Today's Fantasy Rx

We see no advantage to carrying different offensive players from our Diamond Challenge team since we believe we already secured the best values in the primary CDM contest. However we're tweaking our pitching staff since we selected Tim Wakefield largely on the basis of his intriguing double start this week.

Once again we expect many pitchers to dominate early in the season, and as some perceived stars undoubtedly will struggle, deploying the top offensive players grows even more important. Kurt Ainsworth(430) easily looks like the best bet among inexpensive starters, and in the majority of the Giants' April series they face teams we expect to challenge for last place in their respective divisions. He'll join our staff in lieu of Wakefield.

Internet Challenge

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Mon:LA(H.Nomo)
Pedro Martinez: Mon:@TB(J.Kennedy)
Curt Schilling: Tue:LA(Od.Perez)
Matt Morris: Mon:MIL(B.Sheets)
Roy Oswalt: Tue:COL(J.Jennings)br> Kevin Millwood: Mon:@FLO(J.Beckett)
Kerry Wood: Mon:@NYM(T.Glavine)
Wade Miller: Wed:COL(A.Cook)
Roy Halladay: Mon:NYY(R.Clemens)
Jason Schmidt: Tue:@SD(A.Eaton)
Mark Prior: Thu:@NYM(S.Trachsel)
Josh Beckett: Mon:PHI(K.Millwood)
Kurt Ainsworth: None.

We likely won't see any other four-day period with all but one of our thirteen starters pitching, so we also won't face as many agonizing decisions. Randy, Schilling, Morris, and Oswalt look like obvious calls due to their solid home start against questionable offenses. We also can find no reason not to run Pedro. Wade Miller will round out our staff since we see Houston facing Aaron Cook as the most obvious mismatch among our options.

On offense we're sitting the three Rockies since we think Houston's pitching should hold them largely in check. Vlad won't play more than one game at best due to his suspension, and lastly we don't see an obvious lineup spot into which we could slot Ichiro, so he'll join our other four position players on the bench.

The Umpire Hunter
Week 1a: March 30-April 3

C	Eli Marrero		580
C	Toby Hall		460
1B	Josh Phelps		670
1B	Aubrey Huff		610
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1460
2B	Luis Castillo		1210
3B	Aaron Boone		1010
3B	Aramis Ramirez		820
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1330
SS	Orlando Cabrera		1030
OF	Lance Berkman		1640
OF	Manny Ramirez		1610
OF	Ken Griffey, Jr. 	820
OF	Hideki Matsui		750
OF	Austin Kearns		650
OF	Dave Roberts		620
DH	Alex Rodriguez		2010
DH	Frank Thomas		920

SP	Randy Johnson		2010
SP	Pedro Martinez		1700
SP	Curt Schilling		1610
SP	Matt Morris		1300
SP	Roy Oswalt		1280
SP	Wade Miller		990
RP	Scott Williamson	960
RP	Matt Anderson		700
RP	Matt Mantei		700
RP	Jesus Colome		400

Taxi Squad

SS	Jose Hernandez		940
OF	Vlad Guerrero		2010
OF	Ichiro Suzuki		1480
OF	Larry Walker		1400
OF	Preston Wilson		1220
SP	Kevin Millwood		1010
SP	Kerry Wood		990
SP	Roy Halladay		890
SP	Jason Schmidt		790
SP	Mark Prior		750
SP	Josh Beckett		700
SP	Kurt Ainsworth		430

Opening Day Roster Thoughts

Among final roster cuts John Patterson's demotion in Arizona ranks as perhaps the biggest news. Bob Brenly never awarded Patterson a rotation spot and instead let him lose a job he essentially earned last summer. In 21.1 IP he posted a respectable 13:7 K:BB and only one homer, so apparently 33 hits cost Patterson the job. As we still expect he'll spend a few months with the Diamondbacks this year, we know expect 6 wins, a 4.86 ERA and 1.44 WHIP from him in 100 IP, making him certainly worth no more than a reserve pick in most leagues.

Oscar Villarreal replaces Patterson in Arizona's rotation, and while I don't believe the 21-year-old is ready to succeed in the majors, at least his long-term future remains bright. I'm looking at 3 wins, a 5.06 ERA, and 1.50 WHIP from him in 80 IP, so I'd definitely rather draft Patterson if given the opportunity.

Tampa Bay thoroughly restocked portions of their roster, and Al Martin seems ready to enter the season as their DH. This decision ranks as one of the more mind-boggingly baffling move we've seen in many years since any team with even a mildly intelligent GM signs a decent AAA 1B/OF/DH with good power and plate discipline. The logical recourse is to bring Jared Sandberg back to the majors, let him hit 25 HR with a .220 BA while providing better defense than Aubrey Huff at 3B, and also not force Ben Grieve to start every game in right field. Now the Devil Rays are stuck with someone who didn't even play last year in a position where they at least could have fielded Greg Vaughn's .200/20 season in the hope some power-desperate team would trade for him.

Joey Ballgame's .241 BA and .296 SLG somehow earned him a trip back to Las Vegas even though his primary replacement, Alex Cora, hit all of .178 while posting a .200 SLG this spring. Of course Thurston also got caught on both his steal attempts, and he reportedly failed to excuse a bunt that really riled the seemingly largely unflappable Jim Tracy. Jolbert Cabrera will platoon with Cora, and Cabrera's .340 BA and .472 spring SLG alternately made him a viable option in center field against lefties.

Fortunately Cabrera's new part-time starting job at second leaves center field almost completely to Dave Roberts with the demotion of Calvin Murray and pending placement of Chad Hermansen on the DL. Roberts only batted 422 times last year thanks to the presence of the right-handed Marquis Grissom, but now the Dodgers will hope that Roberts can maintain his .400/.531/.600 2002 line against lefties in more than 35 at-bats. The likely additional 100 at-bats make Roberts an excellent candidate to build upon his breakout season. If approaches 575 at-bats as we know expect, a .271/4/50/59/87 season now looks reasonable, numbers that would move him into the $30 range as one of the top ten NL roto batters. You shouldn't need to pay nearly that much if you draft next weekend, and he especially looks like a strong play on all challenge teams.

This weekend's announcement of Jesus Colome as the Rays' initial closer largely leaves every team with an obvious favorite for saves, however Chicago, St. Louis, and San Francisco remain uncertain places to target saves due to the respective injuries curtailing the activities of each team's closer. Expect Colome, Mike MacDougal in Kansas City, and Brandon Villafuerte in San Diego to hold their jobs for the majority of the year.

Finally St. Louis' rather shocking decision to recall Kiko Calero from minor league camp after sending him down earlier in the month culminates with his likely addition to the roster today. I first touted Calero as a logical FAAB pick last July but the Royals bizarrely left him in the minors despite their drastic need for starting pitching. Now he joins the Cardinals as an erstwhile middle reliever, and we believe he could see significant success, especially now that he apparently has earned La Russa's trust. Feel free to roster Calero as a late reserve choice, and while we don't see the upside for him that we envisioned for Jose Acevedo a year ago, Calero certainly qualifies as an intriguing super sleeper.

Today's Fantasy Rx: ESPN runs a full slate of games today, including Cubs/Mets and Expos/Braves at noon central, Pirates/Reds and Brewers/Cardinals around 3pm CST, and Yankees/Blue Jays on ESPN2 at 6pm CST. The Reds game is the first regular season game at the GAB, so you definitely should try to see an inning or two to check out the stadium.

Rookies debuting today likely include Hideki Matsui for the Yankees, and for anyone with the Extra Innings' package, Rocco Baldelli and Tampa Bay host the Red Sox at 4pm CST.