Today's Fantasy Rx

Schedule recommendations for teams with 8 games

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Chicago Cubs: 1 Home vs. STL; 3 Road at HOU; 4 Road at STL.
St. Louis: 1 Road at CHC; 3 Road at CIN; 4 Home vs. CHC.

Schedule recommendations for teams with 7 games

Good for hitters / Good for pitchers
Boston: 3 Home vs. TOR; 4 Road at BAL.
Seattle: 3 Home vs. OAK; 4 Home vs. TB.

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Colorado: 4 Road at PHI; 3 Home vs. FLO.
Detroit: 1 Home vs. TOR; 3 Home vs. TEX; 3 Road at MIN.
Oakland: 3 Road at SEA; 4 Home vs. TEX.
Philadelphia: 4 Home vs. COL; 3 Road at NYM.
Tampa Bay: 3 Road at BOS; 4 Road at SEA.
Toronto: 1 Road at DET; 3 Home vs. NYY; 3 Home vs. BAL.

Bad for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Texas: 3 Road at DET; 4 Road at OAK.

Schedule recommendations for teams with 6 games

Good for hitters / Good for pitchers
Boston: 3 Home vs. TB; 3 Home vs. NYY.
Cleveland: 3 Road at CHW; 3 Home vs. KC.
Los Angeles Angels: 3 Road at BAL; 3 Road at CHW.

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Baltimore: 3 Home vs. LAA; 3 Road at TOR.
Chicago White Sox: 3 Home vs. CLE; 3 Home vs. LAA.
Cincinnati: 3 Home vs. STL; 3 Road at MIL.
Florida: 3 Home vs. WAS; 3 Road at COL.
Houston: 3 Home vs. CHC: 3 Home vs. PIT.
Kansas City: 3 Home vs. MIN; 3 Road at CLE.
Milwaukee: 3 Road at PIT; 3 Home vs. CIN.
Minnesota: 3 Road at KC; 3 Home vs. DET.
New York Mets: 3 Home vs. ATL; 3 Home vs. PHI.
New York Yankees: 3 Road at TOR; 3 Road at BOS.
Pittsburgh: 3 Home vs. MIL; 3 Road at HOU.

Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers
Arizona: 3 Road at SF; 3 Road at LAD.
Atlanta: 3 Road at NYM; 3 Road at WAS.
Los Angeles Dodgers: 3 Home vs. SD; 3 Home vs. ARI.
San Diego: 3 Road at LAD; 3 Home vs. SF.
San Francisco: 3 Home vs. ARI; 3 Road at SD.
Washington: 3 Road at FLO; 3 Home vs. ATL.

Pitchers with 2 starts(to deploy everywhere you own them):
Joe Blanton: Mon:@SEA(Ho.Ramirez); Sat:TEX(K.Loe)
Boof Bonser: Mon:@KC(B.Buckner); Sun:DET(K.Rogers)
Paul Byrd: Tue:@CHW(J.Danks); Sun:KC(B.Buckner)
Fausto Carmona: Mon:@CHW(G.Floyd); Sat:KC(Z.Greinke)
Roy Halladay: Mon:@DET(K.Rogers); Sat:BAL(V.Zambrano?)
Livan Hernandez: Mon:@SF(T.Lincecum); Sun:@LAD(E.Loaiza)
Shawn Hill: Mon:@FLO(S.Olsen); Sun:ATL(T.Hudson)
Tim Hudson: Mon:@NYM(Ol.Perez); Sun:@WAS(S.Hill)
Scott Kazmir: Mon:@BOS(C.Schilling); Sat:@SEA(Ho.Ramirez)
Ted Lilly: Mon:STL(J.Pineiro); Sat:@STL(J.Pineiro)
Tim Lincecum: Mon:ARI(L.Hernandez); Sun:@SD(J.Peavy)
Esteban Loaiza: Tue:SD(J.Peavy); Sun:ARI(L.Hernandez)
Shaun Marcum: Tue:NYY(P.Hughes); Sun:BAL(V.Santos)
Jake Peavy: Tue:@LAD(E.Loaiza); Sun:SF(T.Lincecum)
Oliver Perez: Mon:ATL(T.Hudson); Sun:PHI(A.Eaton)
Joel Pineiro: Mon:@CHC(T.Lilly); Sat:CHC(T.Lilly)
Kenny Rogers: Mon:TOR(R.Halladay); Sun:@MIN(B.Bonser)
Curt Schilling: Mon:TB(S.Kazmir); Sun:NYY(R.Clemens)
Andrew Sonnanstine: Tue:@BOS(T.Wakefield); Sun:@SEA(J.Washburn)
Jarrod Washburn: Tue:OAK(D.Braden); Sun:TB(A.Sonnanstine)

Pitchers with 2 starts to deploy only in leagues that don't count qualitative stats:
Tony Armas?: Mon:MIL(C.Villanueva); Sun:@HOU(B.Backe)
Brandon Backe: Tue:CHC(J.Marquis); Sun:PIT(T.Armas?)
Matt Belisle: Tue:STL(M.Mulder); Sun:@MIL(C.Villanueva)
Dallas Braden?: Tue:@SEA(J.Washburn); Sun:TEX(V.Padilla)
Billy Buckner: Mon:MIN(B.Bonser); Sun:@CLE(P.Byrd)
Adam Eaton: Tue:COL(F.Morales); Sun:@NYM(Ol.Perez)
Ubaldo Jimenez: Mon:@PHI(K.Lohse); Sat:FLO(D.Willis)
Kyle Lohse: Mon:COL(U.Jimenez); Sat:@NYM(P.Martinez)
Jason Marquis: Tue:@HOU(B.Backe); Sun:@STL(M.Mulder)
Franklin Morales: Tue:@PHI(A.Eaton); Sun:FLO(S.Olsen)
Mark Mulder: Tue:@CIN(M.Belisle); Sun:CHC(J.Marquis)
Scott Olsen: Mon:WAS(S.Hill); Sun:@COL(F.Morales)
Vicente Padilla: Tue:@DET(C.Durbin); Sun:@OAK(D.Braden?)
Horacio Ramirez: Mon:OAK(J.Blanton); Sat:TB(S.Kazmir)
Victor Santos: Tue:LAA(J.Saunders); Sun:@TOR(S.Marcum)
Joe Saunders?: Tue:@BAL(V.Santos); Sun:@CHW(J.Contreras?)
Carlos Villanueva: Mon:@PIT(T.Armas); Sun:CIN(M.Belisle)

Diamond Challenge

SP(6)
Johan Santana: Fri:DET(N.Robertson)
John Smoltz: Wed:@NYM(J.Maine)
Jake Peavy: Tue:@LAD(E.Loaiza); Sun:SF(T.Lincecum)
Roy Halladay: Mon:@DET(K.Rogers); Sat:BAL(V.Zambrano?)
Brandon Webb: Wed:@SF(Jo.Sanchez)
John Lackey: Thu:@BAL(J.Lester)
C.C. Sabathia: Fri:KC(B.Bannister)
Josh Beckett: Sat:NYY(C.Wang)
Chris Young: Fri:SF(B.Zito)
Erik Bedard: No start(DL).
Felix Hernandez: Fri:TB(J.Shields)
Jon Papelbon: 3 Home vs. TB; 3 Home vs. NYY.

With wins a priority, Webb, Lackey, and Sabathia will join Peavy and Halladay. While we like Santana, Smoltz, and Beckett, we'll keep Papelbon since we need saves in Field and can carry an extra power bat on offense due to the extra cap room. Cordero also hits the bench for cap reasons.

Morneau and Delmon Young enter the lineup for Kelly Johnson and Bonds, who join Howard, Teahen, Hall, Victorino, and Manny on our bench.

Rotohelp.com(5th lg; 33rd div; 433rd overall)
Week 24: September 10-September 16

 
C	Brian McCann		880
C	Russ Martin		680 
1B	Albert Pujols		2050 
1B	Prince Fielder		910
2B	Brandon Phillips	930 
2B	Howie Kendrick		520
3B	Alex Rodriguez		1940 
3B	David Wright		1550
SS	Jose Reyes		1610 
SS	Hanley Ramirez		1100
OF	Matt Holliday		1410 
OF	Magglio Ordonez		820 
OF	Nick Markakis		770 
OF	Curtis Granderson	760 
OF	Delmon Young		750
OF	Corey Hart		430
DH	Justin Morneau		1180
DH	Garrett Atkins		1150 

SP	Jake Peavy		1180
SP	Roy Halladay		1140 
SP	Brandon Webb		1130 
SP	John Lackey		1040 
SP	C.C. Sabathia		1040 
SP	Jon Papelbon		900 
RP	Takashi Saito		1200 
RP	Ryan Dempster		1130
RP	Joe Borowski		1110 
RP	Matt Capps		600

Total Salary for Week 24: 	29910

Diamond Challenge - 2nd Season

While not owning ARod here continues to cause major problems, we possess decent depth at the moment and therefore can spend our last two moves to add more offense now. We're adding the relatively low-percentage Albert Pujols and Nick Markakis as effective replacements for Vlad and Victorino, releasing Victorino and Erik Bedard, neither of whom appear likely to contribute anything of note down the stretch, especially with Bedard on the 60-day DL. Markakis claims the last spot over Granderson since we need RBIs more than speed and runs.

SP(6)
Johan Santana: Fri:DET(N.Robertson)
John Smoltz: Wed:@NYM(J.Maine)
Jake Peavy: Tue:@LAD(E.Loaiza); Sun:SF(T.Lincecum)
Brandon Webb: Wed:@SF(Jo.Sanchez)
John Lackey: Thu:@BAL(J.Lester)
C.C. Sabathia: Fri:KC(B.Bannister)
Jeremy Bonderman: No start.
Daisuke Matsuzaka: Fri:NYY(A.Pettitte)
Dan Haren: Wed:@SEA(M.Batista)
Tim Hudson: Mon:@NYM(Ol.Perez); Sun:@WAS(S.Hill)
Erik Bedard: No start(DL).
Jon Papelbon: 3 Home vs. TB; 3 Home vs. NYY.

Deploying Peavy, Webb, Lackey, Sabathia, and Hudson should give us a good chance to see several wins, and keeping Papelbon active also will keep us competitive in saves. Cordero remains benched for cap reasons.

Adding the new bats let us deploy them, along with Victor, Rios, and Lowell while benching McCann, Youkilis, Vlad, Sizemore, and Hardy.

Rotohelp.com(8th lg; 38th div; 260th overall)
Week 24: September 10-September 16

 
C	Victor Martinez		1310 
C	Russ Martin		680 
1B	Albert Pujols		2050 
1B	Prince Fielder		910 
2B	Brandon Phillips	930 
2B	Howie Kendrick		520 
3B	Ryan Braun		750
3B	B.J. Upton		410 
SS	Jose Reyes		1610 
SS	Hanley Ramirez		1100 
OF	Matt Holliday		1410 
OF	Alex Rios		1000
OF	Magglio Ordonez		820 
OF	Ken Griffey		790 
OF	Nick Markakis		770
OF	Corey Hart		430
DH	David Wright		1550 
DH	Mike Lowell		1070

SP	Jake Peavy		1180 
SP	John Lackey		1040
SP	C.C. Sabathia		1040
SP	Brandon Webb		1130 
SP	Tim Hudson		880 
SP	Jon Papelbon		900 
RP	Takashi Saito		1200
RP	Jose Valverde		1100 
RP	Al Reyes		750
RP	Matt Capps		600

Total Salary for Week 24: 	27930

Internet Challenge

With room to improve in BA and homers, we're adding Alex Rodriguez and cutting Shane Victorino, saving our last move until no sooner than the second half of this week.

SP(6)
Johan Santana: No start.
Roy Oswalt: No start.
Ben Sheets: No start.
Jake Peavy: Tue:@LAD(E.Loaiza)
Brandon Webb: Wed:@SF(Jo.Sanchez)
Greg Maddux: Thu:@LAD(C.Billingsley)
Josh Beckett: No start.
Daisuke Matsuzaka: No start.
Dan Haren: Wed:@SEA(M.Batista)
Felix Hernandez: No start.
Matt Cain: No start.
Brett Myers: 4 Home vs. PHI.
Jon Papelbon: 3 Home vs. TB.

While we need strikeouts, we're most comfortable using our six active pitchers, and then we'll look toward more starters the second half of the week. Cordero sits with the Brewers in Pittsburgh.

ARod, Kendrick, and Rios respectively will replace Hafner, Johnson, and Bonds. Teahen, Hall, and Manny remain benched.

Rotohelp.com(8th lg; 120th overall)
Week 24a: September 10-September 13

 
C	Victor Martinez		1310 
C	Brian McCann		880 
1B	Ryan Howard		1420 
1B	Prince Fielder		910
2B	Brandon Phillips	930	
2B	Howie Kendrick		520
3B	David Wright		1550
3B	B.J. Upton		410
SS	Jose Reyes		1610 
SS	Hanley Ramirez		1100
OF	Matt Holliday		1410 
OF	Alex Rios		1000 
OF	Nick Markakis		770 
OF	Curtis Granderson	760
OF	Delmon Young		750 
OF	Corey Hart		430
DH	Albert Pujols		2050 
DH	Alex Rodriguez		1940 

SP	Jake Peavy		1180 
SP	Brandon Webb		1130
SP	Greg Maddux		1040
SP	Dan Haren		940 
SP	Brett Myers		960
SP	Jon Papelbon		900  
RP	Takashi Saito		1200 
RP	Ryan Dempster		1130
RP	Joe Borowski		1110 
RP	Matt Capps		600

Total Week 24a Salary:		29940

Fantasy Baseball & Fanball.Com Cap Challenge (aka Budget Baseball)
(Same rules = same rosters and moves for both teams)

Since we suffer from a dozen problems on offense, we're spending our last move on the relatively low-percentage Fausto Carmona, who doubles this week, costs practically nothing, and also seems solid for the next two weeks.

SP(6)
Johan Santana: Fri:DET(N.Robertson)
Brandon Webb: Wed:@SF(Jo.Sanchez)
John Lackey: Thu:@BAL(J.Lester)
Jake Peavy: Tue:@LAD(E.Loaiza); Sun:SF(T.Lincecum)
Josh Beckett: Sat:NYY(C.Wang)
C.C. Sabathia: Fri:KC(B.Bannister)
Daisuke Matsuzaka: Fri:NYY(A.Pettitte)
Chris Young: Fri:SF(B.Zito)
Fausto Carmona: Mon:@CHW(G.Floyd); Sat:KC(Z.Greinke)
Brett Myers: 4 Home vs. PHI; 3 Road at NYM.
Jon Papelbon: 3 Home vs. TB; 3 Home vs. NYY.

Lackey and Sabathia seem the best bet for wins, and they'll join our two doubles and two closers. Saito stays benched with the Dodgers facing Arizona and Valverde.

Getting Carmona gives us plenty of cap room, so we'll deploy Mauer, Utley, and Delmon Young while benching Bard, Kinsler, and Bonds, who join Adrian Gonzalez, Teahen, Stephen Drew, Swisher, and Willy Taveras on our bench.

Rotohelp.com(FB: 8th lg; 523rd overall)
& Rotohelp.com(FC: 6th lg; 1136th overall)
Week 24: September 10-September 16

 
C	Joe Mauer		1890
C	Brian McCann		1880 
1B	Albert Pujols		3890
1B	Prince Fielder		1850 
2B	Chase Utley		2850
2B	Brandon Phillips	1160
3B	David Wright		2900  
3B	B.J. Upton		1000
SS	Jose Reyes		2460 
SS	Hanley Ramirez		2150
OF	Matt Holliday		2730
OF	Grady Sizemore		2760 
OF	Magglio Ordonez		1770 
OF	Curtis Granderson	1550 
OF	Delmon Young		1500
OF	Chris B. Young		1000 
DH	Ryan Howard		3240 
DH	Garrett Atkins		2240

SP	John Lackey		2790
SP	Jake Peavy		2730
SP	C.C. Sabathia		2490
SP	Fausto Carmona		1070
SP	Brett Myers		2540
SP	Jon Papelbon		1950 
RP	J.J. Putz		2360 
RP	Joe Borowski		2100 
RP	Jose Valverde		1880
RP	Matt Capps		1000

Total Salary for Week 24:	59730

Mid-Season Fantasy Baseball

Perhaps we should save our last move for a pitcher for next week, but with few decent doubles still on the board, we're going to double down by adding Pujols for his eight-game week, cutting Victorino.

SP(6)
John Smoltz: Wed:@NYM(J.Maine)
Brandon Webb: Wed:@SF(Jo.Sanchez)
Jake Peavy: Tue:@LAD(E.Loaiza); Sun:SF(T.Lincecum)
Josh Beckett: Sat:NYY(C.Wang)
C.C. Sabathia: Fri:KC(B.Bannister)
Roy Halladay: Mon:@DET(K.Rogers); Sat:BAL(V.Zambrano?)
Daisuke Matsuzaka: Fri:NYY(A.Pettitte)
Tim Lincecum: Mon:ARI(L.Hernandez); Sun:@SD(J.Peavy)
Fausto Carmona: Mon:@CHW(G.Floyd); Sat:KC(Z.Greinke)
Jon Papelbon: 3 Home vs. TB; 3 Home vs. NYY.

Sabathia will accompany the four doubles and Papelbon. Saito also hits the bench for Putz.

On offense, we'll deploy Pujols, Rios, and Cano, sitting Howard, Sizemore, and Kendrick, who join Mauer, Morneau, Iwamura, Hardy, and Sheffield.

Rotohelp.com(2nd lg; 95th overall)
Week 23: September 3-September 9

 
C	Brian McCann		1880 
C	Russ Martin		1290
1B	Albert Pujols		3890
1B	Prince Fielder		1850 
2B	Chase Utley		2850
2B	Brandon Phillips	1160
3B	Ryan Braun		1500 
3B	B.J. Upton		1000
SS	Jose Reyes		2460 
SS	Hanley Ramirez		2150 
OF	Matt Holliday		2730 
OF	Alex Rios		1970
OF	Magglio Ordonez		1770 
OF	Curtis Granderson	1550 
OF	Corey Hart		1120
OF	Chris B. Young		1000
DH	Alex Rodriguez		3630 
DH	Robinson Cano		1950

SP	Jake Peavy		2730 
SP	C.C. Sabathia		2490
SP	Roy Halladay		2480 
SP	Tim Lincecum		1500
SP	Fausto Carmona		1070
SP	Jon Papelbon		1950 
RP	J.J. Putz		2360 
RP	Joe Borowski		2100
RP	Kevin Gregg		1430 
RP	Matt Capps		1000

Total Salary for Week 24:	54860

Today's Fantasy Rx: With only three weeks left in the season, every decision appears vastly magnified. Spending a CDM move this weekend will net you triple the value of a last-week move and 150% of any player added next week. Superstars like Pujols and ARod appear set to enjoy excellent schedules over the balance of the year, so take advantage of any available cap room to load your lineup with expensive studs. In traditional leagues, make every effort to protect your qualitative stats since one or two bad starts can cost you several points in a tight race. Avoiding anyone heading to places like Philly, Colorado, Toronto, and Texas seems the wisest course of action to conserve your gains from the last twenty-three weeks.