Today's Fantasy Rx

Arizona: Chad Durbin, RH Reliever
6-7 on a 48:35 K:BB in 60.2 IP over 8 GS(24G)
with 72 H, 11 HR, a .91 G-F, and a 6.97 ERA between Cleveland and Arizona.
3-3 on a 40:16 K:BB in 52 IP over 9 GS
with 55 H, 7 HR, and a 3.46 ERA for AAA Buffalo(IL).

After registering a 64:16 K:BB in 58.2 IP over 10 GS last year at Buffalo while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Durbin failed to build on his 2003 success while spending most of this year with Cleveland. The Diamondbacks claimed him off waivers at the beginning of this month, however posting a 10:11 K:BB in 9.1 IP won't impress even pitching-desperate teams. While his developing dominance suggests Durbin likely should remain a reliever, Arizona doesn't offer an overly nurturing environment for inexperienced pitchers. I see little reason to expect much improvement from Durbin in the near future, so deal or cut him even if searching for young pitchers with upside in very deep leagues.

Internet Challenge

SP(6)
Curt Schilling: Sat:@BAL(S.Ponson)
Randy Johnson: Sat:SD(B.Lawrence)
Tim Hudson: Sun:ANA(J.Washburn)
Jason Schmidt: Sun:@LA(K.Ishii?)
Roy Oswalt: Sat:COL(S.Estes)
Kerry Wood: Fri:ATL(M.Hampton)
Kevin Brown: Sat:@TOR(R.Halladay)
Josh Beckett: Sat:@PHI(E.Milton)
Jeremy Affeldt: 3 Home games vs. CHW.
Dustin Hermanson: 3 Road Games at LA.

No starts: Pedro, Mussina, Vazquez.

Both Hudson and Schmidt might miss their starts if Oakland or San Francisco clinch by Saturday, making them fairly risky plays. We don't trust Brown, and Beckett in Philly concerns us, so we'll deploy Schilling, Randy, Oswalt, Wood, and our closers.

Fullmer, Soriano, and Kaz Matsu stay benched. We see no reason to deploy Rolen when he should sit most of the weekend, and neither Podsednik nor Piazza offer a clear advantage to the players already in our lineup, so we'll make no offensive changes.

The Umpire Hunter(17th lg; 436th overall)
Week 26b: October 1-October 3

 
C	Jason Varitek		680 
C	Victor Martinez		450
1B	Lyle Overbay		400
1B	Mark Teixeira		760
2B	Mark Loretta		820 
2B	Orlando Hudson		550
3B	Hank Blalock		850
3B	Joe Crede		600
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010 
SS	Alex Cintron		450 
OF	Albert Pujols		1840
OF	Carlos Beltran		1760 
OF	Juan Pierre		1470
OF	Brad Wilkerson		690
OF	Adam Dunn		690
OF	Miguel Cabrera		570 
DH	Vernon Wells		1150 
DH	Carl Crawford		1040

SP	Curt Schilling		1610 
SP	Randy Johnson		1550
SP	Roy Oswalt		1200 
SP	Kerry Wood		1190 
SP	Jeremy Affeldt		650
SP	Dustin Hermanson	540
RP	Eric Gagne		1890
RP	Octavio Dotel		1250
RP	Danny Kolb		940 
RP	Joe Nathan		720 

Total Salary for Week 26b: 	28320

Today's Fantasy Rx: The contentiousness of this Presidential campaign makes all three debates very intriguing political theater. We strongly recommend watching as much as possible of the first of the three Presidential debates tonight at 8 PM(CDT).