Today's Fantasy Rx

Arizona: Edgar Gonzalez, RH Starter
0-6 on an 17:11 K:BB in 28 IP over 6 GS
with 47 H, 11 HR, a 1.03 G-F, and a 9.96 ERA.
5-5 on a 66:25 K:BB in 94 IP over 15 GS
with 99 H, 15 HR, and a 4.88 ERA for AAA Tucson(PCL).

Yes, I still believe the 21-year-old Gonzalez will develop into a top starter. He possesses both good dominance and impressive command while pitching at a surprisingly high level. Even an abrupt drop in his ground-fly ratio this year that created a homer spike doesn't particularly concern me in the long run. Of course, the combination of his current skills and the negligible support Gonzalez receives from his teammates on both sides of the plate gives him no current fantasy potential. His imperfect record obviously negates the mild upside suggested by a 00043 current QA log, so every contender should deal or cut Gonzalez since the possibility of him emerging as a respectable roto option over the last weeks of the season isn't worth the high probability of further qualitative damage.

Internet Challenge

SP(6)
Curt Schilling: Fri:@CHW(M.Buehrle)
Randy Johnson: Fri:CIN(L.Hudson)
Roy Oswalt: Sun:CHC(C.Zambrano)
Kevin Brown: Sun:ANA(K.Escobar)
Josh Beckett: Sat:@SD(A.Eaton)

No starts: Pedro, Mussina, T.Hudson, Vazquez, Schmidt, Wood, Affeldt.

With Piazza, Fullmer, and Kaz Matsui still injured, our only logical options for our remaining bench spots are Crede and then Podsednik since we have the cap room to run Pierre.

The Umpire Hunter(18th lg; 456th overall)
Week 20b: August 20-August 22

C	Jason Varitek		680 
C	Victor Martinez		450
1B	Lyle Overbay		400
1B	Mark Teixeira		760
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1930
2B	Mark Loretta		820 
3B	Scott Rolen		1460 
3B	Hank Blalock		850
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010 
SS	Alex Cintron		450 
OF	Carlos Beltran		1760
OF	Vernon Wells		1150
OF	Carl Crawford		1040 
OF	Brad Wilkerson		690
OF	Adam Dunn		690
OF	Miguel Cabrera		570 
DH	Juan Pierre		1470
DH	Orlando Hudson		550

SP	Curt Schilling		1610 
SP	Randy Johnson		1550 
SP	Roy Oswalt		1200 
SP	Kevin Brown		1180 
SP	Josh Beckett		990
SP	Jeremy Affeldt		650
RP	Eric Gagne		1890
RP	Octavio Dotel		1250
RP	Danny Kolb		940 
RP	Joe Nathan		720 

Total Salary for Week 20b: 	29710

Today's Fantasy Rx: As expected, the superior overall depth and increasing number of pitcher-friendly stadiums in the National League created a stratified ranking of rotations and bullpens. Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, San Diego, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles all appear above average throughout their pitching staff, so owners in deep leagues looking for any possible pitching advantage should target anyone with good command on these teams when looking for qualitative help.