Best viewed in IE 4.0+
 
Rotohelp  
August
4th
2002
Your Daily Fantasy Rx
Rotohelp
Sunday Challenge Conversation, '02 Week 19
by Tim Polko

Today's Fantasy Rx

Colorado: 6 Home games: 3 vs. Cincinnati; 3 vs. Chicago Cubs.
Houston: 6 Home games: 3 vs. Florida; 3 vs. Atlanta.

Detroit: 7 Home games: 1 vs. Anaheim; 3 vs. Texas; 3 vs. Baltimore.
Toronto: 7 Home games: 1 vs. Baltimore; 3 vs. Seattle; 3 va. Anaheim.

Arizona: 7 games: 1 Road at New York Mets; 3 Home vs. Atlanta; 3 Home vs. Florida.
Chicago White Sox: 7 games: 1 Road at Tampa Bay; 3 Home vs. Anaheim; 3 Home vs. Seattle.
Los Angeles: 1 Road at Philadelphia; 3 Home vs. Pittsburgh; 3 Home vs. Philadelphia.

Baltimore: 7 games: 1 Road at Toronto; 3 Home vs. Minnesota; 3 Road at Detroit.
Kansas City: 7 games: 1 Road at Minnesota; 3 Road at New York Yankees; 3 Home vs. Tampa Bay.

Minnesota: 7 games: 1 Home vs. Kansas City; 3 Road at Baltimore; 3 Road at Boston.
New York Mets: 7 games: 1 Home vs. Arizona; 3 Road at Milwaukee; 3 Road at St. Louis.
Philadelphia: 7 games: 1 Home vs. Los Angeles; 3 Road at San Diego; 3 Road at Los Angeles.
Tampa Bay: 7 games: 1 Home vs. Chicago WhiteSox; 3 Road at Cleveland; 3 Road at Kansas City.

Anaheim: 7 Road games: 1 at Detroit; 3 at Chicago White Sox; 3 at Toronto.

Teams with six home games: Boston, Cleveland, Milwaukee, New York Yankees, San Francisco, and St. Louis.

All other teams play six games with at least three on the road.


Pitchers of interest with two starts(whom we'd start if we owned them):
John Lackey: Mon:@DET(B.Powell); Sat:@TOR(Parris)
Jarrod Washburn: Tue:@CHW(D.Wright); Sun:@TOR(Halladay)
Randy Johnson: Mon:@NYM(Estes); Sat:FLO(M.Tejera)
Curt Schilling: Tue:ATL(Millwood); Sun:@FLOU(Beckett)
Kevin Millwood: Tue:@ARI(Schilling); Sun:@HOU(Mlicki)
Rod Lopez: Mon:@TOR(Parris); Sat:@DET(B.Powell)
Tim Wakefield: Tue:OAK(M.Mulder); Sun:MIN(Milton)
Jon Garland: Mon:@TB(V.Zambrano); Sat:SEA(Halama)
Dan Wright: Tue:ANA(Washburn); Sun:CHW(Baldwin)
Brian Powell: Mon:ANA(Lackey); Sat:BAL(R.Lopez) Steve Sparks: Tue:TEX(C.H.Park); Sun:BAL(Erickson)
Josh Beckett: Tue:@HOU(Mlicki); Sun:@ARI(Schilling) Shawn Sedlacek: Mon:@MIN(Mays); Sat:TB(V.Zambrano?)
Runelvys Hernandez: Tue:@NYY(Mussina); Sun:TB(Jo.Sosa)
Hideo Nomo: Mon:@PHI(Duckworth); Sat:PHI(Duckworth)
Odalis Perez: Tue:PIT(Fogg); Sun:PHI(Wolf)
Ben Sheets: Tue:NYM(Astacio); Sun:MON(Yoshii)
Joe Mays: Mon:KC(Sedlacek); Sat:@BOS(P.Martinez)
Eric Milton: Tue:@BAL(Erickson); Sun:@BOS(Wakefield)
Masato Yoshii: Tue:@STL(C.Finley); Sun:@MIL(Sheets)
Pedro Astacio(?): Tue:@MIL(Sheets); Sun(?):@STL(C.Finley)
Mike Mussina: Tue:KC(Ru.Hernandez); Sun:OAK(M.Mulder)
Mark Mulder: Tue:@BOS(Wakefield); Sun:@NYY(Mussina)
Brandon Duckworth: Mon:LA(Nomo); Sat:@LA(Nomo)
Randy Wolf: Tue:@SD(Ol.Perez); Sun:@LA(Od.Perez) Josh Fogg: Tue:@SD(O.Perez); Sun:@SF(Jensen)
Oliver Perez: Tue:PHI(Wolf); Sun:@CIN(B.Moehler)
James Baldwin: Tue:@TOR(Halladay); Sun:@CHW(D.Wright)
Ryan Jensen: Tue:CHC(S.Smyth); Sun:PIT(Fogg)
Chuck Finley: Tue:MON(Yoshii); Sun:NYM(Astacio or Estes)
Chan Ho Park: Tue:@DET(Sparks); Sun:@CLE(Nagy)
Steve Parris: Mon:BAL(R.Lopez); Sat:ANA(Lackey)
Roy Halladay: Tue:SEA(Baldwin); Sun:ANA(Washburn)


Diamond Challenge

Neither DeJean, Jeremy Giambi, nor Travis Lee left their respective towns, so we can't pick up Luis Vizcaino and Giambi looks less attractive. Our top potential pick-ups are Halladay for his two starts, Nomar, and Hunter, although given Hunter's recent injury worries, we're only looking at the first two for this week. We'll see how our current roster fits under the cap before considering using one of three remaining buys.


SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Mon:@NYM(Estes); Sat:FLO(M.Tejera)
Pedro Martinez: Sat:MIN(Mays)
Curt Schilling: Tue:ATL(Millwood); Sun:@FLOU(Beckett)
Mike Mussina: Tue:KC(Ru.Hernandez); Sun:OAK(M.Mulder)
Roger Clemens: DL
Matt Morris: Thu:MON(Reames or Colon)
Tim Hudson: Fri:@NYY(?)
Javier Vazquez: Fri:@MIL(Quevedo) or Sat:@MIL(Osting or Jo.Cabrera)
Barry Zito: Thu:@BOS(D.Lowe)
Kerry Wood: Wed:@SF(Ru.Ortiz)
Roy Oswalt: Wed:FLO(Burnett)
Eric Gagne: 1 Road at Philadelphia; 3 Home vs. Pittsburgh; 3 Home vs. Philadelphia.
Brian Lawrence: Thu:PHI(Roa)

To fit both Helton and Sosa under the cap, we're going to go against our normal strategy and bench a Randy double-start after his 150-pitch outing last time. We're not convinced he won't hurt our WHIP, and we need to fix our offensive problems now.

We'll have plenty of room for Schilling and Mussina, and then we're quite comfortable with the singles from Wood, Oswalt, and Lawrence, along with Gagne's seven games.

Our Rockies' platoon finally returns to the lineup, but with Sammy in Colorado, we also need to play him. Vlad hits our bench as he spends the week on the road. We're deploying Konerko and Klesko, benching Jason Giambi due to his back problem. We have very little reason to start Rollins or Jeremy Giambi again, and they'll likely be two of our final three cuts before the end of the year. Finally, we'll sit Drew as he hasn't shown much following the couple of games immediately after he returned from the DL.

We're not going after Halladay at this point since the rest of our cap works without any noticeable problems, so our last decision is whether we should add Nomar, deploying him for the RBI and potentially playing time-deficient Pierre, and cutting Rollins.

Since Nomar's also likely to help more in BA, we'll make this move now, leaving Pierre on the bench until we determine his role in the remodeled Colorado outfield.


Shadow of the Umpire(1st lg; 1st div; 3rd(tie) overall; 170th(tie) field)
& Interview with the Umpire(1st lg; 1st div; 3rd(tie) overall; 170th(tie) field)
Week 19: August 5-August 11

C 	Jorge Posada		990
C	A.J. Pierzynski		460
1B	Ryan Klesko		1300
1B	Paul Konerko		1220
2B	Luis Castillo		1000
2B	Alfonso Soriano		900
3B	Eric Chavez		1070
3B	Shea Hillenbrand	450
SS	Alex Rodriguez		1880
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1120
OF	Sammy Sosa		1900
OF	Larry Walker		1530
OF	Ichiro Suzuki		1330
OF	Lance Berkman		1320
OF	Adam Dunn		710
OF	Daryle Ward		620
DH	Todd Helton		1980
DH	Juan Uribe		500

SP	Curt Schilling		1540
SP	Mike Mussina		1380
SP	Kerry Wood		1050
SP	Roy Oswalt		830
SP	Eric Gagne		500
SP	Brian Lawrence		480
RP	Jason Isringhausen	1290
RP	Mike Williams		900
RP	Eddie Guardado		900
RP	Jorge Julio		750


Diamond Challenge 2nd Season

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Mon:@NYM(Estes); Sat:FLO(M.Tejera)
Pedro Martinez: Sat:MIN(Mays)
Curt Schilling: Tue:ATL(Millwood); Sun:@FLOU(Beckett)
Mike Mussina: Tue:KC(Ru.Hernandez); Sun:OAK(M.Mulder)
Roger Clemens: DL
Matt Morris: Thu:MON(Reames or Colon)
Freddy Garcia: Fri:@CHW(Buehrle)
Javier Vazquez: Fri:@MIL(Quevedo) or Sat:@MIL(Osting or Jo.Cabrera)
Barry Zito: Thu:@BOS(D.Lowe)
Kerry Wood: Wed:@SF(Ru.Ortiz)
Derek Lowe: Thu:OAK(Zito)
Roy Oswalt: Wed:FLO(Burnett)
Eric Gagne: 1 Road at Philadelphia; 3 Home vs. Pittsburgh; 3 Home vs. Philadelphia.
Roy Halladay: Tue:SEA(Baldwin); Sun:ANA(Washburn)

Randy, Schilling, Mussina, and Halladay are necessary for their doubles, we're hoping Gagne will be fine, and since we don't have room for Pedro, Oswalt is the next best pick here. Unfortunately we don't have the cap room for Randy if we want to deploy our best offense, so he'll sit in favor of Derek Lowe.

On offense, Jason Giambi's back twinge gives us an excuse to sit him, and we see no need to play Drew or Pierre. We'd play Ichiro over Jeremy Giambi under normal circumstances, but with both Sosa and Helton in the lineup, we need to make this last move to sneak under the cap by $20.

We thought about adding Prior as a free agent, but he's in Colorado this week, starts at home against Houston next week, and doubles at Houston and Arizona the following week, none of which look particularly appeasing. As we also don't know who to drop, we're going to keep our FA for now.


Umpire: The Masquerade(1st lg; 3rd div; 155th overall)
Week 19: August 5-August 11

C 	Jorge Posada		990
C	Michael Barrett		590
1B	Todd Helton		1980
1B	Paul Konerko		1220
2B	Luis Castillo		1000
2B	Alfonso Soriano		900
3B	Mike Lowell		870
3B	Shea Hillenbrand	450
SS	Alex Rodriguez		1880
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1120
OF	Sammy Sosa		1900
OF	Larry Walker		1530
OF	Lance Berkman		1320
OF	Pat Burrell		920
OF	Torii Hunter		830
OF	Adam Dunn		710
DH	Daryle Ward		620
DH	Jeremy Giambi		500

SP	Curt Schilling		1540
SP	Mike Mussina		1380
SP	Derek Lowe		870
SP	Roy Oswalt		830
SP	Eric Gagne		500
SP	Roy Halladay		490
RP	Mike Williams		900
RP	Eddie Guardado		900
RP	Jorge Julio		750
RP	Scott Stewart		490



Internet Challenge

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Mon:@NYM(Estes)
Curt Schilling: Tue:ATL(Millwood)
Mike Mussina: Tue:KC(Ru.Hernandez)
Matt Morris: Thu:MON(Reames or Colon)
Barry Zito: Thu:@BOS(D.Lowe)
Kerry Wood: Wed:@SF(Ru.Ortiz)
Roy Oswalt: Wed:FLO(Burnett)
Eric Gagne: 4 games: 1 Road at Philadelphia; 3 Home vs. Pittsburgh.
Roy Halladay: Tue:SEA(Baldwin)

No starts: Pedro, Clemens and Vazquez.

After adding Halladay, we plan to wait as long as possible before spending our last move.

Schilling, Mussina, and Halladay look nearly mandatory here, and we also like Wood and Oswalt rather than chancing Randy after his 149-pitch outing. Also, since we're more desperate for strikeouts than saves, we'll deploy Zito instead of Gagne.

All our Rockies play while Vlad and Sammy sit in pitchers' parks. We're not disposed to playing Rollins or Drew, and Jason Giambi's possible injury gives us an excuse to sit him, along with the slumping Konerko, in favor of the slightly more intriguing Klesko. These moves leave us exactly at the cap, and we always enjoy not wasting any cap room.


The Umpire Hunter(1st lg(tie); 11th overall)
Week 19a: August 5-August 8

C 	Jorge Posada		990
C	A.J. Pierzynski		460
1B	Todd Helton		1980
1B	Ryan Klesko		1300
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	Lance Berkman		1320
OF	Torii Hunter		830
OF	Adam Dunn		710
OF	Daryle Ward		620
DH	Barry Bonds		1830
DH	Juan Pierre		1180

SP	Curt Schilling		1540
SP	Mike Mussina		1380
SP	Barry Zito		1080
SP	Kerry Wood		1050
SP	Roy Oswalt		830
SP	Roy Halladay		490
RP	Byung-Hyun Kim		1200
RP	Mike Williams		900
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 Guardado until further notice.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Mon:@NYM(Estes); Sat:FLO(M.Tejera)
Curt Schilling: Tue:ATL(Millwood); Sun:@FLOU(Beckett)
Pedro Martinez: Sat:MIN(Mays)
Mike Mussina: Tue:KC(Ru.Hernandez); Sun:OAK(M.Mulder)
Roger Clemens: DL
Matt Morris: Thu:MON(Reames or Colon)
Javier Vazquez: Fri:@MIL(Quevedo) or Sat:@MIL(Osting or Jo.Cabrera)
Kerry Wood: Wed:@SF(Ru.Ortiz)
Roy Oswalt: Wed:FLO(Burnett)
Eric Gagne: 1 Road at Philadelphia; 3 Home vs. Pittsburgh; 3 Home vs. Philadelphia.

Randy, Schilling, and Mussina's doubles seem vital here, and we also like Oswalt and Gagne. We don't have the cap room for Pedro, Clemens is injured, Vazquez is slumping, and Morris has also experiecned problems, leaving Kerry as both the safest start and best chance for strikeouts.

We're using one of our last three moves to pick up Jorge Julio here, cutting Isringhausen since we don't think the difference in their stats warrants the extra 870 of cap room. Picking up Mike Williams for Kim is also tempting, but we're not willing to cut back to one move here.

Injuries dictate some of our lineup choices as Spivey and Jason Giambi sit, the latter also staying on our bench for cap reasons. Aramis Ramirez has an awful week on the west coast in LA and Frisco, so we need to play Lowell, especially as he's in Houston. We're not running Pierre here until we see how the Colorado platoon shakes out, and we don't have any easy way to play Drew, Floyd, or Jeremy Giambi. Finally we're just slightly short of cap room for Nomar, so while we'd like to get him into the lineup, Chavez looks like a better choice this week.


The Umpire Chronicles(1st lg; 247th overall)
& Umpire with a Soul(6th lg; 555th overall)
Week 19:August 5-August 11

C	Paul Lo Duca		1640
C	A.J. Pierzynski		1000
1B	Todd Helton		3400
1B	Steve Cox		1160
2B	Bret Boone		2650
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1800
3B	Eric Chavez		2270
3B	Mike Lowell		1920
SS	Alex Rodriguez		3430
SS	Juan Uribe		1300
OF	Larry Walker		2790
OF	Lance Berkman		2540
OF	Torii Hunter		1710
OF	Adam Dunn		1610
OF	Daryle Ward		1590
OF	Corey Patterson		1370
DH	Sammy Sosa		3480
DH	Nick Johnson		1200

SP	Randy Johnson		3580
SP	Curt Schilling		3160
SP	Mike Mussina		2940
SP	Kerry Wood		2300
SP	Roy Oswalt		1750
SP	Eric Gagne		1230
RP	John Smoltz		2610
RP	Byung-Hyun Kim		2230
RP	Eddie Guardado		1690
RP	Jorge Julio		1500


Mid-Season Fantasy Baseball
SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Mon:@NYM(Estes); Sat:FLO(M.Tejera)
Curt Schilling: Tue:ATL(Millwood); Sun:@FLOU(Beckett)
Pedro Martinez: Sat:MIN(Mays)
Freddy Garcia: Fri:@CHW(Buehrle)
Roy Oswalt: Wed:FLO(Burnett)
A.J. Burnett: Wed:@HOU(Oswalt)
Roy Halladay: Tue:SEA(Baldwin); Sun:ANA(Washburn)
Eric Gagne: 1 Road at Philadelphia; 3 Home vs. Pittsburgh; 3 Home vs. Philadelphia.
Odalis Perez: Tue:PIT(Fogg); Sun:PHI(Wolf)

We're pleased with the Randy, Schilling, Halladay, and Odalis doubles, and Oswalt and Gagne will round out this staff.

While we probably should have burned our first move here last week, we're going to flip in Jorge Julio for Kim to gain the 730 of cap room.

Hall sits until he starts playing more than three times a week, and with Helton and Larry Walker deployed, we have no room for Bonds. We don't trust Chavez's six games in Boston and New York, so we'll deploy Lowell in Houston. We'd like to play Castillo but we begin to run into cap problems, necessitating the benching of Castillo, De.Lee, Konerko, Floyd, and then we'd rather have our power hitters in the lineup at home than Ichiro on the road.

We'd like to find some way not to run Jeremy Giambi, but by deploying him, we can keep ARod in the lineup and hit the cap exactly.


Umpire in Brooklyn(8th lg; 356th overall)
Week 19: August 5-August 11

C	Paul Lo Duca		1640
C	A.J. Pierzynski		1000
1B	Todd Helton		3400
1B	Steve Cox		1160
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1800
2B	Junior Spivey		1500
3B	Mike Lowell		1920
3B	Eric Hinske		1500
SS	Alex Rodriguez		3430
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	2160
OF	Larry Walker		2790
OF	Lance Berkman		2540
OF	Albert Pujols		2500
OF	Pat Burrell		2050
OF	Torii Hunter		1710
OF	Adam Dunn		1610
DH	David Eckstein		1380
DH	Jeremy Giambi		1300

SP	Randy Johnson		3580
SP	Curt Schilling		3160
SP	Roy Oswalt		1750
SP	Roy Halladay		1230
SP	Eric Gagne		1230
SP	Odalis Perez		1070
RP	John Smoltz		2610
RP	Mike Williams		1790
RP	Eddie Guardado		1690
RP	Jorge Julio		1500


Today's Fantasy Rx: It's now time to see if the Rockies will reward those of us who stayed patient with the platoon. They spend at least half of six of the next eight weeks at home, and both Sammy and Vlad are home in the two weeks when Colorado hits the road. Make every effort to deploy both Helton and Walker in these weeks as long as they're both healthy.


Click here to read the previous article.

Please e-mail your comments to tim@rotohelp.com.
Advertise on
Rotohelp
All content ©2001-18 Rotohelp, Inc. All rights reserved. PO Box 72054 Roselle, IL 60172.
Please send your comments, suggestions, and complaints to: admin@rotohelp.com.