue:@NYM(D'Amico); Sun:@MON(Ohka)

Houston's Carlos Hernandez is currently scheduled for a double, although Roy Oswalt is rested and ready to go on Tue:@FLO(Beckett) and Sun:@ATL(Marquis).

Diamond Challenge

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Fri:@FLO(Olsen)
Pedro Martinez: Wed:@BAL(Erickson)
Greg Maddux: Thu:ARI(Helling)
Curt Schilling: Tue:@ATL(Marquis); Sun:@FLO(Beckett)
Kevin Brown: DL
Mike Mussina: Thu:@OAK(Zito)
Roger Clemens: Fri:@SEA(Baldwin)
Matt Morris: Tue:@NYM(D'Amico); Sun:@MON(Ohka)

Russ Ortiz: Fri:@CIN(Dessens)
Javier Vazquez: Wed:MIL(Figueroa)
Kerry Wood: Fri:LA(O.Perez)
Wade Miller: DL
Brian Lawrence: Wed:@PHI(Person)
Eric Gagne: 6 Road game: 3 at Pittsburgh; 3 at Chicago Cubs

RP(4)
Jason Isringhausen: 6 Road games: 3 at New York Mets; 3 at Montreal

Byung-Hyun Kim: 6 Road games: 3 at Atlanta; 3 at Florida
Eddie Guardado: 6 Road games: 3 at Tampa Bay; 3 at Detroit
Danys Baez: Mon:CHW(Buehrle); Sat:@TEX(Rob Bell?)
Jorge Julio: 6 games: 3 vs. Boston; 3 at Kansas City

Schilling and Morris are each scheduled for two starts, and we like Vazquez at home and Randy on the road. We'll start Baez one more week since he has two potential wins before dropping him sometime in the next two weeks. To compensate for the saves' loss, we'll keep Gagne active as a starter. We'll bench Kim since he has six road starts, but half of those are by Schilling or Randy, minimizing his save opps.

We're left with one starting slot, and while we'd like to start Kerry Wood, the Cubs aren't scoring any runs, Odalis Perez is very hot, and the weather here has been horrible. So we're going to pick up Tim Hudson, and while this move is about two or three weeks earlier than planned, we think he has a very good chance at two wins this week. We'll drop Wade Miller, a player who we'd intended to drop in May, and his DL stay gives us a good excuse.

We considered picking up Kazuhisa Ishii for his double, but he's on the road, and we'd like him to prove himself more thoroughly.

With three home games against Philadelphia this week, our Coors' platoon remains in the lineup. We also want to work in Jimmy Rollins, and we'll bench David Ortiz, hopefully avoiding any further injury problems with him, to deploy Rollins.

We're also putting Ichiro back into the lineup, and that requires benching Drew; he's hitting well, but he's also in New York and Montreal this week, so we don't mind sitting him down. The other alternative is to deploy Bonds and Drew in lieu of Klesko and Walker, but Larry has too much upside for us to sit him.

Lastly, our only real trouble spot is Hank Blalock as our second third basemen, and while we still think he has potential, we're also 20 over the cap. While Shea Hillenbrand is a free agent in two weeks, we need roster help now, and we can always spend our free agent picks on pitchers later in the year; plus, we'll get a two week head start on everyone else since only 17 of the top 250 teams have him active. His newfound plate discipline looks real and he gives Boston a very solid middle-of-the-order threat. Even if he slows down 25% or so, he's still a nice addition to our offense, especially as he spends the next two weeks against Baltimore and Tampa Bay. We'll activate Hillenbrand for Blalock, moving Blalock to the bench and dropping Kevin Brown because even if he recovers from his current troubles, the Dodgers still have weak offense and defense.

Shadow of the Umpire & Interview with the Umpire
Week 4: April 22 - April 29

C 	Jorge Posada		990
C	Toby Hall		320
1B	Todd Helton		1980
1B	Jason Giambi		1640
2B	Luis Castillo		1000
2B	Alfonso Soriano		900
3B	Eric Chavez		1070
3B	Shea Hillenbrand	450
SS	Alex Rodriguez		1880
SS	Juan Uribe		500
OF	Larry Walker		1530
OF	Ichiro Suzuki		1330
OF	Juan Pierre		1180
OF	Adam Dunn		710
OF	Daryle Ward		620
OF	Jeremy Giambi		500
DH	Ryan Klesko		1300
DH	Jimmy Rollins		940

SP	Randy Johnson		1990
SP	Curt Schilling		1540
SP	Matt Morris		1190
SP	Tim Hudson		1170
SP	Javier Vazquez		1100
SP	Eric Gagne		500
RP	Jason Isringhausen	1290
RP	Eddie Guardado		900
RP	Jorge Julio		750
RP	Danys Baez		700

Internet Challenge

No starts: Randy, Brown, Clemens, Ortiz, Wood, and Miller.

Pedro Martinez: Wed:@BAL(Erickson)
Greg Maddux: Thu:ARI(Helling)
Curt Schilling: Tue:@ATL(Marquis)
Mike Mussina: Thu:@OAK(Zito)
Matt Morris: Tue:@NYM(D'Amico)

Javier Vazquez: Wed:MIL(Figueroa)
Brian Lawrence: Wed:@PHI(Person)
Eric Gagne: 3 Road games at Pittsburgh

RP(4)
Jason Isringhausen: 3 Road games at New York Mets

Byung-Hyun Kim: 3 Road games at Atlanta
Eddie Guardado: 3 Road games at Tampa Bay
Danys Baez: Mon:CHW(Buehrle)
Jorge Julio: 3 Home games vs. Boston

We're in desperate need for saves in this league, so we'll start the four relief closers as well as Gagne. Vazquez starts at home, although we're still concerned about Maddux's health, so we'll leave him on the bench as we have alternatives. We also don't want to risk Mussina in Oakland against Zito, so we'll take Pedro, Schilling, Morris, and Lawrence.

Colorado is in Cincinnati so we'll keep our alternatives in the lineup, but we'd like to bench Ortiz and we still have an extra 1610 to spend. Adding Helton for Ortiz leaves us with only an excess 270. We still need to improve on Blalock, likely with Hillenbrand, but we'll at least wait until Hillenbrand returns home on Friday.

The extra cap space leaves us enough room to add an elite closer, so we're going to pick up Keith Foulke and drop Wade Miller since he's relatively useless on the DL. Foulke leaves us 20 under the cap, and he also plays four games on the road in Cleveland this week, giving a great chance at a few saves. He's the cheapest of the elite closers, and since we'll regularly have enough lineup flexibility to add him, now seems like a good time to risk this move. We'll bench Kim since he's receiving less save opportunities than anyone else and we don't quite have enough cap room to sit Julio; Baltimore's also the only closer at home, and we don't trust Kim in Atlanta.

The Umpire Hunter
Week 4a: April 22 - April 25

C 	Jorge Posada		990
C	Toby Hall		320
1B	Jason Giambi		1640
1B	Ryan Klesko		1300
2B	Luis Castillo		1000
2B	Alfonso Soriano		900
3B	Eric Chavez		1070
3B	Hank Blalock		500
SS	Alex Rodriguez		1880
SS	Juan Uribe		500
OF	Barry Bonds		1830
OF	Ichiro Suzuki		1330
OF	J.D. Drew		1010
OF	Adam Dunn		710
OF	Daryle Ward		620
OF	Jeremy Giambi		500
DH	Todd Helton		1980
DH	Jimmy Rollins		940

SP	Pedro Martinez		1770
SP	Curt Schilling		1240
SP	Matt Morris		1190
SP	Javier Vazquez		1100
SP	Eric Gagne		500
SP	Brian Lawrence		480
RP	Jason Isringhausen	1290
RP	Keith Foulke		1450
RP	Eddie Guardado		900
RP	Jorge Julio		750

Fantasy Baseball & Budget Baseball
(Same game = same rosters and moves for both teams)

We have no relievers on the bench, so we'll stay with Smoltz, Isringhausen, Kim, and Matt Anderson until further notice.

Diamond Challenge

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Fri:@FLO(Olsen)
Curt Schilling: Tue:@ATL(Marquis); Sun:@FLO(Beckett)
Pedro Martinez: Wed:@BAL(Erickson)
Mike Mussina: Thu:@OAK(Zito)
Roger Clemens: Fri:@SEA(Baldwin)
Matt Morris: Tue:@NYM(D'Amico); Sun:@MON(Ohka)

Javier Vazquez: Wed:MIL(Figueroa)
Kerry Wood: Fri:LA(O.Perez)
Wade Miller: DL
Brian Lawrence: Wed:@PHI(Person)

We'll start Randy, Schilling, Morris, Vazquez, and Wood, but we need to replace Miller, and this week gives us a great opportunity with Hudson. We'll likely add Oswalt the next week we know he'll have two starts, but we like Hudson for the moment.

On offense, the Colorado platoon will stay active as they're home for the week. At catcher, Hall gets three more home starts than Pierzynski, so we'll switch Hall back into the lineup.

We want ARod active, so we'll activate him for Jason Giambi, switching Steve Cox to 1B while ARod goes to DH. As we have an extra 470 to spend, we're going to activate Jeremy Giambi for D'Angelo Jimenez since the former is home all week while the latter is on the road.

The Umpire Hunter & Umpire with a Soul
Week 3: April15 - April 21

C	Paul Lo Duca		1640
C	Toby Hall		1000
1B	Todd Helton		3400
1B	Steve Cox		1160
2B	Jose Ortiz		1500
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1800
3B	Eric Chavez		2270
3B	Hank Blalock		1100
SS	Alex Rodriguez		3430
SS	Juan Uribe		1300
OF	Larry Walker		2790
OF	Juan Pierre		1880
OF	J.D. Drew		2310
OF	Cliff Floyd		2300
OF	Daryle Ward		1590
OF	Adam Dunn		1610
DH	Jeremy Giambi		1300
DH	Nick Johnson		1200

SP	Randy Johnson		3580
SP	Curt Schilling		3160
SP	Tim Hudson		2660
SP	Matt Morris		2650
SP	Javier Vazquez		2600
SP	Kerry Wood		2300
RP	John Smoltz		2610
RP	Jason Isringhause	2370
RP	Byung-Hyun Kim		2230
RP	Matt Anderson		1990

Today's Fantasy Rx: In any games with finite additions of new players, start using your moves when appropriate. We've already spent about a quarter of our moves in these leagues because we need to keep pace with the other owners. If you expect a player to remain hot, acquire him now rather than waiting for proof of any improvement, especially since many of your fellow owners will wait for that proof.