Today's Fantasy Rx

Schedule recommendations for teams with 7 games

Good for hitters / Good for pitchers
Atlanta: 4 Road at WAS; 3 Road at PIT.
Florida: 4 Road at PIT; 3 Road at WAS.
Los Angeles Dodgers: 3 Home vs. CHC; 4 Home vs. MIL.
Oakland: 3 Home vs. TB; 4 Home vs. TOR.

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Baltimore: 4 Road at BOS; 3 Road at DET.
Boston: 4 Home vs. BAL; 3 Home vs. LAA.
Colorado: 4 Home vs. STL; 3 Home vs. CIN.
St. Louis: 4 Road at COL; 3 Road at HOU.

Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers
Chicago Cubs: 3 Road at LAD; 4 Road at SD.
Milwaukee: 3 Road at SD; 4 Road at LAD.
San Diego: 3 Home vs. MIL; 4 Home vs. CHC.
Toronto: 3 Road at SEA; 4 Road at OAK.
Washington: 4 Home vs. ATL; 3 Home vs. FLO.

Bad for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Pittsburgh: 4 Home vs. FLO; 3 Home vs. ATL.

Schedule recommendations for teams with 6 games

Good for hitters / Good for pitchers
Chicago White Sox: 3 Home vs. LAA; 3 Home vs. CLE.
New York Yankees: 3 Road at KC; 3 Road at MIN.
Philadelphia: 3 Home vs. SF: 3 Home vs. ARI.
Seattle: 3 Home vs. TOR; 3 Home vs. TB.
Texas: 3 Road at DET; 3 Road at KC.

Good for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Arizona: 3 Road at NYM; 3 Road at PHI.
Cincinnati: 3 Road at HOU; 3 Road at COL.
Detroit: 3 Home vs. TEX; 3 Home vs. BAL.
Houston: 3 Home vs. CIN; 3 Home vs. STL.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: 3 Road at CHW; 3 Road at BOS.
Minnesota: 3 Home vs. CLE; 3 Home vs. NYY.
San Francisco: 3 Road at PHI; 3 Road at NYM.

Bad for hitters / Good for pitchers
New York Mets: 3 Home vs. ARI; 3 Home vs. SF.
Tampa Bay: 3 Road at OAK; 3 Road at SEA.

Bad for hitters / Bad for pitchers
Cleveland: 3 Road at MIN; 3 Road at CHW.
Kansas City: 3 Home vs. NYY; 3 Home vs. TEX.

Pitchers with 2 starts(to deploy everywhere you own them):
Bronson Arroyo: Mon:BAL(R.Lopez); Sat:LAA(B.Colon)
Brandon Backe: Tue:CIN(B.Claussen); Sun:STL(M.Mulder)
Kris Benson: Tue:ARI(B.Halsey); Sun:SF(B.Tomko)
Kevin Brown: Tue:@KC(Z.Greinke); Sun:@MIN(C.Silva)
Joe Blanton: Mon:TB(S.Kazmir); Sat:TOR(T.Lilly)
Mark Buehrle: Mon:LAA(J.Washburn); Sun:CLE(C.Sabathia)
A.J. Burnett: Tue:@PIT(Ol.Perez); Sun:@WAS(J.Patterson)
Daniel Cabrera: Tue:@BOS(W.Miller); Sun:@DET(M.Maroth)
Roger Clemens: Mon:CIN(A.Harang); Sat:STL(J.Marquis)
Zach Greinke: Tue:NYY(K.Brown); Sun:TEX(K.Rogers)
Wilson Alvarez: Mon:CHC(G.Maddux); Sat:MIL(V.Santos)
Dan Haren: Tue:TB(H.Nomo); Sun:TOR(G.Chacin)
Rod Lopez: Mon:@BOS(B.Arroyo); Sat:@DET(W.Ledezma)
Greg Maddux: Mon:@LAD(W.Alvarez); Sat:@SD(D.May)
Mike Maroth: Tue:TEX(K.Rogers); Sun:BAL(D.Cabrera)
Wade Miller: Tue:BAL(D.Cabrera); Sun:LAA(J.Washburn)
Jamie Moyer: Mon:TOR(T.Lilly); Sun:TB(H.Nomo)
Wes Obermueller: Tue:@SD(J.Peavy); Sun:@LAD(B.Penny)
Tomo Ohka: Mon:ATL(K.Davies); Sat:FLO(A.Leiter)
John Patterson: Tue:ATL(M.Hampton); Sun:FLO(A.Burnett)
Jake Peavy: Tue:MIL(W.Obermueller); Sun:CHC(C.Zambrano)
Brad Penny: Tue:CHC(C.Zambrano); Sun:MIL(W.Obermueller)
Oliver Perez: Tue:FLO(A.Burnett); Sun:ATL(M.Hampton)
Mark Redman: Mon:FLO(A.Leiter); Sat:ATL(K.Davies)
Kenny Rogers: Tue:@DET(M.Maroth); Sun:@KC(Z.Greinke)
C.C. Sabathia: Tue:@MIN(C.Silva); Sun:@CHW(M.Buehrle)
Victor Santos: Mon:@SD(D.May); Sat:@LAD(W.Alvarez)
Carlos Silva: Tue:CLE(C.Sabathia); Sun:NYY(K.Brown)
Brett Tomko: Tue:@PIT(R.Wolf); Sun:@NYM(K.Benson)
Randy Wolf: Tue:SF(B.Tomko); Sun:ARI(B.Halsey)
Carlos Zambrano: Tue:@LAD(B.Penny); Sun:@SD(J.Peavy)

Pitchers with 2 starts to deploy only in leagues that don't count qualitative stats:
Gustavo Chacin: Tue:@SEA(R.Franklin); Sun:@OAK(D.Haren)
Kyle Davies: Mon:@WAS(T.Ohka); Sat:@PIT(M.Redman)
Brad Halsey: Tue:@NYM(K.Benson); Sun:@PHI(R.Wolf)
Mike Hampton: Tue:@WAS(J.Patterson); Sun:@PIT(Ol.Perez)
Aaron Harang: Mon:@HOU(R.Clemens); Sun:@COL(J.Jennings)
Jason Jennings: Tue:STL(M.Mulder); Sun:CIN(A.Harang)
Scott Kazmir?: Mon:@OAK(J.Blanton); Sat:@SEA(J.Pinerio)?
Al Leiter: Mon:@PIT(M.Redman); Sat:@WAS(T.Ohka)
Ted Lilly: Mon:@SEA(J.Moyer); Sat:@OAK(J.Blanton)
Jason Marquis: Mon:@COL(Jam.Wright); Sat:@HOU(R.Clemens)
Darrell May: Mon:MIL(V.Santos); Sat:CHC(G.Maddux)
Mark Mulder: Tue:@COL(J.Jennings); Sun:@HOU(B.Backe)
Hideo Nomo: Tue:@OAK(D.Haren); Sun:@SEA(J.Moyer)
Jarrod Washburn: Mon:@CHW(M.Buehrle); Sun:@BOS(W.Miller)
Jamey Wright: Mon:STL(J.Marquis); Sat:CIN(B.Claussen)

Diamond Challenge

Perhaps ignoring Bobby Abreu as a free agent is a mistake, but we want power more than the extra steals and also can't see a way to regularly run Abreu with Pujols and Tejada. Despite his five-category potential, we simply won't cut Pujols with St. Louis heading into Colorado.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Wed:@KC(D.Carrasco)
Johan Santana: Thu:CLE(S.Elarton)
Jason Schmidt: Sat:@NYM(T.Glavine)
Pedro Martinez: Thu:ARI(S.Estes)
Roy Oswalt: Wed:CIN(Ra.Ortiz)
Roger Clemens: Mon:CIN(A.Harang); Sat:STL(J.Marquis)
Mark Mulder: Tue:@COL(J.Jennings); Sun:@HOU(B.Backe)
Jake Peavy: Tue:MIL(W.Obermueller); Sun:CHC(C.Zambrano)
Dontrelle Willis: Thu:@PIT(D.Williams)

A.J. Burnett: Tue:@PIT(Ol.Perez); Sun:@WAS(J.Patterson)
Josh Beckett: Fri:@WAS(L.Hernandez)
Miguel Batista: 3 Road at SEA; 4 Road at OAK.

Running Mulder in Colorado and Houston seems foolish, so we'll deploy our three doubles, the high-upside starts of Randy and Santana, and then Batista in an attempt to make up some ground in saves, a necessity since two of our three relievers remain on the DL.

Keeping Victor Martinez, Marcus Giles, and Jason Lane benched seems wise, and then we'll activate Barmes and Holliday with the Rockies home, sitting Reyes and the massively slumping Glaus.

Rotohelp.com(1st lg; 9th div; 120th overall)
Week 9: May 30-June 5

C	Joe Mauer		440 
C	John Buck		390
1B	Mark Teixeira		1310 
1B	Justin Morneau		680
2B	Brian Roberts		960
2B	Tadahito Iguchi		750
3B	Melvin Mora		1270 
3B	David Wright		800
SS	Miguel Tejada		1800 
SS	Clint Barmes		400
OF	Carl Crawford		1560 
OF	Jim Edmonds		1250
OF	Adam Dunn		1110
OF	Miguel Cabrera		1110 
OF	Scott Podsednik		1090 
OF	Kevin Mench		580
UT	Albert Pujols		1930 
UT	Matt Holliday		630

SP	Randy Johnson		1980 
SP	Johan Santana		1710
SP	Roger Clemens		1280 
SP	Jake Peavy		1030
SP	A.J. Burnett		830 
SP	Miguel Batista		840
RP	Brad Lidge		1280
RP	Trevor Hoffman		1270
RP	B.J. Ryan		950 
RP	Brandon Lyon		750

Total Salary for Week 9: 	29980

Diamond Challenge 2nd Season

A quick breakdown of our roster selections:

Catcher: With only Joe Mauer(440) as an obvious value pick, we'll take Jorge Posada(930) over Jason Varitek, the developing John Buck, Victor Martinez, and even Ramon Hernandez due to his established level of success. However, with Mauer's groin continuing to trouble us, we decided to take the scalding hot Yadier Molina(280), who both ranks as tied for the cheapest salary in the game and head to Houston and Colorado this week.

First Base: Derek Lee(1440) ranks among the three most valuable players in the game, and Justin Morneau(680) remains a useful player despite his recent BA slump. The overall upside and power potential of Mark Teixeira(1310) secures him a place on our team.

Second Base: This position offers almost as few viable options as catcher, so we opted to stick with Brian Roberts(960) and Tadahito Iguchi(750) over Marcus Giles, Chone Figgins, and Mark Grudzielanek.

Third Base: With Garrett Atkins reasonably healthy and performing well, he joins Morgan Ensberg(690) in our starting lineup as a better value than Melvin Mora. The recent injury and struggles of Troy Glaus opened spots for both David Wright(800) and ARod(1880), who filled our last roster slot over Pujols due to his five-category contribution, although he only will play when we don't deploy our expensive starters.

Shortstop: The production of Miguel Tejada(1800) and Clint Barmes(400) easily secures them roles here. Considering his rather impressive skills, excellent home ballpark, and overall value, Craig Counsell(620) will serve as Barmes' platoon partner.

Outfield: Bobby Abreu(1860), Miguel Cabrera(1110), and Scott Podsednik(1090) rank among the absolute automatic picks in the game. After dismissing several otherwise viable candidates like Adam Dunn, Milton Bradley, Jason Bay, and even Matt Holliday due to category weaknesses or questionable skills, we settled on Pat Burrell(870), Brad Hawpe(750), Kevin Mench(580), David Dellucci(540), and Brady Clark(540) to complete our team. The last two names will surprise many, but both own excellent skills and despite their relative lack of power, their overall contribution should provide superb value from the back end of our lineup. We expect to rotate Hawpe, Dellucci, and Clark through our last OF/DH slots depending on their weekly schedules, also ceding time to ARod or David Wright when we have cap room available.

Starting Pitching: Keeping Randy(1980), Santana(1710), Pedro(1450), Roy Oswalt(1320), Roger Clemens(1280), Jake Peavy(1030), Dontrelle Willis(870), A.J. Burnett(830), and Josh Beckett(820) from our DC pitching staff required little thought due to their solid skills and W/K upside. However, a few changes seemed logical, so we dropped Jason Schmidt, Mark Mulder, and Miguel Batista while adding Chris Carpenter(930) and Brett Myers(630), who each own outstanding skills and rank among the top 10 MLB pitchers in strikeouts. While we nearly also took Javier Vazquez, we cut him at the last minute to add a backup catcher. After deciding against carrying a backup catcher or second baseman, Ryan Dempster(520) also joined our squad due to his very cheap salary and increasing success as the Cubs' closer.

Several pitchers earned significant consideration, led by Bartolo Colon, Roy Halladay, and Carlos Zambrano, but we employed tiebreakers of general consistency, upside, and health in finishing our roster. While we took Burnett despite his recent injury concerns, we believe his fantasy value and potential double this week far outweigh a potential DL trip.

Relief pitching: B.J. Ryan(950) may be the easiest pick in the game. With KRod(1250) due back very soon, we decided to take him as our fifth reliever while deploying Trevor Hoffman(1270), Dustin Hermanson(920), and then selecting Chad Cordero(1000) over Brad Lidge, Joe Nathan, Derrick Turnbow, and Francisco Cordero to complete our bullpen.

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Wed:@KC(D.Carrasco)
Johan Santana: Thu:CLE(S.Elarton)
Pedro Martinez: Thu:ARI(S.Estes)
Roy Oswalt: Wed:CIN(Ra.Ortiz)
Roger Clemens: Mon:CIN(A.Harang); Sat:STL(J.Marquis)
Jake Peavy: Tue:MIL(W.Obermueller); Sun:CHC(C.Zambrano)
Chris Carpenter: Fri:@HOU(A.Pettitte)
Dontrelle Willis: Thu:@PIT(D.Williams)

A.J. Burnett: Tue:@PIT(Ol.Perez); Sun:@WAS(J.Patterson)
Josh Beckett: Fri:@WAS(L.Hernandez)
Brett Myers: Fri:ARI(J.Vazquez)
Ryan Dempster: 3 Road at LAD; 4 Road at SD.

With three doubles, and a strong week for Dempter, we possess the cap room to deploy both Randy and Santana in surprisingly safe starts.

Obviously ARod sits, as well as the platoon partners for our Rockies: David Wright, Craig Counsell, and Brady Clark. Lastly, the combination of a great week for Molina and Mauer's injury troubles leave the Twins' catcher in reserve for us.

Rotohelp.com(No standings available)
Week 9: May 30-June 5

C	Jorge Posada		930
C	Yadier Molina		280
1B	Derrek Lee		1440 
1B	Justin Morneau		680
2B	Brian Roberts		960
2B	Tadahito Iguchi		750 
3B	Morgan Ensberg		690
3B	Garrett Atkins		400
SS	Miguel Tejada		1800 
SS	Clint Barmes		400
OF	Bobby Abreu		1860
OF	Miguel Cabrera		1110 
OF	Scott Podsednik		1090 
OF	Pat Burrell		870
OF	Kevin Mench		580
OF	David Dellucci		540
UT	Mark Teixeira		1310
UT	Brad Hawpe		750

SP	Randy Johnson		1980 
SP	Pedro Martinez		1450
SP	Roger Clemens		1280 
SP	Jake Peavy		1030
SP	A.J. Burnett		830
SP	Ryan Dempster		520
RP	Trevor Hoffman		1270
RP	Chad Cordero		1000
RP	B.J. Ryan		950
RP	Dustin Hermanson	920

Total Salary for Week 9: 	27930

Internet Challenge

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Wed:@KC(D.Carrasco)
Johan Santana: Thu:CLE(S.Elarton)
Pedro Martinez: Thu:ARI(S.Estes)
Roy Oswalt: Wed:CIN(Ra.Ortiz)
Ben Sheets: Thu:@LAD(D.Thompson)
Roger Clemens: Mon:CIN(A.Harang)
Mark Mulder: Tue:@COL(J.Jennings)
Jake Peavy: Tue:MIL(W.Obermueller)
Dontrelle Willis: Thu:@PIT(D.Williams)

A.J. Burnett: Tue:@PIT(Ol.Perez)
Miguel Batista: 3 Road at SEA; 1 Road at OAK.

No starts: Beckett.

With Sheets and Burnett still hurting and Willis suddenly shaky, selecting Randy and the five home starts should give us a good chance at no less than a few wins.

Deploying our Rockies results in Reyes and Hafner joining Victor Martinez and Marcus Giles on our bench. Edmonds, heading into Colorado, then subs for Crawford, which brings us under the cap.

Rotohelp.com(3rd lg; 57th overall)
Week 9a: May 30-June 2

 
C	Joe Mauer		440 
C	John Buck		390
1B	Albert Pujols		1930 
1B	Justin Morneau		680
2B	Brian Roberts		960 
2B	Tadahito Iguchi		750
3B	Melvin Mora		1270
3B	Troy Glaus		830
SS	Miguel Tejada		1800 
SS	Clint Barmes		400 
OF	Jim Edmonds		1250
OF	Adam Dunn		1110
OF	Miguel Cabrera		1110 
OF	Scott Podsednik		1090 
OF	Kevin Mench		580 
OF	Jeremy Reed		400
UT	Mark Teixeira		1310 
UT	Matt Holliday		630

SP	Randy Johnson		1980 
SP	Johan Santana		1710
SP	Pedro Martinez		1450 
SP	Roy Oswalt		1320 
SP	Roger Clemens		1280 
SP	Jake Peavy		1030
RP	Brad Lidge		1280
RP	Trevor Hoffman		1270 
RP	B.J. Ryan		950 
RP	Brandon Lyon		750

Total Salary for Week 9a: 	29950

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

SP(6)
Randy Johnson: Wed:@KC(D.Carrasco)
Jason Schmidt: Sat:@NYM(T.Glavine)
Pedro Martinez: Thu:ARI(S.Estes)
Johan Santana: Thu:CLE(S.Elarton)
Roger Clemens: Mon:CIN(A.Harang); Sat:STL(J.Marquis)
Ben Sheets: Thu:@LAD(D.Thompson)
Dontrelle Willis: Thu:@PIT(D.Williams)

Jake Peavy: Tue:MIL(W.Obermueller); Sun:CHC(C.Zambrano)
A.J. Burnett: Tue:@PIT(Ol.Perez); Sun:@WAS(J.Patterson)
Josh Beckett: Fri:@WAS(L.Hernandez)

Lacking the cap room to run our best three starters due to our offensive needs, Pedro will sit while Randy and Santana join the three doubles and Beckett.

Helton, Barmes, Holliday, and Kearns all enter the lineup, sending Chavez, Glaus, Greene, and Lane to join Martinez, Hafner, Giles, and Reed on our bench.

Rotohelp.com(11th lg; 1069th overall)
& Rotohelp.com(16th lg; 2471st overall)
Week 9: May 30-June 5

 
C	Joe Mauer		1140 
C	John Buck		1030
1B	Albert Pujols		3700
1B	Justin Morneau		1780
2B	Brian Roberts		1770 
2B	Orlando Hudson		1540
3B	Hank Blalock		2240 
3B	Morgan Ensberg		1530
SS	Rafael Furcal		2430 
SS	Clint Barmes		1000
OF	J.D. Drew		2490
OF	Miguel Cabrera		2420
OF	Carl Crawford		2120 
OF	Scott Podsednik		1990 
OF	Kevin Mench		1660 
OF	Austin Kearns		1540
UT	Todd Helton		3460 
UT	Matt Holliday		1470

SP	Randy Johnson		3330
SP	Johan Santana		3090 
SP	Roger Clemens		3030 
SP	Jake Peavy		2090
SP	A.J. Burnett		1900 
SP	Josh Beckett		1730
RP	Brad Lidge		2510
RP	Francisco Rodriguez	2360
RP	Trevor Hoffman		2350
RP	B.J. Ryan		2060

Total Salary for Week 9: 	59760

Today's Fantasy Rx: Taking a DC-2nd Season team remains a great way to learn the CDM Challenge system at comparatively minimal cost to the full-season DC and IC games.