Today's Fantasy Rx

Arizona: Brian Bruney, RH Reliever
3-4 on a 24:24 K:BB in 21.2 IP over 23 G
with 17 H, 1 HR, a 1.06 G-F, and a 5.82 ERA.
2-0 and 5 Saves on a 42:20 K:BB in 38 IP over 31 G
with 18 H, 1 HR, and a 1.42 ERA for AAA Tuscon.

Bruney ranked as one of the most promising young relievers in the minors after registering 26 saves on a 50:31 K:BB in 63 IP last season between AA El Paso and Tucson. Unfortunately, the 22-year-old failed to make the club out of spring training and then quickly deteriorated when first recalled in May, compiling aw awful 9:11 K:BB in 9.2 IP. His disastrous control this year negates the upside indicates by a 10.0 K/9, and now Greg Aquino will compete with Jose Valverde next spring to close. While I still expect Bruney to emerge as a viable late inning option, he easily could spend another year in the minors fixing his control problems, so deal or cut the youngster in favor of one of the dozens of safer options available in almost all standard leagues.

Internet Challenge

SP(6)
Pedro Martinez: Sun:@NYY(M.Mussina)
Mike Mussina: Sun:BOS(P.Martinez)
Tim Hudson: Sat:@SEA(C.Baek)
Jason Schmidt: Fri:SD(J.Peavy)
Roy Oswalt: Fri:MIL(B.Sheets)
Josh Beckett: Sat:ATL(Jar.Wright)
Jeremy Affeldt: 3 Road Games at CLE.
Dustin Hermanson: 3 Home Games vs. SD.

No starts: Schilling, Randy, Vazquez, K.Brown, Wood.

Mussina's recent success makes him a stronger plan than the visiting Pedro, and we don't quite trust Schmidt against the increasingly dominant Peavy. At least Hudson, Oswalt, Beckett, Affeldt, and Hermanson are easy calls.

The injured Fullmer, Rolen, and Kaz Matsui all stay glued to our bench, and we can't find room for Podsednik or Crawford.

While we wanted to bench Orlando Hudson in favor of Vernon Wells, Alfonso Soriano's injury forces Hudson back into lineup with Wells.

The Umpire Hunter(17th lg; 390th overall)
Week 24b: September 17-September 19

 
C	Mike Piazza		990
C	Jason Varitek		680 
1B	Lyle Overbay		400
1B	Mark Teixeira		760
2B	Mark Loretta		820 
2B	Orlando Hudson		550
3B	Hank Blalock		850
3B	Joe Crede		600
SS	Alex Rodriguez		2010 
SS	Alex Cintron		450 
OF	Albert Pujols		1840
OF	Carlos Beltran		1760 
OF	Juan Pierre		1470
OF	Brad Wilkerson		690
OF	Adam Dunn		690
OF	Miguel Cabrera		570 
DH	Vernon Wells		1150
DH	Victor Martinez		450

SP	Mike Mussina		1380 
SP	Tim Hudson		1320 
SP	Roy Oswalt		1200 
SP	Josh Beckett		990
SP	Jeremy Affeldt		650
SP	Dustin Hermanson	540
RP	Eric Gagne		1890
RP	Octavio Dotel		1250
RP	Danny Kolb		940 
RP	Joe Nathan		720 

Total Salary for Week 24b: 	27610

Today's Fantasy Rx: Players still underachieving into September likely won't rebound with less than three weeks remaining in the season. Somewhat surprisingly, I see very few NL pitchers who might merit replacing in some leagues, and most owners probably shouldn't sit Russ Ortiz or Tom Glavine despite recent slumps. Given the relatively weak offenses fielded by most NL teams, only sit otherwise usable pitchers unless they face obviously disadvantageous match-ups, such as heading to Coors or opposing the Cardinals or Astros.