Today's Fantasy Rx

Schedule recommendations for teams with 8 games

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Baltimore: 4 Road at BOS; 4 Road at NYY.

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Los Angeles: 4 Road at SD; 4 Road at SF.

Schedule recommendations for teams with 7 games

Good for hitters / Good for pitchers
Boston: 4 Home vs. BAL; 3 Road at TB.
New York Yankees: 3 Road at CHW; 4 Home vs. BAL.
Toronto: 4 Home vs. TB; 3 Home vs. CLE.

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Chicago White Sox: 3 Home vs. NYY; 4 Road at KC.
Detroit: 3 Road at KC: 4 Home vs. MIN.
Florida: 1 Road at ATL; 3 Home vs. PHI; 3 Home vs. NYM.
Houston: 3 Home vs. SF; 4 Home vs. MIL.
Kansas City: 3 Home vs. DET; 4 Home vs. CHW.
San Francisco: 3 Road at HOU; 4 Home vs. LA.
Tampa Bay: 4 Road at TOR: 3 Home vs. BOS.

Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers
San Diego: 4 Home vs. LA; 3 Home vs. COL.

Schedule recommendations for teams with 6 games

Good for hitters / Good for pitchers
Anaheim: 3 Home vs. SEA; 3 Home vs. TEX.

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Arizona: 3 Road at COL; 3 Home vs. STL.
Chicago Cubs: 3 Road at CIN; 3 Home vs. PIT.
Cincinnati: 3 Home vs. CHC; 3 Home vs. MON.
Colorado: 3 Home vs. ARI; 3 Road at SD.
Milwaukee: 2 Home vs. STL; 4 Road at HOU.
Philadelphia: 3 Road at FLO; 3 Home vs. ATL.

Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers
Minnesota: 2 Home vs. CLE; 4 Road at DET.
New York Mets: 3 Home vs. PIT; 3 Road at FLO.
Oakland: 3 Home vs. TEX; 3 Road at SEA.
Seattle: 3 Road at ANA: 3 Home vs. OAK.
Texas: 3 Road at OAK; 3 Road at ANA.

Bad for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Atlanta: 1 Home vs. FLO; 2 Home vs. MON; 3 Road at PHI.
Pittsburgh: 3 Road at NYM; 3 Road at CHC.

Schedule recommendations for teams with 5 games

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Cleveland: 2 Road at MIN; 3 Road at TOR.
Montreal: 2 Road at ATL; 3 Road at CIN.
St. Louis: 2 Road at MIL; 3 Road at ARI.

Pitchers with 2 starts(to deploy everywhere you own them):
Paul Abbott: Mon:DET(G.Knotts); Sat:CHW(M.Buehrle)
Wilson Alvarez?: Tue:@SD(J.Peavy); Sun:@SF(Jer.Williams)?
Mark Buehrle: Tue:NYY(M.Mussina); Sat:@KC(P.Abbott)
Bartolo Colon: Mon:NYY(D.Wells); Fri:@KC(D.May)
Jeff D'Amico: Tue:@NYM(A.Leiter); Sun:@CHC(K.Wood)
Roy Halladay: Mon:TB(Ro.Bell); Sat:CLE(T.Mulholland)
Al Leiter: Tue:PIT(J.D'Amico); Sun:@FLO(D.Willis?)
Jose Lima: Tue:DET(M.Maroth); Sun:CHW(E.Loazia)
Esteban Loaiza: Wed:NYY(J.Contreras); Sun:@KC(J.Lima)
Wade Miller?: Tue:SF(J.Schmidt); Sun:MIL(B.Sheets)?
Kevin Millwood?: Tue:@FLO(D.Willis); Sun:ATL(S.Reynolds)?
Jamie Moyer: Mon:ANA(J.Washburn); Sun:OAK(R.Harden?) or Sat:OAK(B.Zito)
Jake Peavy: Tue:LA(W.Alvarez); Sun:COL(D.Oliver)
Odalis Perez: Mon:@SD(M.Bynum); Sat:@SF(D.Hermanson)?
Mark Redman?: Mon:@ATL(M.Hampton); Sat:NYM(J.Seo)?
Kenny Rogers: Tue:CLE(J.Westbrook); Sun:@DET(M.Maroth)
Jeff Suppan: Mon:BAL(Jas.Johnson); Sat:TB(Ro.Bell)
Josh Towers: Tue:TB(V.Zambrano); Sun:CLE(Cl.Lee)
Javier Vazquez: Tue:@ATL(S.Reynolds); Sun:@CIN(S.Randall?)
Tim Wakefield: Tue:BAL(P.Hentgen?); Sun:@TB(V.Zambrano)
Jarrod Washburn: Mon:SEA(J.Moyer); Sun:TEX(J.Thomson)
David Wells: Mon:@CHW(B.Colon); Sun:BAL(P.Hentgen?)
Woody Williams?: Tue:@MIL(B.Sheets); Sun:@ARI(B.Webb)?
Dontrelle Willis?: Tue:PHI(K.Millwood); Sun:NYM(A.Leiter)?
Kerry Wood: Tue:@CIN(S.Randall); Sun:PIT(J.D'Amico)
Barry Zito: Mon:TEX(T.Mounce); Sat:@SEA(G.Meche or J.Moyer)

Pitchers with 2 starts to deploy only in leagues that don't count qualitative stats:
Rob Bell: Mon:@TOR(R.Halladay); Sat:BOS(J.Suppan)
Mike Bynum?: Mon:LA(Od.Perez); Sat:COL(C.Vance?)
Mike Hampton: Mon:FLO(M.Redman); Sat:@PHI(A.Telemaco)
Rich Harden?: Tue:TEX(R.Drese); Sun:@SEA(J.Moyer or F.Garcia)?
Pat Hentgen?: Tue:@BOS(T.Wakefield)?; Sun:@NYY(D.Wells)?
Jason Johnson: Mon:@BOS(J.Suppan); Sat:@NYY(R.Clemens)
Gary Knotts: Mon:@KC(P.Abbott); Sat:MIN(B.Radke)
Mike Maroth: Tue:@KC(J.Lima); Sun:MIN(K.Rogers)
Darren Oliver: Tue:ARI(B.Webb); Sun:@SD(J.Peavy)
Shane Reynolds?: Tue:MON(J.Vazquez); Sun:@PHI(K.Millwood?)?
Ben Sheets: Tue:STL(W.Williams); Sun:@HOU(W.Miller?)
Ron Villone: Mon:SF(Jer.Williams); Sat:MIL(W.Obermueller)
Brandon Webb: Tue:@COL(D.Oliver); Sun:STL(Wo.Williams?)
Jerome Williams: Mon:@HOU(W.Miller); Sun:LA(W.Alvarez)
Victor Zambano: Tue:@TOR(J.Towers); Sun:BOS(T.Wakefield)

Diamond Challenge

With our last player purchase, we want to upgrade our other 1B slot as neither Thomas nor Durazo look like good plays this week. Our preference would be to add Carlos Delgado or Jim Thome, but as we don't see an easy way to create the necessary cap room, we'll settle for Josh Phelps, who owns a nice schedule and should give us a pleasant last-week boost here.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Thu:@COL(S.Elarton)
Pedro Martinez: Fri:@TB(Jer.Gonzalez)
Curt Schilling: Fri:STL(B.Tomko)
Tim Hudson: Wed:TEX(J.Benoit)
Matt Morris: Wed:@MIL(M.Kinney)
Mike Mussina: Tue:@CHW(M.Buehrle)
Kevin Millwood: Tue:@FLO(D.Willis); Sun:ATL(S.Reynolds)?
Kerry Wood: Tue:@CIN(S.Randall); Sun:PIT(J.D'Amico)
Kevin Brown: Wed:@SD(B.Howard)
Roy Halladay: Mon:TB(Ro.Bell); Sat:CLE(T.Mulholland)
Jason Schmidt: Tue:@HOU(W.Miller)
Mark Prior: Fri:@PIT(R.Vogelsong)

While the Millwood double isn't guaranteed, we still like the single against Florida, so we'll deploy Millwood, Wood, and Halladay, along with the safest remaining bets: Pedro, Brown, and Prior. MacDougal obviously stays benched.

We wish we owned sufficient lineup slots to run everyone on our team, but after dropping Hall for Phelps, we'll sit Thomas, Durazo, Luis Castillo, Furcal, Carl Everett, and Dave Roberts. Aaron Boone looks stronger than Hideki Matsui, so Matsui will hit our bench for the last week of the year.

Interview with the Umpire(3rd lg; 24th div; 444th overall),
Shadow of the Umpire(5th lg; 25th div; 443rd overall), &
Dance of the Umpires(5th lg; 15th div; 449th overall)
Week 26: September 22-September 28

C	Ivan Rodriguez		1070 
C	Javy Lopez		750
1B	Josh Phelps		670 
1B	Aubrey Huff		610
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1460
2B	Marcus Giles		400
3B	Aramis Ramirez		820
3B	Hank Blalock		500
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1330 
OF	Vlad Guerrero		2010
OF	Albert Pujols		1750 
OF	Lance Berkman		1640
OF	Manny Ramirez		1610 
OF	Vernon Wells		750 
OF	Carl Crawford		420 
DH	Preston Wilson		1220
DH	Aaron Boone		1010

SP	Pedro Martinez		1700 
SP	Kevin Millwood		1010 
SP	Kerry Wood		990 
SP	Kevin Brown		990
SP	Roy Halladay		890 
SP	Mark Prior		750
RP	Eric Gagne		1430 
RP	Joe Borowski		750 
RP	Tim Worrell		740
RP	Matt Mantei		700

Total Salary for Week 26: 	29980

Diamond Challenge 2nd Season

With our last pick-up, we're going to improve our weak outfield by adding Richard Hidalgo and dropping Mike Lowell.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Thu:@COL(S.Elarton)
Pedro Martinez: Fri:@TB(Jer.Gonzalez)
Curt Schilling: Fri:STL(B.Tomko)
Tim Hudson: Wed:TEX(J.Benoit)
Matt Morris: Wed:@MIL(M.Kinney)
Mike Mussina: Tue:@CHW(M.Buehrle)
Kevin Millwood: Tue:@FLO(D.Willis); Sun:ATL(S.Reynolds)?
Kerry Wood: Tue:@CIN(S.Randall); Sun:PIT(J.D'Amico)
Kevin Brown: Wed:@SD(B.Howard)
Roy Halladay: Mon:TB(Ro.Bell); Sat:CLE(T.Mulholland)
Jason Schmidt: Tue:@HOU(W.Miller)
Mark Prior: Fri:@PIT(R.Vogelsong)
Esteban Loaiza: Wed:NYY(J.Contreras); Sun:@KC(J.Lima)

While the Loaiza double could help us, his recent struggles make him too risky to deploy. We'll stick with our DC rotation of Pedro, Millwood, Wood, Brown, Halladay, and Prior. Biddle will remain on our bench.

Sitting Toby Hall, Erubiel Durazo, Bret Boone, and Dave Roberts appears quite logical, and then as we like Rafael Furcal here a little more Hideki Matsui, Matsui will sit while Hidalgo takes his outfield spot.

Umpire The Masquerade(5th lg; 27th div; 229th overall)
Week 26: September 22-September 28

C	Mike Lieberthal		650 
C	Javy Lopez		750
1B	Carlos Deglado		1420
1B	Aubrey Huff		610 
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1460
2B	Marcus Giles		400 
3B	Aramis Ramirez		820
3B	Hank Blalock		500 
SS	Orlando Cabrera		1030
SS	Rafael Furcal		970
OF	Albert Pujols		1750 
OF	Preston Wilson		1220  
OF	Juan Pierre		1080
OF	Richard Hidalgo		960
OF	Vernon Wells		750
OF	Carl Crawford		420
DH	Todd Helton		1850 
DH	Nomar Garciaparra	1330   
 
SP	Pedro Martinez		1700 
SP	Kevin Millwood		1010
SP	Kevin Brown		990 
SP	Kerry Wood		990
SP	Roy Halladay		890 
SP	Mark Prior		750
RP	Eric Gagne		1430
RP	Joe Borowski		750 
RP	Tim Worrell		740
RP	Matt Mantei		700

Total Salary for Week 26: 	27920

Internet Challenge

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Thu:@COL(S.Elarton)
Matt Morris: Wed:@MIL(M.Kinney)
Roy Oswalt: Wed:SF(S.Ponson)
Mike Mussina: Tue:@CHW(M.Buehrle)
Kevin Millwood: Tue:@FLO(D.Willis)
Kerry Wood: Tue:@CIN(S.Randall)
Kevin Brown: Wed:@SD(B.Howard)
Roy Halladay: Mon:TB(Ro.Bell)
Jason Schmidt: Tue:@HOU(W.Miller)
Esteban Loaiza: Wed:NYY(J.Contreras)
Kurt Ainsworth: 4 Road at BOS: 4 Road at NYY.

No starts: Pedro, Schilling, and Prior.

Millwood, Brown, and Halladay are our only relatively safe calls, although we don't mind running Oswalt or Mussina. Our last decision is far more difficult. We don't possess enough cap room to safely run Morris, so we're going to risk running Wood in Cincinnati in the hope that he finally dominates an opponent.

We reluctantly will sit Orlando Cabrera, Vlad, and Pujols since each only plays two games this period, and then Hall and Durazo possess the least upside on the rest of our team, so they'll take a seat for the first half of the week.

The Umpire Hunter(5th lg; 114th overall)
Week 26a: September 22-September 25

C	Jorge Posada		1120
C	Javier Lopez		750
1B	Todd Helton		1850
1B	Aubrey Huff		610 
2B	Alfonso Soriano		1460
2B	Marcus Giles		400
3B	Aramis Ramirez		820
3B	Hank Blalock		500
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010 
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	1330 
OF	Lance Berkman		1640 
OF	Manny Ramirez		1610
OF	Preston Wilson		1220 
OF	Carl Everett		850
OF	Hideki Matsui		750
OF	Vernon Wells		750 
DH	Luis Castillo		1210
DH	Aaron Boone		1010 

SP	Roy Oswalt		1280 
SP	Mike Mussina		1210
SP	Kevin Millwood		1010 
SP	Kerry Wood		990 
SP	Kevin Brown		990
SP	Roy Halladay		890
RP	Eric Gagne		1430   
RP	Joe Borowski		750 
RP	Tim Worrell		740
RP	Matt Mantei		700

Total Salary for Week 26a: 	29880

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

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Thu:@COL(S.Elarton)
Curt Schilling: Fri:STL(B.Tomko)
Mike Mussina: Tue:@CHW(M.Buehrle)
Pedro Martinez: Fri:@TB(Jer.Gonzalez)
Kerry Wood: Tue:@CIN(S.Randall); Sun:PIT(J.D'Amico)
Kevin Millwood: Tue:@FLO(D.Willis); Sun:ATL(S.Reynolds)?
Wade Miller?: Tue:SF(J.Schmidt); Sun:MIL(B.Sheets)?
Roy Halladay: Mon:TB(Ro.Bell); Sat:CLE(T.Mulholland)
Jason Schmidt: Tue:@HOU(W.Miller)
Kevin Brown: Wed:@SD(B.Howard)
Mark Prior: Fri:@PIT(R.Vogelsong)
Rich Harden?: Tue:TEX(R.Drese); Sun:@SEA(J.Moyer or F.Garcia)?

We'll take the potential doubles for Wood, Millwood, Miller, Halladay, and Brown, along with the last start of the year for Mark Prior, who looks much better than Harden and remains much more cap efficient than Pedro.

Sitting Hall, Thomas, Hudson, Ellis, Jose Hernandez, Juan Gonzalez, and Teixeira remains an easy set of decisions, and then we like Josh Phelps' schedule better than that of Hideki Matsui.

The Umpire Chronicles(6th lg; 355th overall)
& Umpire with a Soul(5th lg; 753rd overall)
Week 26: September 22-September 28

C	Javy Lopez		1480
C	Jason Varitek		1400
1B	Todd Helton		3320
1B	Carlos Delgado		2850   
2B	Alfonso Soriano		2570
2B	Marcus Giles		1080
3B	Scott Rolen		2660
3B	Joe Crede		1150	
SS	Nomar Garciaparra	2300 
SS	Orlando Cabrera		1820
OF	Albert Pujols		3150
OF	Manny Ramirez		2690
OF	Lance Berkman		2850 
OF	Larry Walker		2500 
OF	Preston Wilson		2410
OF	Vernon Wells		1780 
DH	Eric Hinske		1750
DH	Josh Phelps		1480

SP	Kerry Wood		2470 
SP	Kevin Millwood		2400 
SP	Wade Miller		2170 
SP	Roy Halladay		2010
SP	Kevin Brown		1910
SP	Mark Prior		1800
RP	Eric Gagne		2560
RP	Keith Foulke		2330
RP	Tim Worrell		1370
RP	Matt Mantei		1200

Total Salary for Week 26: 	59460

Mid-Season Fantasy Baseball

SP(6)
Mike Mussina: Tue:@CHW(M.Buehrle)
Pedro Martinez: Fri:@TB(Jer.Gonzalez)
Tim Hudson: Wed:TEX(J.Benoit)
Roger Clemens: Sat:BAL(Jas.Johnson)
Andy Pettitte: Fri:BAL(Rod.Lopez?)
Roy Halladay: Mon:TB(Ro.Bell); Sat:CLE(T.Mulholland)
Jason Schmidt: Tue:@HOU(W.Miller)
Kevin Brown: Wed:@SD(B.Howard)
Esteban Loaiza: Wed:NYY(J.Contreras); Sun:@KC(J.Lima)
Mark Prior: Fri:@PIT(R.Vogelsong)

Halladay and Loaiza are automatic picks here, as are Brown and Prior. Pedro looks like a logical choice, and Pettitte appears slightly stronger than Clemens right now. While we'd like to deploy Foulke for cap reasons, he hasn't pitched in a week, so Rivera stays active.

Offensively, we want all three catchers deployed, and benching Durazo, Bret Boone, Lowell, Tex, Larry Walker, and Frank Thomas qualifies as an easy decision. We don't love sitting Matsui or Nomar, however Nomar's still slumping and could rest this week, and the catchers all own better schedules than Matsui.

Umpire in Brooklyn(5th lg; 107th overall)
Week 26: September 22-September 28

C	Javier Lopez		1480 
C	Mike Lieberthal		1350 
1B	Carlos Delgado		2850
1B	Aubrey Huff		1420
2B	D'Angelo Jimenez	1400
2B	Marcus	 Giles		1080
3B	Hank Blalock		1100 
3B	Morgan Ensberg		1000
SS	Orlando Cabrera		1820 
SS	Rafael Furcal		1800
OF	Albert Pujols		3150 
OF	Lance Berkman		2850
OF	Manny Ramirez		2690
OF	Gary Sheffield		2600 
OF	Richard Hidalgo		2190
OF	Vernon Wells		1780 
DH	Preston Wilson		2410
DH	Jason Varitek		1400

SP	Pedro Martinez		2900 
SP	Andy Pettitte		2210
SP	Roy Halladay		2010 
SP	Kevin Brown		1910
SP	Esteban Loaiza		1900
SP	Mark Prior		1800
RP	Eric Gagne		2560
RP	Mariano Rivera		2490
RP	Tim Worrell		1370
RP	Matt Mantei		1200

Total Salary for Week 26: 	54620

Today's Fantasy Rx: While this strikes me as overly obvious, use any remaining player purchases this week, particularly if you paid for the moves in advance at the beginning of the year. Offensively, Richard Hidalgo(7 home games against San Francisco and Milwaukee) and Carl Crawford(4 games in Toronto and 3 games at home against Boston) remain the most intriguing picks given the latter's SB upside and the former's fantastic power display this month. As always, all Boston position players remain great targets.

Among relievers, Joe Borowski may be the best gamble for saves if you believe the Cubs will finish strong, however the Dodgers' eight games in great pitchers' parks make Gagne a necessity if you don't already own him. We can't rely on too many pitchers doubling as teams set their playoff rotations and also-rans let youngsters debut, however Kerry Wood and Roy Halladay are good bets both to start and win twice based on their unimpressive opposition.