Today's Fantasy Rx

Colorado: 6 games: 3 Home vs. Cincinnati; 3 Road at Chicago Cubs.
Houston: 6 Home games: 3 vs. Atlanta; 3 vs. Florida.
Cincinnati: 6 Road games: 3 at Colorado; 3 at San Francisco.

7 Home games
Arizona: 4 vs. Florida; 3 vs. Atlanta.
Los Angeles: 4 vs. Philadelphia; 3 vs. Pittsburgh.

7 games
None.

7 Road games
Florida: 4 at Arizona; 3 at Houston.
Philadelphia: 4 at Los Angeles; 3 at San Diego.

Teams with six home games: Boston, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, New York Yankees, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Toronto.

All other teams play six games with at least three on the road.

Pitchers of interest with two starts(whom we'd start if we owned them):
Ramon Ortiz: Tue:@CLE(Ric.Rodriguez); Sun:@TOR(M.Hendrickson)
Elmer Dessens: Mon:FLO(C.Pavano?); Sat:ATL(H.Ramirez)
Byung-Hyun Kim: Tue:FLO(M.Redman); Sun:ATL(G.Maddux)
Greg Maddux: Tue:@HOU(R.Oswalt); Sun:@ARI(B-H.Kim)
Jason Johnson: Tue:@DET(J.Bonderman); Sun:KC(C.George)
Tim Wakefield: Tue:KC(C.George); Sun:MIN(K.Rogers)
Bartolo Colon: Tue:OAK(B.Zito); Sun:SEA(G.Meche)
Kerry Wood: Tue:@SF(K.Rueter); Sun:COL(J.Jennings)
Jeremy Bonderman: Tue:BAL(Jas.Johnson); Sun:TB(Jo.Sosa)
Roy Oswalt: Tue:ATL(G.Maddux); Sun:FLO(M.Redman)
Darren Dreifort: Mon:PHI(B.Myers); Sat:PIT(S.Torres)
Kevin Brown: Tue:PHI(R.Wolf): Sun:PIT(J.D'Amico)
Kenny Rogers: Tue:TB(); Sun:@BOS(T.Wakefield)
Javier Vazquez: Tue:@MIL(M.Kinney); Sun:@STL(M.Morris)
Al Leiter: Tue:@STL(M.Morris); Sun:@MILK(M.Kinney)
Roger Clemens: Tue:SEA(G.Meche); Sun:OAK(B.Zito)
Barry Zito: Tue:@CHW(B.Colon); Sun:@NYY(R.Clemens)
Brett Myers: Mon:@LA(D.Dreifort); Sat:@SD(C.Condrey)
Randy Wolf: Tue:@LA(K.Brown); Sun:@SD(A.Eaton)
Jeff D'Amico: Tue:@SD(A.Eaton): Sun:@LA(K.Brown)
Adam Eaton: Tue:PIT(J.D'Amico); Sun:PHI(R.Wolf)
Kirk Rueter: Tue:CHC(K.Wood); Sun:CIN(C.Reitsma)
Matt Morris: Tue:NYM(A.Leiter); Sun:MON(J.Vazquez)

Only deploy in Fantasy Baseball and other leagues that don't count qualitative stats:
Chris Reitsma: Tue:@COL(J.Jennings); Sun:@SF(K.Rueter)
Ricardo Rodriguez: Tue:ANA(Ra.Ortiz); Sun:TEX(J.Thomson)
Jason Jennings: Tue:CIN(C.Reitsma); Sun:@CHC(K.Wood)
Mark Redman: Tue:@ARI(B-H.Kim); Sun:@Hou(R.Oswalt)
Chris George: Tue:@BOS(T.Wakefield); Sun:@BAL(Jas.Johnson)
Matt Kinney: Tue:MON(J.Vazque); Sun:NYM(A.Leiter)
Gil Meche: Tue:@NYY(R.Clemens); Sun:@CHW(B.Colon)
Jorge Sosa: Tue:@MIN(K.Rogers); Sun:@DET(J.Bonderman)
John Thomson: Tue:@TOR(M.Hendrickson); Sun:@CLE(Ric.Rodriguez)
Mark Hendrickson: Tue:TEX(J.Thomson); Sun:ANA(Ra.Ortiz)

Diamond Challenge

SP(6)
Neither the Clemens nor Zito doubles even slightly persuade us to add them, but Kevin Brown looks back to his form of a few seasons ago. We need qualitative help and strikeouts here even more than wins, so we're quite comfortable with adding Kevin Brown. Since Orlando Cabrera hasn't matched our expectations or even displayed reasonably good skills, we'll cut our excess shortstop.

Randy Johnson: Fri:ATL(Ru.Ortiz)
Pedro Martinez: Sat:MIN(R.Reed)
Curt Schilling: Wed:FLO(M.Tejera)? - 11 days after an appendectomy!
Tim Hudson: Sat:@NYY(J.Weaver)
Matt Morris: Tue:NYM(A.Leiter); Sun:MON(J.Vazquez)
Roy Oswalt: Tue:ATL(G.Maddux); Sun:FLO(M.Redman)
Kevin Millwood: Fri:@SD(B.Lawrence)
Kerry Wood: Tue:@SF(K.Rueter); Sun:COL(J.Jennings)
Wade Miller: Wed:ATL(W.Miller)
Kevin Brown: Tue:PHI(R.Wolf): Sun:PIT(J.D'Amico)
Roy Halladay: Thu:TOR(C.Lewis)
Jason Schmidt: Wed:CHC(M.Clement)
Mark Prior: Thu:@SF(D.Moss)
Josh Beckett: Thu:@ARI(M.Batista)

Morris, Oswalt, Wood, and Brown are automatic, and as Prior even dominated in Colorado, we don't see removing him from our lineup again this year unless we find six doubles some week. As Randy and Schmidt both have missed time recently and Toronto hasn't held many leads, we'll hope that Pedro dominates one of the worst offenses in baseball.

The downside of deploying Pedro is that we need to sit either Berkman or Walker, and with Berkman home for the week, we'll hope he finally breaks out of his month-long slump as we deploy Walker. Dave Roberts' hamstring injury makes him a logical choice to sit, so we're going to use all three catchers this week. Ichiro and Jose Hernandez remain on our bench, and while we're tempted to add Tim Worrell, his addition wouldn't give us enough money to deploy anyone but Marrero as a DH. Hopefully Colorado will blow out Cincy to such an extent that Williamson will sit for a couple days rather than trashing his qualitative marks on the Reds' only trip to Coors this year.

Interview with the Umpire(13th lg; 118th div; 2809th overall), &
Shadow of the Umpire(12th lg; 136th div; 2807th overall, &
Dance of the Umpires(13th lg; 108th div; 2808th overall)
Week 5: April 28-May 4

C	Ivan Rodriguez		1070
C	Toby Hall		460
1B	Frank Thomas		920
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	Alex Rodriguez		2010
OF	Vlad Guerrero		2010
OF	Lance Berkman		1640
OF	Manny Ramirez		1610
OF	Preston Wilson		1220
OF	Hideki Matsui		750
OF	Austin Kearns		650
DH	Eli Marrero		580
DH	Erubiel Durazo		520

SP	Pedro Martinez		1700
SP	Matt Morris		1300
SP	Roy Oswalt		1280
SP	Kerry Wood		990
SP	Kevin Brown		990
SP	Mark Prior		750
RP	Scott Williamson	960
RP	Mike MacDougal		750
RP	Matt Anderson		700
RP	Matt Mantei		700

Total Salary for Week 5: 	30000

Internet Challenge

SP(6)
Curt Schilling: Wed:FLO(M.Tejera)? - 11 days after an appendectomy!
Matt Morris: Tue:NYM(A.Leiter)
Roy Oswalt: Tue:ATL(G.Maddux)
Kerry Wood: Tue:@SF(K.Rueter)
Wade Miller: Wed:ATL(M.Hampton)
Roy Halladay: Thu:TOR(C.Lewis)
Jason Schmidt: Wed:CHC(M.Clement)
Mark Prior: Thu:@SF(D.Moss)
Josh Beckett: Thu:@ARI(M.Batista)

No starts: Randy, Pedro, Millwood, and Ainsworth.

Schilling's far too uncertain to risk deploying him, but the home starts of Morris, Oswalt, and Halladay look promising. We're quite comfortable deploying both Cubs in PacBell, and we'll select Miller or Beckett based on how much cap room we have remaining after choosing our offense.

Unfortunately we almost have more players we want to bench than bench spots available. Roberts can't play due to his hammy, Durazo's slumping and faces two lefties in Chicago, and neither Ichiro nor Orlando Cabrera are good plays given our limited budget. While we'd like to deploy Berkman over Matsui, we simply don't have the cap room, so we'll finish this team with Matsui in the outfield and Beckett in our rotation.

The Umpire Hunter(5th lg; 309th overall)
Week 5a: April 28-May 1

C	Eli Marrero		580
C	Toby Hall		460
1B	Todd Helton		1850
1B	Frank Thomas		920
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1460
2B	Luis Castillo		1210
3B	Aaron Boone		1010
3B	Aramis Ramirez		820
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1330
OF	Vlad Guerrero		2010
OF	Manny Ramirez		1610
OF	Larry Walker		1400
OF	Preston Wilson		1220
OF	Hideki Matsui		750
OF	Austin Kearns		650
DH	Jose Hernandez		940
DH	Aubrey Huff		610

SP	Matt Morris		1300
SP	Roy Oswalt		1280
SP	Kerry Wood		990
SP	Roy Halladay		890
SP	Mark Prior		750
SP	Josh Beckett		700
RP	Scott Williamson	960
RP	Mike MacDougal		750
RP	Matt Anderson		700
RP	Matt Mantei		700

Total Salary for Week 5A: 	29860

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

SP(6)
Ainsworth simply isn't providing sufficient stats to justify his roster spot, so we're going to add one of the top few pitchers in baseball, Mike Mussina, since he provides the best combination of wins, innings, and strikeouts.

Randy Johnson: Fri:ATL(Ru.Ortiz)
Curt Schilling: Wed:FLO(M.Tejera)? - 11 days after an appendectomy!
Pedro Martinez: Sat:MIN(R.Reed)
Mike Mussina: Thu:SEA(J.Pineiro)
Roy Oswalt: Tue:ATL(G.Maddux); Sun:FLO(M.Redman)
Kerry Wood: Tue:@SF(K.Rueter); Sun:COL(J.Jennings)
Kevin Millwood: Fri:@SD(B.Lawrence)
Roy Halladay: Thu:TOR(C.Lewis)
Jason Schmidt: Wed:CHC(M.Clement)
Mark Prior: Thu:@SF(D.Moss)

Oswalt and Wood are obvious plays, we like the starts of Pedro and Mussina, and both Halladay and Pedro have demonstrated solid skills thus far.

With an extra expensive pitcher on our roster, we can't quite afford to deploy the offense we'd like. We don't mind sitting Marrero, Phelps, Carlos Pena, Hudson, Orlando Cabrera, or Albert Pujols. Pat Burrell's slump allows us to bench him, and in order to fit all our pitching, we'll deploy Eric Hinske over Larry Walker.

The Umpire Chronicles(11th lg; 1469th overall)
& Umpire with a Soul(19th lg; 2848th overall)
Week 5: April 28-May 3

C	Jason Varitek		1400
C	Toby Hall		1070
1B	Todd Helton		3320	
1B	Frank Thomas		2030
2B	Alfonso Soriano		2570
2B	Mark Ellis		1100
3B	Scott Rolen		2660
3B	Joe Crede		1150
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	2300
SS	Jose Hernandez		1780
OF	Lance Berkman		2850
OF	Manny Ramirez		2690
OF	Preston Wilson		2410
OF	Vernon Wells		1780
OF	Austin Kearns		1600
OF	Hideki Matsui		1500
DH	Vlad Guerrero		3440
DH	Eric Hinske		1750

SP	Mike Mussina		2920
SP	Pedro Martinez		2900
SP	Roy Oswalt		2800
SP	Kerry Wood		2470
SP	Roy Halladay		2010
SP	Mark Prior		1800
RP	Eric Gagne		2560
RP	Keith Foulke		2330
RP	Mike MacDougal		1500
RP	Matt Mantei		1200

Total Salary for Week 5: 	59890

Today's Fantasy Rx: Particularly if you didn't add Tim Hudson as a DC free agent last week, Kevin Brown looks like an excellent target to improve most team's starting pitching. While he's a free agent in a few weeks, you'll help your team more by picking him up now than waiting until you won't need to spend a buy.