Sunday the 24th

First of all, I see that we had quite a few hits yesterday. Thanks to all of you and I hope you keep coming back. Pretty cool. Lets move on.

YESTERDAY

It would have taken 35 bat points to stay on the LB, as predicted. I only got 27 and dropped from #49 to #58. Damn. Oh well, it's more fun chasing than being chased anyway. McCann, Roberts, Braun, Jones, and Kubel combined for only 4 points. ARoid and Choo bailed me out somewhat with 13. Haren of the desert was a bust. What a waste of a day.

TODAY

c - Kendall - night game
1b - Prince - Feeling good about this one
2b - Uggla - Had money left over, having a great week
3b - ARoid - riding it out
ss - Tejada - wonder if he has a new birth certificate yet
lf- Bay - need him to go deep x 2
cf - Beltran - not scared of Wake
rf - Cuddyer - probably a day late
dh - Sheff - again, x 2
ps - Bills - minimal risk

It should be a huge moving day. Good starters are everywhere today. I figure a 60 will get me backto the promised land. Thank God interleague goes away tomorrow.

TOMORROW

Weather - There is nothing with over a 50% chance of rain at this time. I see no concerns and will pick freely.

Teams facing lefties - Cincy, Baltimore, the Yanks, Colorado, the Dodgers, SD, Seattle, ATL, Cleveland, Florida, the Mets, the Cubs and the Angels. Wow, southpaws everywhere.

As always, let's start with the most important slot:

Pitcher -
Wandy - 1.83 ERA, 53 K in 59 IP, Cincy sucks, .200 BAA
Carp - Not just yet, I want to make sure he is healthy enough to go more than 6
Gallardo - Don't be fooled, 5.82 May ERA
Verlander - 5 straight quality starts, 3-0 1.27 inMay, 77 k in 56 IP
Vazquez - 73 k in 58 IP, 3-0 2.10 on the road, no run support
Santana - .185 BAA, vs. no bats
I believe I'll take Verlander. With Atlanta travelling this afternoon and a small park in Cincy, I have to. I do not feel too good about it though.

First - Prince, Pujols, Morneau, Lee, Branyan. Prince is 3-3 vs. Carp and Branyan hit .400 last week but I think I'll take Justin. Twins bats are insane right now and Penny sucks.

Second - Roberts, K. Jonson, Kinsler, Utley. Ian is hitting .425 at home but is in the toilet lately. Not trusting KJ even though he has stepped up a little this week. Utley faces decent PS. Roberts for now.

Third - Blum, Inge, Wright, Young, Reynolds. Good BVSP for Blum and Inge, Young hits over .400 at home and Reynolds is hot. However, Wright is heating up and is hitting .519 vs. lefties. Easy pick.

Short - ALERT - Bartlett is 0-13 vs. Carmona! Tulwitzki, Furcal, Renteria, Rollins, Hanley. J-Roll is 4-9 vs. Volstad and hit .433 last week. But, Hanley is 12-34 with 4 HR vs. Moyer in a hitters park. Done deal.

Left - Lee, Dunn Fonzie, Pierre. I usually like power here and Fonzie looks like the best pick (6-17, 3HR BVSP). Nonetheless, Pierre is my man. He's hitting .565 vs. lefties, .409 on the road and .440 in the last week.

Center - Wells, Granderson, Kemp. I have never liked Kemp too much and Granderson usually lets me down. Wells has taken Guthrie deep twice but has done nothing lately. UGH, pencil in Grandy.

Right - Rios, Church, Hawpe - Screw the Church idea. Rios and Hawpe have been bums lately. I'll take Cuddyer. 0-6 bvsp, but cheap and very hot right now.

DH - Sheff is hitting .407 vs. the lefties. Good enough for me.

C - Pudge, Yadi, Laird, Mauer, Suzuki, Jojima, McCann, Schneider,Soto, Napoli, VMart. I really want VMart and his .435 avg vs. lefties, but can't afford him. Drop Roberts for Aaron Hill at 2nd and I can afford Mauer with his .479 average vs. righties and .486 home average. Done deal.

10:06 PM - late change. Due to weather concerns in KC, I am going to drop Verlander for Wandy. Phillips is out and Votto is questionable. With the money that I saved there, 700k, I am going to also trae off Cuddyer for Nelson Cruz in right. What sucks is that late changes are always an automatic jinx. I only did it because ofthe weather, but I bet it comes backto haunt me. By the way, today was just pure shit.

11:00 PM - Later change. Mauer got plunked on thehand. With a day game tomorrow, I can't risk it. Dropped him for McCann and also bumped Sheff for Blalock. I think Texas willput up some numbers vs. Hughes.

FINAL LINEUP
c - McCann
1b - Morneau
2b - Hill
3b - Wright
ss - Hanley
lf - Pierre
cf - Granderson
rf - Cruz
dh - Blalock
ps - Wandy
We'll see.............. but I really like it right now.

STAT CORNER

Hot vs. Lefties - Pierre .565, Wright .519, Napoli .455, VMart .435, Sheff .407
Hot at home - Mauer .486, Kinsler .425, Hawpe .408, Young .405,
Hot last week - Teix .462, Morneau .440, D. Lee .435, Rollins .433, Ross .425, Berkman .421,

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. I am not telling you who to take. if you follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Good luck today and please keep reading. Hope you enjoy.........

FU Kerry Wood.