Today's Fantasy Rx

Colorado: 7 games: 1 Home vs. San Francisco; 3 Home vs. Los Angeles;
    3 Road at San Francisco.
Houston: 7 Road games: 4 at St. Louis; 3 at Chicago Cubs.
Cincinnati: 6 Road games: 3 at Atlanta; 3 at Florida.

7 Home games
Florida: 4 vs. Montreal; 3 vs. Cincinnati.

St. Louis: 4 vs. Houston; 3 vs. Pittsburgh.
Toronto: 4 vs. Chicago White Sox; 3 vs. Boston.

7 games
San Diego: 1 Road at Arizona; 3 Home vs. Milwaukee;
    3 Home vs. Arizona.

7 Road games
Chicago White Sox: 4 at Toronto; 3 at Cleveland.
Montreal: 4 at Florida; 3 at Philadelphia.

Both San Francisco and Colorado play six games split between home games and road games in Colorado.

Other teams with six home games: Baltimore, Chicago Cubs, Detroit, Kansas City, Minnesota, Philadelphia, and Tampa Bay.

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):
Shane Reynolds: Tue:CIN(J.Haynes); Sun:@NYM(A.Leiter)
Sidney Ponson: Tue:ANA(A.Sele); Sun:TEX(Al.Benes)
Mark Buehrle: Mon:@TOR(M.Hendrickson); Sat:@CLE(J.Davis?)
Bartolo Colon: Tue:@TOR(R.Halladay); Sun:@CLE(J.Westbrook or J.Bere)
Kerry Wood: Mon:PIT(J.Fogg); Sun:HOU(J.Robertson)
Carl Pavano: Mon:MON(C.Vargas); Sat:CIN(D.Graves)
Wayne Franklin: Tue:@SD(J.Peavy); Sun:@LA(K.Ishii)
Livan Hernandez: Tue:@FLO(M.Tejera); Sun:@PHI(R.Wolf)
Al Leiter: Tue:@PHI(R.Wolf); Sun:ATL(S.Reynolds)
Roger Clemens: Mon:BOS(T.Wakefield); Sun:@DET(J.Bonderman)
Barry Zito: Tue:@MIN(K.Rogers); Sun:@KC(C.George) Randy Wolf: Tue:NYM(A.Leiter); Sun:MON(L.Hernandez)
Adam Eaton: Mon:@ARI(A.Good); Sat:ARI(E.Dessens)
Jake Peavy: Tue:MIL(W.Franklin); Sun:ARI(B-H.Kim, A.Good, or J.Patterson)
Woody Williams: Mon:HOU(P.Munro); Sat:PIT(K.Wells)
Brett Tomko: Tue:HOU(J.Robertson); Sun:PIT(J.Fogg)
Mark Hendrickson: Mon:CHW(M.Buehrle); Sat:BOS(C.Fossum or P.Martinez)
Roy Halladay: Tue:CHW(B.Colon); Sun:BOS(T.Wakefield or P.Martinez)

Only deploy in Fantasy Baseball and other leagues that don't count qualitative stats:
Aaron Sele; Tue:@BAL(S.Ponson); Sun:@TB(C.Reyes)
Mike Hampton: Mon:CIN(J.Riedling); Sat:@NYM(J.Seo)
John Riedling: Mon:@ATL(M.Hampton); Sun:@FLO(M.Tejera) Jason Jennings: Mon:SF(K.Rueter); Sat:@SF(J.Foppert)
Aaron Cook: Tue:LA(K.Ishii); Sun:@SF(K.Rueter)
Jeremy Bonderman: Mon:CLE(J.Westbrook); Sun:NYY(R.Clemens)
Michael Tejera: Tue:MON(L.Hernandez); Sun:CIN(J.Riedling)
Jeriome Robertson: Tue:@STL(B.Tomko); Sun:@CHC(K.Wood)
Chris George: Tue:SEA(F.Garcia); Sun:OAK(B.Zito)
Kaz Ishii: Tue:@COL(A.Cook); Sun:MIL(W.Franklin)
Kenny Rogers: Tue:OAK(B.Zito); Sun:SEA(F.Garcia)
Claudio Vargas: Mon:@FLO(C.Pavano); Sat:@PHI(B.Myers)
Josh Fogg: Mon:@CHC(K.Wood); Sun:@STL(B.Tomko)
Freddy Garcia: Tue:@KC(C.George); Sun:@MIN(K.Rogers)
Kirk Rueter: Mon:@COL(J.Jennings); Sun:COL(A.Cook)
Carlos Reyes: Tue:TEX(Al.Benes); Sun:ANA(A.Sele)
Alan Benes: Tue:@TB(C.Reyes); Sun:@BAL(S.Ponson)

Diamond Challenge

Although we nearly added Clemens as a free agent for his solid double, we're not convinced he'll sustain his current performance past this week. More importantly, we really like most of our current roster and simply don't see a logical drop at this time.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: DL(No start)
Pedro Martinez: DL(No start)
Curt Schilling: Fri:@SD(R.Keisler)
Tim Hudson: Sat:@KC(M.Asencio?)
Matt Morris: Thu:HOU(T.Redding)
Roy Oswalt: Sat:@CHC(C.Zambrano)
Mike Mussina: Wed:BOS(D.Lowe)
Kevin Millwood: Thu:NYM(S.Trachsel)
Kerry Wood: Mon:PIT(J.Fogg); Sun:HOU(J.Robertson)
Wade Miller: Fri:@CHC(S.Estes)
Kevin Brown: Sat:MIL(R.Quevedo?)
Roy Halladay: Tue:CHW(B.Colon); Sun:BOS(T.Wakefield or B.Chen)
Jason Schmidt: Tue:ARI(J.Patterson)
Mark Prior: Wed:PIT(J.D'Amico)

Wood and Halladay both see relatively nice doubles, and Schmidt has an outside chance of doubling. Brown and Prior both continue to dominate and face weak opposition, and while we see the upside in running Hudson, Morris, or Millwood, we have the cap room for Schilling and believe he could toast the injury-depleted Padres.

Roberts' injury keeps him benched, and since we're running our five cheapest pitchers, we can deploy all our expensive offensive players. Matsui takes a seat, and we're not sold on Aramis Ramirez maintaining his small hot streak. The schedules of Durazo and Thomas both appeal to us, however Durazo looks stronger and plays in more hitter-friendly parks; we also will hope Jose Hernandez builds on his recent power numbers.

Interview with the Umpire(11th lg; 86th div; 1907th overall),
Shadow of the Umpire(6th lg; 90th div; 1908th overall), &
Dance of the Umpires(10th lg; 96th div; 2293th overall)

You may notice the slight difference in these overall standings. While inputting our moves last week, I accidentally chose Wade Miller for two of our teams instead of Kerry Wood due to their identical salaries, and we didn't catch the error until well after the deadline. Although Miller pitched poorly today, we likely lucked into owning two slightly better teams thanks to Kerry's rain-delayed Pittsburgh disaster. We therefore expect Interview and Shadow to hold a slight advantage on Dance throughout the season.

Week 9: May 26-June 1

C	Ivan Rodriguez		1070
C	Toby Hall		460
1B	Aubrey Huff		610
1B	Erubiel Durazo		520
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1460
2B	Luis Castillo		1210
3B	Aaron Boone		1010
3B	Hank Blalock		500
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1330
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010
OF	Vlad Guerrero		2010
OF	Lance Berkman		1640
OF	Manny Ramirez		1610
OF	Ichiro Suzuki		1480
OF	Carl Everett		850
OF	Austin Kearns		650
DH	Preston Wilson		1220
DH	Jose Hernandez		940

SP	Curt Schilling		1610
SP	Kerry Wood		990
SP	Kevin Brown		990
SP	Roy Halladay		890
SP	Jason Schmidt		790
SP	Mark Prior		750
RP	Scott Williamson	960
RP	Mike MacDougal		750
RP	Tim Worrell		740
RP	Matt Mantei		700

Total Salary for Week 9: 	29750

Internet Challenge

SP(6)
Matt Morris: Thu:HOU(T.Redding)
Mike Mussina: Wed:BOS(D.Lowe)
Kevin Millwood: Thu:NYM(S.Trachsel)
Kerry Wood: Mon:PIT(J.Fogg)
Roy Halladay: Tue:CHW(B.Colon)
Jason Schmidt: Tue:ARI(J.Patterson)
Mark Prior: Wed:PIT(J.D'Amico)
No starts: Randy, Pedro, Schilling, Oswalt, W.Miller, and Ainsworth.

All seven of these look quite solid, but while we're solid on Morris, Mussina's lost three straight starts and gives us extra cap room on offense than the cheaper pitchers.

Colorado's four-game homestand means all three of our remaining Rockies enter the lineup, resulting in Frank Thomas, Aramis Ramirez, Orlando Cabrera, Hideki Matsui, and the injured Dave Roberts staying reserved.

The Umpire Hunter(9th lg; 299th overall)
Week 9a: May 26-May 29

C	Jorge Posada		1120
C	Toby Hall		460
1B	Todd Helton		1850
1B	Aubrey Huff		610
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1460
2B	Luis Castillo		1210
3B	Aaron Boone		1010
3B	Hank Blalock		500
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1330
OF	Vlad Guerrero		2010
OF	Lance Berkman		1640
OF	Manny Ramirez		1610
OF	Preston Wilson		1220
OF	Carl Everett		850
OF	Austin Kearns		650
DH	Jose Hernandez		940
DH	Erubiel Durazo		520

SP	Matt Morris		1300
SP	Kevin Millwood		1010
SP	Kerry Wood		990
SP	Roy Halladay		890
SP	Jason Schmidt		790
SP	Mark Prior		750
RP	Scott Williamson	960
RP	Mike MacDougal		750
RP	Tim Worrell		740
RP	Matt Mantei		700

Total Salary for Week 9a: 	29880

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

SP(6)
Curt Schilling: Fri:@SD(R.Keisler)
Mike Mussina: Wed:BOS(D.Lowe)
Pedro Martinez: DL(No start)
Roy Oswalt: Sat:@CHC(C.Zambrano)
Kerry Wood: Mon:PIT(J.Fogg); Sun:HOU(J.Robertson)
Kevin Millwood: Thu:NYM(S.Trachsel)
Roy Halladay: Tue:CHW(B.Colon); Sun:BOS(T.Wakefield or B.Chen)
Jason Schmidt: Tue:ARI(J.Patterson)
Kevin Brown: Sat:MIL(R.Quevedo?)
Mark Prior: Wed:PIT(J.D'Amico)

Wood, Halladay, Schmidt, Brown, and Prior all look like solid starts, and we'll take Schilling's upside even though Millwood's won three games.

Offensively, Helton and Jose Hernandez see better schedules than Frank Thomas and Orlando Cabrera, Hinske isn't doing much, Hudson still looks stronger than Ellis, and Marrero obviously stays benched. Neither Larry Walker nor Matsui interest us at the moment, and as Pat Burrell's power looks good right now, we'll leave the slumping Manny on reserve.

The Umpire Chronicles(6th lg; 714th overall)
& Umpire with a Soul(8th lg; 1629th overall)
Week 9: May 26-June 1

C	Jason Varitek		1400
C	Toby Hall		1070
1B	Todd Helton		3320
1B	Josh Phelps		1480
2B	Alfonso Soriano		2570
2B	Orlando Hudson		1000
3B	Scott Rolen		2660
3B	Joe Crede		1150	
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	2300
SS	Jose Hernandez		1780
OF	Albert Pujols		3150
OF	Lance Berkman		2850
OF	Pat Burrell		2420
OF	Juan Gonzalez		1980
OF	Vernon Wells		1780
OF	Austin Kearns		1600
DH	Vlad Guerrero		3440
DH	Preston Wilson		2410

SP	Curt Schilling		3600
SP	Kerry Wood		2470
SP	Roy Halladay		2010
SP	Jason Schmidt		1990
SP	Kevin Brown		1910
SP	Mark Prior		1800
RP	Eric Gagne		2560
RP	Keith Foulke		2330
RP	Mike MacDougal		1500
RP	Matt Mantei		1200

Total Salary for Week 9: 	59730

Today's Fantasy Rx: I probably should have mentioned this weeks ago, but the new CDM interface is EXTREMELY user-unfriendly. The only check we perform most weeks to make sure we input the correct moves is to examine the total team salary before confirming our changes, and Kerry Wood, Wade Miller, and Kevin Brown all own 990 salaries in DC. When making your moves each week, take extra care to insure you select the players you intended to choose unless you want to reach a level of embarrassment comparable to what I currently feel.