Today's Fantasy Rx

Schedule recommendations for teams with 7 games

Good for hitters / Good for pitchers
Cincinnati: 1 Home vs. HOU; 3 Home vs. FLO; 3 Road at FLO.

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Atlanta: 3 Road at LA; 4 Road at PHI.
Pittsburgh: 3 Road at STL; 4 Home vs. CHC.

Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers
Arizona: 1 Road at FLO; 3 Road at SF; 3 Road at LA.
Florida: 1 Home vs. ARI; 3 Road at CIN; 3 Home vs. NYM.

Schedule recommendations for teams with 6 games

Good for hitters / Good for pitchers
Kansas City: 3 Home vs. DET; 3 Home vs. MIN.
Minnesota: 3 Road at TB; 3 Road at KC.
New York Yankees: 3 Road at BAL; 3 Road at TB.
Philadelphia: 2 Road at NYM; 4 Home vs. ATL.

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Anaheim: 3 Road at TOR; 3 Road at CHW.
Chicago White Sox: 3 Home vs. TEX; 3 Home vs. ANA.
Chicago Cubs: 2 Road at HOU; 4 Road at PIT.
Colorado: 3 Home vs. SD; 3 Road at SF.
Houston: 1 Road at CIN; 2 Home vs. CHC; 3 Home vs. STL.
Montreal: 3 Home vs. ATL; 3 Home vs. CIN.
San Diego: 3 Road at COL; 3 Road at MIL.
St. Louis: 3 Home vs. PIT; 3 Road at HOU.
Texas: 3 Road at CHW; 3 Road at TOR.
Toronto: 3 Home vs. ANA; 3 Home vs. TEX.

Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers
Baltimore: 3 Home vs. NYY; 3 Road at DET.
Boston: 3 Home vs. OAK; 3 Home vs. SEA.
Cleveland: 3 Home vs. SEA; 3 Home vs. OAK.
Detroit: 3 Road at KC; 3 Home vs. BAL.
Los Angeles: 3 Road at MIL; 3 Home vs. ARI.
San Francisco: 3 Home vs. ARI; 3 Home vs. COL.

Bad for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Milwaukee: 3 Home vs. LA; 3 Home vs. SD.
Oakland: 3 Road at BOS; 3 Road at CLE.
Seattle: 3 Road at CLE; 3 Road at BOS.
Tampa Bay: 3 Home vs. MIN; 3 Home vs. NYY.

Schedule recommendations for teams with 5 games

Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers
New York Mets: 2 Home vs. PHI; 3 Road at FLO.

Pitchers with 2 starts(to deploy everywhere you own them):
Jose Acevedo: Mon:HOU(T.Redding); Sat:@MON(C.Vargas)
Josh Beckett: Tue:@CIN(Pa.Wilson); Sun:NYM(S.Trachsel)
Erik Bedard: Tue:NYY(J.Lieber); Sun:@DET(M.Maroth)
Rob Bell: Tue:MIN(K.Lohse); Sun:NYY(J.Lieber)
Zach Day: Mon:ATL(J.Thomson); Sun:CIN(Pa.Wilson)
Casey Fossum: Tue:@SF(J.Schmidt); Sun:@LA(K.Ishii)
Tim Hudson: Tue:@BOS(C.Schilling); Sun:@CLE(Ja.Davis)
Jon Lieber: Tue:@BAL(E.Bedard); Sun:@TB(R.Bell)
Kyle Lohse: Tue:@TB(R.Bell); Sun:@KC(J.Gobble)
Mike Maroth: Tue:@KC(J.Gobble); Sun:BAL(E.Bedard)
Justin Miller: Mon:ANA(J.Lackey); Sun:TEX(K.Rogers)
Carl Pavano: Mon:ARI(B.Webb); Sat:NYM(A.Leiter)
Horacio Ramirez: Tue:@MON(S.Kim); Sun:@PHI(E.Milton)
Victor Santos: Tue:LA(K.Ishii); Sun:SD(I.Valdez)
Curt Schilling: Tue:OAK(T.Hudson); Sun:SEA(R.Franklin)
Jason Schmidt: Tue:ARI(C.Fossum); Sun:COL(J.Jennings)
Jeff Suppan: Tue:PIT(K.Benson); Sun:@HOU(T.Redding)
John Thomson: Mon:@MON(Z.Day); Sat:@PHI(V.Padilla)
Steve Trachsel: Tue:PHI(E.Milton); Sun:@FLO(J.Beckett)
Brandon Webb: Mon:@FLO(C.Pavano); Sat:@LA(J.Lima)
Paul Wilson: Tue:FLO(J.Beckett); Sun:@MON(Z.Day)
Carlos Zambrano: Tue:@HOU(R.Oswalt); Sun:@PIT(K.Benson)

Pitchers with 2 starts to deploy only in leagues that don't count qualitative stats:
Kris Benson: Tue:@STL(J.Suppan); Sun:CHC(C.Zambrano)
Jason Davis: Tue:SEA(R.Franklin); Sun:OAK(T.Hudson)
Ryan Franklin: Tue:@CLE(Ja.Davis); Sun:@BOS(C.Schilling)
Jimmy Gobble: Tue:DET(M.Maroth); Sun:MIN(K.Lohse)
Kazuhisa Ishii: Tue:@MIL(V.Santos); Sun:ARI(C.Fossum)
Jason Jennings: Tue:SD(I.Valdez); Sun:@SF(J.Schmidt)
John Lackey: Mon:@TOR(J.Miller); Sun:@CHW(S.Schoeneweis)
Eric Milton: Tue:@NYM(S.Trachsel); Sun:ATL(H.Ramirez)
Tim Redding: Mon:@CIN(Jo.Acevedo); Sun:STL(J.Suppan)
Kenny Rogers: Tue:@CHW(S.Schoeneweis); Sun:@TOR(J.Miller)
Scott Schoeneweis: Tue:TEX(); Sun:ANA(J.Lackey)
Ismael Valdez: Tue:@COL(J.Jennings); Sun:@MIL(V.Santos)

Diamond Challenge

Several free agents merit attention this week, including Arthur Rhodes, Victor Martinez, Scott Rolen, Kaz Matsui, Mark Loretta, and even Laynce Nix. Of course, we like our lineup right now, and while Martinez interests us, Johnny Estrada shows up as a free agent next week. Since we don't need the cap space and don't really want to make a move after blowing five last week, we're going to stay put. However, if you don't own some combination of IRod, Piazza, Lopez, Varitek, Martinez, and Estrada at catcher, I recommend adding Martinez this week.

SP(6)
Pedro Martinez: Fri:SEA(J.Pineiro)
Curt Schilling: Tue:OAK(T.Hudson); Sun:SEA(R.Franklin)
Randy Johnson: Fri:@LA(W.Alvarez)
Mike Mussina: Wed:@BAL(Ro.Lopez)
Roy Halladay: Thu:ANA(J.Washburn)
Tim Hudson: Tue:@BOS(C.Schilling); Sun:@CLE(Ja.Davis)
Javier Vazquez: Fri:@TB(M.Hendrickson)
Mark Mulder: Thu:@BOS(B.Arroyo)
Roy Oswalt: Tue:CHC(C.Zambrano)
Kerry Wood: Sat:@PIT(K.Wells?)???
Kevin Brown: Thu:@BAL(S.Ponson)
Josh Beckett: Tue:@CIN(Pa.Wilson); Sun:NYM(S.Trachsel)
Shawn Chacon: 3 Home vs. SD; 3 Road at SF.

The Schilling, Hudson, and Beckett doubles all look fairly good, and we also like Chacon given his consistently decent performances. Among the remaining starts, we almost have to run Randy right now, and then since Pedro's red hot, we'll deploy him to complete our staff.

Teixeira heads back to the lineup for Fullmer while Crede, Hidalgo, and Pierre remain benched. To squeeze under the cap, we're deploying Alex Cintron for Brian Roberts, who began slumping right when we added him last week.

Shadow of the Umpire(14th lg; 140th div; 3619th overall)
Week 8: May 24-May 30

C	Javy Lopez		940
C	Jason Varitek		680
1B	Mark Teixeira		760
1B	Lyle Overbay		400
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1930
2B	Orlando Hudson		550
3B	Mike Lowell		1230
3B	Hank Blalock		850
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010 
SS	Alex Cintron		450
OF	Vernon Wells		1150
OF	Scott Podsednik		980
OF	Melvin Mora		740
OF	Brad Wilkerson		690
OF	Adam Dunn		690
OF	Miguel Cabrera		570 
DH	Carlos Beltran		1760
DH	Carl Crawford		1040 

SP	Pedro Martinez		1800
SP	Curt Schilling		1610
SP	Randy Johnson		1550 
SP	Tim Hudson		1320 
SP	Josh Beckett		990
SP	Shawn Chacon		630
RP	Eric Gagne		1890
RP	Octavio Dotel		1250
RP	Arthur Rhodes		800
RP	Matt Herges		670

Total Salary for Week 8: 	29930

Internet Challenge

SP(6)
Curt Schilling: Tue:OAK(T.Hudson)
Mike Mussina: Wed:@BAL(Ro.Lopez)
Roy Halladay: Thu:ANA(J.Washburn)
Tim Hudson: Tue:@BOS(C.Schilling)
Roy Oswalt: Tue:CHC(C.Zambrano)
Kevin Brown: Thu:@BAL(S.Ponson)
Josh Beckett: Tue:@CIN(Pa.Wilson)
Shawn Chacon: 3 Home vs. SD.

No starts: Pedro, Randy, Vazquez, Wood, Contreras.

Schilling, Mussina, Halladay, Oswalt, Brown, and Beckett seem like good choices with Hudson facing Schilling and Chacon at home for just three games.

Teixeira returns to the lineup for Fullmer while Hinske and Hidalgo remain benched. While we'd like to deploy Kaz Matsui and Pierre, we just don't see a cap-friendly lineup slot for either player.

The Umpire Hunter(17th lg; 549th overall)
Week 8a: May 24-May 27

C	Mike Piazza		990
C	Jason Varitek		680
1B	Lyle Overbay		400
1B	Mark Teixeira		760
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1930
2B	Orlando Hudson		550
3B	Hank Blalock		850
3B	Joe Crede		600
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010 
SS	Alex Cintron		450 
OF	Ichiro Suzuki		1560
OF	Vernon Wells		1150 
OF	Carl Crawford		1040
OF	Scott Podsednik		980
OF	Adam Dunn		690
OF	Miguel Cabrera		570 
DH	Carlos Beltran		1760
DH	Brad Wilkerson		690 

SP	Curt Schilling		1610 
SP	Mike Mussina		1380 
SP	Roy Halladay		1350
SP	Roy Oswalt		1200 
SP	Kevin Brown		1180
SP	Josh Beckett		990
RP	Eric Gagne		1890
RP	Octavio Dotel		1250
RP	Arthur Rhodes		800
RP	Matt Herges		670

Total Salary for Week 8a: 	29980

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

Despite Tony Batista's surge, we need an alternative to the slumping Derrek Lee, so we're replacing Eric Munson with Mike Lowell.

SP(6)
Curt Schilling: Tue:OAK(T.Hudson); Sun:SEA(R.Franklin)
Randy Johnson: Fri:@LA(W.Alvarez)
Javier Vazquez: Fri:@TB(M.Hendrickson)
Pedro Martinez: Fri:SEA(J.Pineiro)
Kerry Wood: Sat:@PIT(K.Wells?)???
Tim Hudson: Tue:@BOS(C.Schilling); Sun:@CLE(Ja.Davis)
Roy Halladay: Thu:ANA(J.Washburn)
Kevin Brown: Thu:@BAL(S.Ponson)
Josh Beckett: Tue:@CIN(Pa.Wilson); Sun:NYM(S.Trachsel)
Shawn Chacon: 3 Home vs. SD; 3 Road at SF.

Schilling, Hudson, Beckett, and Chacon all work here, and then we see no reason not to deploy Randy and Pedro.

LeCroy replaces Estrada, Cintron replaces Orlando Cabrera, Lowell replaces Derrek Lee, and then by sitting Wilkerson and Miguel Cabrera while deploying Hideki Matsui, we have enough cap room to run Helton, Pujols, and Beltran.

The Umpire Chronicles(13th lg; 1295th overall)
& Umpire with a Soul(17th lg; 2684th overall)
Week 8: May 24-May 30

 
C	Matt LeCroy		1100
C	Brian Schneider		1100
1B	Todd Helton		3450
1B	Lyle Overbay		1000
2B	Alfonso Soriano		3060 
2B	Orlando Hudson		1420
3B	Hank Blalock		2020
3B	Tony Batista		1640 
SS	Brian Roberts		1260
SS	Alex Cintron		1100 
OF	Albert Pujols		3350
OF	Carlos Beltran		3060
OF	Manny Ramirez		2960 
OF	Vernon Wells		2260
OF	Adam Dunn		1950 
OF	Hideki Matsui		1800
DH	Mike Lowell		2380
DH	Mark Teixeira		1550 

SP	Curt Schilling		3090 
SP	Randy Johnson		2900 
SP	Pedro Martinez		2890
SP	Tim Hudson		2840 
SP	Josh Beckett		2000
SP	Shawn Chacon		1600
RP	Armando Benitez		2490
RP	Octavio Dotel		2400
RP	Matt Herges		1610
RP	Arthur Rhodes		1580

Total Salary for Week 8: 	59860

Today's Fantasy Rx: Deploying Shawn Chacon and/or Jeremy Affeldt in your rotation might leave you a little short on wins and strikeouts. However, both are inexpensive "starters" and allow you to opt for cheaper relievers without sacrificing saves. The cap space you recover should create significant opportunities for offensive improvement. While we obviously recommend Chacon, wait at least a week to see how Affeldt handles closing before adding him to your team.