Today's Fantasy Rx

Colorado: 6 games: 1 Road at San Diego; 2 Road at San Francisco; 3 Home vs. San Diego.
Houston: 7 Road games: 1 at Texas; 3 at San Diego; 3 at Los Angeles.

7 Home games
New York Yankees: 3 vs. Boston; 4 vs. Detroit.

7 games
Boston: 3 Road at New York Yankees; 4 Home vs. Toronto.
Chicago White Sox: 3 Road at Toronto; 4 Home vs. Cleveland.
Chicago Cubs: 4 Home vs. Milwaukee; 3 Road at St. Louis.
Montreal: 4 Home vs. Philadelphia; 3 Road at Atlanta.
New York Mets: 4 Home vs. Florida; 3 Road at Philadelphia.
San Diego: 1 Home vs. Colorad; 3 Home vs. Houston; 3 Road at Colorado.

Arizona: 3 Home vs. Los Angeles; 4 Road at San Francisco.
Detroit: 3 Home vs. Cleveland; 4 at New York Yankees.
Milwaukee: 4 Road at Chicago Cubs; 3 Home vs. Cincinnati.
Philadelphia: 4 Road at Montreal; 3 Home vs. New York Mets.
Toronto: 3 Home vs. Chicago White Sox; 4 Road at Boston.

Texas: 1 Home vs. Houston; 3 Road at Baltimore; 3 Road at Tampa Bay.

7 Road games
Cleveland: 3 at Detroit; 4 at Chicago White Sox.
Florida: 4 at New York Mets; 3 at Pittsburgh.

Teams with six home games: Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Tampa Bay.

Kansas City: 2 Road games at Oakland; 3 Home games vs. Seattle.
Minnesota: 2 Road games at Seattle; 3 Home games vs. Oakland.
Oakland: 2 Home vs. Kansas City; 3 Road at Minnesota.
Seattle: 2 Home vs. Minnesota; 3 Road at Kansas City.

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):
Jarrod Washburn: Tue:@TB(Jo.Sosa); Sun:@BAL(Stephens)
Rick Helling: Mon:LA(Od.Perez); Sat:@SF(Jensen)
Brian Anderson: Tue:LA(Ishii); Sun:@SF(Ru.Ortiz)
Greg Maddux: Mon:PIT(Meadows): Sat:MON(Ohka)
Tom Glavine: Tue:PIT(S.Torres); Sun:MON(Colon)
John Stephens: Tue:TEX(Myette); Sun:ANA(Washburn)
Casey Fossum: Mon:@NYY(Mussina); Sat:TOR(Parris)
Pedro Martinez(?): Tue(?):@NYY(Clemens); Sun(?):TOR(Loaiza)
Jon Garland: Mon:@TOR(Parris); Sat:CLE(Sabathia)
Kerry Wood: Mon:MIL(Rusch); Sun:@STL(Stephenson)
Shawn Estes: Mon:@STL(Stephenson); Sun:@MIL(Rusch)
C.C. Sabathia: Mon:@DET(B.Powell); Sat:@CHW(Garland)
Brian Powell: Mon:CLE(Sabathia); Sat:@NYY(Mussina)
Runelvys Hernandez: Mon:@OAK(Zito); Sun:SEA(Pineiro)
Odalis Perez: Mon:@ARI(Helling); Sun:HOU(Munro)
Glendon Rusch: Mon:@CHC(Wood); Sun:CIN(Estes)
Eric Milton: Mon:@SEA(Pineiro); Sun:OAK(Zito)
Tomo Ohka: Mon:PHI(Roa); Sat:@ATL(Maddux)
Bartolo Colon: Tue:PHI(Duckworth); Sun:@ATL(Glavine)
John Thomson: Mon:FLO(Pavano); Sat:@PHI(Roa)
Mike Bacsik: Tue:FLO(Wayne); Sun:@PHI(Duckworth)
Mike Mussina: Mon:BOS(Fossum); Sat:DET(B.Powell)
Roger Clemens: Tue:BOS(P.Martinez?); Sun:DET(Lima)
Barry Zito: Mon:KC(Ru.Hernandez); Sun:@MIN(Milton)
Joe Roa: Mon:@MON(Ohka); Sat:NYM(Thomson)
Brandon Duckworth: Tue:@MON(Colon); Sun:NYM(Bacsik)
Brian Meadows: Mon:@ATL(Maddux); Sun:FLO(Wayne?)
Joel Pineiro: Mon:MIN(Milton); Sun:@KC(Ru.Hernandez)
Russ Ortiz: Tue:COL(Hampton); Sun:ARI(Bri.Anderson)
Chan Ho Park: Mon:HOU(J.Robertson); Sat:@TB(V.Zambrano)
Esteban Loiaza: Tue:CHW(Biddle); Sun:@BOS(P.Martinez?)

Diamond Challenge

We're going to continue waiting to use our last buy.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Wed:LA(Ashby)
Pedro Martinez: Tue(?):@NYY(Clemens); Sun(?):TOR(Loaiza)
Curt Schilling: Thu:@SF(Schmidt)
Mike Mussina: Mon:BOS(Fossum); Sat:DET(B.Powell)
Matt Morris: DL
Tim Hudson: Wed:KC(Byrd)
Javier Vazquez: Thu:PHI(Wolf)
Barry Zito: Mon:KC(Ru.Hernandez); Sun:@MIN(Milton)
Kerry Wood: Mon:MIL(Rusch); Sun:@STL(Stephenson)
Roy Oswalt: Sat:@LA(Nomo)
Eric Gagne: 6 games: 3 Road at Arizona; 3 Home vs. Houston.
Brian Lawrence: Tue:HOU(Munro); Sun:@COL(Hampton)
Roy Halladay: Fri:@BOS(Wakefield)

After falling to around 50 this week, we're just hoping we can rally to finish higher in our leagues and divisions. We'll take the potential doubles of Pedro, Mussina, Zito, and Wood, and with Lawrence and Halladay necessarily sitting, Gagne at least gives us some cap flexibility. Our last choice is between Randy and Hudson, and we'll hope Randy gives us the strikeout boost.

Even though the Rockies spend half the week at home, Helton, Walker, and Uribe have all played terribly lately and don't normally improve in September, so we'll keep them on our bench. We're not willing to trust Sosa after wasting a ton of cap on him last week, Ichiro only gets five games, and we can't quite find the cap room for Drew, who's only helping in BA anyway.

Izzy continues to sit for cap reasons and due to his recent injury troubles.

Shadow of the Umpire(3rd lg; 4th div; 47th(tie) overall; 222nd(tie) field)
& Interview with the Umpire(2nd lg; 2nd div; 47th(tie) overall; 222nd(tie) field)
Week 23: September 2-September 8

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	Aaron Boone		750
SS	Alex Rodriguez		1880
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1120
OF	Vlad Guerrero		1880
OF	Lance Berkman		1320
OF	Juan Pierre		1180
OF	Adam Dunn		710
OF	Daryle Ward		620
OF	Jeremy Giambi		500
DH	Jason Giambi		1640
DH	Shea Hillenbrand	450

SP	Randy Johnson		1990
SP	Pedro Martinez		1770
SP	Mike Mussina		1380
SP	Barry Zito		1080
SP	Kerry Wood		1050
SP	Eric Gagne		500
RP	Mike Williams		900
RP	Eddie Guardado		900
RP	Jorge Julio		750
RP	Scott Stewart		490

Diamond Challenge 2nd Season

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Wed:LA(Ashby)
Pedro Martinez: Tue(?):@NYY(Clemens); Sun(?):TOR(Loaiza)
Curt Schilling: Thu:@SF(Schmidt)
Mike Mussina: Mon:BOS(Fossum); Sat:DET(B.Powell)
Roger Clemens: Tue:BOS(P.Martinez?); Sun:DET(Lima).
Matt Morris: DL
Freddy Garcia: Fri:@KC(Asencio)
Javier Vazquez: Thu:PHI(Wolf)
Barry Zito: Mon:KC(Ru.Hernandez); Sun:@MIN(Milton)
Kerry Wood: Mon:MIL(Rusch); Sun:@STL(Stephenson)
Roy Oswalt: Sat:@LA(Nomo)
Eric Gagne: 6 games: 3 Road at Arizona; 3 Home vs. Houston.
Roy Halladay: Fri:@BOS(Wakefield)

The Pedro, Mussina, Clemens, Zito, and Wood starts all look good, and we'll finish off this team with Gagne as usual.

We'd like to bench Sosa, Helton, Walker, Ichiro, and Jeremy Giambi, but we still need to cut 130 of salary somewhere. Since we've already kept Barrett one week longer than planned, we're going to add Toby Hall, as he offers more upside in three games each week than Marrero or Pierzynski in a full slate.

We'll cut a pitcher, and our choice is between Morris and Garcia since we like everyone else. Morris at least is due back in a week, while Garcia is running a 22233 five-start PQS log and spends the last three weeks against Texas, Texas and Anaheim, and Oakland; we're not comfortable running him any of those weeks, so we'll use one of our two remaining moves to add a new catcher.

Umpire: The Masquerade(5th lg; 15th div; 326th overall; 59th field)
Week 23: September 2-September 8

C 	Jorge Posada		990
C	Toby Hall		320
1B	Jason Giambi		1640
1B	Paul Konerko		1220
2B	Luis Castillo		1000
2B	Alfonso Soriano		900
3B	Aaron Boone		750
3B	Shea Hillenbrand	450
SS	Alex Rodriguez		1880
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1120
OF	Lance Berkman		1320
OF	Juan Pierre		1180
OF	J.D. Drew		1010
OF	Pat Burrell		920
OF	Torii Hunter		830
OF	Adam Dunn		710
DH	Daryle Ward		620
DH	Jimmy Rollins		940

SP	Pedro Martinez		1770
SP	Mike Mussina		1380
SP	Roger Clemens		1240
SP	Barry Zito		1080
SP	Kerry Wood		1050
SP	Eric Gagne		500
RP	Mike Williams		900
RP	Eddie Guardado		900
RP	Jorge Julio		750
RP	Scott Stewart		490

Internet Challenge

We're going to continue waiting to use our last buy.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Wed:LA(Ashby)
Pedro Martinez: Tue(?):@NYY(Clemens)
Curt Schilling: Thu:@SF(Schmidt)
Mike Mussina: Mon:BOS(Fossum)
Matt Morris: DL
Barry Zito: Mon:KC(Ru.Hernandez)
Kerry Wood: Mon:MIL(Rusch)
Eric Gagne: 3 Road games at Arizona.

No starts: Morris; Oswalt, and Halladay.

Byung-Hyun Kim: 4 games: 3 Home vs. Los Angeles; 3 Road at San Francisco.
Mike Williams: 3 Road games at Atlanta.
Eddie Guardado: 2 Road games at Seattle.
Jorge Julio: 3 Home games vs. Texas.
Scott Stewart: 3 Home games vs. Atlanta.

With the possibility Pedro might miss his start, we'll deploy the other six starts. All four Rockies sit on the road, and Ichiro only plays two games. We only have room for one of the three OF studs, and Vlad is the only healthy one that plays four games. Ichiro joins the others on the bench as he only plays 2 games, and we're stuck sitting Kim instead of Guardado since we're out of cap room.

The Umpire Hunter(2nd lg; 13th overall)
Week 23a: September 2-September 8

C 	Jorge Posada		990
C	A.J. Pierzynski		460
1B	Jason Giambi		1640
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	Nomar Garciaparra	1120
OF	Vlad Guerrero		1880
OF	Lance Berkman		1320
OF	J.D. Drew		1010
OF	Torii Hunter		830
OF	Adam Dunn		710
OF	Daryle Ward		620
DH	Paul Konerko		1220
DH	Jimmy Rollins		940

SP	Randy Johnson		1990
SP	Curt Schilling		1540
SP	Mike Mussina		1380
SP	Barry Zito		1080
SP	Kerry Wood		1050
SP	Eric Gagne		500
RP	Mike Williams		900
RP	Eddie Guardado		900
RP	Jorge Julio		750
RP	Scott Stewart		490

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

We just watched the A's blow a 2-run lead, and then come back to demolish Guardado to win 7-5. The odds of them beating Kansas City at home over the next few days look fairly good, so we're going to add Zito for his double. Even if Morris will be back in a week, we wouldn't run him for the first week or two until he proves his health, so he's the logical cut.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Wed:LA(Ashby)
Curt Schilling: Thu:@SF(Schmidt)
Pedro Martinez: Tue(?):@NYY(Clemens); Sun(?):TOR(Loaiza)
Mike Mussina: Mon:BOS(Fossum); Sat:DET(B.Powell)
Roger Clemens: Tue:BOS(P.Martinez?); Sun:DET(Lima).
Javier Vazquez: Thu:PHI(Wolf)
Barry Zito: Mon:KC(Ru.Hernandez); Sun:@MIN(Milton)
Kevin Millwood: Fri:MON(Yoshii)
Kerry Wood: Mon:MIL(Rusch); Sun:@STL(Stephenson)
Roy Oswalt: Sat:@LA(Nomo)
Eric Gagne: 6 games: 3 Road at Arizona; 3 Home vs. Houston.

After adding Zito, we have five potential doubles and Gagne, all of which look quite good.

On offense, we'll sit the four Rockies, the slumping Lowell, the injured Nick Johnson, the questionable Floyd, the perennially benched Jeremy Giambi, and Bret Boone, who despite hitting .500 over the past week, only plays five games this week.

Since we have the cap room, we're going to run Sosa since we're willing to gamble somewhat in this league to try to move up in the standings.

The Umpire Chronicles(2nd lg; 247th overall)
& Umpire with a Soul(6th lg; 516th overall)
Week 23: September 2-September 8

C	Paul Lo Duca		1640
C	A.J. Pierzynski		1000
1B	Jason Giambi		3320
1B	Steve Cox		1160
2B	Jeff Kent		2740
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1800
3B	Eric Chavez		2270
3B	Aramis Ramirez		1590
SS	Alex Rodriguez		3430
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	2160
OF	Sammy Sosa		3480
OF	Lance Berkman		2540
OF	Torii Hunter		1710
OF	Adam Dunn		1610
OF	Daryle Ward		1590
OF	Corey Patterson		1370
DH	J.D. Drew		2310
DH	Junior Spivey		1500

SP	Pedro Martinez		2950
SP	Mike Mussina		2940
SP	Roger Clemens		2870
SP	Kerry Wood		2300
SP	Barry Zito		2380
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
Our Prior gamble failed miserably, so we'll replace him with the most intriguing double for which we have room: the 0%-owned Rick Helling. He's red hot and Arizona's offense gives him a chance for 30+ points this week, and our alternatives aren't that interesting since we don't trust Jarrod Washburn and aren't convinced the Cubs will score any runs for Kerry.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Wed:LA(Ashby)
Curt Schilling: Thu:@SF(Schmidt)
Pedro Martinez: Tue(?):@NYY(Clemens); Sun(?):TOR(Loaiza)
Freddy Garcia: Fri:@KC(Asencio)
Rick Helling: Mon:LA(Od.Perez); Sat:@SF(Jensen)
Barry Zito: Mon:KC(Ru.Hernandez); Sun:@MIN(Milton)
Kevin Millwood: Fri:MON(Yoshii)
Roy Oswalt: Sat:@LA(Nomo)
Roy Halladay: Fri:@BOS(Wakefield)
Eric Gagne: 6 games: 3 Road at Arizona; 3 Home vs. Houston.
Odalis Perez: Mon:@ARI(Helling); Sun:HOU(Munro)

We'll deploy Pedro, Helling, Zito, and Odalis with Gagne and then Millwood to round out the staff.

Helton and Walker sit with half the week on the road, Ichiro, Pierzynski, and Hunter only play three games, Derrek Lee and Castillo don't offer much, and who knows how many games Bowa will let Jeremy play.

Umpire in Brooklyn(3rd lg; 152nd overall)
Week 23: September 2-September 8

C	Paul Lo Duca		1640
C	Toby Hall		1000
1B	Paul Konerko		2410
1B	Steve Cox		1160
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1800
2B	Junior Spivey		1500
3B	Eric Chavez		2270
3B	Aaron Boone		1600
SS	Alex Rodriguez		3430
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	2160
OF	Barry Bonds		3360
OF	Lance Berkman		2540
OF	Albert Pujols		2500
OF	Pat Burrell		2050
OF	Adam Dunn		1610
OF	Erubiel Durazo		1260
DH	Eric Hinske		1500
DH	David Eckstein		1380

SP	Pedro Martinez		2950
SP	Rick Helling		2490
SP	Barry Zito		2380
SP	Kevin Millwood		2090
SP	Odalis Perez		1070
SP	Eric Gagne		1230
RP	John Smoltz		2610
RP	Mike Williams		1790
RP	Eddie Guardado		1690
RP	Jorge Julio		1500

Today's Fantasy Rx: With only three weeks of moves remaining following this week, we see no reason not to spend all but one or two moves if necessary to bolster your team. Playing time will decrease for some regulars as teams deploy rookies more often, and lineups in general will grow harder to predict, so while we'll leave at least one move in all leagues, we don't mind otherwise limiting ourselves as long as we don't lack backups at more than two or three positions.