Today's Fantasy Rx

Colorado: 6 games: 3 Road at Los Angeles; 3 Home vs. San Francisco.
Houston: 6 Home games: 3 vs. St. Louis; 3 vs. Chicago Cubs.
Cincinnati: 6 Home games: 3 vs. Atlanta; 3 vs. Florida.

7 Home games
None.

7 games
Cleveland: 4 Home games vs. Detroit; 3 Road games at Boston.
New York Yankees: 3 Road games at Boston; 4 Home games vs. Toronto.

St. Louis: 1 Home games vs. Chicago Cubs; 3 Road games at Houston.
    3 Road games at Pittsburgh.

7 Road games
Chicago Cubs: 1 at St. Louis; 3 at Pittsburgh; 3 at Houston.
Detroit: 4 at Cleveland; 3 at Chicago White Sox.
Toronto: 4 at Chicago White Sox; 3 at New York Yankees.

Teams with six home games: Anaheim, Arizona, Boston, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee, Montreal, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Texas.

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 Appier: Tue:BAL(R.Helling); Sun:TB(D.Brazelton)
Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(J.Foppert); Sat:SD(B.Lawrence) OR Sun:SD(R.Keisler)
Greg Maddux: Tue:@CIN(D.Graves); Sun:NYM(J.Seo)
Casey Fossum: Mon:NYY(D.Wells); Sun:CLE(J.Westbrook or J.Bere)
Dan Wright: Mon:TOR(C.Lidle): Sat:DET(G.Knotts)
Bartolo Colon: Tue:TOR(D.Davis); Sun:DET(A.Bernero)
Carlos Zambrano: Mon:@STL(M.Morris); Sat:@HOU(K.Saarloos or Jar.Fernandez)
Kerry Wood: Tue:@PIT(J.D'Amico); Sun:@HOU(W.Miller)
Danny Graves: Tue:ATL(G.Maddux); Sun:FLO(D.Willis)
Gary Knotts: Mon:@CLE(J.Davis); Sat:@CHW(D.Wright)
Adam Bernero: Tue:@CLE(J.Westbrook); Sun:@CHW(B.Colon)
Kevin Brown: Tue:COL(D.Oliver); Sun:@MIL(B.Sheets)
Matt Kinney: Mon:SD(R.Keisler); Sat:LA(H.Nomo)
Ben Sheets: Tue:SD(A.Eaton); Sun:LA(K.Brown)
Javier Vazquez: Tue:FLO(D.Willis); Sun:PHI(B.Myers)
Jae Seo: Tue:PHI(B.Myers); Sun:@ATL(G.Maddux)
David Wells: Mon:@BOS(C.Fossum); Sat:TOR(C.Lidle)
Jeff Weaver: Tue:@BOS(P.Martinez); Sun:TOR(D.Davis)
Tim Hudson: Tue:MIN(R.Reed); Sun:KC(Run.Hernandez)
Brett Myers: Tue:@NYM(J.Seo); Sun:@MON(J.Vazquez)
Jeff D'Amico: Tue:CHC(K.Wood); Sun:STL(G.Stephenson)
Ryan Franklin: Tue:KC(Run.Hernandez); Sun:MIN(R.Reed)
Matt Morris: Mon:CHC(C.Zambrano); Sat:@PIT(J.Suppan)
Joaquin Benoit?: Tue:TB(D.Brazelton); Sun:BAL(R.Helling)?
Cory Lidle: Mon:@CHW(D.Wright); Sat:@NYY(D.Wells)

Only deploy in Fantasy Baseball and other leagues that don't count qualitative stats:
Rick Helling: Tue:@ANA(K.Appier); Sun:@TEX(J.Benoit?)
Jason Davis(?): Mon:DET(G.Knotts); Sat:@BOS(J.Burkett)?
Jake Westbrook(?): Tue:DET(A.Bernero); Sun:@BOS(C.Fossum)?
Darren Oliver: Tue:@LA(K.Brown); Sun:SF(J.Foppert)
Dontrelle Willis: Tue:@MON(J.Vazquez); Sun:@CIN(D.Graves)
Wade Miller: Tue:STL(G.Stephenson); Sun:CHC(K.Wood)
Runelvys Hernandez: Tue:@SEA(R.Franklin); Sun:@OAK(T.Hudson)
Rick Reed: Tue:@OAK(T.Hudson); Sun:@SEA(R.Franklin)
Randy Keisler: Mon:@MIL(M.Kinney); Sun:@ARI(C.Schilling or B.Webb)
Jesse Foppert: Mon:@ARI(C.Schilling); Sun:@COL(D.Oliver)
Garrett Stephenson: Tue:@HOU(W.Miller); Sun:@PIT(J.D'Amico)
Dewon Brazelton: Tue:@TEX(J.Benoit); Sun:@ANA(K.Appier)
Doug Davis: Tue:@CHW(B.Colon); Sun:@NYY(J.Weaver)

Diamond Challenge

Mike Mussina's availability as a free agent and standing as perhaps the best pitcher in baseball makes him an automatic addition this week for any team that doesn't own him. We also need to add an inexpensive outfielder, and as Carl Everett owns better plate discipline and a lower salary than Juan Gonzalez, we're adding Everett to our squad in the hope in he'll maintain his power production.

While we probably should drop Wade Miller since we're not running him on his home double, he's helped us in a limited capacity this year and we need a couple pitchers under 1000. We're dropping Larry Walker, who simply isn't justifying either his CDM or MLB salary, and Eli Marrero, since if we need another catcher in the next two-to-three months, we'll need to release Marrero anyway.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: DL(No start)
Pedro Martinez: Tue:NYY(J.Weaver)
Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(J.Foppert); Sat:SD(B.Lawrence) OR Sun:SD(R.Keisler)
Tim Hudson: Tue:MIN(R.Reed); Sun:KC(Run.Hernandez)
Matt Morris: Mon:CHC(C.Zambrano); Sat:@PIT(J.Suppan)
Roy Oswalt: DL(No start)
Mike Mussina: Fri:TOR(K.Escobar)
Kevin Millwood: Sat:@MON(T.Ohka)
Kerry Wood: Tue:@PIT(J.D'Amico); Sun:@HOU(W.Miller)
Wade Miller: Tue:STL(G.Stephenson); Sun:CHC(K.Wood)
Kevin Brown: Tue:COL(D.Oliver); Sun:@MIL(B.Sheets)
Roy Halladay: Thu:@NYY(A.Pettitte)
Jason Schmidt: Wed:@ARI(M.Batista or B-H.Kim)
Mark Prior: Thu:@PIT(K.Wells)

Schilling, Hudson, Morris, Wood, and Brown are automatic, and since losing Dave Roberts already limits our offensive options, we'll pass on starting Mussina in favor Prior, who's facing weaker opposition than Moose.

Ichiro needs to play given his hot streak, and as Manny faces the best pitching, he'll take a seat, joining Roberts, Aramis Ramirez, and Jose Hernandez on our bench.

Interview with the Umpire(11th lg; 105th div; 2171st overall),
Shadow of the Umpire(7th lg; 96th div; 2170th overall), &
Dance of the Umpires(11th lg; 95th div; 2169th overall)
Week 8: May 19-May 25

C	Ivan Rodriguez		1070
C	Toby Hall		460
1B	Frank Thomas		920
1B	Aubrey Huff		610
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1460
2B	Luis Castillo		1210
3B	Aaron Boone		1010
3B	Hank Blalock		500
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1330
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010
OF	Vlad Guerrero		2010
OF	Lance Berkman		1640
OF	Ichiro Suzuki		1480
OF	Carl Everett		850
OF	Hideki Matsui		750
OF	Austin Kearns		650
DH	Preston Wilson		1220
DH	Erubiel Durazo		520

SP	Curt Schilling		1610
SP	Tim Hudson		1340
SP	Matt Morris		1300
SP	Kerry Wood		990
SP	Kevin Brown		990
SP	Mark Prior		750
RP	Scott Williamson	960
RP	Mike MacDougal		750
RP	Tim Worrell		740
RP	Matt Mantei		700

Total Salary for Week 8: 	29830

Internet Challenge

SP(6)
Pedro Martinez: Tue:NYY(J.Weaver)
Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(J.Foppert)
Matt Morris: Mon:CHC(C.Zambrano)
Kerry Wood: Tue:@PIT(J.D'Amico)
Wade Miller: Tue:STL(G.Stephenson)
Roy Halladay: Thu:@NYY(A.Pettitte)
Jason Schmidt: Wed:@ARI(M.Batista or B-H.Kim)
Mark Prior: Thu:@PIT(K.Wells)

No starts: Randy, Oswalt, Mussina, Millwood, and Ainsworth.

Pedro, Schilling, Morris, Wood, Schmidt, and Prior all look good, so while we're tempted to pick up Brown, we don't quite see anyone to drop for him right now. While we like Brown's start, we don't see a logical fit for him in our lineup this period.

As in DC, we're adding Carl Everett here for Larry Walker, which gives us just enough cap room to keep Manny in the lineup with Helton, Preston Wilson, Jose Hernandez, Aramis Ramirez, and Dave Roberts on our bench.

The Umpire Hunter(6th lg; 269th overall)
Week 8a: May 19-May 22

C	Jorge Posada		1120
C	Toby Hall		460
1B	Frank Thomas		920
1B	Aubrey Huff		610
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1460
2B	Luis Castillo		1210
3B	Aaron Boone		1010
3B	Hank Blalock		500
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1330
OF	Vlad Guerrero		2010
OF	Lance Berkman		1640
OF	Manny Ramirez		1610
OF	Carl Everett		850
OF	Hideki Matsui		750
OF	Austin Kearns		650
DH	Orlando Cabrera		1030
DH	Erubiel Durazo		520

SP	Pedro Martinez		1700
SP	Curt Schilling		1610
SP	Matt Morris		1300
SP	Kerry Wood		990
SP	Jason Schmidt		790
SP	Mark Prior		750
RP	Scott Williamson	960
RP	Mike MacDougal		750
RP	Tim Worrell		740
RP	Matt Mantei		700

Total Salary for Week 8a: 	29980

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

Kevin Brown's just-announced double makes him a necessary pick-up given his current 55455 QA log. We like all of our starters right now, so we're going to dump Randy, and perhaps we'll see a more logical drop by the time he returns in a month.

SP(6)
Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(J.Foppert); Sat:SD(B.Lawrence) OR Sun:SD(R.Keisler)
Mike Mussina: Fri:TOR(K.Escobar)
Pedro Martinez: Tue:NYY(J.Weaver)
Roy Oswalt: DL(No start)
Kerry Wood: Tue:@PIT(J.D'Amico); Sun:@HOU(W.Miller)
Kevin Millwood: Sat:@MON(T.Ohka)
Roy Halladay: Thu:@NYY(A.Pettitte)
Jason Schmidt: Wed:@ARI(M.Batista or B-H.Kim)
Kevin Brown: Tue:COL(D.Oliver); Sun:@MIL(B.Sheets)
Mark Prior: Thu:@PIT(K.Wells)

Schilling, Mussina, Wood, Millwood, Brown, and Prior all look advantageous, so we see no need to run more questionable outings from Pedro or Schmidt.

Offensively, Marrero, Walker, and Jose Hernandez belong on our bench, we'll take Crede over Hinske due to a better schedule, and Ellis takes a seat since Hudson's finally producing. Helton sits due to his lack of power, and then we just can't fit Manny Ramirez and Hideki Matsui into the lineup this week.

The Umpire Chronicles(7th lg; 1012th overall)
& Umpire with a Soul(12th lg; 2235th overall)
Week 8: May 19-May 25

C	Jason Varitek		1400
C	Toby Hall		1070
1B	Frank Thomas		2030
1B	Josh Phelps		1480
2B	Alfonso Soriano		2570
2B	Orlando Hudson		1000
3B	Scott Rolen		2660
3B	Joe Crede		1150	
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	2300
SS	Orlando Cabrera		1820
OF	Albert Pujols		3150
OF	Lance Berkman		2850
OF	Pat Burrell		2420
OF	Juan Gonzalez		1980
OF	Vernon Wells		1780
OF	Austin Kearns		1600
DH	Vlad Guerrero		3440
DH	Preston Wilson		2410

SP	Curt Schilling		3600
SP	Mike Mussina		2920
SP	Kerry Wood		2470
SP	Kevin Millwood		2400
SP	Kevin Brown		1910
SP	Mark Prior		1800
RP	Eric Gagne		2560
RP	Keith Foulke		2330
RP	Mike MacDougal		1500
RP	Matt Mantei		1200

Total Salary for Week 8: 	59800

Today's Fantasy Rx: If you don't own Mike Mussina in DC and have any free agent moves left, we strongly recommend adding him, since even with a shaky double this past week, he should finish the year as the best 5x5 pitcher in the AL, as well as one of the top few in the game. Kevin Brown is pitching even better in the NL, and his double-start this week at home against Colorado and in Milwaukee looks like a particularly good play in points' games.