Rotohelp.com

by Tim Polko

Schedule recommendations for teams with 8 games

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Chicago Cubs: 5 Home vs. STL; 3 Road at MIL.
St. Louis: 5 Road at CHC; 3 Home vs. CIN.

Schedule recommendations for teams with 7 games

Good for hitters / Good for pitchers
Atlanta: 3 Road at NYM; 4 Home vs. PIT.
Philadelphia: 1 Home vs. BOS; 2 Home vs. MON; 4 Home vs. NYM.

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Detroit: 4 Home vs. CLE; 3 Road at TOR.
Florida: 1 Home vs. MON; 3 Home vs. PIT; 3 Road at MON(@PR).
Kansas City: 3 Road at TEX; 1 Home vs. ARI; 3 Road at ANA.

Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers
Arizona: 1 Home vs. SF; 2 Road at SD; 1 Road at KC; 3 Road at SF.
Cleveland: 4 Road at DET; 3 Road at CHW.
Pittsburgh: 3 Road at FLO; 4 Road at ATL.

Bad for hitters / Bad for pitchers
New York Mets: 3 Home vs. ATL; 4 Road at PHI.

Schedule recommendations for teams with 6 games

Good for hitters / Good for pitchers
Milwaukee: 3 Home vs. CIN; 3 Home vs. CHC.
Minnesota: 3 Home vs. ANA; 3 Home vs. TEX.
Oakland: 3 Road at BAL; 3 Road at TB.
Seattle: 3 Road at TB; 3 Road at BAL.

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Anaheim: 3 Road at MIN; 3 Home vs. KC.
Cincinnati: 3 Road at MIL; 3 Road at STL.
Los Angeles: 3 Home vs. HOU; 3 Road at COL.
Montreal: 1 Road at FLO; 2 Road at PHI; 3 Home vs. FLO(@PR).
New York Yankees: 3 Road at TOR; 3 Home vs. BOS.
Texas: 3 Home vs. KC: 3 Road at MIN.
Toronto: 3 Home vs. NYY; 3 Home vs. DET.

Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers
Houston: 3 Road at LA: 3 Road at SD.
San Francisco: 1 Road at ARI; 2 Home vs. COL; 3 Home vs. ARI.

Bad for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Baltimore: 3 Home vs. OAK; 3 Home vs. SEA.
Boston: 1 Road at PHI; 2 Road at CHW; 3 Road at NYY.
Tampa Bay: 3 Home vs. SEA; 3 Home vs. OAK.

Schedule recommendations for teams with 5 games

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Colorado: 2 Road at SF; 3 Home vs. LA.

Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers
Chicago White Sox: 2 Home vs. BOS; 3 Home vs. CLE.
San Diego: 2 Home vs. ARI; 3 Home vs. HOU.

Pitchers with 2 starts(to deploy everywhere you own them):
Chris Capuano?: Tue:@SD(B.Howard); Sun:@SF(S.Ponson)?
Bartolo Colon: Tue:BOS(J.Burkett); Sun:CLE(Cl.Lee)
Wayne Franklin: Mon:CIN(S.Etherton); Sun:CHC(K.Wood)
Roy Halladay: Mon:NYY(D.Wells); Sat:DET(C.Mears or S.Loux?)
Mike Hampton: Tue:@NYM(A.Leiter); Sun:PIT(K.Wells)
Cliff Lee: Tue:@DET(J.Bonderman); Sun:@CHW(B.Colon)
Al Leiter: Tue:ATL(M.Hampton); Sun:@PHI(A.Telemaco)
Greg Maddux: Mon:@NYM(J.Griffiths); Sat:PIT(N.Figueroa or J.D'Amico)
Wade Miller: Tue:@LA(H.Nomo); Sat:@SD(K.Jarvis)
Matt Morris: Tue:@CHC(K.Wood); Sun:CIN(S.Etherton)
Brett Myers: Mon:BOS(J.Suppan); Sat:NYM(J.Griffiths)
Hideo Nomo: Mon:@LA(W.Miller); Sun:@COL(D.Oliver)
Brad Penny: Mon:MON(T.Ohka); Sat:@MON(Z.Day)
Joel Pineiro: Tue:@TB(V.Zambrano); Sun:@BAL(P.Hentgen)
Sidney Ponson: Mon:@ARI(C.Schilling); Sun:ARI(C.Capuano?)
Mark Prior: Mon:STL(W.Williams); Sat:@MIL(D.Davis)
Kenny Rogers: Mon:ANA(A.Sele); Sun:TEX(R.Dickey or C.Lewis)
Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(S.Ponson); Sat:@SF(Jer.Williams)
Jason Stanford: Mon:@DET(C.Mears); Sat:@CHW(E.Loaiza)
Amaury Telemaco: Tue:MON(J.Vazquez); Sun:NYM(A.Leiter)
Javier Vazquez?: Tue:@PHI(A.Telemaco); Sun:FLO(D.Willis)?
David Wells: Mon:@TOR(R.Halladay); Sun:BOS(J.Suppan)
Kip Wells: Tue:FLO(D.Willis); Sun:@ATL(M.Hampton)
Woody Williams: Mon:@CHC(M.Prior); Sat:CIN(D.Serafini)
Dontrelle Willis Tue:PIT(K.Wells); Sun:@MON(T.Ohka or J.Vazquez)
Kerry Wood: Tue:STL(M.Morris); Sun:@MIL(W.Franklin)
Victor Zambrano: Tue:SEA(J.Pineiro); Sun:OAK(B.Zito)
Barry Zito: Tue:@BAL(P.Hentgen); Sun:@TB(V.Zambrano)

Pitchers with 2 starts to deploy only in leagues that don't count qualitative stats:
Paul Abbott: Tue:@TEX(J.Benoit?); Sun:@ANA(A.Sele)
Jeremy Bonderman?: Tue:CLE(Cl.Lee); Sun:@TOR(P.Walker)?
Seth Etherton: Mon:@MIL(W.Franklin); Sun:@STL()
Jeremy Griffiths: Mon:ATL(G.Maddux); Sat:@PHI(B.Myers)
Pat Hentgen: Tue:OAK(B.Zito); Sun:SEA(J.Pineiro)
Colby Lewis: Mon:KC(D.May); Sat:@MIN(B.Radke) OR Sun:@MIN(K.Rogers)
Darrell May: Mon:@TEX(C.Lewis); Sat:@ANA(J.Lackey)
Chris Mears?: Mon:CLE(J.Stanford); Sat:TOR(R.Halladay)?
Aaron Sele: Mon:@MIN(K.Rogers); Sun:KC(P.Abbott)
Jeff Suppan: Mon:@PHI(B.Myers); Sun:@NYY(D.Wells)

Diamond Challenge

With three moves remaining and a dire need for offense, we're finally releasing Austin Kearns in favor of a superior outfielder. With 8 games this week and superior skills to Sammy Sosa, who normally slumps in September, Albert Pujols is an easy choice to add to our team.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Thu:@KC(J.Gobble?)
Pedro Martinez: Fri:@NYY(A.Pettitte)
Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(S.Ponson); Sat:@SF(Jer.Williams)
Tim Hudson: Wed:@BAL(Rod.Lopez)
Matt Morris: Tue:@CHC(K.Wood); Sun:CIN(S.Etherton)
Mike Mussina: Wed:@TOR(K.Escobar)
Kevin Millwood: Wed:MON(T.Tucker)
Kerry Wood: Tue:STL(M.Morris); Sun:@MIL(W.Franklin)
Kevin Brown: Wed:HOU(J.Robertson)
Roy Halladay: Mon:NYY(D.Wells); Sat:DET(C.Mears or S.Loux?)
Jason Schmidt: Fri:ARI(B.Webb)
Mark Prior: Mon:STL(W.Williams); Sat:@MIL(D.Davis)

Doubles from Schilling, Morris, Wood, Halladay, and Prior make this an easy decision, especially since we also can run Hudson in Baltimore. While Worrell and Mantei continue to face each other, both teams are providing many save opportunities, making them better plays than Mike MacDougal, who will head to our bench.

Offensively, Hall and Huff sit due to poor schedules, Preston Wilson and Carl Everett each only play five games, and then we also don't see much upside in running Aaron Boone, Berkman in LA/SD, or a sick Manny.

Interview with the Umpire(2nd lg; 31st div; 547th overall),
Shadow of the Umpire(6th lg; 34th div; 546th overall), &
Dance of the Umpires(6th lg; 22nd div; 573rd overall)
Week 23: September 1-September 7

C	Ivan Rodriguez		1070 
C	Javy Lopez		750 
1B	Frank Thomas		920
1B	Erubiel Durazo		520
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1460
2B	Marcus Giles		400
3B	Aramis Ramirez		820
3B	Hank Blalock		500
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1330 
OF	Vlad Guerrero		2010
OF	Albert Pujols		1750
OF	Ichiro Suzuki		1480
OF	Vernon Wells		750
OF	Hideki Matsui		750 
OF	Dave Roberts		620
DH	Luis Castillo		1210
DH	Rafael Furcal		970

SP	Curt Schilling		1610 
SP	Tim Hudson		1340
SP	Matt Morris		1300
SP	Kerry Wood		990 
SP	Roy Halladay		890 
SP	Mark Prior		750
RP	Eric Gagne		1430 
RP	Joe Borowski		750 
RP	Tim Worrell		740
RP	Matt Mantei		700

Total Salary for Week 23: 	29820

Diamond Challenge 2nd Season

We can cut Lowell whenever we need a roster spot here, but as we don't see an obvious immediate move, he'll head to our bench for now.

Unsurprisingly, we're running the same pitchers here as in DC: Schilling, Hudson, Morris, Wood, Halladay, and Prior. Similarly, Biddle will sit in the bullpen, allowing us to run Gagne, Borowski, Worrell, and Mantei.

Joining Lowell on our bench will be Hall, Huff, Preston Wilson, and Orlando Cabrera, who we'd like to start but he doesn't fit in an obvious slot this week. Cabrera owns better power than Furcal, however he shouldn't see as much lineup support

Umpire The Masquerade(7th lg; 45th div; 381st overall)
Week 23: September 1-September 7

C	Mike Lieberthal		650 
C	Javy Lopez		750
1B	Todd Helton		1850
1B	Carlos Deglado		1420
2B	Bret Boone		1360
2B	Marcus Giles		400 
3B	Aramis Ramirez		820
3B	Hank Blalock		500
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1330
SS	Rafael Furcal		970
OF	Albert Pujols		1750 
OF	Juan Pierre		1080
OF	Vernon Wells		750
OF	Hideki Matsui		750
OF	Dave Roberts		620
OF	Carl Crawford		420
DH	Alfonso Soriano		1460
DH	Erubiel Durazo		520
 
SP	Curt Schilling		1610 
SP	Tim Hudson		1340
SP	Matt Morris		1300 
SP	Kerry Wood		990 
SP	Roy Halladay		890 
SP	Mark Prior		750
RP	Eric Gagne		1430
RP	Joe Borowski		750
RP	Rocky Biddle		750
RP	Matt Mantei		700

Total Salary for Week 23: 	27900

Internet Challenge

While we don't normally burn our last move until late September, we own back-ups at every position and a good variety of salaries. We need another outfielder to replace Kearns, and with Pujols playing five games over the first four days of the week, he's an obvious choice for our team, especially given he owns a better BA than Sosa.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Thu:@KC(J.Gobble?)
Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(S.Ponson)
Matt Morris: Tue:@CHC(K.Wood)
Mike Mussina: Wed:@TOR(K.Escobar)
Kevin Millwood: Wed:MON(T.Tucker)
Kerry Wood: Tue:STL(M.Morris)
Kevin Brown: Wed:HOU(J.Robertson)
Roy Halladay: Mon:NYY(D.Wells)
Mark Prior: Mon:STL(W.Williams)

No starts: Pedro, Oswalt, Schmidt, Loaiza, and Ainsworth.

The safe play here is to run the six home starts, and with only Halladay looking even mildly questionable, we'll stick with the percentages to deploy Schilling, Millwood, Wood, Brown, Halladay, and Prior. MacDougal sits in Texas in favor of Worrell.

We don't see logical slots for Hall or Boone, and then Helton and Preston Wilson only play two games in San Francisco, so they need to stay benched. As the White Sox also only play two at home against Boston, Carl Everett takes a seat, too.

The Umpire Hunter(9th lg; 198th overall)
Week 23a: September 1-September 4

C	Jorge Posada		1120
C	Javier Lopez		750
1B	Aubrey Huff		610
1B	Erubiel Durazo		520
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1460
2B	Marcus Giles		400
3B	Aramis Ramirez		820
3B	Hank Blalock		500
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1330 
OF	Vlad Guerrero		2010
OF	Albert Pujols		1750
OF	Lance Berkman		1640
OF	Manny Ramirez		1610 
OF	Vernon Wells		750
OF	Hideki Matsui		750
DH	Luis Castillo		1210
DH	Orlando Cabrera		1030

SP	Curt Schilling		1610
SP	Kevin Millwood		1010 
SP	Kevin Brown		990 
SP	Kerry Wood		990
SP	Roy Halladay		890
SP	Mark Prior		750
RP	Eric Gagne		1430
RP	Joe Borowski		750 
RP	Tim Worrell		740
RP	Matt Mantei		700

Total Salary for Week 23a: 	29930

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

We also are burning our last move here as we own at least playable back-ups at every position except RP, which is where we want to improve after getting nothing from MacDougal for a while. Matt Mantei possesses better recent skills and at least as good a schedule as Joe Borowski, who also is barely pitching due to the Cubs' pen problems. As Mantei looks likely to see more consistent save opportunities and costs 300 less than Borowski, we're adding him and dumping MacDougal.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Thu:@KC(J.Gobble?)
Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(S.Ponson); Sat:@SF(Jer.Williams)
Mike Mussina: Wed:@TOR(K.Escobar)
Pedro Martinez: Fri:@NYY(A.Pettitte)
Kerry Wood: Tue:STL(M.Morris); Sun:@MIL(W.Franklin)
Kevin Millwood: Wed:MON(T.Tucker)
Wade Miller: Tue:@LA(H.Nomo); Sat:@SD(K.Jarvis)
Roy Halladay: Mon:NYY(D.Wells); Sat:DET(C.Mears or S.Loux?)
Jason Schmidt: Fri:ARI(B.Webb)
Kevin Brown: Wed:HOU(J.Robertson)
Mark Prior: Mon:STL(W.Williams); Sat:@MIL(D.Davis)
Rich Harden: Fri:@TB(Ro.Bell)

Schilling, Wood, Miller, Halladay, and Prior all are obvious calls, as is Harden in Tampa.

Hall, Hudson, Ellis, Hinske, J.Hernandez, and J.Gonzalez are the easy choices for the bench, and then we like Josh Phelps at home better than Teixeira, and Manny and Berkman possess slightly more immediate upside than the slumping Larry Walker.

The Umpire Chronicles(7th lg; 371st overall)
& Umpire with a Soul(5th lg; 838th overall)
Week 23: September 1-September 7

C	Javy Lopez		1480
C	Jason Varitek		1400
1B	Todd Helton		3320
1B	Frank Thomas		2030
2B	Alfonso Soriano		2570
2B	Marcus Giles		1080
3B	Scott Rolen		2660
3B	Joe Crede		1150	
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	2300 
SS	Orlando Cabrera		1820
OF	Albert Pujols		3150
OF	Manny Ramirez		2690
OF	Lance Berkman		2850
OF	Preston Wilson		2410
OF	Vernon Wells		1780
OF	Hideki Matsui		1500
DH	Carlos Delgado		2850
DH	Josh Phelps		1480

SP	Curt Schilling		3600 
SP	Kerry Wood		2470
SP	Wade Miller		2170
SP	Roy Halladay		2010  
SP	Mark Prior		1800
SP	Rich Harden		1500
RP	Eric Gagne		2560
RP	Keith Foulke		2330
RP	Tim Worrell		1370
RP	Matt Mantei		1200

Total Salary for Week 23: 	59530

Mid-Season Fantasy Baseball

Mantei for MacDougal is an even easier call here, both to improve our team and cut one closer's cap number by 20%.

SP(6)
Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(S.Ponson); Sat:@SF(Jer.Williams)
Mike Mussina: Wed:@TOR(K.Escobar)
Pedro Martinez: Fri:@NYY(A.Pettitte)
Tim Hudson: Wed:@BAL(Rod.Lopez)
Roger Clemens: Sat:BOS(T.Wakefield)
Roy Halladay: Mon:NYY(D.Wells); Sat:DET(C.Mears or S.Loux?)
Jason Schmidt: Fri:ARI(B.Webb)
Kevin Brown: Wed:HOU(J.Robertson)
Esteban Loazia: Sat:CLE(J.Stanford)
Mark Prior: Mon:STL(W.Williams); Sat:@MIL(D.Davis)
Brandon Webb: Fri:@SF(J.Schmidt)

Schilling, Halladay, and Prior are easy picks, as are Hudson and Loaiza, however since we have five more moves to burn, we're going to add Wade Miller, who should post the best stats for his salary of any pitcher who doubles, including Zito, Pineiro, and Maddux. While we like Brandon Webb, his upcoming schedule is not as nice as that of Mussina, Pedro, Clemens, Schmidt, or Brown, so he'll depart our team at least for the next week.

Offensively, Lowell and Bradley obviously sit, and we don't see much reason to run Varitek or Bret Boone right now despite the latter's strong schedule this week. Orlando Cabrera, Larry Walker, and Lance Berkman also sit due to a lack of obvious lineup spots.

Umpire in Brooklyn(6th lg; 221st overall)
Week 23: September 1-September 7

C	Javier Lopez		1480 
C	Mike Lieberthal		1350
1B	Frank Thomas		2030
1B	Erubiel Durazo		1110
2B	D'Angelo Jimenez	1400
2B	Marcus	 Giles		1080
3B	Hank Blalock		1100 
3B	Mark Teixeira		1000
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	2300 
SS	Rafael Furcal		1800
OF	Albert Pujols		3150 
OF	Manny Ramirez		2690
OF	Gary Sheffield		2600 
OF	Preston Wilson		2410
OF	Vernon Wells		1780
OF	Hideki Matsui		1500
DH	Carlos Delgado		2850 
DH	Aubrey Huff		1420  

SP	Curt Schilling		3600
SP	Tim Hudson		2830 
SP	Wade Miller		2170
SP	Roy Halladay		2010
SP	Esteban Loaiza		1900
SP	Mark Prior		1800
RP	Eric Gagne		2560
RP	Keith Foulke		2330
RP	Tim Worrell		1370
RP	Matt Mantei		1200

Total Salary for Week 23: 	54820

Today's Fantasy Rx: With the Cubs and Cardinals scheduled to play eight games this week, including five over the first half of the week, players like Pujols, Sosa, Rolen, Renteria, and Aramis Ramirez are great targets if you need a quantitative boost on offense. The Cubs' schedule in particular is quite favorable over the last few weeks of the year, although the Cardinals also don't play overly strong opponents. Feel free to target players from these teams for an immediate offensive improvement.

Click here to read the previous article.

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



Rotohelp		Sunday Challenge Conversation, '03 Wk. 23 by Tim Polko Today's Fantasy Rx Schedule recommendations for teams with 8 games Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers Chicago Cubs: 5 Home vs. STL; 3 Road at MIL. St. Louis: 5 Road at CHC; 3 Home vs. CIN. Schedule recommendations for teams with 7 games Good for hitters / Good for pitchers Atlanta: 3 Road at NYM; 4 Home vs. PIT. Philadelphia: 1 Home vs. BOS; 2 Home vs. MON; 4 Home vs. NYM. Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers Detroit: 4 Home vs. CLE; 3 Road at TOR. Florida: 1 Home vs. MON; 3 Home vs. PIT; 3 Road at MON(@PR). Kansas City: 3 Road at TEX; 1 Home vs. ARI; 3 Road at ANA. Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers Arizona: 1 Home vs. SF; 2 Road at SD; 1 Road at KC; 3 Road at SF. Cleveland: 4 Road at DET; 3 Road at CHW. Pittsburgh: 3 Road at FLO; 4 Road at ATL. Bad for hitters / Bad for pitchers New York Mets: 3 Home vs. ATL; 4 Road at PHI. Schedule recommendations for teams with 6 games Good for hitters / Good for pitchers Milwaukee: 3 Home vs. CIN; 3 Home vs. CHC. Minnesota: 3 Home vs. ANA; 3 Home vs. TEX. Oakland: 3 Road at BAL; 3 Road at TB. Seattle: 3 Road at TB; 3 Road at BAL. Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers Anaheim: 3 Road at MIN; 3 Home vs. KC. Cincinnati: 3 Road at MIL; 3 Road at STL. Los Angeles: 3 Home vs. HOU; 3 Road at COL. Montreal: 1 Road at FLO; 2 Road at PHI; 3 Home vs. FLO(@PR). New York Yankees: 3 Road at TOR; 3 Home vs. BOS. Texas: 3 Home vs. KC: 3 Road at MIN. Toronto: 3 Home vs. NYY; 3 Home vs. DET. Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers Houston: 3 Road at LA: 3 Road at SD. San Francisco: 1 Road at ARI; 2 Home vs. COL; 3 Home vs. ARI. Bad for hitters / Bad for pitchers Baltimore: 3 Home vs. OAK; 3 Home vs. SEA. Boston: 1 Road at PHI; 2 Road at CHW; 3 Road at NYY. Tampa Bay: 3 Home vs. SEA; 3 Home vs. OAK. Schedule recommendations for teams with 5 games Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers Colorado: 2 Road at SF; 3 Home vs. LA. Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers Chicago White Sox: 2 Home vs. BOS; 3 Home vs. CLE. San Diego: 2 Home vs. ARI; 3 Home vs. HOU. Pitchers with 2 starts(to deploy everywhere you own them): Chris Capuano?: Tue:@SD(B.Howard); Sun:@SF(S.Ponson)? Bartolo Colon: Tue:BOS(J.Burkett); Sun:CLE(Cl.Lee) Wayne Franklin: Mon:CIN(S.Etherton); Sun:CHC(K.Wood) Roy Halladay: Mon:NYY(D.Wells); Sat:DET(C.Mears or S.Loux?) Mike Hampton: Tue:@NYM(A.Leiter); Sun:PIT(K.Wells) Cliff Lee: Tue:@DET(J.Bonderman); Sun:@CHW(B.Colon) Al Leiter: Tue:ATL(M.Hampton); Sun:@PHI(A.Telemaco) Greg Maddux: Mon:@NYM(J.Griffiths); Sat:PIT(N.Figueroa or J.D'Amico) Wade Miller: Tue:@LA(H.Nomo); Sat:@SD(K.Jarvis) Matt Morris: Tue:@CHC(K.Wood); Sun:CIN(S.Etherton) Brett Myers: Mon:BOS(J.Suppan); Sat:NYM(J.Griffiths) Hideo Nomo: Mon:@LA(W.Miller); Sun:@COL(D.Oliver) Brad Penny: Mon:MON(T.Ohka); Sat:@MON(Z.Day) Joel Pineiro: Tue:@TB(V.Zambrano); Sun:@BAL(P.Hentgen) Sidney Ponson: Mon:@ARI(C.Schilling); Sun:ARI(C.Capuano?) Mark Prior: Mon:STL(W.Williams); Sat:@MIL(D.Davis) Kenny Rogers: Mon:ANA(A.Sele); Sun:TEX(R.Dickey or C.Lewis) Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(S.Ponson); Sat:@SF(Jer.Williams) Jason Stanford: Mon:@DET(C.Mears); Sat:@CHW(E.Loaiza) Amaury Telemaco: Tue:MON(J.Vazquez); Sun:NYM(A.Leiter) Javier Vazquez?: Tue:@PHI(A.Telemaco); Sun:FLO(D.Willis)? David Wells: Mon:@TOR(R.Halladay); Sun:BOS(J.Suppan) Kip Wells: Tue:FLO(D.Willis); Sun:@ATL(M.Hampton) Woody Williams: Mon:@CHC(M.Prior); Sat:CIN(D.Serafini) Dontrelle Willis Tue:PIT(K.Wells); Sun:@MON(T.Ohka or J.Vazquez) Kerry Wood: Tue:STL(M.Morris); Sun:@MIL(W.Franklin) Victor Zambrano: Tue:SEA(J.Pineiro); Sun:OAK(B.Zito) Barry Zito: Tue:@BAL(P.Hentgen); Sun:@TB(V.Zambrano) Pitchers with 2 starts to deploy only in leagues that don't count qualitative stats: Paul Abbott: Tue:@TEX(J.Benoit?); Sun:@ANA(A.Sele) Jeremy Bonderman?: Tue:CLE(Cl.Lee); Sun:@TOR(P.Walker)? Seth Etherton: Mon:@MIL(W.Franklin); Sun:@STL() Jeremy Griffiths: Mon:ATL(G.Maddux); Sat:@PHI(B.Myers) Pat Hentgen: Tue:OAK(B.Zito); Sun:SEA(J.Pineiro) Colby Lewis: Mon:KC(D.May); Sat:@MIN(B.Radke) OR Sun:@MIN(K.Rogers) Darrell May: Mon:@TEX(C.Lewis); Sat:@ANA(J.Lackey) Chris Mears?: Mon:CLE(J.Stanford); Sat:TOR(R.Halladay)? Aaron Sele: Mon:@MIN(K.Rogers); Sun:KC(P.Abbott) Jeff Suppan: Mon:@PHI(B.Myers); Sun:@NYY(D.Wells) Diamond Challenge With three moves remaining and a dire need for offense, we're finally releasing Austin Kearns in favor of a superior outfielder. With 8 games this week and superior skills to Sammy Sosa, who normally slumps in September, Albert Pujols is an easy choice to add to our team. SP(6) Randy Johnson: Thu:@KC(J.Gobble?) Pedro Martinez: Fri:@NYY(A.Pettitte) Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(S.Ponson); Sat:@SF(Jer.Williams) Tim Hudson: Wed:@BAL(Rod.Lopez) Matt Morris: Tue:@CHC(K.Wood); Sun:CIN(S.Etherton) Mike Mussina: Wed:@TOR(K.Escobar) Kevin Millwood: Wed:MON(T.Tucker) Kerry Wood: Tue:STL(M.Morris); Sun:@MIL(W.Franklin) Kevin Brown: Wed:HOU(J.Robertson) Roy Halladay: Mon:NYY(D.Wells); Sat:DET(C.Mears or S.Loux?) Jason Schmidt: Fri:ARI(B.Webb) Mark Prior: Mon:STL(W.Williams); Sat:@MIL(D.Davis) Doubles from Schilling, Morris, Wood, Halladay, and Prior make this an easy decision, especially since we also can run Hudson in Baltimore. While Worrell and Mantei continue to face each other, both teams are providing many save opportunities, making them better plays than Mike MacDougal, who will head to our bench. Offensively, Hall and Huff sit due to poor schedules, Preston Wilson and Carl Everett each only play five games, and then we also don't see much upside in running Aaron Boone, Berkman in LA/SD, or a sick Manny. Interview with the Umpire(2nd lg; 31st div; 547th overall), Shadow of the Umpire(6th lg; 34th div; 546th overall), & Dance of the Umpires(6th lg; 22nd div; 573rd overall) Week 23: September 1-September 7 C Ivan Rodriguez 1070 C Javy Lopez 750 1B Frank Thomas 920 1B Erubiel Durazo 520 2B Alfonso Soriano 1460 2B Marcus Giles 400 3B Aramis Ramirez 820 3B Hank Blalock 500 SS Alex Rodriguez 2010 SS Nomar Garciaparra 1330 OF Vlad Guerrero 2010 OF Albert Pujols 1750 OF Ichiro Suzuki 1480 OF Vernon Wells 750 OF Hideki Matsui 750 OF Dave Roberts 620 DH Luis Castillo 1210 DH Rafael Furcal 970 SP Curt Schilling 1610 SP Tim Hudson 1340 SP Matt Morris 1300 SP Kerry Wood 990 SP Roy Halladay 890 SP Mark Prior 750 RP Eric Gagne 1430 RP Joe Borowski 750 RP Tim Worrell 740 RP Matt Mantei 700 Total Salary for Week 23: 29820 Diamond Challenge 2nd Season We can cut Lowell whenever we need a roster spot here, but as we don't see an obvious immediate move, he'll head to our bench for now. SP(6) Randy Johnson: Thu:@KC(J.Gobble?) Pedro Martinez: Fri:@NYY(A.Pettitte) Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(S.Ponson); Sat:@SF(Jer.Williams) Tim Hudson: Wed:@BAL(Rod.Lopez) Matt Morris: Tue:@CHC(K.Wood); Sun:CIN(S.Etherton) Mike Mussina: Wed:@TOR(K.Escobar) Kevin Millwood: Wed:MON(T.Tucker) Kerry Wood: Tue:STL(M.Morris); Sun:@MIL(W.Franklin) Kevin Brown: Wed:HOU(J.Robertson) Roy Halladay: Mon:NYY(D.Wells); Sat:DET(C.Mears or S.Loux?) Jason Schmidt: Fri:ARI(B.Webb) Mark Prior: Mon:STL(W.Williams); Sat:@MIL(D.Davis) Unsurprisingly, we're running the same pitchers here as in DC: Schilling, Hudson, Morris, Wood, Halladay, and Prior. Similarly, Biddle will sit in the bullpen, allowing us to run Gagne, Borowski, Worrell, and Mantei. Joining Lowell on our bench will be Hall, Huff, Preston Wilson, and Orlando Cabrera, who we'd like to start but he doesn't fit in an obvious slot this week. Cabrera owns better power than Furcal, however he shouldn't see as much lineup support Umpire The Masquerade(7th lg; 45th div; 381st overall) Week 23: September 1-September 7 C Mike Lieberthal 650 C Javy Lopez 750 1B Todd Helton 1850 1B Carlos Deglado 1420 2B Bret Boone 1360 2B Marcus Giles 400 3B Aramis Ramirez 820 3B Hank Blalock 500 SS Nomar Garciaparra 1330 SS Rafael Furcal 970 OF Albert Pujols 1750 OF Juan Pierre 1080 OF Vernon Wells 750 OF Hideki Matsui 750 OF Dave Roberts 620 OF Carl Crawford 420 DH Alfonso Soriano 1460 DH Erubiel Durazo 520 SP Curt Schilling 1610 SP Tim Hudson 1340 SP Matt Morris 1300 SP Kerry Wood 990 SP Roy Halladay 890 SP Mark Prior 750 RP Eric Gagne 1430 RP Joe Borowski 750 RP Rocky Biddle 750 RP Matt Mantei 700 Total Salary for Week 23: 27900 Internet Challenge While we don't normally burn our last move until late September, we own back-ups at every position and a good variety of salaries. We need another outfielder to replace Kearns, and with Pujols playing five games over the first four days of the week, he's an obvious choice for our team, especially given he owns a better BA than Sosa. SP(6) Randy Johnson: Thu:@KC(J.Gobble?) Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(S.Ponson) Matt Morris: Tue:@CHC(K.Wood) Mike Mussina: Wed:@TOR(K.Escobar) Kevin Millwood: Wed:MON(T.Tucker) Kerry Wood: Tue:STL(M.Morris) Kevin Brown: Wed:HOU(J.Robertson) Roy Halladay: Mon:NYY(D.Wells) Mark Prior: Mon:STL(W.Williams) No starts: Pedro, Oswalt, Schmidt, Loaiza, and Ainsworth. The safe play here is to run the six home starts, and with only Halladay looking even mildly questionable, we'll stick with the percentages to deploy Schilling, Millwood, Wood, Brown, Halladay, and Prior. MacDougal sits in Texas in favor of Worrell. We don't see logical slots for Hall or Boone, and then Helton and Preston Wilson only play two games in San Francisco, so they need to stay benched. As the White Sox also only play two at home against Boston, Carl Everett takes a seat, too. The Umpire Hunter(9th lg; 198th overall) Week 23a: September 1-September 4 C Jorge Posada 1120 C Javier Lopez 750 1B Aubrey Huff 610 1B Erubiel Durazo 520 2B Alfonso Soriano 1460 2B Marcus Giles 400 3B Aramis Ramirez 820 3B Hank Blalock 500 SS Alex Rodriguez 2010 SS Nomar Garciaparra 1330 OF Vlad Guerrero 2010 OF Albert Pujols 1750 OF Lance Berkman 1640 OF Manny Ramirez 1610 OF Vernon Wells 750 OF Hideki Matsui 750 DH Luis Castillo 1210 DH Orlando Cabrera 1030 SP Curt Schilling 1610 SP Kevin Millwood 1010 SP Kevin Brown 990 SP Kerry Wood 990 SP Roy Halladay 890 SP Mark Prior 750 RP Eric Gagne 1430 RP Joe Borowski 750 RP Tim Worrell 740 RP Matt Mantei 700 Total Salary for Week 23a: 29930 Fantasy Baseball & Budget Baseball (Same rules = same rosters and moves for both teams) We also are burning our last move here as we own at least playable back-ups at every position except RP, which is where we want to improve after getting nothing from MacDougal for a while. Matt Mantei possesses better recent skills and at least as good a schedule as Joe Borowski, who also is barely pitching due to the Cubs' pen problems. As Mantei looks likely to see more consistent save opportunities and costs 300 less than Borowski, we're adding him and dumping MacDougal. SP(6) Randy Johnson: Thu:@KC(J.Gobble?) Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(S.Ponson); Sat:@SF(Jer.Williams) Mike Mussina: Wed:@TOR(K.Escobar) Pedro Martinez: Fri:@NYY(A.Pettitte) Kerry Wood: Tue:STL(M.Morris); Sun:@MIL(W.Franklin) Kevin Millwood: Wed:MON(T.Tucker) Wade Miller: Tue:@LA(H.Nomo); Sat:@SD(K.Jarvis) Roy Halladay: Mon:NYY(D.Wells); Sat:DET(C.Mears or S.Loux?) Jason Schmidt: Fri:ARI(B.Webb) Kevin Brown: Wed:HOU(J.Robertson) Mark Prior: Mon:STL(W.Williams); Sat:@MIL(D.Davis) Rich Harden: Fri:@TB(Ro.Bell) Schilling, Wood, Miller, Halladay, and Prior all are obvious calls, as is Harden in Tampa. Hall, Hudson, Ellis, Hinske, J.Hernandez, and J.Gonzalez are the easy choices for the bench, and then we like Josh Phelps at home better than Teixeira, and Manny and Berkman possess slightly more immediate upside than the slumping Larry Walker. The Umpire Chronicles(7th lg; 371st overall) & Umpire with a Soul(5th lg; 838th overall) Week 23: September 1-September 7 C Javy Lopez 1480 C Jason Varitek 1400 1B Todd Helton 3320 1B Frank Thomas 2030 2B Alfonso Soriano 2570 2B Marcus Giles 1080 3B Scott Rolen 2660 3B Joe Crede 1150 SS Nomar Garciaparra 2300 SS Orlando Cabrera 1820 OF Albert Pujols 3150 OF Manny Ramirez 2690 OF Lance Berkman 2850 OF Preston Wilson 2410 OF Vernon Wells 1780 OF Hideki Matsui 1500 DH Carlos Delgado 2850 DH Josh Phelps 1480 SP Curt Schilling 3600 SP Kerry Wood 2470 SP Wade Miller 2170 SP Roy Halladay 2010 SP Mark Prior 1800 SP Rich Harden 1500 RP Eric Gagne 2560 RP Keith Foulke 2330 RP Tim Worrell 1370 RP Matt Mantei 1200 Total Salary for Week 23: 59530 Mid-Season Fantasy Baseball Mantei for MacDougal is an even easier call here, both to improve our team and cut one closer's cap number by 20%. SP(6) Curt Schilling: Mon:SF(S.Ponson); Sat:@SF(Jer.Williams) Mike Mussina: Wed:@TOR(K.Escobar) Pedro Martinez: Fri:@NYY(A.Pettitte) Tim Hudson: Wed:@BAL(Rod.Lopez) Roger Clemens: Sat:BOS(T.Wakefield) Roy Halladay: Mon:NYY(D.Wells); Sat:DET(C.Mears or S.Loux?) Jason Schmidt: Fri:ARI(B.Webb) Kevin Brown: Wed:HOU(J.Robertson) Esteban Loazia: Sat:CLE(J.Stanford) Mark Prior: Mon:STL(W.Williams); Sat:@MIL(D.Davis) Brandon Webb: Fri:@SF(J.Schmidt) Schilling, Halladay, and Prior are easy picks, as are Hudson and Loaiza, however since we have five more moves to burn, we're going to add Wade Miller, who should post the best stats for his salary of any pitcher who doubles, including Zito, Pineiro, and Maddux. While we like Brandon Webb, his upcoming schedule is not as nice as that of Mussina, Pedro, Clemens, Schmidt, or Brown, so he'll depart our team at least for the next week. Offensively, Lowell and Bradley obviously sit, and we don't see much reason to run Varitek or Bret Boone right now despite the latter's strong schedule this week. Orlando Cabrera, Larry Walker, and Lance Berkman also sit due to a lack of obvious lineup spots. Umpire in Brooklyn(6th lg; 221st overall) Week 23: September 1-September 7 C Javier Lopez 1480 C Mike Lieberthal 1350 1B Frank Thomas 2030 1B Erubiel Durazo 1110 2B D'Angelo Jimenez 1400 2B Marcus Giles 1080 3B Hank Blalock 1100 3B Mark Teixeira 1000 SS Nomar Garciaparra 2300 SS Rafael Furcal 1800 OF Albert Pujols 3150 OF Manny Ramirez 2690 OF Gary Sheffield 2600 OF Preston Wilson 2410 OF Vernon Wells 1780 OF Hideki Matsui 1500 DH Carlos Delgado 2850 DH Aubrey Huff 1420 SP Curt Schilling 3600 SP Tim Hudson 2830 SP Wade Miller 2170 SP Roy Halladay 2010 SP Esteban Loaiza 1900 SP Mark Prior 1800 RP Eric Gagne 2560 RP Keith Foulke 2330 RP Tim Worrell 1370 RP Matt Mantei 1200 Total Salary for Week 23: 54820 Today's Fantasy Rx: With the Cubs and Cardinals scheduled to play eight games this week, including five over the first half of the week, players like Pujols, Sosa, Rolen, Renteria, and Aramis Ramirez are great targets if you need a quantitative boost on offense. The Cubs' schedule in particular is quite favorable over the last few weeks of the year, although the Cardinals also don't play overly strong opponents. Feel free to target players from these teams for an immediate offensive improvement. Click here to read the previous article. Please e-mail your comments to tim@rotohelp.com.
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	August 31^st 2003			Your Daily Fantasy Rx