Rotohelp.com

by Tim Polko

Colorado: 6 Home games: 3 vs. St. Louis; 3 vs. Arizona.
Houston: 6 Road games: 3 at Milwaukee; 3 at St. Louis.

7 Home games
Baltimore: 4 vs. Toronto; 3 vs. Boston.
Detroit: 1 vs. Kansas City; 3 vs. Minnesota; 3 vs. New York Yankees.
Oakland: 4 vs. Anaheim; 3 vs. Texas.
Pittsburgh: 4 vs. Cincinnati; 3 vs. Texas.
Seattle: 4 vs. Texas; 3 vs. Anaheim.

7 games
Atlanta: 1 Road at Florida; 3 Home vs. Philadelphia; 3 Home vs. Florida.

Boston: 4 Home vs. Cleveland; 3 Road at Baltimore.
Florida: 1 Home vs. Atlanta; 3 Home vs. Montreal; 3 Road at Atlanta.
Los Angeles: 4 Home vs. San Francisco; 3 Road at San Diego.

Cincinnati: 4 Road at Pittsburgh; 3 Home vs. Philadelphia.
Kansas City: 1 Road at Detroit; 3 Road at Chicago White Sox; 3 Home vs. Cleveland.

7 Road games
Anaheim: 4 at Oakland; 3 at Seattle.
Cleveland: 4 at Boston; 3 at Kansas City.
San Francisco: 4 at Los Angeles; 3 at Milwaukee.
Texas: 4 at Seattle; 3 at Oakland.
Toronto: 4 at Baltimore; 3 at Tampa Bay.

Teams with six home games: Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee, New York Mets, San Diego, and Tampa Bay.

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):
Kevin Millwood: Mon:@FLO(Penny); Sat:FLO(Penny)
Greg Maddux: Tue:PHI(Padilla); Sun:FLO(Jul.Tavarez)
Pedro Martinez: Mon:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez); Sun:@BAL(Ponson)
Mark Buehrle: Tue:KC(D.May or M.Asencio); Sun:MIN(Radke)
Elmer Dessens: Mon:@PIT(K.Wells); Sat:PHI(E.Junge or H.Mercado)
Brad Penny: Mon:ATL(Millwood); Sat:@ATL(Millwood)
Shawn Sedlacek: Mon:@DET(Maroth); Sat:CLE(C.Lee) or Sun:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez or B.Tallet)
Hideo Nomo: Mon:SF(Schmidt); Sat:@SD(Peavy)
Ben Sheets: Tue:HOU(Saarloos); Sun:SF(Rueter)
Brad Radke: Tue:@DET(S.Loux); Sun:@CHW(Buehrle)
Al Leiter(?): Tue:CHC(Al.Benes); Sun(?):MON(S.Kim)
Orlando Hernandez: Tue:@TB(P.Wilson); Sun:@DET(Maroth)
Cory Lidle: Mon:ANA(Lackey); Sat:TEX(C.Lewis)
Mark Mulder: Tue:ANA(Callaway); Sun:TEX(C.H.Park)
Vicente Padilla: Tue:@ATL(Maddux); Sun:@CIN(Dessens)
Kip Wells: Mon:CIN(Dessens); Sat:CHC(S.Smyth, J.Cruz, or ???)
Kris Benson: Tue:CIN(Estes): Sun:CHC(Al.Benes)
Jason Schmidt: Mon:@LA(Nomo); Sat:@MIL(Diggins)
Paul Wilson: Tue:NYY(O.Hernandez); Sun:TOR(J.Miller)

Only deploy in Fantasy Baseball and other leagues that don't count qualitative stats:
John Lackey: Mon:@OAK(Lidle); Sat:@SEA(F.Garcia)
Mickey Callaway: Tue:@OAK(Mulder); Sun:@SEA(R.Franklin)
Miguel Batista: Tue:@SD(Eaton); Sun:@COL(A.Cook)
Omar Daal: Tue:SF(Rueter); Sun:@SD(Eaton)
Freddy Garcia: Mon:TEX(C.Lewis); Sat:ANA(Lackey)
Chuck Finley: Tue:@COL(A.Cook); Sun:HOU(Saarloos)
Colby Lewis: Mon:@SEA(F.Garcia); Sat:@OAK(Lidle)
Chan Ho Park: Tue:@SEA(R.Frankling); Sun:@OAK(Mulder)
Justin Miller: Tue:@BAL(); Sun:@TB(P.Wilson).

Diamond Challenge

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Thu:@SD(B.Lawrence)
Pedro Martinez: Mon:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez); Sun:@BAL(Ponson)
Curt Schilling: Fri:@COL(Hampton)
Mike Mussina: Thu:@TB(D.Brazleton)
Matt Morris: Sat:HOU(W.Miller)
Tim Hudson: Thu:ANA(Appier)
Javier Vazquez: Sat:@NYM(Astacio, Bacsik, or Thomson)
Barry Zito: Wed:ANA(Washburn)
Kerry Wood: Wed:@NYM(Trachsel?)
Roy Oswalt: Thu:@MIL(W.Franklin)
Eric Gagne: 7 games: 4 Home vs. San Francisco; 3 Road at San Diego.
Roy Halladay: Wed:@BAL(Douglass)
Brian Lawrence: Thu:ARI(Ran.Johnson)

Jason Isringhausen: 6 games: 3 Road at Colorado; 3 Home vs. Houston.
Mike Williams: 7 Home games: 4 vs. Cincinnati; 3 vs. Chicago Cubs.
Eddie Guardado: 6 Road games: 3 at Detroit; 3 at Chicago White Sox.
Jorge Julio: 7 Home games: 4 vs. Toronto; 3 vs. Boston.
Scott Stewart: 6 Road games: 3 at Florida; 3 at New York Mets.

Izzy will sit in Colorado, leaving us with the cheaper options at RP.

Pedro and Gagne seem obvious choices, and we're pleased to complete our pitching with Randy, Wood, Oswalt, and Halladay.

On offense, we'd prefer not to use Larry Walker, Ichiro, Jeremy Giambi, or Juan Uribe. We also don't see the cap room or roster space to run Ryan Klesko, Paul Konerko, or J.D. Drew.

We need to add a player at $480 or less, and between Vernon Wells and Joe Crede, the last few days have us leaning back towards Crede. We'll use our last move to add him, cutting Larry Walker, and then deploying Crede as a DH. We're vulnerable with no backup at catcher or 2B, but we're content with Posada, Pierzynski, Castillo, and Soriano.

Shadow of the Umpire(3rd lg; 6th div; 109th(tie) overall; 241st(tie) field)
& Interview with the Umpire(3rd lg; 5th div; 109th(tie) overall; 241st(tie) field)
Week 25: September 16-September 22

C 	Jorge Posada		990
C	A.J. Pierzynski		460
1B	Todd Helton		1980
1B	Jason Giambi		1640
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	Sammy Sosa		1900
OF	Vlad Guerrero		1880
OF	Lance Berkman		1320
OF	Juan Pierre		1180
OF	Adam Dunn		710
OF	Daryle Ward		620
DH	Shea Hillenbrand	450
DH	Joe Crede		400

SP	Randy Johnson		1990
SP	Pedro Martinez		1770
SP	Kerry Wood		1050
SP	Roy Oswalt		830
SP	Roy Halladay		490
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: Thu:@SD(B.Lawrence)
Pedro Martinez: Mon:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez); Sun:@BAL(Ponson)
Curt Schilling: Fri:@COL(Hampton)
Mike Mussina: Thu:@TB(D.Brazleton)
Roger Clemens: Fri:@DET(A.Van Hekken)
Matt Morris: Sat:HOU(W.Miller)
Freddy Garcia: Mon:TEX(C.Lewis); Sat:ANA(Lackey)
Javier Vazquez: Sat:@NYM(Astacio, Bacsik, or Thomson)
Barry Zito: Wed:ANA(Washburn)
Kerry Wood: Wed:@NYM(Trachsel?)
Derek Lowe: Fri:@BAL(Hentgen)
Roy Oswalt: Thu:@MIL(W.Franklin)
Eric Gagne: 7 games: 4 Home vs. San Francisco; 3 Road at San Diego.
Roy Halladay: Wed:@BAL(Douglass)

Pedro and Gagne look solid, but we're not going to run Garcia because of the potential qualitative damage. We're quite comfortable with Wood, Lowe, and Oswalt, and Halladay also looks fine.

On offense, we want to sit Larry Walker, Ichiro, Jimmy Rollins, Torii Hunter, and Mike Barrett, but we don't have enough cap room to deploy both Jason Giambi and J.D. Drew. While Drew is playing in Colorado, we still don't trust his playing time, so we'll keep Giambi active and use our last buy on Joe Crede. He gives us good power at a fantastic price, and also only leaves us vulnerable at 2B, SS, and RP, all positions at which we trust our current players. We'll cut Larry Walker since we have no intention of using him on the road next week.

Umpire: The Masquerade(7th lg; 19th div; 435th overall; 66th field)
Week 25: September 16-September 22

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	Sammy Sosa		1900
OF	Lance Berkman		1320
OF	Juan Pierre		1180
OF	Pat Burrell		920
OF	Adam Dunn		710
OF	Daryle Ward		620
DH	Todd Helton		1980
DH	Joe Crede		400

SP	Pedro Martinez		1770
SP	Kerry Wood		1050
SP	Derek Lowe		870
SP	Roy Oswalt		830
SP	Roy Halladay		490
SP	Eric Gagne		500
RP	Mike Williams		900
RP	Eddie Guardado		900
RP	Jorge Julio		750
RP	Scott Stewart		490

Internet Challenge

We're out of buys after purchasing Vernon Wells.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Thu:@SD(B.Lawrence)
Pedro Martinez: Mon:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez)
Mike Mussina: Thu:@TB(D.Brazleton)
Barry Zito: Wed:ANA(Washburn)
Kerry Wood: Wed:@NYM(Trachsel?)
Roy Oswalt: Thu:@MIL(W.Franklin)
Eric Gagne: 4 Home games vs. San Francisco.
Roy Halladay: Wed:@BAL(Douglass)

No starts: Schilling, Clemens, Morris, and Vazquez.

Byung-Hyun Kim: 3 Road games at San Diego.
Mike Williams: 4 Home games vs. Cincinnati.
Eddie Guardado: 3 Road games at Detroit.
Jorge Julio: 4 Home games vs. Toronto.
Scott Stewart: 3 Road games at Florida.

Randy, Pedro, Wood, Oswalt, and Gagne look automatic, but we also like the three remaining starts. Considering the competition, we'll deploy our best offense along with Halladay. Stewart stays in our lineup as Kim's struggling, notching only one save in the last three weeks.

Larry Walker, Ichiro, and Jimmy Rollins stay on our bench due to their slumps, and Torii Hunter joins them due to our concern regarding his injury. We don't have the cap space to run Klesko or Jason Giambi instead of Konerko. Finally, since our strongest categories are BA and SB, we'll sit Pierre since he only has three games against the strong St. Louis catching crew, allowing us enough room to deploy Sosa, Vlad, and Bonds.

The Umpire Hunter(2nd lg; 21st overall)
Week 25a: September 16-September 19

C 	Jorge Posada		990
C	A.J. Pierzynski		460
1B	Todd Helton		1980
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	Vlad Guerrero		1880
OF	Lance Berkman		1320
OF	Adam Dunn		710
OF	Daryle Ward		620
OF	Vernon Wells		440
DH	Barry Bonds		1830
DH	Juan Uribe		500

SP	Randy Johnson		1990
SP	Pedro Martinez		1770
SP	Kerry Wood		1050
SP	Roy Oswalt		830
SP	Roy Halladay		490
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)

After adding Jason Schmidt last week, we're now out of moves on both these teams. Unfortunately both squads tanked this week, we fell to 3rd in our FB league, falling 150 spots overall, and we lost 3 spots in league and over 300 overall in Budget Baseball. Now we'll just deploy the best lineup available and hope we can recover over the next two weeks.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Thu:@SD(B.Lawrence)
Curt Schilling: Fri:@COL(Hampton)
Pedro Martinez: Mon:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez); Sun:@BAL(Ponson)
Mike Mussina: Thu:@TB(D.Brazleton)
Roger Clemens: Fri:@DET(A.Van Hekken)
Javier Vazquez: Sat:@NYM(Astacio, Bacsik, or Thomson)
Barry Zito: Wed:ANA(Washburn)
Kerry Wood: Wed:@NYM(Trachsel?)
Kevin Millwood: Mon:@FLO(Penny); Sat:FLO(Penny)
Jason Schmidt: Mon:@LA(Nomo); Sat:@MIL(Diggins)
Roy Oswalt: Thu:@MIL(W.Franklin)
Eric Gagne: 7 games: 4 Home vs. San Francisco; 3 Road at San Diego.

Pedro, Millwood, Schmidt, and Gagne are easy picks, and Wood and Oswalt are pitching great; we'd rather sit the Arizona aces since this is the last week to run Colorado at home.

On offense, attrition again accounts for most of our decisions, as with better options available, we don't trust the playing time of Larry Walker, Jeremy Giambi, Juan Uribe, or Juan Pierre, and Patterson, Spivey, and Bret Boone are slumping badly.

Our last decision is between J.D. Drew and Cliff Floyd. Drew gets three in Colorado and three at home against Houston, all against right-handers so he should play every day, but Floyd plays seven games, four against Cleveland and three in Baltimore, and he's hitting .500 over the last week. As each player could sit for various ailments, we'll stick with the extra game, deploying Floyd.

The Umpire Chronicles(3rd lg; 462nd overall)
& Umpire with a Soul(10th lg; 1078th overall)
Week 25: September 16-September 22

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	Cliff Floyd		2300
OF	Torii Hunter		1710
OF	Adam Dunn		1610
OF	Daryle Ward		1590
DH	Todd Helton		3400
DH	Mike Lowell		1920

SP	Pedro Martinez		2950
SP	Kerry Wood		2300
SP	Kevin Millwood		2060
SP	Jason Schmidt		1850
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
San Francisco moved Schmidt back a day to start tomorrow, so we've now missed on three double-start gambits in a row; at least we'll have Schmidt pitch twice this week. With two moves left that we're prepared to spend now, we'll pick up El Duque since he's only $20 more than Oswalt and he doubles against Tampa Bay and Detroit. As the only starter we own who's not likely to double in the next two weeks is Curt Schilling, we're going to risk dropping him and hope we won't want him next week.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Thu:@SD(B.Lawrence)
Curt Schilling: Fri:@COL(Hampton)
Pedro Martinez: Mon:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez); Sun:@BAL(Ponson)
Freddy Garcia: Mon:TEX(C.Lewis); Sat:ANA(Lackey)
Barry Zito: Wed:ANA(Washburn)
Kevin Millwood: Mon:@FLO(Penny); Sat:FLO(Penny)
Jason Schmidt: Mon:@LA(Nomo); Sat:@MIL(Diggins)
Orlando Hernandez: Tue:@TB(P.Wilson); Sun:@DET(Maroth)
Roy Oswalt: Thu:@MIL(W.Franklin)
Roy Halladay: Wed:@BAL(Douglass)
Eric Gagne: 7 games: 4 Home vs. San Francisco; 3 Road at San Diego.
Odalis Perez: Thu:SF(L.Hernandez)

Pedro, Garcia, Millwood, Schmidt, Hernandez and Gagne are all easy decisions, leaving us to sort our offensive options.

While we'd love to play Bonds, Konerko, and Hinske, we need the cap room for Helton and the infielders. Spivey and Durazo will remain in our lineup as they head to Colorado, so we'll also sit Ichiro, Luis Castillo, Jeremy Giambi, Larry Walker, and Toby Hall.

However we're also not comfortable running Steve Cox, so we'll use our last move to add Joe Crede; this leaves us a little short at 2B and OF, but we'd rather try to make this move now than lose a week of stats.

We'll cut Larry Walker since we won't run him this week or next week.

Umpire in Brooklyn(6th lg; 289th overall)
Week 25: September 16-September 22

C	Paul Lo Duca		1640
C	A.J. Pierzynski		1000
1B	Todd Helton		3400
1B	Derrek Lee		1830
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	Lance Berkman		2540
OF	Albert Pujols		2500
OF	Pat Burrell		2050
OF	Torii Hunter		1710
OF	Adam Dunn		1610
OF	Erubiel Durazo		1260
DH	David Eckstein		1380
DH	Joe Crede		1100

SP	Pedro Martinez		2950
SP	Freddy Garcia		2510
SP	Kevin Millwood		2090
SP	Jason Schmidt		1850
SP	Orlando Hernandez	1770
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 one more week of moves remaining after today, we're more comfortable finishing the last of our moves in most leagues. Anyone purchased today can contribute in twice as many games as anyone purchased next week, so if you need to fix a weakness or want to add a particular player, you should probably take the chance now as many established veterans could sit the last week if teams want to reward rookies and organizational soliders.

Colorado also goes on the road next week, so if you're not running any Rockies this week, feel free to cut them in favor of new players.

Click here to read the previous article.

Please e-mail your comments to tim@rotohelp.com.



Rotohelp		Sunday Challenge Conversation, '02 Week 25 by Tim Polko Today's Fantasy Rx Colorado: 6 Home games: 3 vs. St. Louis; 3 vs. Arizona. Houston: 6 Road games: 3 at Milwaukee; 3 at St. Louis. 7 Home games Baltimore: 4 vs. Toronto; 3 vs. Boston. Detroit: 1 vs. Kansas City; 3 vs. Minnesota; 3 vs. New York Yankees. Oakland: 4 vs. Anaheim; 3 vs. Texas. Pittsburgh: 4 vs. Cincinnati; 3 vs. Texas. Seattle: 4 vs. Texas; 3 vs. Anaheim. 7 games Atlanta: 1 Road at Florida; 3 Home vs. Philadelphia; 3 Home vs. Florida. Boston: 4 Home vs. Cleveland; 3 Road at Baltimore. Florida: 1 Home vs. Atlanta; 3 Home vs. Montreal; 3 Road at Atlanta. Los Angeles: 4 Home vs. San Francisco; 3 Road at San Diego. Cincinnati: 4 Road at Pittsburgh; 3 Home vs. Philadelphia. Kansas City: 1 Road at Detroit; 3 Road at Chicago White Sox; 3 Home vs. Cleveland. 7 Road games Anaheim: 4 at Oakland; 3 at Seattle. Cleveland: 4 at Boston; 3 at Kansas City. San Francisco: 4 at Los Angeles; 3 at Milwaukee. Texas: 4 at Seattle; 3 at Oakland. Toronto: 4 at Baltimore; 3 at Tampa Bay. Teams with six home games: Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee, New York Mets, San Diego, and Tampa Bay. 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): Kevin Millwood: Mon:@FLO(Penny); Sat:FLO(Penny) Greg Maddux: Tue:PHI(Padilla); Sun:FLO(Jul.Tavarez) Pedro Martinez: Mon:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez); Sun:@BAL(Ponson) Mark Buehrle: Tue:KC(D.May or M.Asencio); Sun:MIN(Radke) Elmer Dessens: Mon:@PIT(K.Wells); Sat:PHI(E.Junge or H.Mercado) Brad Penny: Mon:ATL(Millwood); Sat:@ATL(Millwood) Shawn Sedlacek: Mon:@DET(Maroth); Sat:CLE(C.Lee) or Sun:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez or B.Tallet) Hideo Nomo: Mon:SF(Schmidt); Sat:@SD(Peavy) Ben Sheets: Tue:HOU(Saarloos); Sun:SF(Rueter) Brad Radke: Tue:@DET(S.Loux); Sun:@CHW(Buehrle) Al Leiter(?): Tue:CHC(Al.Benes); Sun(?):MON(S.Kim) Orlando Hernandez: Tue:@TB(P.Wilson); Sun:@DET(Maroth) Cory Lidle: Mon:ANA(Lackey); Sat:TEX(C.Lewis) Mark Mulder: Tue:ANA(Callaway); Sun:TEX(C.H.Park) Vicente Padilla: Tue:@ATL(Maddux); Sun:@CIN(Dessens) Kip Wells: Mon:CIN(Dessens); Sat:CHC(S.Smyth, J.Cruz, or ???) Kris Benson: Tue:CIN(Estes): Sun:CHC(Al.Benes) Jason Schmidt: Mon:@LA(Nomo); Sat:@MIL(Diggins) Paul Wilson: Tue:NYY(O.Hernandez); Sun:TOR(J.Miller) Only deploy in Fantasy Baseball and other leagues that don't count qualitative stats: John Lackey: Mon:@OAK(Lidle); Sat:@SEA(F.Garcia) Mickey Callaway: Tue:@OAK(Mulder); Sun:@SEA(R.Franklin) Miguel Batista: Tue:@SD(Eaton); Sun:@COL(A.Cook) Omar Daal: Tue:SF(Rueter); Sun:@SD(Eaton) Freddy Garcia: Mon:TEX(C.Lewis); Sat:ANA(Lackey) Chuck Finley: Tue:@COL(A.Cook); Sun:HOU(Saarloos) Colby Lewis: Mon:@SEA(F.Garcia); Sat:@OAK(Lidle) Chan Ho Park: Tue:@SEA(R.Frankling); Sun:@OAK(Mulder) Justin Miller: Tue:@BAL(); Sun:@TB(P.Wilson). Diamond Challenge SP(6) Randy Johnson: Thu:@SD(B.Lawrence) Pedro Martinez: Mon:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez); Sun:@BAL(Ponson) Curt Schilling: Fri:@COL(Hampton) Mike Mussina: Thu:@TB(D.Brazleton) Matt Morris: Sat:HOU(W.Miller) Tim Hudson: Thu:ANA(Appier) Javier Vazquez: Sat:@NYM(Astacio, Bacsik, or Thomson) Barry Zito: Wed:ANA(Washburn) Kerry Wood: Wed:@NYM(Trachsel?) Roy Oswalt: Thu:@MIL(W.Franklin) Eric Gagne: 7 games: 4 Home vs. San Francisco; 3 Road at San Diego. Roy Halladay: Wed:@BAL(Douglass) Brian Lawrence: Thu:ARI(Ran.Johnson) Jason Isringhausen: 6 games: 3 Road at Colorado; 3 Home vs. Houston. Mike Williams: 7 Home games: 4 vs. Cincinnati; 3 vs. Chicago Cubs. Eddie Guardado: 6 Road games: 3 at Detroit; 3 at Chicago White Sox. Jorge Julio: 7 Home games: 4 vs. Toronto; 3 vs. Boston. Scott Stewart: 6 Road games: 3 at Florida; 3 at New York Mets. Izzy will sit in Colorado, leaving us with the cheaper options at RP. Pedro and Gagne seem obvious choices, and we're pleased to complete our pitching with Randy, Wood, Oswalt, and Halladay. On offense, we'd prefer not to use Larry Walker, Ichiro, Jeremy Giambi, or Juan Uribe. We also don't see the cap room or roster space to run Ryan Klesko, Paul Konerko, or J.D. Drew. We need to add a player at $480 or less, and between Vernon Wells and Joe Crede, the last few days have us leaning back towards Crede. We'll use our last move to add him, cutting Larry Walker, and then deploying Crede as a DH. We're vulnerable with no backup at catcher or 2B, but we're content with Posada, Pierzynski, Castillo, and Soriano. Shadow of the Umpire(3rd lg; 6th div; 109th(tie) overall; 241st(tie) field) & Interview with the Umpire(3rd lg; 5th div; 109th(tie) overall; 241st(tie) field) Week 25: September 16-September 22 C Jorge Posada 990 C A.J. Pierzynski 460 1B Todd Helton 1980 1B Jason Giambi 1640 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 Sammy Sosa 1900 OF Vlad Guerrero 1880 OF Lance Berkman 1320 OF Juan Pierre 1180 OF Adam Dunn 710 OF Daryle Ward 620 DH Shea Hillenbrand 450 DH Joe Crede 400 SP Randy Johnson 1990 SP Pedro Martinez 1770 SP Kerry Wood 1050 SP Roy Oswalt 830 SP Roy Halladay 490 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: Thu:@SD(B.Lawrence) Pedro Martinez: Mon:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez); Sun:@BAL(Ponson) Curt Schilling: Fri:@COL(Hampton) Mike Mussina: Thu:@TB(D.Brazleton) Roger Clemens: Fri:@DET(A.Van Hekken) Matt Morris: Sat:HOU(W.Miller) Freddy Garcia: Mon:TEX(C.Lewis); Sat:ANA(Lackey) Javier Vazquez: Sat:@NYM(Astacio, Bacsik, or Thomson) Barry Zito: Wed:ANA(Washburn) Kerry Wood: Wed:@NYM(Trachsel?) Derek Lowe: Fri:@BAL(Hentgen) Roy Oswalt: Thu:@MIL(W.Franklin) Eric Gagne: 7 games: 4 Home vs. San Francisco; 3 Road at San Diego. Roy Halladay: Wed:@BAL(Douglass) Pedro and Gagne look solid, but we're not going to run Garcia because of the potential qualitative damage. We're quite comfortable with Wood, Lowe, and Oswalt, and Halladay also looks fine. On offense, we want to sit Larry Walker, Ichiro, Jimmy Rollins, Torii Hunter, and Mike Barrett, but we don't have enough cap room to deploy both Jason Giambi and J.D. Drew. While Drew is playing in Colorado, we still don't trust his playing time, so we'll keep Giambi active and use our last buy on Joe Crede. He gives us good power at a fantastic price, and also only leaves us vulnerable at 2B, SS, and RP, all positions at which we trust our current players. We'll cut Larry Walker since we have no intention of using him on the road next week. Umpire: The Masquerade(7th lg; 19th div; 435th overall; 66th field) Week 25: September 16-September 22 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 Sammy Sosa 1900 OF Lance Berkman 1320 OF Juan Pierre 1180 OF Pat Burrell 920 OF Adam Dunn 710 OF Daryle Ward 620 DH Todd Helton 1980 DH Joe Crede 400 SP Pedro Martinez 1770 SP Kerry Wood 1050 SP Derek Lowe 870 SP Roy Oswalt 830 SP Roy Halladay 490 SP Eric Gagne 500 RP Mike Williams 900 RP Eddie Guardado 900 RP Jorge Julio 750 RP Scott Stewart 490 Internet Challenge We're out of buys after purchasing Vernon Wells. SP(6) Randy Johnson: Thu:@SD(B.Lawrence) Pedro Martinez: Mon:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez) Mike Mussina: Thu:@TB(D.Brazleton) Barry Zito: Wed:ANA(Washburn) Kerry Wood: Wed:@NYM(Trachsel?) Roy Oswalt: Thu:@MIL(W.Franklin) Eric Gagne: 4 Home games vs. San Francisco. Roy Halladay: Wed:@BAL(Douglass) No starts: Schilling, Clemens, Morris, and Vazquez. Byung-Hyun Kim: 3 Road games at San Diego. Mike Williams: 4 Home games vs. Cincinnati. Eddie Guardado: 3 Road games at Detroit. Jorge Julio: 4 Home games vs. Toronto. Scott Stewart: 3 Road games at Florida. Randy, Pedro, Wood, Oswalt, and Gagne look automatic, but we also like the three remaining starts. Considering the competition, we'll deploy our best offense along with Halladay. Stewart stays in our lineup as Kim's struggling, notching only one save in the last three weeks. Larry Walker, Ichiro, and Jimmy Rollins stay on our bench due to their slumps, and Torii Hunter joins them due to our concern regarding his injury. We don't have the cap space to run Klesko or Jason Giambi instead of Konerko. Finally, since our strongest categories are BA and SB, we'll sit Pierre since he only has three games against the strong St. Louis catching crew, allowing us enough room to deploy Sosa, Vlad, and Bonds. The Umpire Hunter(2nd lg; 21st overall) Week 25a: September 16-September 19 C Jorge Posada 990 C A.J. Pierzynski 460 1B Todd Helton 1980 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 Vlad Guerrero 1880 OF Lance Berkman 1320 OF Adam Dunn 710 OF Daryle Ward 620 OF Vernon Wells 440 DH Barry Bonds 1830 DH Juan Uribe 500 SP Randy Johnson 1990 SP Pedro Martinez 1770 SP Kerry Wood 1050 SP Roy Oswalt 830 SP Roy Halladay 490 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) After adding Jason Schmidt last week, we're now out of moves on both these teams. Unfortunately both squads tanked this week, we fell to 3rd in our FB league, falling 150 spots overall, and we lost 3 spots in league and over 300 overall in Budget Baseball. Now we'll just deploy the best lineup available and hope we can recover over the next two weeks. SP(6) Randy Johnson: Thu:@SD(B.Lawrence) Curt Schilling: Fri:@COL(Hampton) Pedro Martinez: Mon:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez); Sun:@BAL(Ponson) Mike Mussina: Thu:@TB(D.Brazleton) Roger Clemens: Fri:@DET(A.Van Hekken) Javier Vazquez: Sat:@NYM(Astacio, Bacsik, or Thomson) Barry Zito: Wed:ANA(Washburn) Kerry Wood: Wed:@NYM(Trachsel?) Kevin Millwood: Mon:@FLO(Penny); Sat:FLO(Penny) Jason Schmidt: Mon:@LA(Nomo); Sat:@MIL(Diggins) Roy Oswalt: Thu:@MIL(W.Franklin) Eric Gagne: 7 games: 4 Home vs. San Francisco; 3 Road at San Diego. Pedro, Millwood, Schmidt, and Gagne are easy picks, and Wood and Oswalt are pitching great; we'd rather sit the Arizona aces since this is the last week to run Colorado at home. On offense, attrition again accounts for most of our decisions, as with better options available, we don't trust the playing time of Larry Walker, Jeremy Giambi, Juan Uribe, or Juan Pierre, and Patterson, Spivey, and Bret Boone are slumping badly. Our last decision is between J.D. Drew and Cliff Floyd. Drew gets three in Colorado and three at home against Houston, all against right-handers so he should play every day, but Floyd plays seven games, four against Cleveland and three in Baltimore, and he's hitting .500 over the last week. As each player could sit for various ailments, we'll stick with the extra game, deploying Floyd. The Umpire Chronicles(3rd lg; 462nd overall) & Umpire with a Soul(10th lg; 1078th overall) Week 25: September 16-September 22 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 Cliff Floyd 2300 OF Torii Hunter 1710 OF Adam Dunn 1610 OF Daryle Ward 1590 DH Todd Helton 3400 DH Mike Lowell 1920 SP Pedro Martinez 2950 SP Kerry Wood 2300 SP Kevin Millwood 2060 SP Jason Schmidt 1850 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 San Francisco moved Schmidt back a day to start tomorrow, so we've now missed on three double-start gambits in a row; at least we'll have Schmidt pitch twice this week. With two moves left that we're prepared to spend now, we'll pick up El Duque since he's only $20 more than Oswalt and he doubles against Tampa Bay and Detroit. As the only starter we own who's not likely to double in the next two weeks is Curt Schilling, we're going to risk dropping him and hope we won't want him next week. SP(6) Randy Johnson: Thu:@SD(B.Lawrence) Curt Schilling: Fri:@COL(Hampton) Pedro Martinez: Mon:CLE(Rica.Rodriguez); Sun:@BAL(Ponson) Freddy Garcia: Mon:TEX(C.Lewis); Sat:ANA(Lackey) Barry Zito: Wed:ANA(Washburn) Kevin Millwood: Mon:@FLO(Penny); Sat:FLO(Penny) Jason Schmidt: Mon:@LA(Nomo); Sat:@MIL(Diggins) Orlando Hernandez: Tue:@TB(P.Wilson); Sun:@DET(Maroth) Roy Oswalt: Thu:@MIL(W.Franklin) Roy Halladay: Wed:@BAL(Douglass) Eric Gagne: 7 games: 4 Home vs. San Francisco; 3 Road at San Diego. Odalis Perez: Thu:SF(L.Hernandez) Pedro, Garcia, Millwood, Schmidt, Hernandez and Gagne are all easy decisions, leaving us to sort our offensive options. While we'd love to play Bonds, Konerko, and Hinske, we need the cap room for Helton and the infielders. Spivey and Durazo will remain in our lineup as they head to Colorado, so we'll also sit Ichiro, Luis Castillo, Jeremy Giambi, Larry Walker, and Toby Hall. However we're also not comfortable running Steve Cox, so we'll use our last move to add Joe Crede; this leaves us a little short at 2B and OF, but we'd rather try to make this move now than lose a week of stats. We'll cut Larry Walker since we won't run him this week or next week. Umpire in Brooklyn(6th lg; 289th overall) Week 25: September 16-September 22 C Paul Lo Duca 1640 C A.J. Pierzynski 1000 1B Todd Helton 3400 1B Derrek Lee 1830 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 Lance Berkman 2540 OF Albert Pujols 2500 OF Pat Burrell 2050 OF Torii Hunter 1710 OF Adam Dunn 1610 OF Erubiel Durazo 1260 DH David Eckstein 1380 DH Joe Crede 1100 SP Pedro Martinez 2950 SP Freddy Garcia 2510 SP Kevin Millwood 2090 SP Jason Schmidt 1850 SP Orlando Hernandez 1770 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 one more week of moves remaining after today, we're more comfortable finishing the last of our moves in most leagues. Anyone purchased today can contribute in twice as many games as anyone purchased next week, so if you need to fix a weakness or want to add a particular player, you should probably take the chance now as many established veterans could sit the last week if teams want to reward rookies and organizational soliders. Colorado also goes on the road next week, so if you're not running any Rockies this week, feel free to cut them in favor of new players. Click here to read the previous article. Please e-mail your comments to tim@rotohelp.com.
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	September 15^th 2002			Your Daily Fantasy Rx